The Fourdrinier (2024)

12/08/2024

EXPERIMENTAL Aug 2024 The Artists in The Exhibition: An Adaptation – Brass Art at HOME

“In ‘The Lady in The Looking Glass’, which was first published in 1929 in Harper’s Magazine, the protagonist, Isabella Tyson, has left the house and the narrator is left to guess at her personality and inner life. Meanwhile, the room and its normally inanimate objects are magically charged with spiritual force and energy. Rooms flush unexpectedly with colour. There are mysterious rustlings and a sense (or sound?) of breathing permeates the scene.

"Switch back to HOME and Brass Art, the renowned collective of artists Chara Lewis, Kristin Mojsiewicz & Anneke Pettican have installed five groups of works that aim to evoke the essence of Woolf’s imagination and that haunt the space with vivid, twilit silhouettes, shifting washes thrown off by animated neon, ambitious and technically fascinating two-channel video work, and a strange dull glimmering.”

- Jo Manby

Brass Art ‘rock, quiver and bend’ install shot (Left: Spiderling; A Painted Show Thing. Outer left and right: the torrent of things grown so familiar). Photo: Michael Pollard

HOME Mcr The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

12/08/2024

REVIEW Aug 2024 40 Years of the Future: Where Should We Be Now? Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, an exhibition presented in partnership with University of Salford Art Collection.

“Knopf was intrigued by the collection of deities from ancient cultures, which Freud referred to as ‘grubby gods’ that he placed upon his desk. Knopf sees their positioning as a form of barrier between Freud and his patient. For Freud, these objects are both familiar as muses and a source of inspiration, but also defamiliar. They remain inscrutable to the great thinker in their significance to their associated ancient culture, but also in their nature as a crude depiction of the god they each represent.”

- David Hancock

Jeffrey Knopf – Companions (2024), Pewter & Glass (Photo: David Hancock)

Castlefield Gallery University of Salford Art Collection David Hancock The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

06/08/2024

New: the Fourdrinier August 2024 issue online!

REVIEW Aug 2024 40 Years of the Future: Where Should We Be Now? Castlefield Gallery, Manchester - Director of PAPER Gallery Manchester Ltd/the Fourdrinier, artist & lecturer David Hancock reviews the Castlefield Gallery exhibition, free to visit, till 6 Oct '24: a fascinating insight into the work of the three artists Jeffrey Knopf, Theo Simpson & Hope Strickland.

EXPERIMENTAL Aug 2024 The Artists in The Exhibition: An Adaptation – Brass Art at HOME. The majority of Brass Art’s works in ‘rock, quiver and bend’ at HOME (free to visit, until 1 September 2024) are directly inspired by various Virginia Woolf novels. the Fourdrinier editor Jo Manby adapts Woolf’s short story ‘The Lady in The Looking-Glass’, placing ‘the artists’ (loosely referencing Brass Art) in the place of the Lady of the title, their exhibition in place of the mirror. Woolf has already reviewed the show; you just need to read ‘The Lady in The Looking Glass’ from a different angle.

PASSING CLOUD part eleven continues to relate to the work of David Hancock and forthcoming group show, Omnipotence of Dream, Salford Museum & Art Gallery this Autumn with the theme of specially made-up and costumed dolls set within carefully arranged environments. In Adaptation, Jo Manby describes the new architectural addition to the craft / nursery / studio / office from where the infant AI Baby sends messages out across space. Xhi Ndubisi writes the attentive, attuned life of a fisherman who annotates the behaviour of clouds in Pink Sky in the Morning.

Jeffrey Knopf – The Closest I Got to Freud’s Desk (2024) Steel, glass and 3D Printed Plastic, installation view @ Castlefield Gallery (Photo: Jules Lister) | Brass Art ‘rock, quiver and bend’ install shot (Left: Apparitions. Right: the torrent of things grown so familiar). Photo: Michael Pollard | David Hancock The Sphinx (After Leonor Fini) (2021) Watercolour on Paper 76 x 56cm

Castlefield Gallery David Hancock HOME Mcr The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

22/07/2024

“Making a 1:1 scale replica of the Giardini in Venice out of layered fruit jelly is no easy feat, but it can be done with the right approach. First, you'll need to create a mould to cast the jelly in. This can be a daunting task, as the Giardini is a large and intricate space.

Start by carefully measuring and mapping out the layout of the Giardini, then construct a sturdy mould that can hold the volume of jelly required. You'll need to consider factors like the depth of the canals and the height of the buildings when designing your mould…”’

- Rytr, The Giardini Jelly, from PASSING CLOUD part 10

In July 2024 PASSING CLOUD part ten, the collaborative writing continues to refer to the paintings of David Hancock (Director of PAPER Gallery Manchester Ltd and the Fourdrinier) which he will be exhibiting in a forthcoming group exhibition, Omnipotence of Dream, at Salford Museum & Art Gallery later this year.

In ‘The Giardini Jelly’ Jo Manby asks the AI text generator Rytr for instructions on how to go about making a layered fruit jelly version of the Giardini in Venice.

'The Giardini Jelly' is inspired by an ongoing project conversation between Jo Manby and Gary James Williams.

David Hancock The Mannequin (After Paul Delvaux) (2022) Watercolour on Paper 56 x 76cm

David Hancock The Giardini (After Marion Adnams) (2022) Watercolour on Gesso Panel 50 x 40cms

David Hancock The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

15/07/2024

FROM THE ARTIST’S MOUTH July 2024 What I talk about when I’m talking about my work. Jack Brown

“Of course, my peers, curators I’m in dialogue with, subconscious art ancestors and stylistic ghosts wander amongst this audience, but at its core it’s largely from outside the artworld, ‘unprimed’ and uninhibited by the baggage of ‘art lingo’ or for that matter art history.

This means I try and make works that are generous, open and have multiple ‘ways in’. These ‘ways in’ span common cultural references, humour, art world tropes, placing the work outside of a gallery, familiar materials use in unfamiliar ways or sharing the authorship of a work during a public project I’m leading.”

- Jack Brown

Jack Brown Rock face (2024) For ‘Psychogeology’ a public commission with Signal Film and Media in Barrow-in-Furness.

The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER

15/07/2024

REVIEW July 2024 John Lyons: ‘Carnivalesque’ at The Whitworth

“Lyons’ surreal marks swirl around peripheral figures as if they are phantoms conjured in a puff of smoke. Compositionally, this work is exciting as the crowd amasses to loom over the viewer looking just about ready to sweep them up in their clutches. There is something so menacing here turning the mood from joyful to alarming. Frozen in the middle of some energetic activity, the frantic poses shake with a vitality as if set to music.”

- Kirsty Jukes

John Lyons Obeahman as Muse (c.2002) oil on canvas 77 x 97cm photo David Hancock

The Whitworth The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

08/07/2024

The July issue of the Fourdrinier – online now!

REVIEW July 2024 John Lyons: ‘Carnivalesque’ at The Whitworth

Art historian and writer Kirsty Jukes reviews John Lyons’ first major retrospective exhibition surveying six decades of his contribution to British art, literature and art education. ‘Carnivalesque’ at The Whitworth, Manchester celebrates his intuitive style and the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago. With over 80 artworks, with many not seen in decades, ‘Carnivalesque’ is on show free until 25 August 2024.

FROM THE ARTIST’S MOUTH July 2024 What I talk about when I’m talking about my work: Jack Brown

As part of our remit, we’ve always sought to give coverage to independent, artist-led and not-for-profit spaces, and individual artists. So, we are opening up a pre-existing section on our site, ‘From the Artist’s Mouth’ to allow one artist or artist group per month/issue to submit a text of their own wording (whether descriptive, critical, or experimental – subject to editorial). Email [email protected] for more information on ‘From the Artist’s Mouth.’ This new strand kicks off with Greater Manchester-based artist, Jack Brown, who has a studio at Paradise Works, Salford and is represented by Gertrude.

PASSING CLOUD July 2024 part ten – ‘Pupil PART THREE of THREE’ and ‘Mutation’

In PASSING CLOUD part ten, the collaborative writing continues to refer to the paintings of David Hancock (Director of PAPER Gallery Manchester Ltd and the Fourdrinier) which he will be exhibiting in a forthcoming group exhibition, Omnipotence of Dream, at Salford Museum & Art Gallery later this year. Xhi Ndubisi completes the three part series within a series begun in May, with Pupil PART THREE of THREE. In Mutation Jo Manby writes about the infant AI Baby playing with their dolls in an imaginary Giardini.

Link to review, From the Artist’s Mouth and Passing Cloud in bio

John Lyons Masquerading (1992) oil on canvas, 156 x 186cm photo David Hancock

Jack Brown Covered Fruit Machine (detail) (2024)

David Hancock The Giardini (After Marion Adnams) (2022) Watercolour on Gesso Panel 50 x 40cms

The Fourdrinier The Whitworth David Hancock Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

17/06/2024

In the May, June, July and August issues PASSING CLOUD, the Surreal flowing narrative of the collaborative writing experiment turns to the subject matter of the paintings of David Hancock (Director of PAPER Gallery Manchester Ltd and the Fourdrinier) which he will be exhibiting in a forthcoming exhibition, ‘Omnipotence of Dream’, at Salford Museum & Art Gallery later this year.

In the June issue, Xhi Ndubisi continues a three part series within a series begun in May, with Pupil PART TWO of THREE.

“We are floating in vespertine warmth, turning in the darkness, watching the sun set.

Earth. Sky. Earth. Sky.”

- Xhi Ndubisi, Pupil PART TWO of THREE from PASSING CLOUD part nine

In Variation Jo Manby writes about the infant AI Baby beginning to stand and walk around, and the screen that appears above their head.

“…you had all the ingredients but not the recipe the components dispersed and disassembled spells unformulated though the constituents lay arrayed all around…”

- Jo Manby, Variation from PASSING CLOUD part nine

Images: Ni Yuanlu (Chinese, 1593–1644) Cloud Rock (Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Date: 16th–mid-17th century) Hanging scroll, ink on silk. Image: 130.8 x 45.4 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988 | David Hancock Variation on Pink (After Marion Adnams) (2024) Watercolour on Gesso Panel 40 x 30cm

David Hancock The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

11/06/2024

New review, new PASSING CLOUD in the June issue of the Fourdrinier
REVIEW June 2024 Fin-du-Monde Malaise – ‘Paul Winstanley: Reprise’ at Cristea Roberts

Jo Manby reviews a new body of work, at Cristea Roberts London until 27 July 2024, in which Paul Winstanley repurposes obscure, historic nineteenth century Alpine landscape paintings, pressing them into new service as a form of reverse speculative painting through a combination of traditional and digital printing.

Stolen away from the future, abraded and worn but still somehow intact, before the ravages of time and climate crisis completely melt away the glaciers, Winstanley seems to be engaged in rescuing the sublime from the destruction of the cataclysmic future.
PASSING CLOUD June 2024 part nine

In PASSING CLOUD part nine, the Surreal flowing narrative of the collaborative writing turns to the subject matter of the paintings of David Hancock (Director of PAPER Gallery Manchester Ltd and the Fourdrinier) which he will be exhibiting in a forthcoming exhibition, Omnipotence of Dream, at Salford Museum & Art Gallery later this year.
The theme of specially made-up and costumed dolls set within and against carefully arranged backgrounds or environments will continue through June, July and August issues.

Images:

Paul Winstanley Alp (Blue-Violet) (2024) Photogravure etching 67.8 x 59.3 cm Edition of 15 Courtesy artist and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London © Paul Winstanley

David Hancock Variation on Red (After Marion Adnams) (2024) Watercolour on Gesso Panel 40 x 30cm (c) and courtesy the artist

David Hancock The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

20/05/2024

Passing Cloud part eight May 2024

The last visible stars disappear into new day, but we can still make out the constellation of Sagittarius, one of two centaurs in the sky. Half horse, half man, the brothers are children of a cloud and a covetous king.

- Xhi Ndubisi, Pupil PART ONE of THREE from Passing Cloud part eight

The solar system is reflected in your line of vision, in the depths of your wide-open, cavernous eyes. A beautiful line of small coloured spheres; you take them in your stride.

there was a time . there was a time . there was a time

- Jo Manby, HOT SPRINGS from Passing Cloud part eight

Image: The Vina Player by Amrita Sher-Gil (1938) Lahore Museum. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Fourdrinier PAPER Gallery Arts Council England

17/05/2024

“Spread out on the floor of a large industrial unit in a former tram shed in Ardwick (the title of the exhibition, ‘Twelve Thousand’, gives an idea of the square footage, I suspect) are off-cuts sourced from the manufacturer of affordable granite and marble worktops in the unit opposite.

"Mostly square, varied in thickness, colour and size, they are arranged into two areas of improvised paving whose irregular edges make them look like a work in progress, interrupted rather than finished, with several precarious stacks of surplus slabs still waiting their turn. A lump of a different material, bronze, steel, terracotta, plaster, rests on the top of each of them. For now.”

- review of Nicola Ellis and Richard Dean Hughes Twelve Thousand by Pavel Büchler

Image: Twelve Thousand install shot photo Michael Pollard.

The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

15/05/2024

Call for reader testimonials

Here at the Fourdrinier we're always keen to hear what you think. Please email us a short testimonial (100-150 words) for use in marketing materials and evaluation to [email protected]. Your testimonial will potentially be used in promotional material and on social media. A few questions you could consider…

1. What is your overall impression of the Fourdrinier as a reader?

2. How does the Fourdrinier sit within the context of online contemporary arts publications in the region, and more widely?

3. What is your opinion of the site accessibility of the Fourdrinier?

4. Which of the following is most likely to inspire you to read the Fourdrinier:

· Article about your own practice or someone you know

· Article about an artist/theme you are particularly interested in

· Need for research

· Need for inspiration

· Having some time to devote to a longform read

· Reminders in Mailchimp newsletter/socials

5. In your opinion, how do you rate the calibre of writing on the Fourdrinier?

6. What, in your opinion, is ‘Passing Cloud’?

Please also indicate whether we can use your name, or if you would prefer your testimonial to be anonymous.

email us at [email protected]

14/05/2024

May issue

“The themes and narratives which were presented in ‘Traces of Displacement’ are of great personal interest to me. Having studied sociology and international relations academically, and having a passion for socio-political art, an exhibition that uncovers stories of individuals who have experienced and survived through tragic circumstances that may otherwise go unheard, is of significant value to me.

"War and displacement have been a continuing theme in world histories. We cannot ignore the lives and suffering within and around us. We are all connected through these issues with neighbours, friends, family members, associates and strangers, whose lives, sometimes unknowingly to us, have been impacted by displacement.”

- interview with the curators of Traces of Displacement at The Whitworth by Harpreet Kaur

Image: Caroline Walker 'Joy, 11.30am, Hackney' (2018) Image courtesy the artist, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, GRIMM Gallery and Ingleby, Edinburgh. © Caroline Walker.

The Whitworth The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

07/05/2024

Our May issue is out now, with some great reads!

1. INTERVIEW Writer/ cultural consultant Harpreet Kaur discussed the exhibition ‘Traces of Displacement’ with Dr Leanne Green, previous curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Whitworth & Prof Ana Carden-Coyne from The University of Manchester. On show at The Whitworth until 7 January 2024, it drew on the expertise of a project entitled ‘Understanding Displacement Aesthetics’, working with the Whitworth’s curator, academics, and a focus group of advisors with lived experience or heritage of displacement.

2. REVIEW Academic Pavel Büchler reflects on the exhibition ‘Twelve Thousand’ by Nicola Ellis and Richard Dean Hughes, which the two artists presented at the Maple Industrial Estate in Ardwick, Manchester, from 23 February to 17 March 2024. Nicola Ellis makes work that addresses information, tradition and legacy through materials, systems & the people who work with them. Artist Richard Dean Hughes’ work describes the elusive relationship between the real and the hypothetical, often revisiting and depicting a personal/ internal space

3. PASSING CLOUD part eight May 2024: Xhi Ndubisi begins a three parter within the collaborative serialised journal Passing Cloud, with Pupil PART ONE of THREE. Follow the trajectory from Whitworth Park in Manchester as AiB the infant artificial intelligence is taken on a kite flying, picnicking, song-singing sojourn. In HOT SPRINGS Jo Manby continues the fabling of a baby artificial intelligence who needs careful guardianship with their tendency to swallow great tracts of information without having the knowledge (yet) to know what to do with it.

Images: Mounira al Solh I strongly believe in our right to be frivolous #149 (2016) mixed media drawing on legal paper. Image courtesy the artist and the Whitworth, The University of Manchester | Twelve Thousand install shot photo Michael Pollard | Mauna Kea from Hilo Bay (1887) D. Howard Hitchcock. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The Whitworth The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

12/04/2024

April issue

‘Colour theory in film tells us that the repetitive use of a certain colour draws focus to significant details and provokes a psychological response. In this instance, the puncturing intensity of red and its associations with love and death as well as its ability to contrast with the verdant rural landscape and ashen mists of the film's setting is a continuation of established tension. In Iranian culture, red is used in cooking and clothing dyes.

'It also makes up the red clay of buildings such as those in the town of Abyaneh, close to Mohammadi’s native Tehran at the foot of the Karkass mountains. In the fire temples of Zoroastrianism present in many places across the East including this one, fire and its associated colour red are agents of ritual purity.’

- review of ‘Nikta Mohammadi: Memory Stone’ at The Lowry by Kirsty Jukes

Images:

Film still from Memory Stone, courtesy Nikta Mohammadi

Film still from Memory Stone, courtesy Nikta Mohammadi

Photograph taken on the Memory Stone film set by Jhenelle White, courtesy Nikta Mohammadi

The Lowry The Fourdrinier PAPER Gallery

08/04/2024

The April issue is online now!

REVIEW Nikta Mohammadi: Memory Stone Apr 2024

Art historian and writer Kirsty Jukes reviews Nikta Mohammadi’s immersive film installation and accompanying exhibition ‘Memory Stone’ at The Lowry, Salford. In this, her first institutional solo presentation, Mohammadi, originally from Tehran and now based in West Yorkshire, explores dreams and displacement within the context of the British countryside. Specially commissioned as part of ‘Developed with The Lowry’, the artist development programme that offers a bespoke package of support for artists over 12-18 months to create ambitious, high-quality work, ‘Nikta Mohammadi: Memory Stone’ is available to view for free until 5 May 2024.

PASSING CLOUD part seven Apr 2024

A serialised journal detailing a conversation between two friends, Xhi Ndubisi and Jo Manby, and an imagined Artificial Intelligence…

Images:

Photograph taken on the Memory Stone film set by and courtesy of Nikta Mohammadi.

14/03/2024

Passing Cloud part six Mar 2024

‘The mid-fuselage lifts out of the abdomen, and the aft, engorges, straightens into a glorious, segmented tail, bracing the dragonfly as it shakes the newness from its skin. It expands, pumping blood into four wings, orienting them into position. It has not shed its jaw. Star Ship Odonata, affectionately known as SS. Pilgrim or Ooda by AiB, works the new apparatus and cleans its compound eyes with appendages that will never be used to walk.’

- Xhi Ndubisi, How to Make a Spaceship from Passing Cloud part six

'When you are inside it is like a deserted Elysium. Like a huge baroque restaurant with nobody in it. When you come outside again you emerge miniscule, from between the sepals of a euryops, orange-ochre wide eye daisy that grows with the red oat grass under the yellow and pink tassels of the sickle bush. You are in a savannah meadow, a rolling plain of fire resistant and spiked plants, trees that scorn leaves, populating the grassland with their monolithic trunks.'

- Jo Manby, Mpumalanga Lowveld from Passing Cloud part six

Image: Stamp of Katanga, the Republic of the Congo overprint on the stamp of Belgian Congo, issued 22/9/1960, face value 2 Katangan franc, image of Leopard Orchid (ansellia africana)

The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

14/03/2024

Talking of social media, of public presence, I ask Tingle about the way she could be seen as a living advert for her own brand. We end up talking about tableaux vivants. French for living picture, this was a fashion belonging to the historic 1830-1920 period (briefly revived during the Pandemic), when certain cultured socialites held fashionable tableau gatherings where they would dress up and arrange themselves in a fixed dramatic scene from classical mythology, art, literature, history or everyday life, and hold the pose silently and without movement… The critic, essayist and novelist Walter Pater (1839-94) with his doctrine of art for art’s sake, explored the idea of the aesthetic moment, and the aesthetic life, as a means of the individual recovering something entirely beautiful out of the space-time flow of Darwinist existence…’

- review of Ruby Tingle Afterlife at The Whitaker by Jo Manby

Image: Ruby Tingle Deep Swamp - Aqua Pupa Ascending Collage, specialist paper, dye

Ruby Tingle Nosuchthing The Whitaker - Rossendale Museum and Art Gallery The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

11/03/2024

March issue

‘…[Chi] Emecheta realised the various potentials of Crowcroft Park, the green space at the heart of Longsight. Led by director Claire Biggs (now on the LCAS board) and with the support of Green Spaces fund and Manchester City Council, orchards and a wellness garden were planted in on the site of a disused bowling green.

This went hand in hand with a beautiful discovery: ‘Crowcroft Park has a very long and complicated history and was farmland at one point. It already has a very old pear tree – it’s huge and must be hundreds of years old… the pear tree and the old, craggy apple trees, suggest the ghost of a farmstead in the park.’

As Bailkoski points out, the eventual aim is to provide fruit, ‘which will help address food price rises alongside an environmental education programme. This community orchard is only possible with residents and park users’ involvement and ownership of this long term project.’

- feature on Longsight Community Art Space CIC by Jo Manby

Image: REIGN Flower Mandala by Nadia Sultana, photo Chris Bailkoski

PROFORMA Ruby Tingle The Whitaker - Rossendale Museum and Art Gallery The Fourdrinier Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

01/03/2024

Catch our March issue, online now:

1. FEATURE Longsight Community Art Space CIC Mar 2024: As part of the celebrations of the first two years of Longsight Art Space, and of its formalisation as a Community Interest Company, editor Jo Manby discussed the inspirational cultural force for good that it embodies with directors Chris Bailkoski and Chi Emecheta, who have ensured that LCAS, a socially cohesive organisation, has its feet firmly planted within the grassroots of the vibrant, diverse Longsight community.

2. REVIEW Ruby Tingle Afterlife Mar 2024: the Fourdrinier editor Jo Manby reviews a multi-media, multi-sensory show reanimating the historic taxidermy collection of The Whitaker, Rossendale as a set of newly imagined dioramas. This personal interpretation of a swamp heaven, on show until Sunday 10 Mar 24, is conceptualised according to the wetland aesthetic of audiovisual artist and performer Ruby Tingle, represented by No Such Thing Records & PAPER Gallery Manchester.

3. PASSING CLOUD part six Mar 2024: The conversation between two friends, Xhi Ndubisi and Jo Manby, & an imagined Artificial Intelligence progresses. ‘Around the nursery is a jungle of free growing and potted plants both domestic and wild. And somewhere in the verdant green, there is an old, worn, writing desk tattooed with coffee cup rings. There, on the leather top, a dormant egg lies in waiting. Before we start, we push aside the atari computer console and the girl AiB helps us prepare food and lay the table.’

Images: Longsight Community Art Space, photo Chris Bailkoski | Afterlife (Ruby Tingle and KINRAR) Digital and Vinyl Single Artwork by Lewis Lafond | Nesta Lewis, Dragonfly Rocket (2024) mixed media

The Fourdrinier PROFORMA Arts Council England PAPER Gallery

14/02/2024

For the February issue , scheme writer Marjorie H Morgan reviews an exhibition by artist Jo Lathwood, who has been commissioned by The Lowry to spend six weeks as artist in residence, constructing and deconstructing a brand new site-responsive installation.

Inspired by the history of Salford Quays, the large-scale sculptural work is made using recycled materials and, at the end of the exhibition period, will leave no trace, the materials repurposed and distributed elsewhere.

Gallery visitors can watch Lathwood building her work daily in person in the galleries or via live-streamed CCTV footage from The Lowry Galleries basement workshops (11am-5pm Tues-Sun). Marjorie H Morgan details the following exploration of the themes, influences and ideologies behind Lathwood’s work, a must-read for anyone planning to experience ‘Jo Lathwood: Making Up’, viewable at The Lowry, Salford Quays until 3 March 2024.

Image: Jo Lathwood, Making Up installation shot (2023/4). Image courtesy Michael Pollard.

The Lowry Arts Council England The Fourdrinier PAPER Gallery

14/02/2024

Passing Cloud: a serialised journal by Xhi Ndubisi, Jo Manby and an imagined Artificial Intelligence part five

Alongside scheme writer Marjorie H Morgan’s review of ‘Jo Lathwood: Making Up’ at The Lowry, the February issue presents the fifth part of the ongoing collaborative, sequential, experimental series by writer and artist Xhi Ndubisi and the Fourdrinier editor Jo Manby. Passing Cloud charts a conversation between two friends and an imagined infant Artificial Intelligence, AiB. In February 2024, AiB is an egg: but at the same time, an emergent personality.

“Once the nausea settled in, she gave up and tried a spell: fass-el-oh-for-rah--- kam-tcha-tica. It didn’t work the first time but once she clicked the syllable in place, the scratch of a lighter wheel against flint, the egg grew. It bubbled, thickened and rose into the air. It became a yellow domed medusa, with ribbons of white smoke and a skirt of hair-fine tentacles trailing in its wake.”

- Xhi Ndubisi

“…clothes made of scarlet filaments, brown ribbons punctuated with gelatinous studs, succulent emerald green streamers, purple blots fringed with cilia. A mysterious desire to dress up as sea creatures permeated all levels of earthbound society. Some wore satins and silks, some wore tattered plastic coated with a patina of algae.”

- Jo Manby

Image: Page from Thesaurus thesaurorum (c. 1725) Reference: MS.4775 Public Domain Mark. Credit: Thesaurus thesaurorum. Source: Wellcome Collection.

The Lowry The Fourdrinier PAPER Gallery

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