![An installation of large sculptural works are situated in a bright gallery space. On the back wall is a large scale black and white painting encompassing over sized doodles.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/0420331b-f3b0-4790-893a-25bbb99b252a_DSC3135LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![An installation of large sculptural works are situated in a bright gallery space. On the back wall is a large scale black and white painting encompassing over sized doodles.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/0420331b-f3b0-4790-893a-25bbb99b252a_DSC3135LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![From the left to the right. Their is a painting of a happy family. In the middle of the image is a grey wall with around 40 publications pinned to it. On the right hand side is a timber construction with more publications hanging from it. The gallery is light and bright.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/b1fd6578-e826-4d0d-80a8-4675af090d96_DSC3147LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![To the left of the installation is a long painting with a group of friendly people looking happy framed against a block of bright blue paint. On the right of the image is a timber construction with semi-transparent paper hanging from it.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/3283bee5-47df-4ca2-9b4f-8b8897aafadb_DSC3145LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A large scale black and white wall drawing of oversized doodles frames a series of small documentary photographs depicting everyday life in the North-East of England.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/14303b7f-4666-4471-9ea9-137b8c5dfaa3_DSC3150LR-2.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A bright white wall is covered in black and white photographs of female artists doing everyday activities.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/522803e1-fa94-4fc2-a247-28e91f865bb0_DSC3155LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A grey wall contains posters in bright colours taken from an archive of women artists from the North East of England. The shelf contains publications and pamphlets from the archive.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/ae9143d9-cffa-46d1-a4d2-5462670f5ba0_DSC3162LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A grey wall contains posters in bright colours taken from an archive of women artists from the North East of England. The shelf contains publications and pamphlets from the archive.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/7daa09ed-707e-4211-ba6c-e81d04290030_DSC3178LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A flat screen TV on the left of the image has a screen that says Society ? To the right of the image is a series of publications on the wall, their shadows form the shape of birds.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/e885e38a-f730-4a50-a1bb-9c320dd687d7_DSC3172LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A large long painting of a group of young children are sitting on a wall looking happy and awkward. They are framed by light blue paint.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/08711388-5c8a-4fc8-a859-7f349ff33bc6_DSC3164LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
![A vitrine contains lots of brightly coloured archival material taken from workshops.](https://images.prismic.io/georgevasey/311910e5-6766-43bf-9616-06719e8ee42b_DSC3180LR.jpg?ixlib=gatsbyFP&fit=max&auto=compress%2Cformat&w=8192)
The Everyday Political brings together artists and art collectives from the North East of England. Expanding on Holly Argent’s Women Artists of the North East Library (Workplace Foundation, Gateshead, 22 June – 9 September), elements of the library will be exhibited at Southwark Park Galleries in London alongside new work including audio, text, painting and photography.
The exhibition, curated by George Vasey, resists neat thematics and foregrounds a series of questions: how can we articulate a strategic regionalism? How do we frame the messiness and intimacy of the social? What are the current and localised urgencies felt within the North East and can they be transferred to another city? And where is north from here?
These questions form a metaphorical metronome for the exhibition; if the curator establishes a rhythm section, then the participating artists provide the melody. This is further articulated through the conversational and collaborative nature of the group show. By inviting artists to suggest other participants from the region, intergenerational voices echo throughout the show in different guises. As such, The Everyday Political becomes a particularly subjective travelogue – a letter written from the North by the artists who live there.
Taking inspiration from Joy Labinjo’s paintings of her family, the exhibition forms a type of portrait of this art scene. Central to the exhibition is a series of photographs by Kuba Ryniewicz who has created a set of new narrative portraits in collaboration with the artists Deborah Bower, Jo Coupe and Janina Sabaliauskaite. These artists were nominated by Holly Argent and Jade Sweeting as influences on their respective practices and, through citation and homage, articulate the core values of the exhibition. Photographer Mark Pinder will be presenting images from his archive dating back to 1987, forming a fragmented portrait of the region during that period.
Conversations had by the curator whilst undertaking a Teaching Fellowship at Newcastle University are manifested in The Everyday Political – developed by Vasey in conversation with Holly Argent and Workplace Foundation in response to the Great Exhibition of the North (June-September 2018).
Reviews:
Location:
Southwark Park Galleries
Curator:
George Vasey
Partners:
Workplace Foundation and Southwark Park Galleries
Special Thanks:
Paul Moss and Judith Carlton
Photography:
Damian Griffiths