‘Tom Hackney & Roy Exley In Conversation’

Castlefield Gallery is proud to present Tom Hackney, winner of the BOC Emerging Artist Award 2003, in conversation with Roy Exley.

This event coincides with Hackney’s exhibition ‘Suspended Belief’, a series of new, immaculate and visually compelling photorealist paintings. The work explores the notion of landscape in terms of specific location; Hackney having visited and photographically recorded several areas in Los Angeles that have been used in the depiction of fictional Hollywood cinema.

Through the production of referential cinematic images Hackney explores the tension between fiction, myth and reality. He aims to juxtapose a Hollywood myth with a photographic truth, and then invert the process by creating a painted replica of a truthful depiction of fictional landscape: “In choosing to paint from the photographs I gathered, I wanted to amplify the connotations contained within the subjects. I suppose I wanted to recreate the original scenarios from which the photos were taken, rebuilding the situations like painted film sets.”

Hackney will be discussing his work, ‘The Celebrity of Place’, current practice within photorealism and other issues in contemporary painting, with writer and critic, Roy Exley.

MORE ON ROY EXLEY:
Roy Exley is a freelance art critic and curator. He writes for ‘Contemporary’, ‘Portfolio’, ‘Flash Art’, ‘Camera Austria’, ‘Art Press’, ‘Blueprint’, ‘Next Level’ and ‘Source’. His most recent exhibition was ‘Amplifying Silence / Magnifying Stillness’ at the Fondation d’Art Contemporain Daniel et Florence Guerlain, France, which ran from May until September this year. He is currently curating an exhibition titled ‘Slow Down: The Art of Deceleration’ which will tour in 2005. He is a visiting lecturer at Manchester University, Nottingham Trent University, Loughborough University, Camberwell College of Art and Southampton Institute.

MORE ON TOM HACKNEY:
Tom Hackney was born in Taunton, Somerset in 1977. He studied Foundation Art and Design in Somerset and graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in BA Fine Art in 2000. He has exhibited widely in Manchester and London and is winner of the BOC Emerging Artist Award 2003. Tom Hackney lives and works in London.

MORE ON THE BOC EMERGING ARTIST AWARD:
Tom Hackey is the winner of the BOC Emerging Artist Award 2003. In the words of Sir Peter Blake RA, one of the five judges: “ The BOC Award is unique because it specifically supports art graduates wishing to pursue a professional career. We chose Tom because we believe his painting is exceptional now – and shows great promise for the future.” The award suports promising young artists based in the UK with a grant of £20,000 to the winner, with up to five additional discretionary awards of £1,000 each to runners-up.

Limited Edition Prints by Tom Hackney are available to purchase. Price £180 framed, £120 unframed.

‘Suspended Belief’, a catalogue of Tom Hackney’s work, accompanies the exhibition. The catalogue features essays by Roy Exley and Padraig Timoney and is published by Castlefield Gallery Publications. Price £10

Castlefield Gallery is supported by Arts Council England with Lottery funding. Sponsored by Crosby Homes North West Ltd, Linn Products Ltd. Castlefield Gallery acknowledges the support of Peter Kent Associates in the mentoring scheme by Business in the Arts: North West.

For further information and images please contact: Sophia Crilly at Castlefield Gallery, 2 Hewitt St, Manchester. M15 4GB. T: 0161 832 8034 E: sophia@castlefieldgallery.co.uk