Artist Residency: An Art-line for Margate: A response to COVID-19

The Margate School is pleased to announce that we have now commissioned eight local artists to work on the Arts Council England project An Art-line for Margate: A response to COVID-19. The project aims to explore Margate's arts past, presence and future through developing a curatorial practice by local artists who will be working with the Alexander archive, research Margate's diverse artist communities and work with Thanet's Young Artists and Schools initiated through the Margate Rotary Club. Outcomes will be displayed online and with the possibility to have physical exhibitions utilising window spaces of The Margate School as well as empty shop in Margate's High Street and town centre.

The artists commissioned for this curatorial project are (in alphabetical order):

Anna Skutley, artist and curator, together with Umut Gunduz, video artists, as a collective

"Our collective practice brings together language theory, gaming and 3D technologies to explore ideas of assemblage, mapping and the digital exhibition space. As part of our ethos, we always approach projects prioritising collaboration, conversation and group assemblage of concepts and artistic practices. Therefore, while our group is primarily composed of just two individuals, we are flexible in our structure, often synthesising with other artists or groups. Our collective outfit is conceived as a testing-ground for investigating fiction and gameplay as frameworks for both physical and virtual exhibition spaces. It is envisioned as a fluid space for engaging in progressive and changing workshops and “lab-like” curatorial encounters. In this process, we do not work towards a predescribed outcome, but rather allow group research to guide the work's development"

Bradley Higgins, writer, musician and photographer

Bradley is a writer, musician and photographer whose work explores forms of poetic realism. Looking at the material traces of cultural histories, his practice attempts to articulate the intimate narratives of everyday experience at the heart of broader social moments. Through his current project, Litter Culture, he hopes to salvage and reclaim residual fragments of pop and folk culture.

Carla Knight, fashion designer, writer and teacher

Carla is a creator who works with images and words. Guided by nature and humanity, to understand and share experience of this existence.

Carla is interested in how our history and our creativity can lead us to our truth. How or vulnerability can be our ultimate strength.

Having lived in the North and South of England growing up, followed by over a decade experimenting and grafting in London, she’s emerged on the other side of an industrial tunnel to drop back into being in Thanet. The constant throughout this journey has been the depth and rawness of incredible humans, and the arms of the earth.

These are what feed and drive Carla’s work and keep her making. This project is a chance to focus attention to localise these elements, to uncover and explore with quiet and unknown creators.

Henry Maddicott, poet, theatre maker, facilitator, event producer

Henry Madd is a poet, event producer and workshop facilitator who has performed across the UK and Internationaly.Two time Kent Slam Champ Henry uses his practice to find ways of engaging new audiences with various art forms through community outreach projects working with organisations such at The Marlowe, The Philharmonia Orchestra and Boomsatsuma.

James Padgham, artist and teacher

James Padgham is a secondary school Art teacher and practising artist. Working between assemblage and collage he is building an imaginary visual story, re-appropriating the nature of the objects he collects under the name of Lostnorfound.

A childhood playfulness is inherent in his work, but this is just the surface to a practise that challenges the viewer and asks them to engage in discovering what the suggested narrative offers.

The placement of the work and the context that this is viewed offers further questions and often contradictions. The constructions from his play in the studio are situated in the world and then documented forming a tableau vivant, raising questions about the metaphorical edges of the work. James has alluded to these as personal experiences and reflections from his experiences in education.

Lucy McGeown, artist

Lucy Mcgeown is an artist and drawing tutor living in Margate. Originally from London she is the co-founder of The London Drawing Group which has been teaching drawing classes in museums, galleries and in pop up locations across London for the past 4 years. McGeown's core practice is drawing with her work forming abstract representations of urban environments. McGeown also creates installations from found materials which is an extension of the ideas that inform her two dimensional based pieces.

Oliver Seager, musician, practitioner in community-led projects

Oliver strongly believes in the power that music holds in helping young peoples’ emotional well-being. With this in mind, alongside his other commitments, he also undertakes freelance music technology and production work and intergeneration community projects. He has delivered over a hundred music workshops in conjunction with schools, charities and specialist companies. These sessions have contributed in various ways towards supporting vulnerable groups in our community, from asylum-seekers to those with special educational needs such as autism.

The curatorial practice is supported by TMS MA tutor Ania Dabrowska together with TMS Director Uwe Derksen through online discussions and planning. 

The Margate School, Margate's Art School