By Maya Luthra
HOME Theatre is showcasing work from Manchester School of Art’s MA/MFA Fine Art course. Displaying eighteen artists, the show was co-curated by Ian Rawlinson, senior lecturer on the course and the team at HOME.
The exhibition is a fusion of perspective with cultural ideas from each artist. This is the first time the MA/MFA show has been held at HOME and gives the work public exposure as well as promoting the School of Art.
Art of Manchester and Liverpool based artist Elizabeth Lyons will be the first to catch your eye. ‘Threshold’ is a set of three silver gelatin prints which exude a sense of tranquillity and serenity through their composition and simplicity, creating an aura of ease and togetherness.
Bethany Costerd, one of the artists being exhibited, shed some light on how the show came together. She explained that the Fine Art MA/MFA is a studio and practice-based course with each student having their own space, much like on the undergraduate course. With such a variety of workshops and technicians at the school of art, Costerd felt that the show represented the assortment of resources available at the school. From printmaking, photography, wood and metalwork, the exhibition really shows off all that is on offer at the School of Art.
As much as a curatorial challenge it must have been to bring eighteen very different artists together, the way each piece flowed from one to another revealed their similarities, an aspect Costerd found particularly interesting. Costerd drew attention to Emmeleia Filippopoulou, the only performance artist in the group, and highlighted that Filippopoulou planned to do a live performance on Saturday 26th October, which would have been a great way to kick off the final weekend of the show.
As you walk around the multiple spaces of the exhibition, your experience is textured with many different sounds: The beats from the music of Gregory Herbert’s installation ‘Club myrmecophytes’ merge with the sounds of Shahram Farrokhnejad’s digital video ‘Rationalism’. Joe Hancock’s wooden sculpture in the third space ‘Ladder Work Four’ frames Hancock’s fellow artist’s works, unifying the space in its utilisation of the height of the room _ Another example of how exhibiting at HOME elevates the works.
The exhibition showcases the range of facilities available to students at the School of Art and how such facilities can result in the production of work that goes beyond the confines of the studio. The inclusion of large sculptures, digital media, metalwork and ceramics highlight the variety of outcomes available to prospective students. When asked why she chose to study at Manchester School of Art, Costerd stated that it was the ceramic workshop that really drew her to study her MFA here.
If you’re able to visit the MA/MFA Fine Art show be sure to grab a gallery map as you enter as the works are not named and enjoy all that Manchester School of Art has to offer!
MA / MFA Fine Art Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/msoa_mafineart/
Bethany Costerd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethcosterd/
To read more about the work exhibited: https://mashow.mmu.ac.uk
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