Art & Media: Cu Exhibition

Off-site venue: Copperface Jacks (underneath Palace Hotel), Oxford Street, Manchester, M1.

Cu explores the thin veneer between two states or media. Curatorial collective Contents May Vary raise questions and instigate dialogues, asking what can be defined as the connections or disconnections between media art and visual art. Hidden deep beneath the opulent grandeur of the Palace Hotel lies Copperface Jacks, an underground pub turned art hub for FutureEverythingThe venue is the ideal place to stock up on inspiration during the day and escape into film screenings on Friday and Saturday evenings.

For Cu, Contents May Vary responds not only to the physicality of the space itself, but also to the context of FutureEverything 2010. They have invited fourteen artists, collectives and galleries to exhibit alongside themselves, with each being selected on the artists’ ability to work across disciplines, and for the strong conceptual use of their respective media. The artists were invited to self-select work in response to the outlined themes, with each submitting what they considered a fitting response to the context.

Addressing questions and instigating dialogue, Cu seeks to explore the connections or disconnections between new media and visual art. Referenced strongly in its title Cu, the chemical symbol for Copper, this exhibition acts as a conduit for the questions raised by Contents May Vary about this relationship. It seeks through its invited artists to challenge and discuss commonalities, overlaps, terms, and ask how do we choose to discuss work in relation to these disciplines and what arises as pertinent or paradoxical from this discussion.

Cu showcases diverse and experimental contemporary art from both national and international artists. This eclectic selection individually and collectively responds to the themes set and the unique and charismatic temporary exhibition space that they will occupy.

Art & Media is a Media Arts Network [ma-net] action research project by FutureEverything and Castlefield Gallery funded by Arts Council England. Contents May Vary have previously worked in a variety of spaces and explored a multitude of subjects, disciplines and media. Contents May Vary is an artist collective co-founded in 2004 and currently consists of Alice Bradshaw, Liz Murphy and Richard Shields.