Lincolnista the guide to Lincoln, UK.

6 Degrees at the Monks Gallery

Friday, 2nd September 2011 Written by: Tenacious T

You may have been to an art gallery before but this is something completely different. The Monks Gallery is a spectacle which really has to be seen to be believed.

Co-Director of the Monks Gallery Nick Simpson spoke to Lincolnista to say a little bit about he and co-creator Tom Cretney’s unique art project.

“Basically it came about when we’d been about in Lincoln for two years since graduating and there were no places to show our art in Lincoln. We’ve been pushing for studio space for a while now, and we thought what better place to show our work than in our house. Frustration got the better of us and that’s why we decided to do it.”

Nick and Tom had the tools available to them already. They had previously done a show in their home and it was just a question of putting it in to practice. Nick explained the concept of the showings which are done in their own home and what made them so incredibly unique and interesting.

“It’s six shows over six months with six artists in each. The idea is we have to live with the work for a month which is harder than it seems. First show we had big boxes erected round the toilet, this month we’ve had Emma Stark which is a particular difficulty to live with. We have a clothesline in our kitchen. Part of her performance is she soaks her clothes in caster sugar so that was dripping and drying for a couple of days so Tom Cretney who helped set it up is quite tall so he’s often getting caster sugar all over his clothes. Living with the work its self is almost becoming a performance piece which we’re finding really interesting.”

The gallery is the first of its kind, being the first post graduate ran gallery and studio in Lincoln. Nick explains how he and Tom managed to get the project off the ground which started back in July.

“The first one we showed was with our ex lecturers which were John Plowman, Andrew Bracey, Alan Armstrong and me (Nick Simpson), Tom Cretney, and Ian Manicom – ex students of theirs showed with them. Using John Ploughmans name and Andrew Bracey we went off and we went for artists who we had admired over the years and who we would like to work with.”

Nick and Tom have literally travelled the length of the country in an attempt to find the very best artists. They decided which ones they liked and contacted them for future showings.

“September first will be our third show, we’re still in the process of getting people for December and October. For Octobers show already we’ve got Littlewhitehead and Richard Dimitri – two artists who we really wanted to work with and were really pleased we got them.”

The gallery itself is set over three floors of the house with various artworks exhibited throughout. ‘The fish that bit dad’ launched on the first of September with a private viewing and continues throughout the month till the next showing. The September showing features several interesting artists including a mystery Slovenian artist.

“We have an art duo called Grimes and Jones curating the show and we’ve got Summer Wheat a painter. There’s a secret Slovenian artist that we can’t mention, we’ve got Stephanie Homa a New York based artist and it’s the first time she’s shown across the pond, the first time she’s shown outside of America really.” Also showing their artwork are Joana Cifre and Paul Kindersley.

If you’re interested in seeing these works then you can contact Nick or Tom to arrange a private viewing and for that and any other information you can go to:

http://www.monksgallery.blogspot.com/
http://www.twitter.com/#!/lincolndr
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Monks-Gallery/219752458054029