14/2/2008
Art Sheffield
Different venues, Sheffield
Yes, No & Other Options. Taking as its foundation a specially commissioned text by art critic Jan Verwoert, this city-wide exhibition addresses the fact that in a post-industrial condition, one particularly pertinent to Sheffield, we have entered into a service culture where we no longer just work, we perform in a perpetual mode of "I Can". A mix of both emerging and established Sheffield-based, nationally and internationally-based artists were selected for the festival as their work was felt to have a close relationship to this contextual text.
Contemporary art festival ART SHEFFIELD 08: Yes, No & Other Options takes place from
16 February - 30 March 2008 in venues across the city including Bloc, End Gallery,
Millennium Galleries, S1 Artspace, Site Gallery, Yorkshire ArtSpace, Sylvester
Space, The Winter Garden and the public realm.
Taking as its foundation a specially commissioned text by art critic Jan Verwoert,
this city-wide exhibition addresses the fact that in a post-industrial condition,
one particularly pertinent to Sheffield, we have entered into a service culture
where we no longer just work, we perform in a perpetual mode of ‘I Can’. (Even
advertising tells us that ‘Life gets more exciting when you say yes’).
Verwoert asks, “What would it mean to put up resistance against a social order in
which high performance and performance-related evaluation has become a growing
demand, if not a norm? What would it mean to resist the need to perform?” He
suggests that certain means of resisting are in themselves creative - that as well
as embracing exuberant performativity, art has also used the ‘ I Can’t’, by creating
moments where the flow of action is interrupted, established meanings are suspended
and alternative ways to act become imaginable. He suggests that as well as yes and
no, there may be other options.
A mix of both emerging and established Sheffield-based, nationally and
internationally-based artists were selected for ART SHEFFIELD 08 as their work was
felt to have a close relationship to this contextual text. In a range of media,
from site specific to painting, sculpture and video, the pieces examine the issues
raised by Verwoert.
Artists include Tomma Abts, Michal Budny, Phil Collins, Andrew Cooke, Kerstin
Kartscher, Silke Otto Knapp, Július Koller, Jiri Kovanda, Ruth Legg, Hilary Lloyd,
Deimantas Narkevicius, Ines Schaber, Sean Snyder, Frances Stark, Mladen Stilinovic,
Esther Stocker, Nasrin Tabatabai, Wolfgang Tillmans, Tsui Kuang-Yu, Gitte Villesen,
Eveline Van Den Berg, Ryszard Wasko, Nicole Wermers and Xu Tan.
For the event there will be new commissions from Katie Davies, Annika Eriksson, Tim
Etchells, Vlatka Horvat, Host Artist's Group, Janice Kerbel, George Henry Longly,
Roman Ondak, Kirsten Pieroth, Paul Rooney, Dexter Sinister, Esther Stocker, Neil
Webb, Katy Woods and Kan Xuan.
Symposium - Thursday 28th & Friday 29th February
Speakers: Jan Verwoert, Nikolaus Hirsch, Deimantas Narkevicius, Babak Afrassiabi,
Irit Rogoff, Jennifer Johns, Annika Eriksson, Nasrin Tabatabai, Stephen Beddoe &
Russell Martin, Jeanine Griffin & Katy Woods, Cylena Simonds. Chaired by Jan
Verwoert & Becky Shaw.
Image: Kuang yu Tsui, The Shortcut to the Systematic Life: Superficial Life (2002), courtesy the artist
Venues
Admission to all venues is free and opening
times vary
Bloc
71 Eyre Lane S1 4RB
Telephone 0114 272 3155
Open Wednesday to Sunday 12noon – 6pm
blocprojects.co.uk
End Gallery
Sheffield Hallam University,
Psalter Lane S11 8UZ
Telephone 0114 225 2607
Open Wednesday to Friday 11am – 6pm,
Saturday 11am – 5pm, Sunday 1pm – 6pm
(*Closed Friday 21, Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 March 08)
Millennium Galleries
Arundel Gate S1 2PP
Telephone 0114 278 2600
Open Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm,
Sunday 11am – 5pm
www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk
Yorkshire ArtSpace
Persistence Works
21 Brown Street S1 2BS
Telephone 0114 276 1769
Open Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm,
except Thursday 10.45am – 5pm,
Saturdays 11am – 4pm
www.artspace.org.uk
S1 Artspace
Units 4A-6B, Trafalgar Court,
Milton Street S1 4JU
Telephone 0114 249 3386
Open Wednesday to Sunday
12noon – 6pm
www.s1artspace.org
**Please note that access to S1 is by stairs only**
Site Gallery
1 Brown Street S1 2BS
Telephone 0114 281 2077
Open Wednesday to Saturday
(plus Sunday 17th & 24th February)
11am – 5.30pm
www.sitegallery.org
Sylvester Space
4 Sylvester Street S1 4RN
Telephone (via SCAF) 0114 281 2013
Open Wednesday to Sunday 12noon – 6pm
www.sylvesterspace.com
Winter Garden
Surrey Street, Sheffield S1
Open 8am – 6pm
(Please note: Roman Ondák’s project
is only viewable 16 – 24 February)