Announcing the 2019/20 Manchester School of Art Graduate Mentees

Castlefield Gallery is pleased to announce that the 2019-20 Manchester School of Art Graduate Mentees are Bryony Dawson, Parham Ghalamdar and Jay Mulholland.

Castlefield Gallery Director Helen Wewiora selected the three artists from the 2019 Degree Shows.

Bryony, Parham and Jay will take part in a year-long programme, developed and delivered by Castlefield Gallery to support artists in their first year after graduation. The programme features mentoring and guidance, practical workshops, a programme of local and national trips to introduce a range of artist scenes and contexts, and 12 months honorary membership of Castlefield Gallery Associates, the Gallery development scheme for artists. The programme is supported by Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Bryony Dawson works across film, performance and installation, considering the structures and rhythms that constitute our experience of time through recurring images of cycles, loops and duality. Bryony is also a member of the curatorial project Soft Spot, which is based in the subterranean gallery at Mirabel Studios, Manchester.

Parham Ghalamdar’s current practice focuses on painting. His works explore a sense of nostalgia for an era in which art had clear standards and foundations, where the academy had deep-rooted beliefs in the utility of philosophy and a commitment to the principles of geometry, when art was made collectively, not based on a cynical private relationship between the painter and the market. Ghalamdar attempts to revisit the eras of disciplined artists such as Behzad, a key figure from the Herat School of miniature, or the work of Hieronymous Bosch using these influences to create images that explore the absurd and depict dystopian cartoonish situations using poetic metaphors which might seem political but don’t often make sense. Described in his own words, ‘It’s like putting Teletubbies in charge of the BBC Persian network.’

Jay Mulholland’s practice focuses on sculpture and photography. He is interested in the effect of artificial processes on natural forms, and the gesture of granting permanence to temporal objects and materials. The gesture is contextualised into ambiguous compositions and anti-linear narratives which often feel precarious, fragile, and vulnerable. The work illustrates his observations on modernity, antiquity and permanence, and anticipates a future where nature is an elusive and finite resource. Jay is also a member of Soft Spot.

In addition, Helen Wewiora selected Christina Diakou and Zoë Barry to receive a year’s honorary membership of Castlefield Gallery Associates.

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