Obstructions

Ian Vines, One or Ten Tripods (2020)
Jane Fairhurst, '...a global seam of plastic...' (2020). Image courtesy by Jules Lister
Tara Collette, Unhappy Meal (2020)
Maya Chowdhry, What's Eating Our Reality (2018) - photo courtesy Natalie Willatt
Claire Hignett, Secret and Sacred (2015) - Photo courtesy David Burrows

6 December 2020 — 23 May 2021

Castlefield Gallery plans to reopen on Wednesday 19 May 2021. We will open Obstructions for five days, from Wednesday 19 May to Sunday 23 May.

Plan ahead: Government guidance for reopening is subject to change. Ahead of your visit please check our Visit/Contact page here

Obstructions will be followed by Nicola Ellis and Ritherdon & Co Ltd: No gaps in the line and we will be installing this exhibition from 24 May – 11 June. The exhibition will preview on 12 June, launching fully on 13 June 2021. To find out more, click here

Our mini-site obstructions-castlefieldgallery.co.uk will remain live with digital content from the exhibition. View the exhibition in 360 degrees. Travel digitally through the space, see artwork titles and mediums, and follow the links to see images of the original artworks the artists have remade, the details of the obstructions they were given, a short text response from each artist and images of the new artworks.

Artists: Heather Bell, Maya Chowdhry, Tara Collette, Alena Ruth Donely, Jack Doyle, Jane Fairhurst, Sarah Feinmann, Tina Finch, Sabrina Fuller, Parham Ghalamdar, Claire Hignett, Paddy O’Donnell, Chris Rainham, Katie Tomlinson, Ian Vines

Early in 2020, Castlefield Gallery invited 15 artists from the North West of England to re-make an existing piece of their work with one condition: they had to accept a bespoke ‘Obstruction’ given to them by another artist in the exhibition. Inspired by a long history of artists using self-imposed restrictions to aid creative or free thinking, it also riffs off the restrictions and disruptions caused by COVID-19.

Selected from Salford Scholars who are supported by University of Salford Art Collection, Castlefield Gallery Mentees from Manchester School of Art, and the gallery’s bOlder programme, all the artists are either under 30 or over 50 years of age, creating the opportunity to foster a conversation between two distinct generations. At a time when perceptions of different generations may be fraught with misconceptions, this process has enabled them to learn from each other.

Obstructions is supported by