I am very pleased to share I have two sculptures in the upcoming exhibition Material Truths.
The Private View is taking place 2-4pm, Saturday 23rd March. All are welcome. I hope to see you there.
New Work and Upcoming Shows
Hello friends,
It has been a while since my last post but it has been a very productive time. Below are some of the project and pieces I have been working on.
The excellent Charles Emerson captured my sculpture, 5 Offerings recently installed in the clients home. The work found its shape and voice through spending time with the whole family, going on walks in the forest, sharing food and stories round the table. Crafted from five Yew branches, all from the same ancient tree that fell in a storm. This work is a conduit for holding, treasuring and sharing the families story.
My old friend and supremely talented photographer Owen Richards came to the studio recently capturing Last Christmas, Future Meteorite & Handle With Care. Three recently realised sculptures.
These works looks to embed stories within objects, giving them a new meaning and sense of place within the world. These sculptures are physical manifestations of whit I call ‘Future Meteorites’. Holding more than just environmental history, I believe they can also act as social artefacts, holding the memories, moments and emotions of the people that encounter them, taking on new meaning ‘post tree’. All are GPS mapped to the location where I first encounter the wood. It is then either worked on in-situ or transported back to the studio to be hand worked to shape and size, exposing its unique beauty, highlighted through the use of colour and finish that relate to the story held within. Object becoming artefact.
ON SHOW:
HOPES/FEARS is on public display for the whole month of March in Ecclesall Woods, Sheffield. It is part of the citywide Festival Of The Outdoors. For more information on the whole festival go to their website HERE. Grab a coffee from the wonderful Woodland Coffee Stop and have a wander round the beautiful woodland this Spring, so close to the heart of the city.
HOPES/FEARS installed next to J G Graves Woodland Discovery Centre, Ecclesall Woods, 260 Abbey Lane, Sheffield, S7 2QZ. Open to the public 7 days a week for the month of March.
HOPES/FEARS - Print now available
Hello friends,
New print alert! I am really excited to be releasing my latest print:
HOPES/FEARS
Giclée print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag (308gsm)
Edition of 30, signed and numbered
Dimensions: 61 x 45.5cm
Price: £80
You can order direct from my website here: http://www.christopherjarratt.com/shop/hopesfears
The print is an embodiment of capturing the feelings and emotions that I personally (and I feel many people) have been dealing with over the last few years. In one moment everything seems possible, we have the ability to change, adapt, work together with the environment, communities, governments... and yet, in an instant, it all feels overwhelming, too far, out of reach.
Rumination is extremely tiring and destructive but, acknowledging where we're at and what we are sitting with, realising that every human has dealt with these two core emotions throughout history, polar opposites and yet nestled right up next to each other is part of what makes us human. That gives me hope, (what a scary thought!).
Thank you to all that visited the LAND MARK exhibition in September. The turnout and feedback was very humbling. You can read about the exhibition here: https://ourfaveplaces.co.uk/whats-on/land-mark/
I will be releasing a HOPES/FEARS t-shirt in the coming days! keep your eyes peeled on Instagram for this release.
More exciting projects in the pipeline too but they are for another day.
Christopher
September Shows
Well, it's been a while. But I'm back with three, yes three shows all opening on the weekend of the 2nd of September!
I am inviting you to all of them. Two are about 50 meters apart from each other so there are no excuses not to see both at the same time.
LANDMARK - Private View - Friday 2nd September, 6-8pm
3rd Sep – 1st Oct 2022, Wednesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm
Persistence Works Gallery, Yorkshire Artspace, 21 Brown Street, Sheffield, S1 2BS
Out & About - Sustainability Weekender (Unveiling of HOPES/FEARS sculpture)
03 Sep - 04 Sep 2022, 11am-6pm
Opposite Site Gallery & Showroom Workstation, Brown Street, Sheffield, S1 2BF
Middlethorpe Manor Sculpture Garden
3rd-4th & 10th-11th September 2022, 10:30 - 3:30pm
Middlethorpe Manor, Middlethorpe, York, YO23 2QB
Book your parking space here: https://bit.ly/3ApmoKm
I am really excited to share these with you and I hope you are able to visit. If you are, let me know.
LANDMARK
3rd September – 1st October 2022
Wednesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm
Private View - Friday 2nd September, 6-8pm
Landmark reflects on a year-long project by artists Christopher Jarratt and Emilie Taylor and a group of eleven people navigating their recovery or changes to their drug or alcohol use.
The exhibition, taking place during National Recovery Month, highlights the importance of place, community and belonging and imbues our urban environment with the magic of folklore and the weight of tradition. Handmade flags and ceramic flasks, made using heritage craft techniques encourage us to reflect on how our personal journeys are part of the fabric of the city.
Landmark began as an exploration into the healing effects of heritage crafts both for individuals and for a city post-pandemic.
The flags are inspired by the pennants that would have hung from Sheffield Castle hundreds of years ago. They were created in response to sites in the city that hold personal significance to the people who made them.
Digital reproductions of the flags will be displayed on paper and paste billboards throughout the city during September, with whole site takeovers at Sidney Street and Castlegate. The posters can be scanned to gain deeper insight into the significance of each site, the exhibition and to find out about recovery services in the city. Maps, designed by Peter & Paul, showing all the locations, will be available from the exhibition.
To christen the new community Kiln Yard facility at Yorkshire Artspace, slip decorated Pilgrim Flasks were baked and then used to serve herbal elixirs in a medieval banquet. Staged beneath the flags, the feast was an opportunity to bring people together to think about recovery and our city.
A film by Shared Programme documents the project and will be screened in the gallery as part of the exhibition.
This project has been a partnership with Project 6 who provide services for people affected by substance use.
Out & About Sustainability Weekender
Saturday & Sunday, 11am - 6pm in CIQ Square,
Opposite the Site Gallery & Showroom Workstation
Brown Street
Sheffield City Centre
S1 2BF
I'm really excited to be showing alongside such stellar line up, including work, workshops and sounds from:
Leigh de Vries, Sarah Waterhouse, Social Pickle, Wet Patch, Rasheeqa Ahmad (Hedge Herbs), McCloy + Muchemwa / Mitre & Mondays colab & Montez Press Radio.
New sculptural commission alert!
HOPES/FEARS
Highlighting disparate feelings and emotions around the climate crisis.
Powered by the wind, the sculpture asks us to consider notions of sustainability and our relationship to nature. On one side, everything feels possible and we have the tools to change to be better, more harmonious passengers on Spaceship Earth, and within the blink of an eye, the challenge can seem too big and overwhelming to know where to start.
Limited edition prints and t-shirts that accompany the sculpture will be available to buy all weekend.
Don't miss out on the excellent line up of happenings, workshops and events happening all weekend and its all FREE to the public.
For full listings, head to @visitsheffield
-
Out & About is generously supported by @sheffieldcitycouncil Economic Recovery Fund, and is led by a partnership between @sitegallery, @showroomworkstation, @yartspace and @blocprojects.
Middlethorpe Manor Sculpture Garden - Opening Weekends
Really honoured to have been asked to include TRADE ROUTES as part of Middlethorpe Manor's new Sculpture Garden curated by Matthew Jarratt.
Middlethorpe Manor Sculpture Gardens, features new and established artists from across Yorkshire and the North, the exhibition for our first open weekends will feature over 20 works of sculpture and installation.
On each open day, there are two slots, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1:30pm-3:30pm. Numbers are limited due to carparking capacity.
BOOK HERE: https://bit.ly/3ApmoKm
Image: Sculpture by Sam Shendi, onsite at Middlethorpe Manor
There's a lot of information there! I'm really looking forward to seeing the end of summer out in a flourish and I can't wait to meet new and old friends at these events and share our experiences of the works and environments they are in.
Best,
Christopher
Symbols of Presence: Exhibition with Christopher Jarratt and Highfield Adventure Playground
Hello friends,
I am really excited to announce and invite you to a new body of work and immersive experience that has been in the making since 2019!
Symbols of Presence:
Exhibition with Christopher Jarratt and Highfield Adventure Playground
Key Info:
Symbols of Presence runs from 9th-25th September
Location - Yorkshire Artspace, 21 Brown Street, Sheffield, S1 2BS
Opening times - Thurs-Sat 12-5pm
Private View - Wednesday 8th September 5-7pm
Symbols of Presence is a new body of work by Christopher Jarratt in collaboration with young people from Highfield Adventure Playground.
Symbols of Presence is a collage of animation, audio, photography and sculpture that sit together to provide a space for reflection and daydreaming. In our first workshop the young people were asked to tear card by hand and apply it to an imaginary landscape. By panning over the work with a macro lens, these small compositions become tracking shots into imaginary worlds.
The central element is a circular balance beam sculpture that is inspired by the Daoist practice of walking in circles as an act of meditation. Audiences are invited to walk on the beam as a grounding exercise within the exhibition.
The accompanying audio features the young people experimenting with contact microphones and Tibetan singing bowls recorded in a workshop with sound healer Muna Mcadie to create an ambient and ethereal soundscape.
A special thank you to all the young people involved in this project; Rahan, Danyal, Asim, Habib, Maia, Lovae, Ammara, Mohammed, Imaeya and Fallon.
Exhibition Workshops:
Muna Mcadie, Sound Healer and Yoga teacher along with Artist, Natalie Finnemore will be hosting public workshops within the gallery space during the exhibition. Spaces are free but limited. Head to Site Gallery’s website or follow the links to book your place.
Saturday 18th September - 11:00am and 1:00pm
Sound Healer, Muna Mcadie will be leading a 50 minute sound healing workshop in the space. The workshop is free and open to all. BOOK HERE: https://bit.ly/3kyUUdz
Saturday 25th September - 11:00am and 1:00pm
Artist Natalie Finnemore will be hosting two live activation workshops for all the family. BOOK HERE: https://bit.ly/3mEsb9S
Thank you to the commissioners; Site Gallery, the funders; Paul Hamlyn Foundation and project supporters; Yorkshire Artspace, Highfield Adventure Playground, Sharrow Community Forum.
Photographs by Peter Martin
For more information or if you have any questions, contact me.
Look after yourselves and each other.
New Work & The Hepworth Print Fair 12-28th March
Hello friends,
I am excited to share that I'll be taking part in the online Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair!
Digital doors open THIS FRIDAY 12th March to Sunday 28th March.
Follow @hepworthwakefield for IGTV & LIVE events, in-conversations, studio tours & offers.
A privilege to show alongside such a stellar selection of artists and galleries.
New works have been added for sale and more will follow over the coming weeks.
ONLINE SHOP HERE!
FUTURE LANDSCAPES
Visions of bucolic landscapes a thousand years in the future. Created during the global lockdown of 2020.
Watercolour & pencil on 300gsm hot pressed watercolour paper.
Size - A5, Signed on back.
£40
AVAILABLE TO BUY HERE
Square, Circle, Triangle (Green, Yellow, Pink) alongside work by JFK Turner & Room9ldn.
Curated by Kobi & Teal
All available to buy from Kobi & Teal HERE
It's been a busy and exciting time in the studio which I am very thankful for during a time of mass uncertainty, sadness and tension in our society, it has given me a tangible and productive focus point.
Share some love.
Look after yourselves and each other,
Christopher.
Hello friends,
I am excited to share my latest edition: Square, Circle, Triangle (Green, Yellow, Pink).
Available to buy HERE at Kobi & Teal
An edition of 5 sets (individually handmade)
Dimensions: Each structure approx 15cm x 8cm x 8cm. Presentation box: 37.5 x 27.5 x 12.5 cm
Materials: Clay, Wood, Paint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
Price: £150
Kobi & Teal hosted my solo show 'Stumps/Future Meteorites' in the spring of 2019 and it is a pleasure to work with Nick and Katie at Kobi & Teal again. The sculpture is part of their new show, 'IN COMPANY' alongside 10 other artists, designers and makers including the excellent; JFK Turner, Malcom Ashman and Jo Robyn Elbourne.
They will be opening their doors in real life once again on the 2nd of December (YAY!). If you don't live in Somerset all works are available online too HERE.
Look after yourselves and each other,
Christopher.
PUBG & How I Found Creativity In A Fairy-Tale In Lockdown
Hello friends,
I spent more time then I would like looking at screens this summer. I'm sure a lot of people have felt this way. For me, some of it has been a total pleasure.
I was one of 22 artists invited to be part of the Yorkshire Sculpture Network, set up by the excellent team at Yorkshire Sculpture International. It is a 4 month long, fortnightly digital meet-up supporting us artists in our practice and wellbeing. A gift I am very grateful for during lockdown.
It has been such an honour and pleasure to be part of. Getting to listen to and ask questions of the likes of: Leilah Babirye, Jennifer Boyd, Emma Cousin, Kevin Hunt, Helen Pheby, Rachel Pimm, Thomas J. Price, Zoe Williams and Haroon Mirza.
Screen grab of the Yorkshire Sculpture Network crew, mid-Zoom.
It was during one of these talks that I had a moment of personal crisis.
Kevin Hunt was passionately describing how he had managed to find his safe and happy place by ordering in some food, meeting up with his friends at a digital art exhibition and going for a virtual walk around the show, discussing the works. How beautiful.
Until Kevin mentioned it, the thought of visiting an online exhibition wasn't even remotely on my mind...
It was at this point that I had a moment of total creative failure panic. I decided I must be a fraud. The fact that I was developing and psyched more than ever on my practice at that moment didn't seem to matter to my fight or flight brain.
What was I doing in my down-time? Playing PUBG Mobile.
Yes, on the face of it, it might seem like I was spending my time jumping out of an aeroplane dressed as a baby shark or sometimes just in my pants hungry to virtually kill random people from around the world all in the hope of winning a Chicken Dinner...
I then realised that this was my version of Kevin's Art Gallery with friends.
I was logging into a fairy-tale with friends that we would create and experience in real-time. A lens away from the fear, sadness and confusion of what has been happening on planet earth. We were a community on our own terms, finding our freedom.
The game starts with us ceremonially dressing (our avatars) to suit our mood and imaginative desires. Before I know it I'm jumping out of an aeroplane and entering a mythical land into an as yet untold story that we will create.
Sometimes we look for the most remote mountain we can find and we just hike and talk, taking in the dramatic views and soundscape we would find ourselves in. Other times we drop straight into the hot zone, gunfire and virtual death everywhere. I think my personal favourite story we created was when we named ourselves the Super Peace Keepers and we vowed to not hurt or harm a single person and see how long we would last before our inevitable deaths. To our surprise our Korean teammate that we had never met before thought this was a wonderful idea and joined us for the ride, the four of us in a circle, facing each other holding hands as we were taken out by another team hungry to create their own story.
Super Peace Keepers - A screen-grab of our final moments together.
Last night, dressed as a wolf, I visited a bombed-out Art Gallery.
“Stories are one of the most ancient and most effective ways of making sense of the world” - Philip Pullman
Look after yourselves and each other,
Christopher.
Slingshot Editions Launch
Hello friends,
This has been a long time coming but I am really excited to unveil the Slingshot Editions limited edition print collection.
Hand printed in England by skilled craftsmen using the ancient printing process of Lithography. Each print is signed in charcoal by the artist together with a summary of the artists career & information about the subject.
Limited to only thirty of each print worldwide, presented in beautifully made bespoke boxes (box sets).
Only available to buy online HERE: https://folksy.com/shops/christopherjarratt
The Process
Hand printed in England by skilled craftsmen using the ancient printing process of Lithography.
Colours are mixed by hand, each sheet is registered by hand and ink applied by hand.
Each lithograph is signed and numbered in charcoal by the artist.
The Subject
Slingshot is many things - a child's toy - a deadly weapon - latent power !!
Translate it as you will - it remains a stunning contemporary image.
The Editions
4 x Originals - Sold
6 x Artist Proofs - Not for Sale
Large Lithographs
Box sets of four 30 only world wide
Singles 30 of each only world wide
Dimensions: 574mm x 428mm
Small Lithographs
Box sets of four 30 only world wide
Singles 30 of each only world wide
Dimensions: 413mm x 295mm
Any questions, get in touch. I would love to know what you think.
Look after yourselves and each other.
Postponed Projects And Projects That WILL Happen
Hello friends,
Maybe it’s a funny time to start a journal of my practice but to me, it feels right. I have never felt that comfortable with the shorter format output; Instagram, Twitter etc. For myself the boundaries have been too blurred and I get overwhelmed with content. I end up being stifled.
As with most self-employed creatives, we have seen projects disappear in a flash due to COVID-19 but others are just postponed, I can’t wait to get back outside working with communities, celebrate, have fun and realise the work:
THREE BASICS (Square, Circle, Triangle)
I am really excited to be creating a play sculpture for Highfield Adventure Playground in Sheffield. The project is a collaboration with the young people who attend Sharrow Youth Club. We will be working together to design and realise the play sculpture. Before being installed at the adventure playground we will exhibit the work in the gallery at Yorkshire Artspace, Persistence Works building, in the heart of Sheffield.
We are hoping the project will happen before the end of the year if the virus (COVID-19) allows. I will keep you posted.
Thank you to the commissioners; Site Gallery, the funders; Paul Hamlyn Foundation and project supporters; Yorkshire Artspace, Highfield Adventure Playground, Sharrow Community Forum for their continued support on this project.
Isolate Inn - an ‘open all hours’ online pub during the COVID-19 lockdown.
I am looking forward to continue sharing via the traditional newsletter and diary style format again.
Look after yourselves and each other,
Christopher.