PROJECTS
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Friday 22 July 2022 - Sunday 18 September 2022
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Queer Reflections is an act of occupancy.
Queer Reflections introduces queer art and identities in traditionally heteronormative spaces.
Queer Reflections is a chance to play with the boundaries of exhibiting queerness.
On Your Face collective have come together to occupy space, to respond and reflect upon the artworks that are part of the Glynn Vivian permanent collection, belonging to the people of Swansea.
Led by artist Fox Irving, and supported by the team at Glynn Vivian, On Your Face are celebrating queerness in all its forms; using a restricted collection that is, on the whole, largely heteronormative and blind to the lives of LGBTQ+ people and others. Through the group’s interactions with each other and the artworks in the Glynn Vivian’s collection, they have playfully explored and synthesised new narratives of what it means to be gay/lesbian, queer, and/or neurodivergent in Wales today.
Each member of the collective selected artworks from Glynn Vivian that they had a natural affinity with when exploring their own queer identity. Their reflections on these selected artworks challenge the current narrative behind that art, and open up a world of contemporary queer Welsh narratives. The project seeks to disrupt the solemn atmosphere of traditional gallery spaces through live performance, installation, workshops and communal art practices. Queer Reflections looks to strip back the layers of historical and contemporary art; to add new stories, new ways of looking and new histories and narratives that will not be lost. It is also a celebration of diverse identity: a positive reframing of conversations surrounding sexuality and gender in the arts.
This is part of a series of projects called ‘Conversations with the Collection’ in which artists, curators, communities, historians etc are invited to work with the permanent collection in ways which help us to reassess its value and usefulness in contemporary society, telling new stories and creating new conversations.
In this episode, we hear from Amina Atiq and Fox Irving
Amina is a Yemini-Scouse poet and performance artist whose work explores the identity and experience of the Yemini diaspora living in Liverpool. Amina is also an award-winning community activist and anti-racism campaigner and they are a current Humboldt Residency Fellow.
Fox is a Queer, Working-Class artist, and through their work they investigate how art can be used as a tool of empowerment by their own marginalised communities. They ask: what keeps people in place, what affords fluidity, and what kinds of assembly can be transformative?
Amina and Fox met during Women Working Class North West - a working group led by Fox for Women artists and producers from Working Class or Benefit Class backgrounds in the North West. Amina was one of the artists who took part.
Women Working Class - A resource which has been developed to showcase women working class artists, and to address the uneven playing field within the arts. The design was inspired by Smash Hits to be fun and accessible, while still being a functional platform for the resources within.
Design by Sarah Ferrari
Originally launched in 2020 with a South East group hosted by the Live Art Development Agency, Fox is now developing a new working group in the North West, supported by Heart of Glass.
A network of artists and producers AND £75 stipend per session - sound good? Here's how to get involved:
The Working Group will meet online, between 6:00-8:00pm on the following Thursday evenings: 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th May 2021.
Heart of Glass is delighted to be hosting Women Working Class (WWC), four weekly Working Group gatherings led by Fox Irving with women artists or producers working in Live Art, Performing or Visual Arts of lower-class origins to investigate how art/space/class interact to reinforce or subvert dominant values.
Hearkening back to the feminist consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s, this group will host an ongoing conversation among artists and producers to deconstruct hierarchies of space in the landscape of art by sharing our experiences and strategies, dreams and schemes, theories and knowhow.
The idea is not for a group to come together to talk about class, but to imagine/practice ways for art spaces to better serve class diverse artists doing groundbreaking, world-changing work; discuss how issues of class influence what we make; and explore what our relationships are to just being and surviving in the art world and how it can liberate us to do the radical.
In these gatherings the group will consider ways that we “drag up” to navigate art spaces, and operational ways to make art spaces more accessible to lower class people. The group will also look to break down the language of the, often inaccessible, art world and instead give space for women of these classes to be heard in the arena.
This group will be the North-West iteration of the Group, following on from the launch of the South-East group hosted by the Live Art Development Agency in 2020.
Fox Irving’s art is shaped by the precarious identity they inhabit as queer/femme/working class. They ask: what keeps people in place, what affords fluidity, and what kinds of assembly can be transformative? With a playful, D.I.Y approach informed by activist strategies and centering collaboration, Fox investigates how art can be used by marginalised communities that they are part of as a tool of empowerment. Fox was born and raised in the North West and now lives in the South East.
Dates and location:
Thursday 6:00-8pm on 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th May 2021.
The group will meet online via Zoom - this will be closed online space for participants of Women Working Class and a personal invitation will be shared with you ahead of each session. If you have any questions or need any support accessing Zoom, please be in touch with us at emily@heartofglass.org.uk
The offer:
Participants will receive a £75 stipend for each gathering to use as they wish. This will be paid via bank transfer at the end of each session.
If you have any additional access requirements please let us know in advance at emily@heartofglass.org.uk
How to apply to be a participant:
You need to identify as a woman based in the North West and working / benefit / under class to be part of this group and able to attend all the above dates.
You need to be prepared to present a creative offering to the group. Offerings can be textual, performed, poetic, edible, speculative, etc, but they must be able to be shared in person for up to 8 people in no more than 5 minutes.
Please send a proposal explaining how it feels to be working / benefit / underclass class to you to fox.irving@gmail.com.
Proposals of up to 250 words should include:
Your name
The nature of art practice/producing work
You do not need to address these directly, but may consider these questions to guide you: What media or forms do you use? What big questions motivate you? For what audiences do you make work? Who inspires you? Why do you make art or call yourself an artist?
Description of your creative offering
This can include images / sketches / diagrams
Fox would particularly like to hear from women of colour, disabled, neurodiverse, unemployed, trans and low-income women, and people who have been discouraged from pursuing art based on class, race, gender, ability, etc.
The deadline for proposals is 18 April 2021, at 10am.
Applicants will be notified if they have been offered a place by the 25 April 2021.
Participants will be selected by Fox Irving.
For further information please email fox.irving@gmail.com
Supported by using public funding by Arts Council England
Images courtesy of Kelly Green
A slow conference for a fast evolving crisis
With For About 2020 was Heart of Glass’ 5th annual conference, curated by ‘the vacuum cleaner‘ and Cecilia Wee. With For About 2020 responds to the additional challenges that Covid-19 creates for many marginalised people and communities, asking:
What creative solutions have marginalised people developed to survive before Covid-19?
What creative ways of being and organising are being made now in response to Covid-19?
How do we embed and share these solutions, ways of being and organising now and into the future?
With For About 2020 was presented as 4 episodes taking place from 27 May to 17 June 2020. These weekly presentations, performances and provocations brought together a range of voices and experience from across the world.
The Working Group will meet 6 to 8pm on the following evenings: 6 & 20 January, 3 February, and 2 & 15 March 2020.
LADA is delighted to be hosting Women Working Class (WWC), six bi-monthly Working Group gatherings led by Fox Irving with women artists or producers working in Live Art, Performing or Visual Arts of lower-class origins to investigate how art/space/class interact to reinforce or subvert dominant values.
Hearkening back to the feminist consciousness-raising groups of the 1970s, this group will host an ongoing conversation among artists and producers to deconstruct hierarchies of space in the landscape of art by sharing our experiences and strategies, dreams and schemes, theories and knowhow.
The idea is not for a group to come together to talk about class, but to imagine/practice ways for art spaces to better serve class diverse artists doing groundbreaking, world-changing work; discuss how issues of class influence what we make; and explore what our relationships are to just being and surviving in the art world and how it can liberate us to do the radical.
In these gatherings the group will consider ways that we “drag up” to navigate art spaces, and operational ways to make art spaces more accessible to lower class people. The group with also look to break down the language of the, often inaccessible, art world and instead give space for women of these classes to be heard in the arena.
Fox Irving’s art is shaped by the liminal, precarious identity they inhabit as queer/femme/working class. They ask: what keeps people in place, what affords fluidity, and what kinds of assembly can be transformative? With a playful, D.I.Y approach informed by activist strategies and centering collaboration, Fox investigates how art can be used by marginalised communities that they are part of as a tool of empowerment.
Dates and location
6 to 8pm, 6 & 20 January, 3 February, and 2 & 15 March 2020.
Live Art Development Agency, The Garrett Centre, 117A Mansford Street, London E2 6LX.
The offer
Supper will be provided at each gathering, and participants will receive a £75 stipend for each gathering to use as they wish. Travel costs of up to £12.00 (the price of a daily cap zone 1-5) can also be covered on receipt.
How to apply to be a participant
You need to identify as a woman and working / benefit / under class to be part of this group and able to attend all the above dates.
You need to be prepared to present a creative offering to the group. Offerings can be textual, performed, poetic, edible, speculative, etc, but they must be able to be shared in person for up to 8 people in no more than 5 minutes.
Please send a proposal explaining how it feels to be working / benefit / underclass class to you to fox.irving@gmail.com.
Proposals of up to 250 words should include:
Your name
The nature of art practice/producing work
You do not need to address these directly, but may consider these questions to guide you: What media or forms do you use? What big questions motivate you? For what audiences do you make work? Who inspires you? Why do you make art or call yourself an artist?
Description of your creative offering
This can include images / sketches / diagrams
Fox would particularly like to hear from women of colour, disabled, neurodiverse, unemployed, trans and low-income women, and people who have been discouraged from pursuing art based on class, race, gender, ability, etc.
The deadline for proposals is 20 December 2019, at 5pm.
Applicants will be notified if they have been offered a place by the end of December 2019.
Participants will be selected by Fox Irving.
For further information please email fox.irving@gmail.com
Supported by using public funding by Arts Council England
Banner image credit:
WWCG Illustration (2019), © Fox Irving
Residencies are an important part of artist careers and development. They offer space for artists to work in, and are also an important way for these artists to grow their practice, beyond selling a product like a painting or a sculpture.
Traditionally, residencies take place in art galleries and museums, but increasingly they also happen in a huge variety of environments, like hospitals, churches and town halls - even airports, car parks and cargo ships.
St. Margaret’s House offers an opportunity for artists to become engaged with local people, and to allow our heritage, our community work, and our unique perspective on the stories of Bethnal Green to stir new creative directions for artists.
Our second Artist in Residence was nominated by Lois Keidan, co-founder and the Director of the Live Art Development Agency. We’re excited to welcome them as our next Artist in Residence, staring in November! Check back soon for more details on what they’ll be getting up to…
From 1-30 November, the vacuum cleaner is inviting us to be part of a ‘Madlove’ Take Over – an arts festival for mental health that is transforming the old St Helens Argos store on Church Street into a space for tea, chats and moments to relax. Together with the vacuum cleaner, we’re bringing 13 local, national and international artists and communities together to make exhibitions, films and new performances for this pop-up space – all aimed at supporting people’s mental health. It’s also a place where you can organise your own activities, if you want.
Join us for this autumn festival, made with and for the people of St Helens. Pop in for a brew, and have a look around. Or come to one of the many events in this programme – this is a free festival and everyone is welcome. Click on our list of events below to reserve tickets.
The Madlove Take Over Space at the old Argos store, Unit 2, The Hardshaw Centre, Church Street, St Helens, WA10 1EB will be open 11am – 6pm, Tuesday – Saturday throughout November.
#madlove #takeoversthelens
If We Speak of Remarkable Things – artists’ talk and conversation
Wed 16 Oct: 3-6pm
Six artists meet at Cubitt to talk about their commissioned work with older people in community or care settings. Who have they met and made work with? What did they learn about themselves and how they make art? Who and what inspired them? Who do they admire, and what do they aspire to next?
July 2019
From childhood, sharing is one of the most foundational human skills we are tasked with learning, and yet social conditioning, power hierarchies, and [tender human feelings] make it difficult to share generously and with ease. Step One! Sharing invites artists, creatives and cultural producers to participate in a 2-day workshop to cultivate ways to share that can be applied in a range of creative and collaborative practices.
Each day of this two-day workshop will invite participating artists / producers practice different modes of sharing, developing a group dynamic and shared vocabulary in order to create a collaborative art work. Workshop participants will explore how to create conditions for the trust, vulnerability, listening, and collective action required for honest and open sharing through a series of collaborative exercises. The group will create a public offering to share a reflection of the process as a culmination of the workshop.
Over many years Tate Liverpool has embedded within the programme an examination of different modes of collaborative practice. Through the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme, this workshop participates in Tate Liverpool’s ongoing support for artists in their professional development in this field.
Jerwood Bursaries provide funding to help artists explore and develop their next steps, whether through supporting skills and knowledge development and/or supporting the first stage development of a new idea. We want artists to pursue their interests independently and on their own terms.
We're very pleased to announce the Strange Perfume Queer Book Fair will return to the South London Gallery (SLG) this summer, and we'd love you to join us! Applications are open to LGBTQ+ artists, writers, zinesters, publishers and organisations. We would particularly like to hear from people of colour, disabled, neurodiverse, unemployed and low income applicants and local community groups.
The Strange Perfume weekend will kick off on Friday 14th June with an opening at the SLG 6-10pm followed by a full day on Saturday 15th June from 11-6pm.
For more information about Strange Perfume please visit http://strangeperfume.org
The South London Gallery visit https://www.southlondongallery.org/about-slg/
Image courtesy of
Jade Sweeting & Janina Sabaliauskaite
This project is the first of three phases of a long-term vision to radically overhaul my performance work with questions of authenticity, working-class identity and social mobility. All these phases will lead to the creation of a full theatre piece about discouragement I experienced growing up in entering the arts and relationships which continue to shame my class. This will be told through Live Art practices and storytelling from a 16 year old working class performer, who speaks in the same accent I had and lost due to ‘dragging up’ as middle class.
I have been inspired to tell my story as a working class artist and support other working class young people to explore an artistic career. Through support received from Heart of Glass, the first phase, will see me conduct research in the communities I grew up in, building connections with young people there, engaging the same group for phase two in the future.
I will also set up a working group of working-class artists with the support of the Live Arts Development Agency to interrogate the issues facing us and help to shape the project’s approach to working-class identity.
Images courtesy of Chris Atkinson
Please join us as we host our first ever Festive Fair with over 15 exciting stalls run by local artists, activists and social action groups selling art, gifts and tasty things and promoting a range of campaigns around social and environmental justice.
In 2017, LADA moved to its new home at The Garrett Centre in Bethnal Green, a former Unitarian mission that began as a centre for social action in the late 19thcentury and continues to be a hub for working with local communities by housing arts, ethical and community focused groups.
The Festive Fair is part of LADA’s new developments for its new home and new neighbours in the East End.
All proceeds from the Festive Fair are retained by stall holders and reinvested into their work.
Venue: Live Art Development Agency
Tickets: Free to attend, come and go at any time, free festive drinks and snacks will be served
Please join us for an evening to launch October’s LADA Screens and mark the end of Restock, Reflect, Rethink Four on Live Art and Cultural Privilege. With contributions from artists Rita Marcalo (aka Instant Dissidence), Kelly Green, Scottee, Barby Asante, Fox Irving, and Amit Rai of Queen Mary University of London.
October’s LADA Screens is the film of Rita Marcalo’s One Last Dance – An Chéad Damhsa, a perambulating dance taking place between Guildford (the place Rita lived in when she arrived in the UK as an Erasmus student in 1994) and Cloughjordan (the rural Irish village that she is moving to post-Brexit). Rita started the dance on 3 September, performing it at LADA on 14 September and ending it in Ireland on 26 October. She returns to LADA on the 30 October to show the film of the London performance and discuss the work in the context of Restock, Reflect, Rethink Four (RRR4).
Restock, Rethink, Reflect is an ongoing series mapping underrepresented artists, practices and histories. Through a programme of residencies, commissions, resources and publications, RRR4 on Privilege (2016-18) has looked at ways in which Live Art enables different forms of understanding, knowledge, agency, and inclusion in relation to issues of youth, old age, displacement and class.
Kelly Green will present two new resources on Live Art and class developed through an RRR4 Study Room research residency and collaboration with Canterbury Christ Church University - Let’s Get Classy, a Study Room Guide and Ways of Getting Classy, a Toolkit of Methodologies.
Scottee will present I Made It, a swanky archive book documenting his ten years of making art and making trouble, and The Outsiders’ Handbook, a free zine and survival guide for queer and trans young people written by Scottee, Travis Alabanza, Selina Thompson and Emma Frankland. Both publications were created as part of an RRR4 commission for Scottee: I Made It, a project marking Scottee’s decade as an artist.
Barby Asante will discuss Declaration of Independence, a project bringing together women of colour to perform collective recitations addressing issues of independence, justice, and the role of the artist in a climate of heightened racism and violence.
Fox Irving, an artist taking part on LADA’s subsidised desk scheme, will launch her Working-Class Working Group and plans for a body of work exploring engagement and collaborations with working-class communities.
The discussions will be facilitated by LADA’s partner on RRR4 Amit Rai and Lois Keidan.
Declaration of Independence was LADA’s first Library of Performing Rights annual commission. Kelly Green’s residency, Scottee: I Made It, and Declaration of Independence also formed part pf LADA’s contribution to the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme, co-funded by the European Union.
Image Harrow schoolboys in London Jimmy Sime/Getty Images
A video installation in which the artist tries to teach herself to speak "proper", the artist listens and repeats the word spah-GEH-tee, while at the same time eating spaghetti, often slipping back into her old ways. All that can be seen are the rouge lipstick red lips of the artist, and her working class uncapped and unstraightened teeth. While the artist continues to repeat the trauma of both actions, the dual feelings of not being good enough to physically feeling nauseous from overeating, she breaks down in tears. The work explores hidden forms of self harm.
Written for Of water; a ten-point system with Arieh Frosh, curated by twtmc_ read at Chisenhale Studios, 2018
Bedridden Aunts is a collaborative photo book made by Fox Irving & Katarina Kelsey as part of their 16:9 billboard commission from Kingsgate Workshops.
Fox Irving & Katarina Kelsey have looked into the marginalia of their practices in their first collaborative project: capitalist sorcery, forced translation, catharsis and queer performance. This is the first time these two antipodal artists have worked together, and during the process they have formulated a method for working, sharing and expanding their practices. In fortnightly reading groups they looked at societal structures and their disruption in the form of silence (as an unrecognisable language, as flesh in the incorporeal archive, irresolution) and met every three weeks to make work together.
The billboard represents what happens in the margins of the space outside their work; the fragments of text, responses, moments and fractures that occur within the reuleaux triangle.
Fox Irving is currently an artist / producer based at the Live Art Development Agency (LADA), London as part of the Live Art Desk Scheme www.foxirving.com . Katarina Kelsey makes prints, books and writes www.katarinakelsey.co.uk. They will be continuing this shared experimental practice at Metal, Southend, August 2018.
To purchase our book please visit https://bedriddenaunts.tumblr.com
Billboard image courtesy of Tim Bowditch
Developing workshops and performances with Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, which feature community groups coming together to freely discuss and identify societal problems with the hope of discussion influencing political action. The work has inspired questions about public space, participation, collaboration and collective action.
Current projects include the subvertising of London’s free newspapers, adding fragments of conversations I’ve had with marginalised communities and then putting the newspapers back into circulation. I continued this media critique when, in October 2016, I created a pop up newsagent to tell local community stories as part of a commission by Counter Plymouth Art Book Fair.
