RWA reopening and Spike Island Open Studios on Bristol’s big weekend of art

Bristol art fans have a lot to be excited about this spring. With the return of BV Open Studios on April 9-10, the end of the month sees two major artistic events across the long weekend.

Firstly, Spike Island will once more be throwing its doors open to the public on April 30, for its ever-popular Open Studios weekend.

And on May 2, the RWA will be celebrating its grand reopening with its landmark exhibition Me, Myself, I: Artists’ Self-Portraits.

Bristol24/7 takes a closer look at some of the work that will be on show for art fans across the weekend.

Spike Island Open Studios – photo: Lisa Whiting

April 30-May 2 – Spike Island Open Studios

There are over 70 artist studios at Spike Island, as well as Spike Print Studio, UWE Fine Art BA/MA students, and dozens of creative practioners of all kinds, from writers and designers to photographers, animators and filmmakers.

Open Studios is a family friendly weekend offering visitors a chance to explore the labyrinthine former Brooke Bond tea-packing factory and the incredible array of work being created within its numerous studios.

Spike Island Open Studios – photo: Lisa Whiting

Highlights include:

• Conway and Young, who recently produced the identity for Rachel Clerke’s Transactionland at Bricks Bristol, and who will be hosting a performative reading of their publication Milk Report

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaIGn9LMXFT

• Spike Island Associate and studio holder, Katy Connor, who is developing her HydroPoetics project and will be exhibiting fragrant herbs, edible flowers, seed propagation and hydroponic systems
• Natasha Macvoy – whose work explores “the limits of sight and site”, presenting an installation of wall hung ceramic drawings, text and sound recordings
• Colin Higginson, who will be hosting a workshop and accumulative installation devised by artists from AIM, an organisation that supports artists with learning disabilities

Spike Island Open Studios – photo: Lisa Whiting

Many of the artists will be on hand to discuss their work and demonstrate their practices, and some of the work will be on sale. Drinks and street food will also be available for visitors across the busy three day event.

Open Studios takes place with one final week of the current exhibitions at Spike Island, so do go down to see Candice Lin’s Pigs and Poison and Nosferasta by Adam Khalil and Bayley Sweitzer with Oba while you can.

Candice Lin, Pigs and Poison exhibition opening at Spike Island (2020) – photo: Paul Samuel White

May 2-June 19 – RWA Reopening Exhibition: Me, Myself, I: Artists’ Self-Portraits

Bristol’s landmark art gallery, the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) has undergone a multi-million pound transformation – the biggest in its illustrious 175-year history.

It is now proudly accessible, more sustainable and replete with added benefits from a quiet room, a family activity zone, an outdoor events space and a new café.

Following the refurb, RWA is set to reopen with a major exhibition on the contemporary fascination with the selfie.

Artist’s impression of transformed RWA – photo: RWA

Four years in the making, Me, Myself, I: Artists’ Self-Portraits is curated by the internationally lauded artistic director, curator and writer Tessa Jackson OBE.

It features over 80 pieces by a diverse representation of work from the last 300 years, providing historical context to 21st century selfie culture.

Featured artists include Madame Yeonde, Lucian Freud, Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Sonia Boyce, Sir Anthony Gormley , Sir Joshua Reynolds, Harold Offeh, Zineb Sedira and Gillian Wearing.

The collection explores the changing nature of self-portraiture and the manifold ways in which the self can be used to present personal, psychological, political and sociological preoccupations.

Sir Anthony Gormley, CONCENTRATE II, 1996 – photo Stephen White

Madame Yevonde (1893–1975), Madame Yevonde, 1940 – photo National Portrait Gallery

Discussing her curation, Jackson comments: “Our fascination with self-representation has existed for hundreds of years in art history. Self-portraits reveal so much about the artist and how they wished to be seen.

“I’m thrilled that the exhibition will be the first one to take place in the stunning and newly transformed galleries of the RWA.

“I hope that it will play its part in encouraging greater and more diverse audiences to the galleries, welcoming returning visitors and new ones to enjoy the exhibition and spark thought and discussion.”

Further upcoming RWA events include weekly exhibition tours on Tuesdays at 12pm (free with an exhibition ticket), regular family workshops, an Art History Day School on May 14, Free Entry Day for the Queen’s Jubilee on June 2-3, both Bring Your Baby and After Hours on June 9, and a series of Tuesday Teatime Tours on June 14, for those living with dementia and their carers.

Tony Bevan, Head and Neck, 2007 – photo John Hammond, Royal Academy of Arts

Shanti Panchal, Artist and the Lost Studio, 2014 – photo courtesy of PIANO NOBILE Robert Travers (Works of Art) Ltd

Spike Island Open Studios is on April 30-May 1 at 11am-5pm, and May 2 at 12-4pm. It is accessible and free to attend. There is a preview evening on April 29 at 6-9pm. More information about the weekend, and the participating studio artists, is available at www.spikeisland.org.uk.

Me Myself, I: Artists’ Self-Portraits is at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) from May 2-June 19. Tickets are free for patrons, friends, art pass holders, as well as under 21s and students, and up to £8.90 for all other visitors. For more information and to book, visit www.rwa.org.uk.

Main photo: Lisa Whiting

Read more: BV Open Studios returns in April

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