DOG SHOW! launches at Radiant Gallery

Recently I attended the preview night for the launch of the DOG SHOW! at Radiant Gallery. The exhibition was designed and curated by a group of nine and ten-year-old children from Plymouth and the Gallery’s resident Miniature Dachshund, Beau. There was a mixture of work at the exhibition including photography, drawing, jewellery, sculptures and even a pooch photo booth!

It was interesting to see the different work that people had produced for the show, it was all focusing around the same topic but it was interesting to see the different takes. The evening was very doggy originated which was nice to see as they all played a massive part to create the exhibition. Their bistro, RumpusCosy made the dogs at home by serving cute doggy treats including Yappuccinos and Woofaccinos along with dog treats.

There were no two pieces alike at the Gallery, they all had very different meanings from one another. Some were even personal meanings to the Artists themselves. This exhibition didn’t have any many pieces as the last one I attended, the Plymouth Young Contemporary Open. The pieces here did still make the exhibition worth while as they are all different. Here are my favourite pieces from the exhibition.

Kev Attwood – Joshy’s Nose

This piece by Kev Attwood I feel is really cute. A photograph of a dog’s nose, it’s just super simple. It’s interesting to see a dog’s nose up this close as its not really a part of a dog that you see this much in depth.Normally you see their face or paws. Noses are just as cute!

Liam Ainscough – Snoopy Dog

So I don’t remember having one of these as a child, but Liam Ainscough has modeled this piece after the Snoopy Dog released by Fisher Price. It’s an up scaled model of the iconic dog toy from the 1960’s which Liam has fond memories playing with as a child. This is super cute as it’s like your childhood is growing up with you in the form of your toys. The attention to detail is just amazing, it looks exactly like the toy.

Mitch Boyer – Big Viv

I first saw these photo-illustration series by Mitch Boyer before the preview night as they were used to advertise the exhibition. They are such a creative idea to mix man and dog together. There’s such a simple message behind these, they explore what life would be like with a small dog turned giant.

Sarah Britten-Jones – Takin’ the Lead

When I first came across these walk along dogs by Sarah Britten-Jones, they seemed a bit scary. With them looking quite realistic and their facial expressions but after a while you see how it’s such a simple and good idea. I really like the fact that they are on wheels so they are able to be pushed around like you’re taking a dog for a walk.

I hope you enjoyed this post and this brief insight into the DOG SHOW at Radiant Gallery. I would recommend going to the exhibition if you live locally. It is now open to the public until Saturday 30 September 2016. So pop on down! For more information follow Radiant HERE on their official Twitter page.

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Plymouth Young Contemporary Open 2016

The very first Plymouth Young Contemporary Open (PYCO) exhibition opened at Radiant Gallery and Peninsula Arts Gallery on Friday 1 July. Following on from the success of Plymouth Contemporary Open, PYCO was created to showcase the incredible talent of children and young people, read more here.

Plymouth Young Contemporary Open 2016

I was kindly invited by Made In Plymouth to attend a private view of Plymouth Young Contemporary Open 2016. The exhibition was created following on from the success of it’s parent exhibition Plymouth Contemporary Open last year. I was really pleased to be invited as I would be getting a first look at all the amazing artwork that was created by talented children and young people in Plymouth.

The finalists work was split across two different galleries in the city, Radiant Gallery and Peninsula Arts Gallery. For the first year, the theme for the exhibition was GROW. While walking around it was amazing to see different people’s imagination when it comes to the subject. Some people went for the obvious with the environment whereas other people were more creative with the subject.

It was amazing to see everyone’s imagination, some of the work was just amazing and things I would never think of creating myself. I feel the different age categories worked really well and you could see some real talent in them. All of the ideas worked really well in relationship to the subject. There were a few that you could understand just by looking at them but others you had to read the artist’s comments.

Runner-up: Amelia Goodman – Groa

Amelia Goodman created a piece called Groa. It was of a dragon that she created in her story The Magic Egg. The piece works really well as it’s showing the change from the dragon being a character in a story to a piece of art. Showing people her imagination and how she envisions things. Looking at the piece I couldn’t understand how this was related to GROW but after reading, I understood completely and thought it was a lovely piece.

Boringdon Art Club – Tree of Life

All the pieces within the exhibition were from one person, so this piece by the Boringdon Art Club, stood out to me. Titled the Tree of Life, it was created by twenty children from an after-school club. The whole piece is handmade by the children, with them blowing ink through straws to create the effect of small twigs and branches. The children all chose an animal or plant to produce for the tree to symbolism the object on the planet.

Runner-up: Isabella Colthurst – Growing is Part of Us

As soon as I walked into the Gallery at Radiant, I saw a young girl with a camera taking photos of people in a make shift frame. It was really nice to meet Isabella Colthurst, her idea was one of the best on show. It got members of the public involved in her work as she wanted to create a life timeline of people. She wanted to photograph different ages and then put them in order to show the change we go through as we’re growing up.

For more information of future events, visit their official website HERE or follow Plymouth Young Open on Twitter HERE.