Fresh Exhibition

Today, Fresh, an exhibition showcasing thirteen upcoming artists from the North of England opens to the public. With the aim of providing art students the opportunity to emerge as early career artists the exhibition displays a cross section of interesting works from painting, photography, drawing, ceramic and sculpture.

I was one of the thirteen selected artists for the exhibition and it's been amazing to have to opportunity to display work in the show, especially as the gallery is in my home town. As a student of Leeds College of Art I was pleased to find out that I am exhibiting alongside two of my peers, Terry Lister and Mia Allonby. The Private View was great as I managed to catch up with some old acquaintances and meet some of the other exhibiting artists - I even bumped into my high school art teacher that I hadn't seen in maybe 5 years!

Anyway, I took some photos at the Private View to give you an insight into what's on display.

Jake Mullins (Me!)

Terry Lister

Mia Allonby

Uriah Gabriel

Anna Gibson

Sarah Wafer

Michael Daglish

Unfortunately I didn't get photos of everyones work but here is a list of the exhibitors:

• Anna Gibson
• Emma Rule
• Heather Williamson
• Jake Mullins
• Laura Carolan
• Matthew Collins
• Mia Allonby
• Michael Daglish
• Namita Vijayakumar
• Nat Wilkins
• Sarah Wafer
• Terry Lister
• Uriah Gabriel

The exhibition has been curated excellently and there is a great variety on offer. If you are around Thirsk between 25th March and 9th April you should definitely head to The Courthouse/Rural Arts and take a look at the fantastic exhibition. You could also enjoy a coffee and cake in the cafe or try and spot my hand screen-printed tote bags in the shop!

XOXO Exhibition

So XOXO is finally over. First of all I want to say a thank you to all who made it possible and to a those who visited the show! The exhibition was open to the public for four days following a hugely successful open night on Thursday 10th and ended on the 16th with the removal of all the work.

The Exhibition was a stunning display of work from fifty-two second year Fine Art students and aimed to showcase the year group's individuality as a dynamic collective. Spanning a wide range of practices such as painting, drawing, sculpture and performance, the exhibition created a compelling, challenging and progressive discourse between the audience, artist and artwork.

This exhibition has meant a great deal to me as I have not only been an exhibitor within the show, but I was one of three 'Project Managers' who were given the opportunity to organise and put together the exhibition. The task was tough, but the experience has been invaluable. If you didn't manage to get down and see the show, here are a few photos of some of the exhibitors work.

Jake Mullins (Me!)

Me looking a tad drunk from the free wine next to my piece, 'White and Blue Pot'.

Rhian Cooke

'Hand Me the Almond Soap'

Zoe Barber

'Caterpillar Cake'

Liliana Robins

'Foot Print'

Laura Coyne

'Self Portrait'

Aidan Quin

Karaoke - 'It's Just Like Being There'

Romily Walden

'Cowgirls'

Lissie Cowley

'Untitled'

Roisin O'Donnell

'Untitled'

James Taylor

'Days Gone By'

Sian Rycroft

'Mabgate'

Julia Potter

'Untitled'

The exhibition was a huge success and received hundreds of visitors and excellent feedback. Trying to organise an event of such scale having never done anything like that before was definitely a challenge but it couldn't have happened if it wasn't for the amazing efforts of some of my peers (you know who you are!).  XOXO was the last major collective exhibition for my year group before 'Free Range' next year so we now have that to look forward to.

I hope you enjoyed the exhibition and thanks again to those who made it possible and to those who visited!

Disposable Society Exhibition

Saturday 5th March was the opening of the Disposable Society exhibition organised and curated by the Goat Collective. The exhibition is being held on the top floor of the Northern Monk and the it looks fantastic! I was lucky enough to be selected to exhibit in the show and when I dropped my piece off two days before the opening the place looked completely different to how it did on the night. The Goat Collective worked super hard to transform the place from a food bar into an exhibition space and they did an excellent job! Temporary walls were assembled, a bar was providing drinks and The JARG People were banging out some tunes.

'Disposable Society explores the throw away society that we live in and how this attitude is applied to various different aspects of human culture. The exhibition showcases work from Goat Collective members, alongside more than 30 other artists, designers, photographers and makers. The show encompasses artwork from a range of disciplines and exposes a number of viewpoints on the idea of the disposable society'

The place was full of guests and it was awesome to be a part of the exhibition. I got some photos from the night so here is a little peek!

Josh Gibbs

Norwich Darkhouse 1

Lissie Cowley

Plastic Wave

Jack Talbot

Handmade Walnut, Pippy Oak and Zebrano Rings

Daniel Gee

Homelessness

Megan Edwards

'To Satisfy'

Jake Mullins (Me!)

Binge

The exhibition runs until Thursday 10th March so if you have any free time pop down to the Northern Monk and see the show!

White and Blue Pot

I recently finished this painting, White and Blue Pot, in which I took inspiration from home interior magazines to find an aesthetic that communicates the idea of 'good taste' and modern design whilst staying true to the genre of Still Life.

My previous still life paintings have contained potted plants that are placed separate from one another and little interaction happens between the plants. For this painting I was interested in placing the pots in an environment where their organic forms overlap each other to see what that would do compositionally and how that changes the perspective of the objects.

This is also the first painting in which I prepared the canvas using Rabbit Skin Glue. My normal route is to use white emulsion to prime the canvas but for the purpose of experimenting I decided to give Rabbit Skin Glue a chance. During the painting process I noticed that the surface tension of the canvas remained tighter with the Rabbit Skin Glue which seems to make a difference to the quality of the finished piece. Now that I know how to prepare a canvas with Rabbit Skin Glue I will definitely be using it more frequently as I believe it helps achieve superior results.

The white and blue pot has now become one of my favourite motifs because of its slightly more unique aesthetic so you should be seeing it pop up in a few more of my paintings.

I love how White and Blue Pot turned out and if you are coming to the XOXO exhibition you will be able to see it in the flesh!

A Happy Medium Exhibition

Following the success of I'll Show You Mine, Aidan Qu/vinn and House organised and curated a pop-up exhibition in his student house, A Happy Medium. The exhibition featured over thirty artists working in a variety of disciplines such as painting, drawing, video, sound and instillation. Curated in the living room, kitchen and basement the work existed outside of traditional art spaces and created a unique dialogue between artwork and viewer. The art was displayed excellently throughout the house with four light-based instillations in the basement being my personal favourites. I was one of the exhibitors at A Happy Medium along with Amy Hodkin so I will be sure to insert a picture of us next to our pieces! Anyway, here is a few photos from the show.

Jake Mullins (Me)

Amy Hodkin

Rhian Cooke

Zoe Barber

Lydia Braithwaite

Kingston Poplar

Charlie Hubbard

Rachel South

Mike Pitman

Max Lennon

Jack Pell

Aidan Qu/vinn