Liverpool Biennial Announces Major Programme to Develop the International Careers of Northern Artists
Simeon Barclay, The Feast Wagon, 2015. Photo by Jules Lister.
Liverpool Biennial, in partnership with New York based Independent Curators International (ICI) and CACTUS, today announced a major new initiative, which aims to support artists based in the North of England to develop their careers internationally.
The £290,000 Liverpool Biennial Associate Artists Programme is supported by a £250,000 investment from the Arts Council England International Showcasing fund.
Artists are increasingly able to build sustainable careers outside London if they have the opportunity to strengthen their networks and markets beyond the UK. Liverpool Biennial and its partners are working with ten artists to provide a unique opportunity to work with leading international figures in the art world and to showcase their work in Liverpool Biennial 2016, which runs from 9 July until 16 October.
The ten selected artists are: Simeon Barclay (Leeds), Jacqueline Bebb (Chester), Lindsey Bull (Manchester), Robert Carter & Lauren Velvick (Manchester), Nina Chua (Manchester), Matthew Crawley (Leeds), Frances Disley (Liverpool), Daniel Fogarty (Manchester), Harry Meadley (Leeds), Stephen Sheehan (Birkenhead).
These artists were selected from a shortlist of 40 nominated for the programme by curators and artists based in the UK. The final ten were chosen by an international panel of selectors comprising: Chris Fitzpatrick, Director, Kunstverein München, Munich; Francesco Manacorda, Artistic Director, Tate Liverpool; Rosalind Nashashibi, Artist, Liverpool; Joe Fletcher Orr, Artist and Director, CACTUS, Liverpool; Kitty Scott, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Katharine Stout, Head of Programmes, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; and Sally Tallant, Director, Liverpool Biennial.
Capitalising on Liverpool Biennial’s national and international networks, each artist will be provided with mentoring and showcasing opportunities, and support to develop the presentation of their work at Liverpool Biennial 2016 and other international events. They will also build international networks with curators, art biennials, galleries and art fairs.
The Liverpool Biennial Associate Artists Programme is part of Liverpool Biennial’s year-round commitment to working with local artists and promoting the city as a creative and vibrant destination for artists to live and work in. It aims to create valuable networks, which can be developed beyond the two and a half year lifespan of the project, and the skills to use that network to build bigger markets.
