Project Art Works: The Blue Rider Residency 2024

Project Art Works is a collective of neurodiverse artists and activists working from a studio based in Hastings. For this exhibition, Project Art Works artists have created new artworks in response to the colour, form and expression explored in the work of the Blue Rider collective.

To connect artists and studio workshops to the works included in Expressionists, we set-up an environmental installation at our studio base. We used colour fields of blue, white and black; projections of paintings; and environmental images we felt might stimulate imagination and connection to the works of The Blue Rider. The transformation of the space was intriguing, and ensured an evolving and subtle connection to the exhibition by the artists and makers attending the studios to work whilst immersed in the abstractions, colour and light of The Blue Rider.

The works created during the residency resonate in some way with the colour, spirit and intuitive power of expressionism, while also showcasing the unique practices of Project Art Works artists. They will also form part of our archive of over 5,000 works by neurodivergent artists and makers accumulated over two decades of projects and studio practice.

Claire works with a range of materials, light, texture and sound. Her painting is distinguished by energetic marks created with a variety of tools. Relationships are key to Claire’s work through which she creates a discourse of sound, light, reflection and mark-making, enabling autonomy and self-expression, which is both valued and heard. Process is highly important to Claire and her multi-sensory approach is reflected in the range of her work, which includes paintings, sculpture, and printmaking.

Sam predominately uses paint and ink to create large and dynamic images. Sam is an artist of instinct whose practice is led by his sensory investigations of the world around him. His signature squeeze paintings are made with swift yet considered moves, often overworked using brushes and pens which capture the full range of his mark making.

George has developed a highly focused yet relaxed way of using paint. Initially, George was wholly absorbed by tactile processes and created large scale works using his hands as his main tools. More recently George works on mid-scale canvases using a brush to apply paint once in while throughout the day. He will often sit next to a canvas for a long time before making a mark. When this happens, it appears highly spontaneous and unpressured by an over-consideration of the result.

Amy intuitively explores pattern and shape through her painting and drawing. She will often spend several hours on each painting; each and every colour, brush stroke and mark is meticulously considered before placement. She works mostly with acrylic, ink and charcoal, although recently has begun to apply her patternmaking to clay and glaze to create beautiful sculptural objects.

Christopher says painting makes him ‘happy’ and explores the materials through touch and smell the materials before using them, applying striking marks to begin a layering process and mixes the colours on the canvas. Christopher enjoys working on large canvasses which enable him to scale-up his dynamic mark-making to create vibrant multi-layered paintings.

Heidi’s practice is centered around colour, texture and laughter. Heidi works closely with an artist support to make choices about materials and process. The process of choice and connection with others shapes Heidi’s work. She works on single pieces over a series of weeks, as painted canvases build into textural sculptures. The outcome is often full of colour and light, but the process of making is always punctuated with laughter and joy.

India is absorbed by the process of making and unmaking, concerning herself more with the transition between forms than with any sense of a ‘final’ output. Her practice is often anchored in specific shared environments in which fresh materials and works in progress are selected, explored and assembled into something new. The resulting body of work includes intensely textural canvases and dynamic sculptural pieces that are often bold, multi-layered and complex.

Mark Lockton is a multi-talented artist who works across a wide range of media. Mark is inspired by visiting exhibitions, family life and collaborating with other artists. Across his practice, Mark continually seeks new ways to create visual impact, whether through painting, drawing, weaving, collage or woodwork.

Luke works in multiple media to create work full of energy and gesture, often working on many pieces at the same time. He creates images of layered marks and moves from one piece to the next drawing or painting with rhythmic movements.

Marion works across a range of media from drawing, painting, animation, filmmaking, and photography. As well as engaging in collaborative activities, Marion loves creating numerous drawings which she will later paint over with a large brush and water. Marion also creates self-portraits using video projections, painting directly onto the projected surface with a loose gestural action.

The Project Art Works archive embodies a visible trace of people who are often hidden in the world. It currently holds over 5,000 works by neurodivergent artists and makers, gathered across two decades of projects and studio practice. A selection of colourful, bold and visually expressive artworks from the Project Art Works archive are reproduced here.

Project Art Works

Project Art Works is a collective that collaborates with people who have complex support needs, families and circles of support. Based in Hastings, their practice intersects art and care, responding to neurodivergence, its gifts and impacts. Challenging paradigms of inclusion, their work spans direct practical and holistic support and film, events, projects and exhibitions.

The studios provide the conditions for a broad range of autonomous and collaborative practice with neurodivergent artists, who take part on their own terms. Alongside the studios, the Support Collective brings together caregivers and care service users that share experiences and protect rights through training, resources and advocacy.

Project Art Works responds to the functional and ethical structures of diligence and care, respecting self-determination and privacy whilst working towards greater visibility and understanding of neurodiversity in culture.

Project Art Works is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Project Art Works was shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2021.

www.projectartworks.org

www.untitled-gallery.org

@ProjectArtWorks #ProjectArtWorks

CEO/ Artist Director, Project Art Works: Kate Adams

The Blue Rider Residency Artists and Artist Team: Kate Adams, Luke Bebb, Paul Colley, Andrew Cooper, Tim Corrigan, Oliver Crowther, Natalie Dance, Mark Daniels, Sara Dare, Dion Downes, Sarah Dunne, Gemma, Amy Fenton, Patricia Finnegan, Charlotte Hanlon, Neville Jermyn, Annis Joslin, Eden Kötting, Thomas Lepora, Lucy, Claire Matthews, Heidi Nice, Sean Ormonde, India O’Sullivan, Magda Patza, Michelle Roberts, Georgie Scott, Maya Shapiro Steen, Will Shepherd, George Smith, Sam Smith, Charlotte Stephens, Katie Taylor, Christopher Tite, Marion Willis.

The Blue Rider Residency was commissioned from Project Art Works by the Tate Interpretation team.

Curator, Interpretation: Hannah Geddes

Assistant Curator, Interpretation: Elliott Higgs