22nd May - 27th June 2010

A show that stretches the limits of drawing, bringing the artists mark off the page and into real space; out of the gallery and into the city. Featuring new and classic work by individually selected artists who use drawing to illustrate, illuminate, experiment and question what can be done with the drawn mark. This exhibition will provide a chance for the audience to participate in viewing, exploring and expressing their own new ideas through the drawing. This includes the chance to make large scale drawings using GPS and to explore drawn animation as well as other activities as part of a space in the city.

Features work by: Alys Scott-Hawkins, Martin Symons, Trish Bould, Jeanie Driver and Mike Blackman, Kate Grenyer, Birgitte Haar-Lund, Katie Howie, Jo Hummel-Newell, Greig Burgoyne and Kristy Campbell.

7th April - 9th May 2010

Sharon Haward’s latest experiment in town planning looks directly at the city of Southampton. This city is a place of historical importance which has been shaped in the last half century by both the slow creep of unplanned urban development and radical and sudden change to the built environment brought about by war and reconstruction. Haward’s approach to architectural forms is a personal one, creating in the gallery an environment that reflects on collective memory and presents the city as stage on which different stories can be projected.

Haward draws on her own childhood  memories of attending school here and visiting the city with her family. The installation will reflect her interest in how memory can impact on our experience of the built environment. As part of her research the artist will be talking to people about their experiences of the city as well as researching the visual and sound archives that are publicly available. For this show the gallery will become a cityscape, based on Southampton, where memory and feeling hold more importance than geographical accuracy. 

13th Feb - 21st March 2010

Legends of Circumstance comes to a space from London bringing with it a series of works that celebrate the disillusionment and disaffection of the anti-hero. These artists look below the surface gloss of popular culture, utopian ideals and sanitised media fantasies to wallow in the underworld with the corrupt, sullen, selfish, addicted and scurrilous! The artists in this show explore these ideas through the individuals who represent lost humanity and the undercurrents which can often come to the fore in times of recession and financial crisis. Yet as the title Legends of Circumstance suggests, the reluctant protagonists in this show do, in the end, emerge triumphant.

Artists Featured include Gareth Brookes, Adam Dant, Frances Disley, Dave Evans, Mikey Georgeson, John Hewitt, Mark Hampson, Peter Lloyd, Ryan McClelland, Laura Oldfield Ford, John Strutton and James Unsworth.

The third annual open exhibition to be held at the Bargate Monument Gallery will feature a diverse range of new work by emerging artists.

Cut to the chase! - Should art have a message? If it does, how is it best communicated? Should art shout its message from the rooftops or are subtle and hidden meanings more effective? Can visual art communicate in ways other art forms cannot? How can artists be heard through the overload of visual culture?
Why don’t artists just stop dithering and Cut to the Chase?

Cut to the chase! Features work by Siobhan Barr, Christopher Bond, Day Bowman, Deepa Craig, Anne Guest, Ian Kirkpatrick, Bryan Lavelle, Albert Potrony, Alan Schechner, Alke Schmitt, Maaike Stevens, David Theobold and Raymond Wong.

Special projects for Cut to the Chase!

Relay, a new platform brought to you from the creator of Rules and Regs!

Relay challenges 8 artists to create a new work in just 48 hours! An object will be presented to the 1st artists and they have 48 hours to make a response, before passing the object on. Eight artists will participate in the process over the course of the exhibition! Will anyone drop the baton? Come in each week to see how the object has changed.

Testing Grounds, an exciting new event to stimulate the senses!

This informal, exploratory project enables artists to use the gallery for exploration into new areas of work, mixing performance, live art, sound and movement, providing an exciting finale to Cut to the Chase!

Contact the gallery at info@aspacearts.org.uk for booking information. Tickets are free, but must be reserved.

Pratt has held artist residencies with The Experimental Oncology Unit at The University of Southampton School of Medicine since 2006 and the Arches studios. This is the first showing of Faith, an exhibition exploring the value of DNA and the visual appearance of science, in particular the aesthetics of medical imaging. Faith will be touring the South East after this inaugural exhibition at Bargate Monument Gallery.

The most exciting part of this exhibition is the opportunity for YOU to take part. At the exhibition you can collect a sample of your own DNA and include it in the show. DNA samples become the creative material with which the art is made; your participation is required!

Last year a space launched Collectible. For the first time visitors to the gallery were able to purchase the works of some of the most exciting and talented artists working today. This hugely popular show returns for 2009 with a new hand picked selection of artists; some old friends and some fresh faces!

OPENING NIGHT SPECIAL OFFER - 10% off all original artworks!

Check our website for more special offers and events during Collectible 2

The concept for Catalyst has been developed to push the practice of all the residents from the Arches studios in new directions for the start of 2009. The artists have used this opportunity to start and develop these projects allowing the public a glimpse into their ongoing creative practice. The result of these new developments will be exhibited across two exciting shows.

Catalyst Part 1 > 24th January - 1st March 2009

Showing new work by Jonny Hannah, Stuart Rodda, Lizie Ault, Pauline Pratt, Kate Grenyer, James Maher, Roger Jarvis and Joe Ross.

Catalyst Part 2 > 14th March - 19th April 2009

Showing new work by Chris Cudlip, Ingrid Wheeler, April Mahwinney, Jo Lapage, Stephanie Hood, Tania Robertson, Lizzie Jones, Alys Hawkins and Andy MacCallum.

Alice Williams > Cyclius 9th May - 21st June 2009

At a space we pride ourselves in giving opportunities to new artists to realise ambitious projects, ‘Cyclicus’ is no exception.

Recent graduate Alice Williams has long been exploring the nature of the moving image and how it can be manipulated to affect the surrounding space. For this exhibition she creates a space within the gallery that is transformed by the artist’s multi channel video installation. As you enter the space the combined effect of the videos and light work to baffle perception and create an all-encompassing optical illusion.

This new project is the result of an ongoing period of development for the artist and will give gallery visitors the chance to experience the work of this significant emerging talent at the earliest stages of her career.

Sees Sgt Bargate continue his journey and find in a quite different occupation again. This time he’s a train driver from a classic silent movie scene. The question we need to ask is: Is he trying to stop the train or speed it up?

In September 1910 Charlie Chaplin and Arthur Stanley Jefferson, later to become Stan Laurel, set sail from Southampton Docks on the SS Cairnrona to seek their fortunes in America. They landed in Quebec and took the train to New York. What became of these two young hopefuls has passed into Hollywood Legend. Lesser known however is the disagreement between the two stemming from Laurel’s belief that Chaplin stole and exploited the idea of the ‘tramp’ sketch. The two never spoke again. Disagreements aside the setting of Southampton Docks provided the departure point for two of the finest exponents of the silent movie genre and two iconic careers destined for immortality on the Hollywood walk of fame.

Where next will our brave hero go? If you have any suggestions for the future adventures of Sgt Bargate, please e-mail us, we would love to hear them.

Chocks away! As Sgt Bargate departs for his third adventure. But who is this dashing fellow who had undergone yet another transformation? Why, it’s Sgt Bargate, now a daring Spitfire pilot ready to go out and defend our city from invading forces.

The iconic British plane, the Spitfire was designed by R. J. Mitchell who was chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works in Woolston. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service throughout the whole of the WW2. It continued to serve as a front line fighter and in secondary roles for several air forces well into the 1950s.

Southampton suffered serious bombing during WW2 but the worst nights were 30th November and 1st December 1940. When 2631 high explosive bombs and 30652 incendiary bombs were fell on the city. During the bombing that night 630 citizens were killed and 1900 injured. 3589 buildings were destroyed and 40000 damaged, it is an amazing fact that the bargate still stands!