Earlier this year Art for Guernsey and ArtHouse Jersey announced our intention to work together, joining forces to promote the Channel Islands – collaboratively to France and other jurisdictions.
We are excited to tell you about our forthcoming exhibition, the Channel Islands Contemporary Art Show. This inaugural exhibition is drawn from an open call to Channel Islands and international artists, and is produced and curated by Art for Guernsey and ArtHouse Jersey in association with Les Champs Libres in Rennes.
The exhibition is currently showing in Jersey. Nineteen artists were selected to feature in the exhibition: five are from Guernsey, seven from Jersey and seven from other countries around the world, including Germany, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Moldova and Russia.
The artists are: Leo Boyd (N. Ireland), Charlie Buchanan (Guernsey), Jason Butler (Jersey), Notta Caflish (Switzerland), Paul Chambers (Guernsey), Connor Daly (Jersey), Emily de Gruchy (Jersey), Sally Ede-Golightly (Guernsey), Eugen Gorean (Moldova), Tim LeBreuilly (Jersey), Yulia Makeyeva (Jersey), Peter Mammes (South Africa/UK), Oleg Mikhailov (Russia), Shan O’Donnell (Jersey), Vesna Parchet (UK), Hugh Rose (Guernsey), Martin Toft (Jersey), Philip Valenta (Germany) and Aaron Yeandle (Guernsey).
The Channel Islands Contemporary Art Show is a new project that takes as its ‘anchor point’ the inspiration experienced by the many artists who came to the Channel Islands to live, for refuge or for inspiration, particularly from the late-19th to mid-20th century. Reflecting on the present-day social realities of the islands, the exhibition has been shaped through a spirit of dialogue, experiment and artistic rigour, supported by the exhibition’s curatorial team across Guernsey, Jersey and Brittany, France. It aims to offer new perspectives on how the islands relate both to their own pasts and to a wider global future.
It features artworks from some of the Channel Islands’ most influential artists as well as a new generation who are looking, living and breathing the contemporary realities of these islands from close up and afar to create exquisite, moving and thought-provoking works that help us see both our shared histories and present realities in a vibrant and changing light.
The partnership came to fruition following a cultural diplomacy field trip to Rennes in June 2022 where the organisations engaged with galleries and museums, as well as the cultural services of the city, with the view of exploring artistic collaborations aimed at creating wider connections between the respective jurisdictions. Through this process, the two organisations identified a shared vision for how art can make concrete contributions to society, and in particular how it can connect communities, opening new and more positive dialogues across a wider range of topics. The Channel Islands Contemporary Art Show is the first project of this nature.
PART II OF THE CHANNEL ISLAND CONTEMPORARY ART SHOW.
