A conversation about art and life.
About this Event
A South East London gal and an East London boy talk about how they ended up being artists and their art career journeys so far, including joys, inspirations, life changing moments, relationships and a few challenges along the way…..
Gary Mansfield
Fine artist, curator and Ministry of Arts Podcast host Gary Mansfield has had a most unlikely induction into the world of art: serving a fourteen year Pr*son sentence in his early twenties for drug importation, Mansfield discovered the catalogue for the 1999 Saatchi exhibition Sensation, which brought together the group of artists known as the YBAs. and Mark Wallinger. Inspired by the work he saw, Mansfield contacted these up-and-coming artists form his cell, asking for information on their work and careers. A bold move, Mansfield’s bold move was well received, and led to correspondences that would last throughout his sentence with the likes of Sarah Lucas, Gavin Turk, Gary Hume, Mark Titchner and Mark Wallinger. Under their guidance, Mansfield eventually completed a degree in Fine Art: an achievement that would come to have a profound and lasting impact on his sene of self. Since completing his degree, Mansfield has collaborated with the a number of the YBAs on various artworks and projects. He also works closely with prisoners & ex-offenders, curates large exhibitions to raising funds for various charities, and is a board member of the Koestler Trust. Intimately tied to his early life experiences, Mansfield’s works explore themes of incarceration, focusing on the material enclosures of Pr*son life, for a powerful and politically charged aesthetic.
Key to Gary’s practice is working with and supporting marginalised groups and wanting to change their opposing attitudes. He tells us, “I have many influences; most can be grouped as ‘Social injustice’. Creating an artwork or exhibition that can rebalance the equilibrium slightly is what drives me. I have run art workshops with homeless groups and in prisons, was the main fundraiser for the Katie Piper Foundation and am a Director for The Koestler Trust, one of the World’s best known Pr*son arts charities.”
Having an amazing story himself, Gary created a podcast to discover and share the back-story of other artists, ranging from homeless people that used art to get off the streets, to renowned artists known world wide.
Gary Mansfield
Podcast: http://www.ministryofarts.org
https://www.instagram.com/mizogart
Rosalind Davis
Growing up in social housing Davis has survived many challenges (not J*il but definitely dealt with things to do with the justice / injustice system!) to become an artist, curator, writer of an internationally selling book and a teacher, designer and a graduate of the RCA. None of this came easy. But she’s not giving the game away just yet…
Rosalind Davis (graduate of the RCA and Chelsea College of Arts) is an artist as well as a curator who has curated over 30 exhibitions to date. From 2016-20 she ran a dynamic programme at Collyer Bristow Gallery, a unique exhibition space in a central London law firm, showing early-career artists alongside established names. In these 4 years, Davis co-hosted a number of events and private tours for arts organisations and professionals, including The Fine Art Group, The Mall Galleries, Young Professionals in the Arts, Barry Schwabsky, the Smithsonian, the Contemporary Art Society and the Government Art Collection. She achieved record-breaking audience figures for these shows, which were attended by commercial gallerists, curators, collectors, writers, consultants, interior designers, artists, teachers, students and others.
“Intellectually stimulating and well thought through, Rosalind curates the smartest exhibitions of new and emergent art in London. Brilliant…” Graham Crowley, painter, writer, curator.
Davis’ previous curatorial projects have been at Standpoint Gallery, Arthouse1, Geddes Gallery and with Zeitgeist Arts Projects (ZAP). ZAP was an ambitious arts organisation and membership programme co-directed by Davis from 2012-15 at Bond House Gallery (ASC) and at Core Gallery, London from 2010-12.
www.rosalinddavis.co.uk | Instagram @rosalindnldavis
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Factory Project, Factory Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00