The Viewing Room is UK New Artists’ virtual gallery space. The inaugural exhibition, titled Somewhere Between Reality and Obscurity, presented new work by twelve of the UK’s most exciting emerging visual artists. The exhibition displayed a breadth of work for you to enjoy and this was a great opportunity to see, and purchase stunning contemporary art for your home or office. The exhibiting artists were:
Jarvis Brookfield | Hannah Campion | Lisa Denyer | Parham Ghalamdar | Juliet E P Gibbs | Sarah Gilman | Timothy Hon Hung Lee | Ellen Ranson | Irina Razumovskaya | Joanna Whittle | Jodie Wingham | Rafal Zajko
Somewhere Between Reality and Obscurity was curated by Garth Gratrix. Gratrix is an artist, curator, and founding director of Abingdon Studios Ltd, Blackpool, with an international portfolio of solo, group, and collaborative exhibitions and interventions. He is one of five artists selected in 2020 for the inaugural PIVOT Award in partnership with The Bluecoat and Castlefield Gallery. Gratrix is the Associate Curator for UKNA overseeing a number of successful exhibitions including The Beginning, National Assembly, Seoul, South Korea (2018), GRAFT - a show of uk young artists, Harris Museum & Art Gallery (2019), and the Robert Walters UK Young Artist of the Year Award 2019 in partnership with Saatchi Gallery, London.
The Viewing Room gallery was designed and built by Ronan Somerville. Ronan is a multidisciplinary designer and Alumni of UKNA, currently studying Design at Goldsmiths, University of London. His work blends the digital and the analogue, with a strong focus on digital surrealism and interaction design. Recent projects of his have explored artificial intelligence, 3D animation, creative coding, audio-reactive installation, and more.
Alongside The Viewing Room, we took the opportunity to celebrate the finalists of the Robert Walters Group UK Young Artist of the Year Award 2019. Morgan Dowdall, Camilla Hanney, Will Harman, Malgorzata Lisiecka, Manon Ouimet, and Conor Rogers have all gone onto acclaim nationally and internationally, and we gave you a unique opportunity to see, purchase and enjoy their work again.
Somewhere Between Reality and Obscurity has now closed, however you can see image documentation of the exhibition below.
Read the Curatorial Statement
Image: Curator Garth Gratrix, amongst work by Morgan Dowdall and Rob Branigan. Photo by Reece Straw.
Enter the
RWA Collection
Image: Robert Walters Award 2019 finalists at The Saatchi Gallery. Photograph by Reece Straw
Supporting Artists
UK New Artists is committed to providing a creative community and support for artists in the early stages of their careers. This support and community is needed now more than ever. Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on the careers and livelihoods of new artists across the country, and across the world. The loss of income, the prolonged absence of work and the isolation and uncertainty have caused huge financial and wellbeing challenges for creatives.
This is why we are launching The Viewing Room. Over the coming year it is our aim to raise at least £10,000, which will directly support emerging UK creatives.
To reach our £10,000 target, we need the support of generous, enlightened sponsors, donors and art lovers. People just like you. Proceeds from the gallery sales will go directly to the artist and will be invested in supporting our creative community of artists, dancers, poets, theatre-makers and musicians.
We know times are tough for everybody, however we are asking those that are able to consider making a donation. Whether you can spare £10 or £100, you can be assured that your gift will be supporting performers, makers and creative thinkers at the beginnings of their careers.