eye.on.art

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This month we have a number of events linked to the University of Central Lancashire. First off, acclaimed American artist Suzanne Lacy is developing a commission with In-Situ (co-directed by UCLan Fine Art Lecturer William Titley), as part of their In Residence programme in Pendle (Lancashire, England). A project set to involve hundreds of people, it will culminate in one of Lacy’s well-known choreographed events. See the call for participation here.
Craig Atkinson is part of Picture Book: Co-Curated With Pages at The Tetley, Leeds, with an installation of Café Royal Books, Atkinson’s photographic publishing project. On display are CRB’s first 100 books documenting change in the UK between 1970 and 2000.

On campus, Making Histories Visible launches the MHV Lecture Series beginning on Feb 17^th with Christine Eyene who will deliver a lecture entitled “The Exhibition Performed” sharing the research leading to last year’s exhibition All Of Us Have A Sense Of Rhythm at David Roberts Art Foundation, and hinting at developments beyond this project. Guest artists Larry Achiampong and Evan Ifekoya will join William Titley to discuss their art and sound practice. Free event open to all, find out more here.
Larry Achiampong is one of the artists selected for EVA International, Ireland’s biennale titled Still (the) Barbarians, curated by Koyo Kouoh. The biennale also announced it will include satellite projects and events, including Murder Machine curated by Christine Eyene in collaboration with Ormston House. This project will follow the current exhibition, Mark Dion: Against The Current, running until 13 Feb.

In recent art news: French curator Christine Macel was announced as Artistic Director of the Venice Biennale’s 57^th International Art Exhibition to be held in 2017. In Dakar, the list of artists of Dak’Art 2016 – Biennale of Contemporary African Art has been published by an unofficial source. The Dak’Art office is still to make its official announcement.

In our (London) diary: Stan Douglas: The Secret Agent at Victoria Miro; Red Africa at Calvert 22, a season on the legacy of cultural relationships between Africa, the Soviet Union and related countries during the Cold War see details here; sound artists Ain Bailey and Holly Ingleton contribute to the Wellcome Collection’s Friday Late Spectacular: Feeling Emotional, with the sound piece Fractured Intimacies; and a strong Zimbabwean presence in London with Michele Mathison at Tyburn Gallery and Gareth Nyandoro at Tiwani Contemporary.
This month’s highlights also include: Mario Cravo Neto and Maud Sulter exhibitions at Autograph ABP; Fiona Banner and Rosemarie Trockel at David Roberts Art Foundation.

Finally, the arts have not been spared the current climate of insecurity, bigotry and injustice, from the loss of French-Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui, along that of other cherished lives, in the 15 January Ouagadougou attacks; alleged political pressures on art institutions and practitioners; to reports on the case of Nigerian performance artist Jelili Atiku, a Prince Claus Award winner (2015), charged of committing felony and public disturbance with a performance addressing international and domestic terrorism. His case has sparked discontent and concern in the art community. His hearing is resuming on February 1^st. CORA/Arterial Network Nigeria has launched a petition calling for Atiku’s charges to be dropped.

Watch this space for upcoming art news.