matthewcowan.net

Aberystwyth

2011-12-12T15:19:00.001+13:00

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My residency at Aberystwyth disappeared even quicker than I had expected it might. The last few weeks fell through the hourglass at breakneck speed as I tried to get all the things that I had started to a completed state.

We had an open studios on the 24 November, which was a nice way to catch up with a lot of people that I have met over the last three months, and to show some of the things I have been working on. This included a set of portraits, some costumes, some masks entitled 'three quack doctor's masks for the purposes of self diagnosis - the coroner, the psychologist & the surgeon', and a chair banner/costume that I just finished. [also we had a chance to finish off the packet of fireworks I had left over from making a film].

There are three projects that I have been working on mainly….

A series of portraits based on an image that I found at the Ceredigion Museum.

I was interested in the history of the Welsh folk costume, an image that you know as the ubiquitous dress of women on postcards of Wales. I was lucky to discover that Michael Freeman, the curator at the Ceredigion Museum is an expert in the history of the Welsh women's folk costume. How this dress came to be associated with a national identity is a curious process in itself, but I wanted to look a little beyond this history. Through the process of going through some victorian examples of people wearing this costume we came across a very curious image indeed…

This photograph provides no immediate clues about its origin or its intention, but this is what I like the most about it. Why had this bearded man gone to the trouble of being photographed in a welsh folk costume, and who was the photograph intended for?

Perhaps this image was intended simply as a joke, but it led me to discover more about the Rebecca Riots, a series of protests by farmers and agricultural workers in Wales in the 1840s over unfair taxation. The protesters dressed as women for disguise and invoked a short verse from the bible. The image is also familiar to me as the man/woman character in European folk drama and ritual, a figure that plays with the topsy turvy nature of folk celebration, and a distant relative of the modern pantomime dame.

Working with Stuart Evans at the museum, I created a series of portraits of men wearing traditional women's folk costume, using the image above for a starting point.

Straw Devils

There are many examples of straw costumes for folk rituals across Europe and the rest of the world, but I was curious about the possibility of constructing some costumes from drinking straws. These costumes became two devil characters after I had been reading Edmund Jones' accounts of appearances and sightings of the devil across Wales during the 1700s. After his his admission that he never really bothered to come to Cardigonshire and his firm belief that had he made it to these parts then he would have "received many accounts" of devilish activity and appearance, I decided that my characters would be a kind of example of a devilish occurrence in these parts.

I made two straw devils, one a mainly white one, with a dash of colour, that I decided was a 'devil of the daytime', and partnered this with a black devil, the 'devil of the nighttime'. I ordered 10,000 drinking straws to make these suits, and started by sewing them into strings, and then sewing these strings onto an undersuit. Like some of the ritual devils that you see in folk processions in eastern Europe, each costume has a long red tongue hanging down from its head.

I got the chance to use the costumes to film a short ritual involving a couple of other costumes I have made, and the University Cheerleaders.

The Sheep Stealer

One part of the residency at the Art Centre was to make an artwork with a group of people in the area. In the first few days that I was in Aberystwyth I came across the films of William Haggar in the Screen & Sound Archives at the National Library of Wales. I thought these films were amazing, and the humour and life in the stories he was telling seemed like a great point to start work with a group of people in the area. The same day that I had been looking at the Haggar films in the library, I had come across a photographic exhibition on the top floor of the library celebrating the history and the 70th anniversary of the Young Farmers Clubs in Ceredigion. The YFC seemed to be an amazing combination of rural skills and amateur dramatics taking place in fairgrounds and fields across the county.

The film that stood out to me initially had been 'The Sheep Stealer" made by Haggar in 1908, and after a few weeks of trying I managed to make contact with a group of YFC in Tregaron, not too far from Aberystwyth. After a few meetings we set a date and filmed a new version of the film on the farm belonging to the dad of one of the girls in the group. I shot both a digital and a super8 version of the film, and next year the both the original William Haggar film, and the new one we have worked on will be shown at the National Library.

www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk

Third Annual Disguised Sundown Procession

2011-10-25T10:49:00.000+13:00

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The Nine Deaths of Saint George at Experimentica

2011-10-15T03:18:00.000+13:00

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The Nine Deaths of Saint George

Film screening as part of Culture Colony’s presentation at Experimentica.

Chapter, Cardiff Wales

October 12 - 16, 2011

Fulgura Frango Performance

2011-09-05T03:18:00.012+12:00

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Performance stills from a performance at the Lincoln Drill Hall as part of the Lincoln Art Programme's Eccentric England season, August 2011.

The performance involved the ringing of bells using a variety of devices including Morris dancing bells, Lincolnshire sausages, handbells and a bellrope that lifted its ringer from the ground. The performance hinged on the past belief that the ringing of church bells drove away lightening strikes, and this is reflected in the inscription 'Fulgura Frango' on many large church bells.

photo credits: Julian Hughes

Film Premiere: The Company

2011-08-25T05:40:00.001+12:00

Film Premiere: The Company

2011-08-25T05:39:00.001+12:00

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Matthew Cowan
The Company

Saturday 3rd September, 2.00pm

Drill Hall, Free School Lane, Lincoln, LN2 1EY

New performance and film screening in response to working with the Company of Ringers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln.

The Company of Ringers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln was formalised on 18 October 1612, in a constitution granted by the Dean, and is the earliest known Company of Ringers still performing their duties for which they were set up. A patent, dated 23 September 1614, confirming the Rules of the Company and granting the use of the "one Chappell scituate and beinge within the dore that leadeth upp to saincte Hughe steeple to bee theire meetinge place". Thus the Lincoln Cathedral Company were granted their own Chapel, known today as The Ringers' Chapel, and unique in the field of bell ringing.

Matthew Cowan has been working with the Company of Ringers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, and has produced a new film of their meeting and practice which will accompany a performance. The ringers operate the 13 bells of the Cathedral in the Bell Ringer's Chamber high in the West Tower of the Cathedral. The film is a record of the ritual of the practice of the ringing of the cathedral bells, in a space that has been dedicated to such activity for nearly four hundred years.

Alongside the film will be a new live performance involving the repetitive ritual of bell ringing, the mechanism of the bell ropes, and the artist's own take on the physicality of campanology.

Lincoln Art Programme

Edinburgh Art Festival: Art Late Performance at 400 Women Installation | 25 August, 2011

2011-08-17T22:52:00.002+12:00

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25 August · 19:00 - 22:00

INTRODUCTION by Arthur Smith

IN THE BASEMENT: We present the first showing in Scotland of Micachu's new live score for Lotte Reiniger’s film Hansel and Gretel (1955) commissioned by and in association with Birds Eye View Films and courtesy of the BFI.

CONVERSATION: Artist Tamsyn Challenger and curator Gemma Rolls-Bentley, followed by Q&A.

IN THE PLAYGROUND: Performance by 400 Women collaborator Matthew Cowan;

The Bellman, inspired by the Burryman of South Queensferry, will process from the Royal Mile to the Canongate Venture playground.

The Art Late DJ SET: Micachu

Please give generously to the Hester Foundation; Put some money in a bucket, find a 400 team member or make a donation online www.hester.nu/donaties.html

Hester van Nierop was found dead in her hotel room in Ciudad Juarez in September 1998, having been raped and murdered. After a short holiday with her parents and younger sister, Hester was on her way to the U.S., where she hoped to find an architecture internship. She never reached her destination. In 2004, Hester's mother, Arsene van Nierop, decided to take action by creating Foundation Hester to fight the injustice and raise money for Casa Amiga Rape Crisis Centre in Ciudad Juarez.

Thanks to Rekorderlig Cider for sponsoring the event.
http://www.rekorderlig.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Rekorderlig
http://twitter.com/rekorderlig

Dutch food is available by donation and is kindly given to support the fundraiser by private sponsors.

Art OMI International Artists Programme | Performance at the Open Studios

2011-07-19T07:37:00.001+12:00

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Video of the performance 'A Quack's Brag' at the open studios at Art OMI, as part of the International Artists Programme.
July 2011

The performance draws on the archetype of the 'quack doctor', and his boasts of nonsense cures and topsy turvy travels, resulting in an exit on a flying turtle.

performance at Art OMI open studios
July 2011

Art OMI International Artists Programme | Open Studios

2011-07-19T07:04:00.015+12:00

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Images from the open studios at Art OMI on 17 July, 2011.

Art OMI International Artist Programme | JUNE & JULY 2011

2011-07-18T06:36:00.000+12:00

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In June and July I was part of an international selection of resident artists at the Art OMI International Artist Programme in upstate New York.

Omi International Arts Center is a not-for-profit residency program for international visual artists, writers, musicians and dancers as well as the site for The Fields Sculpture Park, a year round public exhibition space for contemporary sculpture.

The residency was an amazing coming-together of diverse practices, approaches and cultures. Although the programme was very busy, with many visitors from New York and beyond, there was time to make some new work, and an open studios day was held in the Art OMI studios at the end of the programme.

During the residency I worked on a series of quack doctor's masks, based on a very simple American folk disguise using a handkerchief. I had a chance to work with some of the children from the summer programme at OMI, and we made some costumes and a short performance.

The Whelk Man

2011-06-22T14:34:00.001+12:00

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the Whelk Man

2011-06-21T10:45:00.000+12:00

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New installation at the B&B Space by Matthew Cowan

opens Saturday June 25, 2011 1pm.

www.matthewcowan.net

Folkestone Triennial Fringe: Vernacular Folk

2011-05-13T04:40:00.000+12:00

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Club Shepway present their second season of Vernacular Events, Vernacular Folk, featuring artists, groups and projects responding to themes of folklore and the uncanny.

Artists:
Russell Maurice, Duncan Weston, Gail Burton, Bridgette Ashton, Matthew Cowan, Matt Rowe, Sarah Sparkes, Ricarda Vidal, Ruth Calland, Cathy Lomax, Mélanie Lecointe, François Coadou, Luke Godfrey, Annabel Dover, Hayley Lock, Alex Pearl, Mimei Thompson

Projects:
Tall Tales (Matt Rowe) GHost Club (Sarah Sparkes and Ricarda Vidal) , Field, The Count of Monte Cristo: The Unknown

Publications:
Monkey Puzzle Tree Cub, Bridgette Ashton, Russell Maurice, Duncan Weston

Throughout the build up to the Folkestone Triennial 2011 the B&B Project Space will become a residency venue for artists researching and developing work for the Folkestone Triennial Fringe. The selected artists have been asked to respond to the theme of folklore and the uncanny.
The works produced will form content for the Folkestone Triennial Fringe Events and will be documented in a publication, which will be published by Club Shepway.

Background to Theme: Folklore and the Uncanny
Folkestone is a gateway town, a portal to other cultures and areas, which has lead to the creation of a place with mingled and confused identities. Looking back over the town’s history it becomes apparent that the town’s denizens have courted their transitory environs seeing the opportunity in the ability to confused and myotholgise.
Folkestone has been inhabited since the Roman period running as a successful trading port, but it wasn’t until the Saxons c. AD 630 when Princess Easnwythe, (later canonized), made water run up hill and expelled the birds from her crops that the miracles and uncanny happenings were recorded.

Acting as a Limb to the Cinque ports of Hythe and Dover Folkestone benefited from the entitlements bestowed on the members of the confederation such as an exemption from tax; self-government, including it’s own justice system and possession of lost goods that remain unclaimed after a year, goods thrown overboard, and floating wreckage. This leeway led to a lawlessness, which resulted in the creation of a self styled place with water running up hill conveniently at a port on the pilgrimage to Canterbury.
Folkestone emerged as a thriving Edwardian seaside resort frequented by Edward VII himself, HG Wells and Agatha Christie. It was badly damaged in both the World Wars and it tails can be seen in the architecture and denizens of the town today.

New Commission: The Trivia of Eccentric England

2011-04-21T02:32:00.004+12:00

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Eccentricity is widely regarded as a slowly diminishing behavioural trait in today’s society, compressed and pressured to conform to popular consensus of normality. Yet looking closely throughout our England and Lincolnshire pockets of eccentric behaviour are still rife.

The Trivia of Eccentric England explores through a series of new commissioned projects and accompanying talks and films, the nature and role eccentricity plays in today’s modern lifestyle, and asking what role an artist can have in reviving and reinventing English eccentricity in Lincolnshire. A film programme looks at past examples and explores in wider sense societies eccentric behaviours, which teeter on the edge of popular conformity.

www.lincolnartprogramme.co.uk

B&B Space, Folkestone Triennial Fringe Research Residency

2011-02-28T10:35:00.000+13:00

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B&B Space, Folkestone Triennial Fringe Research Residency

2011-02-20T00:04:00.008+13:00

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During late February and early March, Matthew Cowan will be resident in the B & B Project space in Folkestone working on a new research project and developing new work at the B&B project space, curated by Club Shepway. The new work will fundamentally be concerned with the local, utilising materials such as folklore, place and created customs. There will be a chance to view the work during the upcoming Folkestone Triennial Fringe in the summer of 2011.

The B&B Project Space is situated in Folkestone's creative quarter, and is a former bed and breakfast, brothel and tobacconist. It has been renovated maintaining many of its original Edwardian features.

Playing with local histories, hidden memories and current affairs Club Shepway is fundamentally concerned with the social and commercial development occurring in the area, locking onto its fading histories and current myths.Club Shepway aims to create a diverse and critical dialogue within the boundaries of Shepway and beyond.

2011-02-01T07:13:00.003+13:00

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New Exhibition: EL ARTE SOBRE LA MESA

2011-02-01T07:11:00.002+13:00

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El Instituto Cervantes de Londres presenta / Instituto Cervantes London presents:

EL ARTE SOBRE LA MESA /
ART ON THE TABLE

Una exposición de creadores de arte contemporáneo españoles y británicos en diálogo sobre el tema de la comida y el banquete /

An exhibiton of Spanish and British contemporary artists in dialogue on the theme of food and banquet.

9 February - 11 March 2011.

Inauguración con presentación de los artistas Miércoles 9 de Febrero 6:30pm /
Opening with artist presentation Wednesday 9th February 6:30pm
Instituto Cervantes London-102 Eaton Square, London SW1 9AN

Artistas/Artists: Greta Alfaro, Lynne Collins, Marisa González, Natuka Honrubia, Kate Squires, Matthew Cowan & anak

Instituto Cervantes London

London Art Fair: Art Projects Video Booth, curated by Club Shepway

2011-01-20T12:00:00.001+13:00

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ART PROJECTS VIDEO BOOTH: FOLKESTONE TRIENNIAL FRINGE
18TH 23RD JANUARY 2011

Folkestone Triennial
A Million Miles from Home
25th June – 25th September 2011
18 international artists including Martin Creed, Cornelia Parker, Hew Locke, Charles Avery and Cristina Iglesias have been commissioned to create new works for the second Folkestone Triennial. More details can be found on www.folkestonetriennial.org.uk
Folkestone Triennial Fringe, Club Shepway
June – September 2011
Club Shepway will be working in Folkestone during the 2011 Folkestone Triennial to explore the town’s folklore and the uncanny in a series of residencies and events in the Old Town.
The showreel will showcase work by Matthew Cowan, Matthew Rowe and films made available through GHost, led by Sarah Sparkes and Ricarda Vidal

SHOWREEL PLAYLIST

Matthew Rowe, The Four Winds, UK, 2004, Super8mm transferred to Digital Video, cardboard house and Earthenware, 1.29 min
Super8 film is projected onto a blank ceramic house to the scale of model railway scenery. In this work the efforts and signatures of ceramic processes are veiled by the luminosity of the film as it coats the fragile ceramic blank. The film plays homage to nostalgic interpretations of the English seaside aesthetic.

Matthew Rowe, Relic, UK, 2010, Super8mm transferred to Digital Video and porcelain, 0.40 min
The screaming skull pays homage to historical accounts of displaced human relics that posses supernatural powers. It is alleged to relentlessly harass the culprit who is responsible for removing it from a designated resting place. The projection of an animated veil onto the surface of a blank porcelain skull activates the screaming skull’s wail in infinity.

GHost lead by Sarah Sparkes and Ricarda Vidal, have selected three films from their Hostings archive for the London Art Fair:
Michelle Hannah, I AM THE SUN AT NIGHT, UK, 2010, HD, 4.30 min
The video harnesses the precarious and fleeting aspects of our world, evoking the spiritual and visceral attachment to nature, faith and the existence of life after death, ideas very much founded in the Romantic traditions. Yet the transcendental and meditative experience at the core of this tradition is disrupted here by the disturbing presence of a singular unsexed voice.

Neil Wissink, Pugwash, Canada/UK, 2007, 16mm, 5.44 min
Pugwash depicts a farm in Nova Scotia which was originally settled by Wissink’s ancestors, but which he had never before visited as it was abandoned shortly after he was born. In London he showed the rushes to a professional psychic medium, whose ‘reading’ of the film became its soundtrack, offering a highly subjective and contentious proposition for what representations of place can mean.

Kate Squires, Unheimlich Gäste, Germany, 2009, Lumix still camera, 4.29 min
Rare footage of ghosts sitting down to enjoy a normal spaghetti dinner. This film uses the common ‘ghost white sheet’ with eye holes and shows it’s unsuitability beyond the spirit world. With haunting music by Tomita.

Matthew Cowan, Felix, UK, 2011, Digital Video, 3.33 min
A grotesque looking carved wooden jig doll dances to the tune ‘Princes Royal’, whilst hanging from the wires and harness attached to his master,
musician Phil Tyler.

Matthew Cowan, A Morris Dancer Should Never Appear to Touch the Ground II,
UK, 2010, Super8mm transferred to Digital Video, 2.15 min
Recorded at Kennedy Hall, Cecil Sharp House, the Headquarters of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Filmed by Stewart Morgan, soundtrack by Paul Wyborn, audio production by Claire Cowan

Matthew Cowan, Lumps of Plum Pudding & Pieces of Pie, UK, 2009, Digital Video, 1.07 min
A short video inspired by the Cotswold Morris Dance jig ‘Lumps of Plum Pudding’, from the village of Bledington. The video is a literal take on the words of the jig’s song, a tale of gluttony, dishonesty and woe.

Live Art Performance: 'Objects of Desire' at the Freud Museum, London

2010-12-21T06:33:00.006+13:00

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11 February 2011

7pm-10pm

An evening of live art and intervention

An immersive evening of live art, performance, intervention and film, inspired by the notion of the self-portrait, taking in Freud’s theories and his final home. Works range from the delicate and the profound, to the surreal and the absurd. Curated by artist and co-founder of the Red Velvet Curtain Cult, Lili Spain.

Artists include, Cradeaux Alexander, Matthew Cowan, Folie a Trois, Jemima Burrill, Jack Catling, Camila Fiori, Sarah Grainger-Jones, Sally Madge, Rebecca Page, Bernadette Russell, Alexandra Santos, Julian Semilian, Nicola Singh, Lili Spain, James Topple & Colin Riddle, Richard Webb and Dawn Woolley.

This event is part of an exciting season we have planned at the museum to coincide with the Objects in Mind exhibition, which includes a new Self-Portrait by Maggi Hambling. The exhibition runs from 24 November 2010 - 27 February 2011.

www.freud.org.uk

'400 Women' Newsnight Review show

2010-12-01T06:45:00.000+13:00

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400 Women

2010-10-30T06:37:00.001+13:00

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400 Women

2010-10-30T06:35:00.000+13:00

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400 Women is an exhibition of new work by 200 artists in response to the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. A project by Tamsyn Challenger, curated by Ellen Mara De Wachter.

400 Women
12-28 November 2010
Shoreditch Town Hall Basement, 380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT
Private View: 11 November

An exhibition of new work by 200 artists including Tracey Emin, Maggi Hambling, Swoon and Humphrey Ocean, responding to the widespread murders of women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

This ambitious project was conceived by artist Tamsyn Challenger in response to the brutal murder and rape of more than 400 women over a decade in the US border town of Ciudad Juárez and the region of Chihuahua in Mexico. Some 200 exceptional artists have each painted one of the murdered women, confronting us with and safeguarding in our memory the dead and disappeared. The exhibition is curated by Ellen Mara De Wachter, a curator and writer based in London.

http://400women.tumblr.com/

Merced Ramírez Morales

2010-10-30T06:21:00.000+13:00

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2010-10-30T06:20:00.000+13:00

"a woman's body was found on January 27, 2002 near the Cerro Bola in Ciudad Juárez, her face destroyed from damage inflicted by heavy rocks. The Cerro Bola is an area where the burned bodies of some the city's rape-murder victims have been previously found. However, just as in the case with Lucero, initial similarities in the cases proved to be false leads.

Later identified as Merced Ramírez Morales, the 35 year old mother of two now orphaned children, Ramírez was not sexually attacked. The Attorney General's Office believes that the concealment of a robbery may have been the motive for the killing and that the murderer may live in the area.
So far this year there have been four women murdered in Ciudad Juárez. "

Source: El Diario, January 19-29, 2002.

‘The Second Annual Disguised Halloween Procession’

2010-10-20T06:38:00.000+13:00

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‘The Second Annual Disguised Halloween Procession’

2010-10-10T07:32:00.003+13:00

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Sunday 31st October, 2010:

‘The Second Annual Disguised Halloween Procession’

from Primrose Hill to Cecil Sharp House.

meet at Sundown, 4.15pm, at the top of Primrose Hill, London

An annual disguised procession, consisting of a group of disguised and costumed artists, musicians and dancers led by Matthew Cowan, from the top of Primrose Hill to the Halloween Music Fair at Cecil Sharp House.

Artists include:

Matthew Cowan
Matt Rowe
Carole Luby
Megan Broadmeadow
Gail Burton and Michael Curran
Helen Schoene
Maria Hawkins
Steve McGarrity
Rebecca Gould
Tereza Buskova
Louise Ashcroft
Stella Mosley
The Belles of London City
Terry Frisch

the procession will be joined by the amazing Chhau Dancers of Western Bengal.

'Questions and Answers' Marcus Coates at Kate MacGarry

2010-10-09T07:16:00.006+13:00

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Marcus Coates: Questions and Answers at Kate MacGarry
3 September - 10 October 2010

Marcus Coates' work at Kate MacGarry displays his works as artefacts from the rituals of his performances. The costumes, animal skins and props are displayed as if pieces in a museum arranged and displayed with tags like anthropological relics. They are shown alongside handwritten documents from his performances hung on the wall on large sheets of paper.

At the centre of Coates work is a ritual performance. His role as a shaman who answers questions put to him by delving into the ‘lower world’ creates an ambiguity, where you can never quite be certain that Coates is ‘for real’. The fact that he first learned to be a shaman on a weekend workshop in Notting Hill hardly builds credibility to his shamanic skill, but Coates has been performing these rituals for years now and, it seems that charade or not, the ambiguity of the ritual is not the point.

The questions and answers that are written out are in some cases very touching, as they address questions that are highly personal;

‘I have a daughter with an eating disorder – anorexia, it makes me very sad, what will become of her?’

What these documents actually show is that whether or not the shamanic ritual that is performed by Coates is real or a sham matters not, it is the fact that people are willing to take him at face value and ask questions of real personal consequence. It belies the fact that people innately understand such rituals, and are willing to participate in the spectacle. People easily read the language of the artist’s performance – because he is an artist afterall, and want to believe that there is truth to the performance. In the same way that many are willing to invest faith in a fortune teller, people have a need and a want to invest meaning in the objects or rituals that they witness, and Coates duly obliges.

This post originally appeared as part of the comments thread on the blog, Show of the Week.

Wolf & Badger's Wonder Room DJ Set

2010-08-27T04:38:00.000+12:00

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DJ Set at the Wolf & Badger Wonder Room

2010-08-27T03:38:00.001+12:00

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As part of the Wolf & Badger Summer Residency at Selfridges Matthew Cowan & Mr Stewart Morgan will be playing a DJ set of rare and favourite folk recordings on vinyl.

Sunday 29th August
Set begins at 2pm.

Wolf & Badger at the Wonder Room Concept Store
at Selfridges
Oxford Street
London

New Performance: The Beating of a Wodewose and his companion Stanley over the River Tyburn.

2010-08-26T22:22:00.001+12:00

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New Performance: The Beating of a Wodewose and his companion Stanley over the River Tyburn.

2010-08-26T10:57:00.001+12:00

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The Beating of a Wodewose and his companion Stanley over the River Tyburn

A performance at Selfridges

12pm
Sunday 29th August
Wolf & Badger at the Wonder Room Concept Store at Selfridges
Oxford Street
London

Leaving from Selfridges just after 12pm, and following a route up and down Oxford street... arriving back for a short ceremony at 1pm.

This performance is part of the live art programme of the Wolf & Badger Summer Residency at the Wonder Room Concept Store at Selfridges, curated by Nathalie Levi in conjunction with Salon Contemporary.

www.matthewcowan.net

Overdown Rise | Coachwerks, Wednesday July 28th 6-8pm

2010-07-26T22:51:00.002+12:00

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New Exhibition: Overdown Rise at Coachwerks

2010-07-23T02:58:00.001+12:00

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The Four Hobby Horses of the Apocalypse at the Banbury Hobby Horse Festival 2010

2010-07-04T04:06:00.000+12:00

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Coachwerks Residency, July 2010

2010-07-01T01:04:00.000+12:00

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COACHWERKS

Coachwerks is an artspace in Brighton, England which has been built and is run by creative practitioners. It hosts a programme of events, workshops, projects and indescribable other gatherings. In the last 24 months there's been theatre, dance, big shows, small shows, experimental music, spoken words, cooking, building, exhibitions, printing, films, wind turbines, concrete mixing, and bouncy ball escapades!
During July 2010 Matthew Cowan will be the artist in residence at Coachwerks, working on new sculptural and performance projects.

At the end of the residency there will be a private view and an opportunity to view the new work.

Private View on Wednesday 28 July 6-8pm

Please bring some any folk recordings you have on vinyl to play at the Private View.

Coachwerks
9am-6pm Mon>Sat

Public : Saturday 10am-1pm

19 Hollingdean Terrace. Brighton, BN1 7HB.
Phone: 01273 356 2658.
www.coachwerks.org.uk

The Banbury Annual Hobby Horse Festival

2010-06-30T23:11:00.007+12:00

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July 3 & 4 2010

Banbury, Oxfordshire

featuring the following world famous Hobby Horses:

The Minehead Sailors Horse

The Four Hobby Horses of the Apocalypse

Sam with Rider Pete Shadbolt from Ilmington

(Sam is well over 100 years old and still capering well)

Sarum Morris with Hob Nob (Saturday Only)

Company of 'Owd 'Ossoppin

www.hobbyhorsefestival.co.uk

Press Release: The Beams and Joists are Made of Butter, The Bunhouse, Thursday 8th April 2010.

2010-04-08T00:48:00.002+12:00

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THE BEAMS AND JOISTS ARE MADE OF BUTTER

The unease with which the traditions of folklore sit within contemporary culture is central to Matthew Cowan’s work. He makes use of the ritualistic, spectacular nature of folk customs and their often humorous tone to disarm preconceptions of the norm and social hierarchy. Along with this comes a darker play on his audience’s nostalgia for a romantized past these rituals offer a glimpse into.

For ‘The beams and Joists are made of Butter’ Matthew’s focal point is the land of Cockaigne. Also known as Lubberland, Cockaigne is a parodic otherworld that is found as early as the 2^nd century AD in Lucian’s True History, which describes a comically paradisal land full of food, drink and loose women. It later makes appearances in the thirteenth century in the French poem, ‘Le Fabliau de Cockaigne’, as well as in Goliardic verse. Here its architecture is built out of food and its rivers flow with milk and beer, whilst the ‘abbot of Cockaigne’ presides over the land’s drinking and gambling. In the twentieth century Cockaigne reinvents itself as the Big Rock Candy Mountain, a paradise featured in the hobo ballad of the same name by Harry McClintock.

The dream of plenty that defines all of Cockaigne’s manifestations points towards its context of famine. The song of ‘The Big Rock Candy Mountain’ could have magically eliminated all the pains of a hobo's life, but only goes as far as providing him an infinite supply of nourishment whilst the cops and dogs, although hampered by wooden legs and rubber teeth, continue to chase him. Matthew’s tampered map of the world, alluding to the anarchy of Cockaigne, brings to question the distribution of power and wealth. Living in a country that has prospered through the industrial and agricultural revolutions and realised Cockaigne’s prophesy of abundance, what does plenty mean to us now the definition of enough has become a contentious one?

The performance ‘I have been to ITTY TITTY’ continues to recontextualize folk customs in contemporary culture and builds on the new significance they acquire in this setting. In this performance Matthew draws on the conventions of mummers’ plays, seasonal folk plays dating back to the medieval ages, and merges them with the script of his recent experience of becoming a UK citizen. His wig suit makes reference to the mythical wild man that appears in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe. The “wilderness” inhabited by this character is not one beyond human reach, but rather the liminal zone at the edge of civilization: it is the place inhabited by hunters, criminals, religious hermits, and others on the fringe of human activity. To be given a new nationality connotes a move from the margins into the mainstream and accentuates the complexities of social and national identification.

In Cowan’s vision of the land of Cockaigne, his humorous subversion of these folk rituals, which tap into notions of tribalism, social order and geography, continue the popularity of folk. They demonstrate our need to define ourselves as part of a larger group with shared values and customs that will exclude those who do not conform.

2010-03-27T08:09:00.006+13:00

New Exhibition: The Beams and Joists are Made from Butter

2010-03-27T08:08:00.003+13:00

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The Beams and Joists are Made from Butter

Field Project Space

The Bun House

96 Peckham High Street

Peckham

London

SE15 5ED

Hope to see you at the Bun House on Thursday 8th Apri, 2010.

http://www.bunhousebandits.com/future/

The Foggy Dew: Swiss Cottage Gallery Installation Shots

2010-03-01T06:09:00.002+13:00

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2010-02-19T01:07:00.000+13:00

New Exhibition: The Foggy Dew at Swiss Cottage Gallery

2010-02-19T01:01:00.002+13:00

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The Foggy Dew
New works by Matthew Cowan feat. artifacts from the archives of the English Folk Dance and Song Society
Private View 25th February 6pm – 8pm

performance on PV evening by Matthew Cowan, Laurel Swift and Libby Chamberlain

Exhibition opens 26th February - 8th April 2010

Swiss Cottage Gallery
Swiss Cottage Library
88 Avenue Road, London NW3 3HA

Swiss Cottage Gallery is pleased to showcase artwork by Matthew Cowan, the 2009 English Folk Dance and Song Society Artist in Residence at Cecil Sharp House, alongside selected items from the archives of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Exhibited are costumes, disguises and artefacts representing a history of folk dance, ritual and performance, which have been collected in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from around England. Some artefacts on display show
traces of the performances they have been through; this very visible residue alludes to the occasion and importance of live performance in the folk realm.

The spectrum of folk performance owes a debt to Cecil Sharp (1859-1924), England's most important folk song and dance collector, for his work in recording what he saw and heard. This exhibition picks up on the work by Cecil Sharp keeping a flickering light aglow; the nature of folk is that it needs to be performed to remain alive. This ‘current day’ inhabitance of ritual and folk performance is by no means unusual as successive generations of singers, dancers and
performers remain true to a set of traditional folk values whilst introducing a contemporary discourse.

Contemporary artworks are placed directly alongside objects from the archives in a deliberate linking and exploration of the discourse and re-investment into and between folk history and the current contemporaneous existence of the real and imagined folk realm. We would like to question the nature of traditions themselves and how we view and realise their re-enactment wondering when and if the re-enactment becomes an enactment. The costume works and the video performances are very much in the vein of ‘folk’ but also look toward wider issues of strangeness, joy, ritual disguise and the performance of the everyday.

Swiss Cottage Gallery would like to give special thanks to both Matthew Cowan and to the EFDSS for their support
and help with this exhibition.

For opening times please see Swiss Cottage Library website www.camden.gov.uk/swisscottagelibrary
For EFDSS details www.efdss.org

The English Folk Dance and Song Society Residency

2009-12-19T10:32:00.003+13:00

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Follow this link to read a complete blog about the residency project at Cecil Sharp House from January to December 2009. This was the first artist in residence program for the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and the project included four exhibitions, several performance events and showcased the work of over seventy artists.

The final show of the residency project, 'To Lubberland' continues at Cecil Sharp House until the end of March, 2010.

'to Lubberland': Cecil Sharp House Installations Shots

2009-12-19T05:59:00.003+13:00

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2009-12-05T00:00:00.001+13:00

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New Exhibition: 'To Lubberland' at Cecil Sharp House

2009-12-04T23:59:00.001+13:00

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'To Lubberland' - a new exhibition by Matthew Cowan to open at the home of Folk

Exhibition dates:

11 December 2009 - 31 March 2010

Private view and performance with inflatable castle: Thursday 10 December 6.30pm at Cecil Sharp House.

Matthew Cowan has been the artist in residence at Cecil Sharp House, London throughout 2009. As an artist and curator he has been involved in directing and developing the visual arts at Cecil Sharp House (home of EFDSS), and over seventy artists have been involved in exhibitions and live art events during the year. The upcoming solo exhibition, 'To Lubberland' presents works he has made during this time.

This new work draws on the underlying influence of the medieval fantasy-land 'Cockaigne' in the folk consciousness. Topsy-turvy travelogues by quack doctors, plum pudding force feeding by overbearing mothers, and a new take in neon based quite literally on Cecil Sharp House itself, all contribute to this new show. The works serve to literally map a path to Lubberland, exploring the underlying theme of 'inverted place' and its fantastic promise of luxury, whilst referring to the observation first noted in the 1820s that London is itself a version of Cockaigne.

The exhibtion includes a specially created new piece in neon, an anagram of Cecil Sharp House that nods towards the joy of Morris Dancing.

The private view on 10 December 6.30 - 8.30 will host a performance by the artist, involving a Morris Dance and an inflatable Bouncy Castle set up especially in Kennedy Hall.

The show contains a new video piece based on the Cotswold Morris jig, "lumps of plum pudding" from the village of Bledington, made up of hundreds of still images. The film is a literal and contemporary take on the dance, which has an accompyanying song - a sorry tale of lies, plum pudding and death.

The exhibition will continue until 31 March 2010.

The exhibition will be on show at Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent's Park Road, London NW1 7AY

www.efdss.org tel: 0207 485 2206

Mumchance and Guise Procession

2009-11-15T01:17:00.001+13:00

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New Exhibition : Mumchance and Guise

2009-09-18T01:17:00.002+12:00

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mumchance & guise

Friday 25 September - Saturday 28 November

Open: Monday to Friday (and some Saturdays) 10am to 6pm

Admission free

A new exhibition showcasing artifacts from the English Folk Dance and Song Society archives alongside new works by contemporary artists.

The performance of folk dance and ritual inevitably involves costumes and forms of disguise. This camouflage enshrouds folk performers and transforms them, removing them from everyday existence, separating performer and community.

Most folk costumes are precious, unique, hand-made and purpose built objects. This new exhibtion at Cecil Sharp House draws together some amazing costume artifacts from the EFDSS archives and shows them alongside costumes and performance works from contemporary artists whose work is concerned with tradition and folk ritual.

Included in the show are a selection of dolls which depict folk and dancing costumes from both English and European traditions. Some of these have been donated from visiting folk dancers, and some were made especially for EFDSS.

The works by contemporary artists have all been involved in performances, and they all bear traces of their ritual use. These costumes, and the performances they are involved in are very much ‘folk’ but all have at least an added extremity to them that highlights the strangeness and the joy of ritual disguise and performance.

Artists:
Megan Broadmeadow
Matthew Cowan
Tim Johnson
Michelle Bloom
Gery Georgieva

www.efdss.org

2009-09-10T01:10:00.000+12:00

New Exhibition: Sarah Foqué & James Johnson-Perkins: New Work

2009-07-07T06:45:00.005+12:00

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Sarah Foqué & James Johnson-Perkins: New Work 10 July – 29 August 2009 Open: 10 – 6pm, Tuesday – Saturday

private view: 6pm, Thursday 9th July Cecil Sharp House 2 Regents Park Road Camden London NW1 7AY

nearest tube: Camden Town

The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) are pleased to present an exhibition of new site specific work from artists Sarah Foqué and James Johnson-Perkins.

Through vividly coloured materials, both artists will respond to the Cecil Sharp House building, the home of the EFDSS, as a starting point for work as they attempt to directly interact with its community and interior.

Responding to a site's history and the movement of people through it, Sarah Foqué creates installations with straight bands of colour. Drawing on histories of philosophy and anthropology, Foqué focuses on the mapping and exploration of space and boundaries. Typically using coloured tape as a material to visualise her understanding of the space she is working in, Foqué will create a fluid portrait of the space and its activities, alluding to traditional dance figures.

James Johnson-Perkins utilises references to popular culture of the 1980s to create works of play and nostalgia. His installation, spanning all four storeys of the building stairwell, will attempt to build the tallest structure ever made from Mega-Bloks. This construction will represent an absurd May Pole in the centre of the building, at odds with the surrounding architecture.

Artist-in-residence Matthew Cowan will be holding a free open studio event during the private view and on Friday 10 July, 10am - 5pm.

facebook event page:

http://efdss.org/news.htm#artistsnewwork

New Exhibition: FLASH COMPANY A Handkerchief Show at Cecil Sharp House

2009-05-04T23:23:00.012+12:00

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A Handkerchief Show at Cecil Sharp House

Continuing a visual arts programme under the curation of artist-in-residence Matthew Cowan, the English Folk Dance and Song Society is pleased to present Flash Company, A Handkerchief Show at Cecil Sharp House.This exhibition is a group show of new work by a diverse range of contemporary artists from the UK, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, U.S.A and Japan taking as a starting point a humble white handkerchief. Artists working in a wide range of media have been invited to take part, and all have been sent a single handkerchief with which to work. The resulting works will be hung at Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

Looking beyond their prime role in the dancing kit of Morris dancers, handkerchiefs have a rich history in the framework of society. From high fashion to perfect manners and sexual politics, the handkerchief has played its part as an essential accessory. The show takes its name from the folk song of the same name, a jaunty tale of handkerchiefs and ruin.The finished works will be hung in Cecil Sharp House throughout May and June, and entry to the show is free.
30 April – 28 June (Tues - Sat, 10am - 6pm)

Artists Participating in the show:

Lawrence Abu-Hamdan, David Beech, Mike Berners-Winters, Catherine Bertola, Bishi & Giles Pearson, Michelle Bloom, Gwen Brinton, Gail Burton, Maurice Carlin, Ele Carpenter, Billy Childish, Emma Cowan, Matthew Cowan, Michael Davies, Alec Finlay, David Foggo, Sarah Foque, Mami Fujita, Jon Garlick, Rachael Gorchov, James Johnson-Perkins, Paul Hearn/Lustrous Chemistry, Zuzana Lola Hruskova, Lee Hunter, Kathryn Johnson, Alan Kane, Maiko Kobayashi, Serena Korda, Sonya Lacey, John Lawrence, Sam Lee, Caterina Lewis, Hayley Lock, Peter Locke, Cathy Lomax, Anna Maltz, Hannah Maybank, David McKeren, Pete McPartlan, Erin O'Connor, David Owen, Hyungji Park, Michal Pashtan & Matthew Green, Clare Qualmann, Nic Rawling, Adam Rompel, Marianne Shorten, Helen Smith, Rose Smith, John Stark, Keara Stewart, Matt Stokes, Maggie Tran, Clare Undy, Graeme Walker, Clare Wilson

Private View: 29 April, 6pm
Cecil Sharp House
2 Regents Park Road
LONDON
NW1 7AY
www.efdss.org

Residency: Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society

2009-01-12T00:05:00.012+13:00

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Matthew Cowan will be beginning a new post as artist in residence at Cecil Sharp House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society for 2009. The post will include curating a new visual art programme at Cecil Sharp House, and working with staff and members in the EFDSS' education work. The first show curated by Matthew Cowan will open in April 2009.

"We are delighted to welcome visual artist (and morris dancer) Matthew Cowan to the EFDSS team. Matthew will be our first artist-in-residence, working with us over the next twelve months. He will be responsible for curating our exhibition programme and working with the Education Department on outreach projects; in return we provide Matthew with space to work in, and the resources of our staff, the library and archive.

Matthew hails from New Zealand by way of Newcastle. He gained a degree in English and Psychology at the University of Auckland and then an MA in Fine Art from the University of Northumbria. Matthew took up morris and sword when in New Zealand and moved to the UK to learn more about this country’s rich folk traditions, in particular the sword dances of north-east England. He was a founding member of the Newcastle-based Byker Mummers.

He describes his artistic practice as situated in the realm of traditional British customs and culture, producing work which combines elements of photography, video, installation and performance. He has exhibited in galleries across the UK and in New Zealand, Poland and the USA as an artist and curator.

Over the coming months Matthew is keen to show work which will bridge both the folk and contemporary art worlds. Using Cecil Sharp House as a base, he plans to make links between artists and folk practitioners and is excited about the possibilities these new relationships present."

www.efdss.org

New Exhibition: What Surrounds Us: Finding & Making Home

2009-01-06T05:58:00.000+13:00

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New Exhibition: What Surrounds Us: Finding & Making Home

2009-01-01T13:06:00.010+13:00

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ERNEST RUBENSTEIN GALLERY
197 East Broadway NY, NY 10002
USA

Reception:Wednesday, January 7, 6-8pm
ERNEST RUBENSTEIN GALLERY
197 East Broadway NY, NY 10002

http://www.edalliance.org/artschool

Exhibition dates: January 7 to February 11, 2009

What builds a home is difficult to pin down. It is constructed from a combination of various parts: physical and mental space, community, objects, signage, personal relationships, history, culture and familiarity.

This exhibition opens for examination these elements that assemble a home, then explores the various ways people use them to find and make home. Each artist included has a different conceptual focus, but all draw inspiration from a different aspect of home. By gathering these various reflections in one place, this exhibition aims not to build a complete vision of home, but instead to create a space that invites meditation on home as a concept.

Because of the Educational Alliance’s history in assisting immigrants in New York to create a new home here, it is an exciting and fitting space for this show. The Alliance remains a familiar place for many New Yorkers, a temporary home throughout the day in many people’s lives. By including a combination of local and International artists, this exhibition welcomes a global dialogue.

This exhibition includes the work of: Keliy Anderson-Staley, Monica Carrier, Matthew Cowan, Melissa Cowper-Smith, Julie Glauert, Lee Hunter, Elaine Kaufmann, Michal Pashtan, Saul Robbins, Nicole Tschampel.

Exhibition dates: January 7 to February 11, 2009
Reception:Wednesday, January 7, 6-8pm

Location: 197 East Broadway
Directions: Between Jefferson and Clinton Streets.
F train to East Broadway; J, M, Z trains to Delancey St.
MTA buses: M9, M14A, M15, M22

Telephone: 212.780.2300, ext.378

New Writing: Maiko Kobayashi, selected for AXIS MAstars, 2008

2008-10-20T02:54:00.006+13:00

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"Maiko Kobayashi's artwork is expressed in drawings and paintings of an un-named character. It is a creature which is repeated over and again in her drawings and paintings. It is a simple being, appearing to be like an animal with a child-like face, but it is able to offer facial expressions which belie a deep emotional response to an unseen world.

The repetition of this character in this work is a process that draws on the spectrum of emotional expression. Kobayashi's MA exhibition consists of rows of small fragile drawings pinned close to the wall so that the paper hangs half loosely, and each drawing makes a shadow against the wall. Each single drawing contains a single portrait of Kobayashi's character and together they form a kind of emotional diary in their horizontal line along the wall.

In the second room of the installation is a large scale piece that was inspired by a visit to Auschwitz. Here the characters sit close to each other, gazing out of the image, close enough to comfort each other though perhaps not aware of each other. They have a ghost-like quality, and in their similarity it is not clear whether they are the one or many.

This work has a quietness that highlights the vulnerability of the character in the images. The images work in a comic like style and this familiar mode gives us a framework for approaching the work, in that the cuteness of the character is a way of accessing the emotions contained in the drawings. There is though, an uncomfortable silence in the face of so many renditions of this character's sadness, when the first impression is that we are about to encounter a simple endearing creature. There is a need to develop our own narrative to explain what the creature is feeling, but the newspapers that some of the creatures are drawn on only hint at a likely predicament."

(Matthew Cowan, 2008)

Read more about Maiko Kobayashi and the MAstars programme

Fabryka Sztuki Residency Final Show

2008-08-27T09:13:00.005+12:00

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Fabryka Sztuki Residency Final Show
Arsenal Gallery
Bialystok
private view: Thursday 28th August, 5pm

Matthew Cowan (NZ), Julie Glauert (GER),
Rachael Gorchov (USA), Lee Hunter (USA),
Michal Pashtan (ISL), Eko Séri (BEL)

Galeria Arsenał w Białymstoku, oraz Podlaskie Stowarzyszenie

Axis Mundi mają zaszczyt zaprosić na wystawę podsumowującą projekt

Pobyt tw—rczy Fabryka Sztuki

otwarcie czwartek, 28 sierpnia 2008,

o godz. 17.00 wystawa czynna do piątku,

29 sierpnia 2008

w Galerii Arsenał,

Białystok, ul. A. Mickiewicza 2

Review: 'Double Agent' at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art for AXIS Dialogue

2008-07-23T22:21:00.005+12:00

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Dialogue sent Newcastle based artist Matthew Cowan to review the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) touring exhibition, Double Agent, at BALTIC. We wanted to see what Matthew made of the exhibition where artists use other people as a medium or as part of their work.

A title like Double Agent immediately prompts us to question the ethics of the contract between artist, the 'others' and the audience involved in their work: I wonder whether there is an expectation from today's art audiences that art might intend to deceive them?

read the whole article and see the slideshow at the AXIS website

New Exhibition: Waygood Boutique, Wednesday 23 July - Saturday 09 August 2008

2008-07-21T22:47:00.001+12:00

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Next Show at the Waygood Boutique:
Wednesday 23 July - Saturday 09 August 2008

Bell Suit by Matthew Cowan, landscape drawings by Michael Mulvihill, ‘Fear’ paintings by Helen Smith and collaborative drawings Joe & Alice Woodhouse.

Waygood Art Boutique is a new gallery for buying and collecting contemporary art.

Waygood Art Boutique: 31-39 High Bridge; Newcastle upon Tyne; NE1 1EW; UK

boutique@waygood.org

see www.waygood.org for further details and directions

Artist Talk: Galleria Arsenal, Bialystok, Poland

2008-07-09T03:15:00.005+12:00

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As part of the Art Factory International Residency Program, Matthew Cowan will be talking about his work at the Galeria Arsenal in Bialystok, Poland on Thursday 10 July, 2008.

The artists participating in the Art Factory International Residency Program will be presenting their work to the public. The talks will start at 6pm, and there will be a Polish Translator.

For further details please visit: http://theworkshop.wordpress.com/

New Exhibition: 50 Foot Long Horse at the first Durham Arts Festival, 14th - 21st June 2008

2008-06-02T08:57:00.005+12:00

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50ft Long Horse
Newcastle based collective 50ft Long Horse will showcase an exhibition of their work in Durham's artistic centre Fowlers yard.

Studio One, Fowlers Yard
Durham
10am - 5pm

Admission is Free

'Durham Arts Festival is a new visual arts festival for the North East. We will be introducing an impressive and varied programme of events that include artists of international acclaim, such as Lee Miller, John Foxx and Quentin Blake, community projects and workshops that will engage a wide audience across the county, world premiers of international films, local artists, and ground breaking lectures.'
www.durhamartsfestival.co.uk

New Work: Waygood Boutique, 6 - 26 June 2008

2008-06-02T08:40:00.011+12:00

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Waygood Art Boutique is a new gallery for buying and collecting contemporary art.

The Boutique offers a choice of work by selected artists associated with Waygood.

Open 11am-3pm Wednesdays - Saturdays
from 1 May 2008

Waygood Art Boutique: 31-39 High Bridge; Newcastle upon Tyne; NE1 1EW; UK

boutique@waygood.org

Trip to visit Peter Clare at his house in Oswestry.

2008-04-19T05:20:00.005+12:00

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Trip to visit Peter Clare at his house in Oswestry.
Easter 2008

Peter met me at the train station and drove me to his place. We went out to a large barn out the back of his house, and he showed me into a beautiful old wooden gypsy caravan. He sat on a rocking chair and we drank tea while he began to tell me the story of how he came build his mechanical elephant. Peter told me that his background is in working with fairground rides, and as well as the elephant and the caravan, there was a round-a-bout in his barn.

It had started when he was at the switching on of the Christmas lights in Bolton with his round-a-bout, and the scheduled appearance of a circus elephant had to be curtailed because of the crowd. The seed of an idea was planted and he spent over seven years constructing Snowdrop, his elephant.

Peter and Snowdrop have had some fame in recent years through being included in the ‘Folk Archive’, the touring exhibition show by Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane. The exhibition toured to places like the Barbican, and Kunsthalle in Basel, and recently Snowdrop has appeared again in the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. He told me how strange and wonderful it was to have people queuing up to see his elephant as part of these exhibitions. It pleased me to hear stories like this, because I am very interested in artworks that are made by people who don’t consider themselves to be part of the art world. It was why I had originally wanted to talk to him, because in thinking about the Centrifuge Art Prize I had been thinking about artworks that people do not usually encounter as artworks. We talked about recognition, and the role that Jeremy Deller winning the Turner Prize had played in Snowdrop touring around all these art galleries in Europe.

In his back yard Peter had been laying down railway tracks for the miniature steam engine that he was working on. At the end of the yard was a sign that said CLARE’S PRIVATE RAILWAY”.

the Bear and the Dancing Man, 24th May 2008

2008-04-18T01:33:00.000+12:00

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'the Bear and the Dancing Man', Performance for the Waygood Wood, 24th May 2008 at the Herber Tower on the old Town Walls - behind Stowell Street, Newcastle upon Tyne.

'Matthew Cowan’s performance is in the form of a magical reversal where the established order of a dancing bear and its keeper is overturned. It takes place down a leafy path to another world, incorporating a cacophonous parade along the route of the ancient city walls of Newcastle, coming to rest on the site of a Medieval Orchard.'

Waygood Wood is part of The Enchanted Moment:

The Enchanted Moment
A Cluster of Contemporary Art.
18 – 25 May

A week of contemporary visual art exhibitions entitled The Enchanted Moment will launch with The Late Shows on May 17th. The work exhibited will be specially commissioned or curated new work in response to a commissioned piece of writing from Joel Fisher, artist and curator.

Harry Smith Anthology Remixed at Sensoria Festival, Sheffield, UK

2008-04-10T08:05:00.000+12:00

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Harry Smith Anthology Remixed
Featuring James Johnson-Perkins & Matthew Cowan

Sensoria Festival, Sheffield, UK
Opening: Friday 4 April 2008, 6-8pm
Exhibition: 4 – 18 April 2008

The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), Glasgow
21 June - 26 July 2008

Harry Smith Anthology Remixed starts its UK tour at Sensoria in Sheffield, a new festival fusing music and film.

The exhibition brings together the work of eighty-four leading artists and musicians, who were each invited to make a visual artwork in response to one track from the groundbreaking music release the Anthology of American Folk Music. The Anthology was edited by seminal New York artist, musicologist and experimental filmmaker Harry Smith, and first published by Folkways in 1952. It is considered to be one of the most important collections of information in modern society, creating a folk canon and contributing to numerous folk revival movements.

This exhibition creates a new visual collection of the Anthology, as seen through the eyes of contemporary visual artists and musicians. The exhibition includes artists from the US, Europe and Japan, reflecting a diverse and exciting range of practice including: visual art, outsider art, comic book, design, craft and illustration.

Exhibition curated by Rebecca Shatwell.

The artists are:  Dave Allen, Jonathan Allen, Diane Barcelowsky, Marcia Bassett, Eric Beltz, Hisham Bharoocha, Jesse Bransford, Vashti Bunyan, Jelle Crama, Jaron Childs, Rob Churm, Marcus Coates, Karen Constance, Christian Cummings, Dearraindrop, Arrington di Dionyso, Graham Dolphin, Bill Drummond, Jorn Ebner, Peter J.Evans, Yamataka EYE, Jad Fair, Feathers - Meara O'Reilly, Kyle Tomzo, Shayna Kipping, Kyle Field, Alec Finlay, Devin Flynn, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, Luke Fowler, Chris Graham, Susie Green, Doug Harvey, Rama Hoffpauir, Dan Howard-Birt, Zoe Irvine, Rich Jacobs, James Johnson-Perkins and Matthew Cowan, Juneau Projects, Seth Kelly, Jeffrey Lewis, Linder, Derek Lodge, Lone Twin, Robert AA Lowe, Ant Macari, The Matinee Orchestra, Maya Miller, Paul D.Miller aka DJ Spooky, Gean Moreno, Heather Leigh Murray, Michael Nyman, Dylan Nyoukis, John Olson, John Orth, Paper Rad, Mike Paré, Plastic Crimewave, Dave Portner, Devin Powers, Adam Putnam, The Rebel, Ginny Reed, Clare E.Rojas, Chris Rollen, Arik Roper, Giles Round, Royal Art Lodge, Mathew Sawyer, David Sherry, Brooke Sietinsons, Ross Sinclair, Andre Stitt, Philip Taaffe, Vernon & Burns, Daryl Waller, Flora Whiteley, Michael Wilson, Simon Woolham, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, C. Spencer Yeh, Yokoland, :zoviet*france:

Toetap, Gallery Glue, Sat 19th Jan- Fri 22nd Feb

2008-01-11T10:31:00.000+13:00

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Toetap

Sat 19th Jan- Fri 22nd Feb (PREVIEW Friday 18th Jan).

An exhibition demonstrating dance as a movement, a cabaret, a performance and simple as an art form. There will be a series of dance classes running alongside the exhibition, encompassing everything from tap dance to techo rave.

click here for more info: www.gluegroup.org.uk

Performance for Rag and Bone Magazine Launch, TUESDAY THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 2007

2007-11-10T10:26:00.002+13:00

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The launch for the first issue is on TUESDAY THE 4TH OF DECEMBER, at Kilburn's The Luminaire. Performing are New York's angriest yodelling banjo player, Curtis Eller, London's own Yo Zushi, Matthew Cowan (with his one man Morris Dance), beautifully crafted country songs from Cherry Mash Cherry and Russian gypsy music from Sasha Ilyukevich! Contributors to our first issue include Billy Childish, Matthew Cowan, Clare E. Rojas, Jack Zipes, Espers, Htein Lin, Rob Ryan, Chris Bianchi, Fergus Hall, and many more.

For more information, please contact: info@ragandbone.org.uk

Editors: Zoe Taylor (zoe@ragandbone.org.uk),
Yo Zushi (yo@ragandbone.org.uk)

New Writing: Essay for 'I Won the Maths Prize at School', James Johnson-Perkins and Dr Conor Lawless

2007-08-18T02:47:00.004+12:00

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Essay for 'I Won the Maths Prize at School', James Johnson-Perkins and Dr Conor Lawless, Red Nile Project Space, New City Building, 56 Nile Street, Sunniside, Sunderland SR1 1ES www.rednile.org/mathsprize.htm

Exhibition dates: 6-13 Oct, 2007
Preview and artist talk: Fri 5 October, 5-8pm (talk at 5pm)

Collaborations between artists and scientists often produce
work which neither the artist nor the scientist would have
dreamed of. Although there are massive tracts of common
land between the fields of art and science, it is in a
way of looking at the world that artists and scientists
approach their work differently. Visual Artists often work
with notions of what constitutes a finished piece in their
mind, while practitioners in the field of sciences work
with a process where rules and methodology are to the fore.

Johnson-Perkins’ and Lawless’ collaboration at the Rednile
space throws light on these different methods of working,
while also producing the potential for some beautiful
artworks that demand both scientific and artistic scrutiny.
For their period of residency in the rednile space, Johnson-
Perkins and Lawless will further explore questions they
have begun to ask in the realm of chaos and randomness.
The Fibonacci numbers are used as the basis for creating
colourful grid of numbers, an exercise in concentration as
much as a dazzling set of figures. Recently their video
works make use of the concept of the automaton, utilising
James' penchant for Lego constructions.

Complimenting the Lego structures are an array of films
that dazzle you with their colours and ever changing
blocks of primary colours. They take for their basis,
randomly generated colours and operate through using basic
shapes, and regular transformation to become a hypnotic
visual knock-out. Like the eyes of the old snake Kaa that
hypnotises Mogli in the Disney film of The Jungle Book,
these films have a hypnotic effect, and play with the way
that our brains process colour and movement. They make you
want to keep looking at them, in order to try to process
their patterns and movement.

Lawless’ and Johnson-Perkins’ work overlaps in many ways,
but it is their different approach to achieving similar aims
which is the most rewarding aspect of their collaboration.
Johnson-Perkins' work has previously set about making
colourful and hypnotic films using colours from the colour
wheel and an artists eye, but the addition of the potential
to utilise a mathematician's principles, random colours and
programmed sets of coordinates gives rise to an infinite
number of pieces of work. These works have the feel of
being lighter and structural for being numerical sequences
connected to simple aesthetic rules, and this method
increases the capability for exploring and assessing colour
and shape by iterating the creative process repeatedly using
a machine.

Matthew Cowan
September 2007

(to read the full borchure in a pdf click here)

www.rednile.org/mathsprize.htm

New Performance for Glue Group Sound Art Festival

2007-07-13T08:37:00.001+12:00

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24 July 2007, at Echo Bar, Chillingham Road, Newcastle upon Tyne

Arts Council England Artist Placement Programme Showcase

2007-07-01T08:32:00.003+12:00

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Arts Council England North East 'Artist Placement Programme' Showcase

Artist Placement Programme - Showcase Event

Friday 6 July, 5.30-7.00

Xsite Architecture, Foundry Lane Studios, Foundry Lane, Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1LH

Xsite Architecture and Arts Council England North East would like to invite you to attend a Showcase Event to celebrate the success of the Artist Placement Programme to date. This will be an opportunity to meet the host companies and artists involved in the 2006 and 2007 schemes and to view a selection of work produced as a result of the programme

A Morris Dancer Should Never Appear to Touch the Ground

2007-06-28T20:58:00.000+12:00

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Billboard image for the Waygood Gallery's Harker Herald Billboard, July 2007.

"A Morris Dancer Should Never Appear to Touch the Ground is a billboard image that arises from instructions given as to what a morris dancer should be thinking about when learning to dance. Morris dancing is traditional dance form that is native to England, and is over 500 years old. It has never been more popular than it is today.”

Harker Herald is a billboard outside the Waygood Gallery & Studio’s temporary home in the Harkers Building, 548-560 Shields Road, Byker, displaying work by a different artist each month.

It can be seen on the left hand side of the road by passengers on the number 15 and 22 stagecoach buses from Walker to Byker, the 301 and 302 from the coast to town and by motorists travelling towards Byker on the A193 before the large retail park. It is located just after the large Siemens factory, and opposite the Parsons Turbine Hall. It is also a short walk from Chillingham Road or Walkergate Metro stations.

For more information see www.waygood.org or ring Waygood Gallery & Studios on 0191 265 6857.

Here is a link to the video of Mat Cowan dancing Lumps of Plum Pudding
at the launch of his harker herald billboard poster.

New Writing: Introduction for Andrew Burton, New Work at the Exsertus Space

2007-05-20T08:42:00.003+12:00

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Andrew Burton
private view: 6-8pm, private view:

Tuesday 29 May
Exsertus Project Space, Waygood at Harker's Building
548-580 Shields Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2UQ

At first view Andrew Burton's new work in the Exsertus space plays with your sense of scale. The work is a wall constructed from thousands of fired bricks dividing the space into two. The bricks however are finger sized, a kind of lego-like miniature construction block from which Burton has built a wall that would be well over head height if normal sized construction bricks were used.

The wall structure gives the sense of creating a boundary, or in a space that lies along the route of Hadrian's wall, a frontier. In stepping over the barrier and viewing the work from the far side of the space, we can see that the wall has been filled with street tags, but due to the tiny size of the bricks and the scale of the wall, the graffiti writing is of a miniature scale.

Burton's inspiration for working with fired bricks came from the experience of working in India, and observing what at first appeared to be piles of discarded bricks, but were actually the product of local brick yards. These piles of bricks had an order to them, and could be found all over India, an example of the staple Indian building material. The chances of seeing these discarded bricks may become a rarity, as the Indian government moves towards financing large-scale construction from concrete and more modern building materials.

This piece, constructed in the Exsertus space is one of a number of works that Burton has constructed from the same bricks. Here they have taken on a life of their own as they are reused in successive sculptures, bringing with them remnants of the paint and glaze from the works that have gone before.

Bricks are a universal material for construction, and they are found worldwide. Their versatility as a method of construction lend themselves to forms that are solid and permanent. They give us a sense of solidity and comfort that they will not fall down. Burton's piece is neither solid nor permanent. Its precarious nature invites danger in the simple act of stepping over it. The precariousness of the construction reflects the precarious nature of the area that Harker's building is situated. Industrial buildings are being levelled on virtually all sides reminding us that the Exsertus space itself, like the Harker’s Building is only a temporary home for artists.

Matthew Cowan

Glue Group Presents 'Shop', Preview Friday 8th June 2007, 7pm

2007-05-20T08:31:00.000+12:00

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Glue Group Presents 'Shop', Preview Friday 8th June 2007, 7pm

8 June, 7 - 9pm Exhibition runs 8 June - 1 July

Artists include: Clare Ruddock, Ele Carpenter, Oonagh Hegarty, Theresa Easton, James Johnson-Perkins, Matthew Cowan, David Beech, Eva Bauer, Peter Ashley Jackson, Lianne Bell, Katie Cole, Scott Patterson, Edwin Li, Pete Hindle, Hannah Marsden, Laura Kirby, Claire Rowlands, Steven Walker, Felicity Langthorne, Mark Pembrey, Hannah Mackay, Lesley Ann-Rose, Michelle Cassar, Nicola Warwick, Nick Cross, Graeme Walker, Michael D.W. Paterson, Glenn Cruddas

www.gluegroup.org.uk

New Writing: Introduction for Carole Luby at Exsertus

2007-03-10T08:35:00.001+13:00

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Carole Luby
Exsertus Project Space, Waygood at Harker's Building
548-580 Shields Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 2UQ
Monday 19th March to Wednesday 4th April.

The performance consists of a daily blog and performances in the Exsertus space. The performances will run from Saturday 31st March to Tuesday 3rd April between 6-8pm culminating in one final event on Wednesday 4th April from 6-8pm.

To be asked to feed someone with a spoon is to be asked to participate in a deliberately challenging and uncomfortable act. It asks you to interact with another person in a very intimate way. The performer does not lift her arms, only touching the spoon with her mouth. It is as if feeding a child or someone of extreme old age, when they are unable to physically to feed themselves. In this act, each participant is asked to confront the helplessness in another human.

The Polynesian spiritual concept of tapu governs many aspects of sacred and everyday life, in particular food its consumption. In some situations designated members of society, as sacred practicitioners are unable to feed themselves because they are in a state of absolute tapu, and to touch the food itself would represent a transgression of their tapu state. They have to be fed in a special way, so as not to contaminate the food by touching it themselves. It elevates the status of the food itself as a sacred object.

The atmosphere in the performance space here too is one of a sacred realm, with sheets of paper containing fragments of writing - spanning a large central circle in the middle of the space. These pieces of writing are not literal or concise but hint at the elements of the performance in which they are a part of. Some contain text from Carole’s weblog, a parallel ingredient to the performance. The words describe her time, removed from everyday life, in the space as being a kind of retreat, drawing from the monastic traditions of solitude and contemplation, but with a focus on hunger. Arranged in the circular shape they map a well-trodden path over the course of the residency.

Matthew Cowan

Conjunction 06, 4 July to 14 July 2006

2006-04-20T08:32:00.004+12:00

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Conjunction 06
4 July to 14 July 2006

Opening Times: 3-7pm
Preview Night: 30/06/06 7pm-11pm
Featuring: Doug Fishbone, Laura White, Matthew Cowan

Red Gate Gallery

Red Gate Gallery 209a Coldharbour Lane London SW9 8RU Tel.: 0207 326 0993

Uk - London
Nearest Tube: Brixton
http://www.conjunctiongroup.org/

CONJUNCTION 06 - "Transpositions" Conjunction 06 is the Conjunction Group's 4th annual exhibition taking place at galleries in London, Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent throughout July 2006. Conjunction 06 will give artists from across Britain the opportunity to show in cities where they have never worked before, allowing them to create new networks and engage with new audiences. This year's lead curators have used the theme "Transpositions" to call into question the values and associations assigned to place. The Exhibition runs from July 4th - July 28th at the Red Gate Gallery, Brixton, Seven-Seven, Londonfields, The Works Gallery, Birmingham, and the Conjunction AiR space, Stoke-on-Trent. more information can be found via www.conjunctiongroup.org or by emailing enquiries@conjunctiongroup.org

matthewcowan.net

Aberystwyth

Third Annual Disguised Sundown Procession

The Nine Deaths of Saint George at Experimentica

Fulgura Frango Performance

Film Premiere: The Company

Film Premiere: The Company

Edinburgh Art Festival: Art Late Performance at 400 Women Installation | 25 August, 2011

Art OMI International Artists Programme | Performance at the Open Studios

Art OMI International Artists Programme | Open Studios

Art OMI International Artist Programme | JUNE & JULY 2011

The Whelk Man

the Whelk Man

Folkestone Triennial Fringe: Vernacular Folk

New Commission: The Trivia of Eccentric England

B&B Space, Folkestone Triennial Fringe Research Residency

B&B Space, Folkestone Triennial Fringe Research Residency

New Exhibition: EL ARTE SOBRE LA MESA

London Art Fair: Art Projects Video Booth, curated by Club Shepway

Live Art Performance: 'Objects of Desire' at the Freud Museum, London

7pm-10pm

An evening of live art and intervention

'400 Women' Newsnight Review show

400 Women

400 Women

Merced Ramírez Morales

‘The Second Annual Disguised Halloween Procession’

‘The Second Annual Disguised Halloween Procession’

'Questions and Answers' Marcus Coates at Kate MacGarry

Wolf & Badger's Wonder Room DJ Set

DJ Set at the Wolf & Badger Wonder Room

New Performance: The Beating of a Wodewose and his companion Stanley over the River Tyburn.

New Performance: The Beating of a Wodewose and his companion Stanley over the River Tyburn.

Overdown Rise | Coachwerks, Wednesday July 28th 6-8pm

New Exhibition: Overdown Rise at Coachwerks

The Four Hobby Horses of the Apocalypse at the Banbury Hobby Horse Festival 2010

Coachwerks Residency, July 2010

The Banbury Annual Hobby Horse Festival

Press Release: The Beams and Joists are Made of Butter, The Bunhouse, Thursday 8th April 2010.

New Exhibition: The Beams and Joists are Made from Butter

The Foggy Dew: Swiss Cottage Gallery Installation Shots

New Exhibition: The Foggy Dew at Swiss Cottage Gallery

The English Folk Dance and Song Society Residency

'to Lubberland': Cecil Sharp House Installations Shots

New Exhibition: 'To Lubberland' at Cecil Sharp House

Mumchance and Guise Procession

New Exhibition : Mumchance and Guise

New Exhibition: Sarah Foqué & James Johnson-Perkins: New Work

New Exhibition: FLASH COMPANY A Handkerchief Show at Cecil Sharp House

Residency: Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society

New Exhibition: What Surrounds Us: Finding & Making Home

New Exhibition: What Surrounds Us: Finding & Making Home

New Writing: Maiko Kobayashi, selected for AXIS MAstars, 2008

Fabryka Sztuki Residency Final Show

Review: 'Double Agent' at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art for AXIS Dialogue

New Exhibition: Waygood Boutique, Wednesday 23 July - Saturday 09 August 2008

Artist Talk: Galleria Arsenal, Bialystok, Poland

New Exhibition: 50 Foot Long Horse at the first Durham Arts Festival, 14th - 21st June 2008

New Work: Waygood Boutique, 6 - 26 June 2008

Trip to visit Peter Clare at his house in Oswestry.

the Bear and the Dancing Man, 24th May 2008

Harry Smith Anthology Remixed at Sensoria Festival, Sheffield, UK

Toetap, Gallery Glue, Sat 19th Jan- Fri 22nd Feb

Performance for Rag and Bone Magazine Launch, TUESDAY THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 2007

New Writing: Essay for 'I Won the Maths Prize at School', James Johnson-Perkins and Dr Conor Lawless

New Performance for Glue Group Sound Art Festival

Arts Council England Artist Placement Programme Showcase

A Morris Dancer Should Never Appear to Touch the Ground

New Writing: Introduction for Andrew Burton, New Work at the Exsertus Space

Glue Group Presents 'Shop', Preview Friday 8th June 2007, 7pm

New Writing: Introduction for Carole Luby at Exsertus

Conjunction 06, 4 July to 14 July 2006

Conjunction 064 July to 14 July 2006Opening Times: 3-7pmPreview Night: 30/06/06 7pm-11pmFeaturing: Doug Fishbone, Laura White, Matthew Cowan

Red Gate Gallery

Conjunction 06
4 July to 14 July 2006

Opening Times: 3-7pm
Preview Night: 30/06/06 7pm-11pm
Featuring: Doug Fishbone, Laura White, Matthew Cowan