Chester Visual Arts today announced a stimulating programme of artist-led workshops and events alongside its acclaimed V&A touring exhibition Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers. With the majority of events being free, or at low-cost, it represents one of the most ambitious programmes of artist-led workshops and activities in Chester in recent memory.

The charity is bringing some of the most innovative digital artists working in the North West to the Old Library, offering unique new opportunities for creatives, families, art history lovers and music fans to engage with the exhibition on a deeper level.

Douglas Dodds, Senior Curator in the V&A’s Word and Image Department, will give a lecture on the history of digital art and design on Wednesday 21 August. A digital art specialist, Dodds curated Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers and the talk is a must for anyone fascinated by the exhibition or art history.

Artist collective the Owl Project invites families to join them on Saturday 31 August to make analogue crawling robots that respond to light. Alongside constructing the robots, participants will be tracking the movement of these artificial life forms and make a series plotted drawings that participants will be able to take away.

Artist Emily Tilzey will lead a digital drawing workshop on Friday 6 September. Tilzey will also teach digital drawing and painting techniques for those who want to learn about digital art. No previous experience necessary. A must for artists and budding creatives over 14.

On Saturday 7 September, artist Sam Meech, who has just been long listed for the Lumen Arts Prize, presents Strange Loops. Using a variety of video cameras, monitors, projections, analogue mixers and digital video software, Meech invites visitors to drop-in and explore the wonderful world of feedback systems in video art: strange loops.

After a highly popular first set in July, we welcome back Chester-based Nexus Collective to close the exhibition on Sunday 8 September. Drop-in and view the exhibition sound tracked by glitchy, mechanical and downtempo music.

CVA will continue to develop its educational activities, which has seen new relationships forged with secondary schools and universities across the region over the last several months. A dedicated programme of events, tours, workshops, and a Travelling Presentation will be available to secondary schools and colleges throughout the exhibition.

Created by the V&A – touring the nation.

With thanks to The Westminster Foundation for providing additional funding for the exhibition, which has also been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.Ian Short, Chairman of Chester Visual Arts said:

“We are delighted to bring such exciting artists to Chester and support new developments in digital art being made today. These artist-led events complement the exhibition and showcase our ambition to place participation and learning at the core of what we do.”

ENDS

EVENTS PROGRAMME

Wednesday 21 August | 5 – 6pm | £3 | Booking requiredChance and Control: Douglas Dodds Lecture

Saturday 31 August | 12 – 4pm | £5 | Booking requiredLight Seeking Stickbots Workshop

Friday 6 September | 1 – 3pm | £5 | Booking requiredMaking a Dimension: Digital Image-Making Workshop

Saturday 7 September | 1 – 3pm | Free | drop-inSam Meech: Strange Loops

Sunday 8 September | 1 – 4pm | Free | drop-inClosing event: Nexus collective

All events take place at The Old Library, Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2EF

ENDS

EDITOR’S NOTES

Chester Visual Arts

Chester Visual Arts is a registered charity (Registered charity no. 1180619) established to bring a new focus to visual arts provision to the City of Chester and the region. By bringing internationally acclaimed artists to the City of Chester and the wider region, CVA aims to establish a regular programme of quality events and exhibitions, which will lead to the City becoming a go to place nationally and internationally for the visual arts. Its ultimate aim is to create a permanent public art gallery in Chester. Two V&A touring exhibitions have previously been held in the Old Library: the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize and Pop Art in Print. The exhibition Our Colour Reflection by Liz West was held at Chester Cathedral. These exhibitions have attracted a total of over 40,000 local, national and international visitors, making a significant cultural contribution to the region.

V&A

The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.3 million objects that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The Museum holds many of the UK’s national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Address: The Old Library, Northgate Street, Chester, CH1 2EF

Dates: Friday 7 June – Sunday 8 September 2019

Opening times: Wednesday – Sunday, 11am-5pm. Free admission. The venue is fully accessible.