Friday, 12 June 2015

Upcoming Exhibitions July 4th 2015 - Dreaming of New York - MANIFEST

I will be exhibiting new work at the "Dreaming of New York" exhibition at Horsefall space on the 4th July 2015. The exhibition runs for three weeks and is open Thursdays to Sundays 2 - 5pm.

My Dreaming of New York examines the American love affair with firearms technology contrasted with the most ancient and universal techniques of making pots.

It is also part of MANIFEST manchesters alternative Arts Festival.

Pool Arts featuring Penny Arcade

The CIA and Abstract Expressionism? A Situationist-style Derive of Ancoats? surreal Elvis? Queer Culture?

Visit Horsfall Space at 42nd street during Manchester International Festival and see Pool Arts art exhibition on the links between Art / Manchester and New York City.

Join us for special events, meet the fabulous Penny Arcade and enjoy an Independence Day Barbecue and our famous bagels!

Where

Horsfall Space at 42nd Street Based on Great Ancoats Street, Horsfall is under renovation in this innovative historic quarter,

87-91 Great Ancoats Street
Manchester
M4 5AG

A creative hub for 42nd Street, a charity supporting young people under stress. Opening in April 2016 and housing our creative programme.
Manchester | UK

more info here Pool Arts

MANIFEST

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS June 19th 2015 - Notting Hill Art Club

I will be exhibiting a text piece as part of Broken Grey Wires in London this June at Notting Hill Art Club , the piece was first shown in Federation House and has since then had a number of different appearances and mutations.

Broken Grey Wires 'Make Windows Where There Are Walls'

Broken Grey Wires
'Make Windows Where There Are Walls' : a Live Wires Opening Event.

A five week arts exhibition exhibiting artists;

Lizz Brady
Kier Cooke Sandvik
Paul Digby
Lizzie Dunn
James Bloomfield
Simon Mawdsley
The opening night for the show is Friday 19th June from 6pm onwards beginning with the exhibition private view and following on with music featuring performances from Petrol Girls and Kitten Pyramid and a DJ set by Madame X and Lazy Susan.

Visit the BROKEN GREY WIRES blog for more info or Notting Hill Art Club here

Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Art Monthly May 2015 issue no 386 - small write up

Its nice to appear in this months Art Monthly with a small write up on the New Art Spaces: OPEN HOUSE at Federation House by Eleanor Clayton.

Friday, 1 May 2015

OPEN HOUSE - Federation House 2015 March 26th

"How Mindfuckingly difficult it is to be an artist and how you should say thankyou to the next artist you meet for sacrificing his/her sanity in pursuit of an artistic dream ideology in a corrupt and impenetrable system"
Mixed media 2015
Budgerigar case, adidas samba trainers, sunflower seeds

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Adidas Support ISIS customisation but not their NAZI heritage

I am currently working on an arts piece using a pair of Adidas trainers as a symbol of branding and consumerism and was looking into their recent exploitation of custom products such as the massive interest in Adidas ardwick that are currently selling on ebay for £750.00 a pair due to their limited nature of only 200 pairs being produced.

I read a blog that said you could customise your own trainers with personalisation of your choice I visited the adidas website and was amazed to find I could customise my ownpair of trainers. I typed in "Artist" which was allowed and is what I needed adding for my project but was then interested in other words..... I wasn't surprised to find the obvious expletives banned or forbidden I wasn't even surprised to find "Nazi" forbidden even though most brands want to exploit their cultural legacy - With the rise of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, both Dassler brothers joined the Nazi Party, with Rudolf (PUMA founder) reputed as being the more ardent National Socialist.^[1] Rudolf was drafted, and later captured, while Adi (ADIDAS founder) stayed behind to produce boots for the Wehrmacht the united arm forces of germany.

Then mischevious me typed in "Jew" also banned and"Christian" (not enough words to ban and "Muslim" banned "GOD" banned "ALLAH" banned - but not ISIS - you will be pleased to know that aspirational members of ISIS can still have their very own trainers and clothing personalised in the name of their cause.

So well done Adidas for missing that one and also for protecting your rich and cultural heritage.

Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Swinton South Affordable Art Fair - August 31st 2013 - 11am till 4 pm

Swinton South Affordable Art Fair

Sunday 31st August 11am - 4pm

92-94 Ringlow Pk Rd, Swinton, Manchester M27 0HD

Artist James Bloomfield hosts the first Swinton South Affordable art fair with paintings and artwork to purchase from the past 14 years of his career all at extremely reasonable prices. Come along and meet the artist and grab a bargain.

Urban Landscapes / Graffiti Art / Reproductions /Abstract / Collage / Life Drawings

All Welcome more info here www.jamesbloomfield.co.uk

All proceeds go towards match funding for Arts Council Research and Development

Monday, 14 July 2014

A site-responsive exhibition exploring abstraction and minimalism : Society of Island Universes

Produced by Lisa Denyer and Michael Thorp

Venue: Unit 4C Piccadilly Place, Manchester
Preview: Thursday 17 July, 6–9pm
Exhibition continues: Thursday 17 July – Sunday 20 July, 1–6pm
Contact: societyofislanduniverses@gmail.com

Through the incorporation of photographic elements, installation, sculptural assemblages, projection and painting, Society of Island Universes explores the ideology behind abstraction. The exhibition brings together practices which demonstrate a strong interest in materiality, each piece of work provoking the viewer to examine and consider their immediate environment.

The title of the exhibition is taken from Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, making the link between ways of seeing, intuition, and the discovery of new possibilities. We each have specific areas of interest in our interpretation of the world - but can we ever successfully communicate their importance?

Abstraction utilizes processes that can involve highlighting or obscuring. This visual language is ambiguous and open to interpretation, meaning that the resultant work becomes imbued with a multitude of ideas and points of recognition.

Within this exhibition, compositional elements which are not normally given much thought, such as the stretcher of a canvas, or a mark on the surface of a wall, are taken into account. Work is manipulated to expand into the architecture of the space, evidencing elements of the making process. Through responding to site and testing curatorial ideas, dialogues are initiated around flux and fundamental form.

All materials and their implications are considered through complex juxtaposition and comparison. Taking structure and solidity as a starting point, found objects, visuals, textures, colours and varied processes are brought together as mechanisms to represent the nature of transience. Construction and deconstruction take place until a balance is finally struck between what is painstakingly nurtured and what is left to chance.

Friday, 28 February 2014

Fire and Forget - 13.03.2014 The Killing Jar Project - Federation House Manchester

I will be exhibiting new work at the Launch of Federation House on the 13th March BTW 6 and 9pm. The work is about the USA's programme of Drone strikes in Pakistan that is responsible for the deaths of at least 168 children.

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oin us for the official launch of Castlefield Gallery’s New Art Spaces Federation House from 6-9pm on Thursday 13 March..
New Art Spaces is CG’s ‘pop-up’ project spaces initiative offering opportunities for artists, artist groups and artist development agencies. Federation House has been made possible through the generous support of NOMA.
Speeches at 6:30pm on the 6th floor by:
Maria Balshaw (Director, Whitworth and Manchester Art Galleries, and Manchester City Council’s Strategic Lead for Culture)
Alison Clark-Jenkins (Director Combined Arts and North for Arts Council England)
Martyn Hulme (Managing Director Co-operative Estates Co-operative Group)
Exhibitions and open studios on all 8 floors: Lower Ground floor MARS /  Upper Ground floor Curated Place, CSV, DIY Art School, and Lauren Sagar & Sharon Campbell / 1st floor Mark Devereux Projects / 2nd floor Greg May, Molly Smyth, Saoirse Higgins, Julie Del’Hopital, Holly Rowan Hesson & Lisa Denyer, and TEA / 3rd floor Filmonik / 4th floor Roger Bygott, and Charma Force & Rafael Perez (guest exhibition) / 5th floor Sam Meech, Kathryn Miller, Darren Nixon, Huw Wahl, James Bloomfield, and Pool Arts / 6th floor TOAST
- See more at: http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/event/new-art-spaces-federation-house-official-launch/#sthash.lmtcH9GT.dpuf

oin us for the official launch of Castlefield Gallery’s New Art Spaces Federation House from 6-9pm on Thursday 13 March..
New Art Spaces is CG’s ‘pop-up’ project spaces initiative offering opportunities for artists, artist groups and artist development agencies. Federation House has been made possible through the generous support of NOMA.
Speeches at 6:30pm on the 6th floor by:
Maria Balshaw (Director, Whitworth and Manchester Art Galleries, and Manchester City Council’s Strategic Lead for Culture)
Alison Clark-Jenkins (Director Combined Arts and North for Arts Council England)
Martyn Hulme (Managing Director Co-operative Estates Co-operative Group)
Exhibitions and open studios on all 8 floors: Lower Ground floor MARS /  Upper Ground floor Curated Place, CSV, DIY Art School, and Lauren Sagar & Sharon Campbell / 1st floor Mark Devereux Projects / 2nd floor Greg May, Molly Smyth, Saoirse Higgins, Julie Del’Hopital, Holly Rowan Hesson & Lisa Denyer, and TEA / 3rd floor Filmonik / 4th floor Roger Bygott, and Charma Force & Rafael Perez (guest exhibition) / 5th floor Sam Meech, Kathryn Miller, Darren Nixon, Huw Wahl, James Bloomfield, and Pool Arts / 6th floor TOAST
Address: Federation House, Manchester. Corner of Federation St and Balloon St (map)

Federation House has been made possible through the generous support of NOMA.
- See more at: http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/event/new-art-spaces-federation-house-official-launch/#sthash.lmtcH9GT.dpuf

Join us for the official launch of Castlefield Gallery’s New Art Spaces Federation House from 6-9pm on Thursday 13 March..
New Art Spaces is CG’s ‘pop-up’ project spaces initiative offering opportunities for artists, artist groups and artist development agencies. Federation House has been made possible through the generous support of NOMA.
Speeches at 6:30pm on the 6th floor by:
Maria Balshaw (Director, Whitworth and Manchester Art Galleries, and Manchester City Council’s Strategic Lead for Culture)
Alison Clark-Jenkins (Director Combined Arts and North for Arts Council England)
Martyn Hulme (Managing Director Co-operative Estates Co-operative Group)
Exhibitions and open studios on all 8 floors: Lower Ground floor MARS /  Upper Ground floor Curated Place, CSV, DIY Art School, and Lauren Sagar & Sharon Campbell / 1st floor Mark Devereux Projects / 2nd floor Greg May, Molly Smyth, Saoirse Higgins, Julie Del’Hopital, Holly Rowan Hesson & Lisa Denyer, and TEA / 3rd floor Filmonik / 4th floor Roger Bygott, and Charma Force & Rafael Perez (guest exhibition) / 5th floor Sam Meech, Kathryn Miller, Darren Nixon, Huw Wahl, James Bloomfield, and Pool Arts / 6th floor TOAST
Address: Federation House, Manchester. Corner of Federation St and Balloon St (map)
- See more at: http://www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk/event/new-art-spaces-federation-house-official-launch/#sthash.lmtcH9GT.dpuf

Monday, 20 January 2014

MQ-9 UNMANNED REAPER DRONE

MQ-9 Reaper Drone - 2013

UnManned drone strikes by the US have been responsible for the deaths of over 168 children in Pakistan and theYemen. Created for the landfillart project:

landfillart.org/james-bloomfield/

Remote Killing of Civilians

The US has used armed drones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and recently in the Philippines. Over 200 children have already been killed in these strikes since 2004. See The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

There are around 60 military and CIA bases around the world connected to the drone programme and more are being planned.

America’s Secret Empire of Drone Bases

The UK is currently using armed drones in Afghanistan and piloted US drones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.

Israel has used armed drones against Syria, Lebanon, Sudan and Palestine

175 children have already been killed by US drones, 160 of them in Pakistan Read more

Despite claims that drone warfare is more precise, a recent study shows that in Afghanistan drone strikes have caused 10 times more civilian casualties than strikes by manned fighter aircraft.

source: Child Victims of War

List of children killed by drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen:

Compiled from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports

PAKISTAN
Name | Age | Gender
Noor Aziz | 8 | male
Abdul Wasit | 17 | male
Noor Syed | 8 | male
Wajid Noor | 9 | male
Syed Wali Shah | 7 | male
Ayeesha | 3 | female
Qari Alamzeb | 14| male
Shoaib | 8 | male
Hayatullah KhaMohammad | 16 | male
Tariq Aziz | 16 | male
Sanaullah Jan | 17 | male
Maezol Khan | 8 | female
Nasir Khan | male
Naeem Khan | male
Naeemullah | male
Mohammad Tahir | 16 | male
Azizul Wahab | 15 | male
Fazal Wahab | 16 | male
Ziauddin | 16 | male
Mohammad Yunus | 16 | male
Fazal Hakim | 19 | male
Ilyas | 13 | male
Sohail | 7 | male
Asadullah | 9 | male
khalilullah | 9 | male
Noor Mohammad | 8 | male
Khalid | 12 | male
Saifullah | 9 | male
Mashooq Jan | 15 | male
Nawab | 17 | male
Sultanat Khan | 16 | male
Ziaur Rahman | 13 | male
Noor Mohammad | 15 | male
Mohammad Yaas Khan | 16 | male
Qari Alamzeb | 14 | male
Ziaur Rahman | 17 | male
Abdullah | 18 | male
Ikramullah Zada | 17 | male
Inayatur Rehman | 16 | male
Shahbuddin | 15 | male
Yahya Khan | 16 |male
Rahatullah |17 | male
Mohammad Salim | 11 | male
Shahjehan | 15 | male
Gul Sher Khan | 15 | male
Bakht Muneer | 14 | male
Numair | 14 | male
Mashooq Khan | 16 | male
Ihsanullah | 16 | male
Luqman | 12 | male
Jannatullah | 13 | male
Ismail | 12 | male
Taseel Khan | 18 | male
Zaheeruddin | 16 | male
Qari Ishaq | 19 | male
Jamshed Khan | 14 | male
Alam Nabi | 11 | male
Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male
Rahmatullah | 14 | male
Abdus Samad | 17 | male
Siraj | 16 | male
Saeedullah | 17 | male
Abdul Waris | 16 | male
Darvesh | 13 | male
Ameer Said | 15 | male
Shaukat | 14 | male
Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male
Salman | 12 | male
Fazal Wahab | 18 | male
Baacha Rahman | 13 | male
Wali-ur-Rahman | 17 | male
Iftikhar | 17 | male
Inayatullah | 15 | male
Mashooq Khan | 16 | male
Ihsanullah | 16 | male
Luqman | 12 | male
Jannatullah | 13 | male
Ismail | 12 | male
Abdul Waris | 16 | male
Darvesh | 13 | male
Ameer Said | 15 | male
Shaukat | 14 | male
Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male
Adnan | 16 | male
Najibullah | 13 | male
Naeemullah | 17 | male
Hizbullah | 10 | male
Kitab Gul | 12 | male
Wilayat Khan | 11 | male
Zabihullah | 16 | male
Shehzad Gul | 11 | male
Shabir | 15 | male
Qari Sharifullah | 17 | male
Shafiullah | 16 | male
Nimatullah | 14 | male
Shakirullah | 16 | male
Talha | 8 | male

YEMEN
Afrah Ali Mohammed Nasser | 9 | female
Zayda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 7 | female
Hoda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 5 | female
Sheikha Ali Mohammed Nasser | 4 | female
Ibrahim Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 13 | male
Asmaa Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 9 | male
Salma Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | female
Fatima Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 3 | female
Khadije Ali Mokbel Louqye | 1 | female
Hanaa Ali Mokbel Louqye | 6 | female
Mohammed Ali Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | male
Jawass Mokbel Salem Louqye | 15 | female
Maryam Hussein Abdullah Awad | 2 | female
Shafiq Hussein Abdullah Awad | 1 | female
Sheikha Nasser Mahdi Ahmad Bouh | 3 | female
Maha Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 12 | male
Soumaya Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 9 | female
Shafika Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 4 | female
Shafiq Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 2 | male
Mabrook Mouqbal Al Qadari | 13 | male
Daolah Nasser 10 years | 10 | female
AbedalGhani Mohammed Mabkhout | 12 | male
Abdel- Rahman Anwar al Awlaki | 16 | male
Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki | 17 | male
Nasser Salim | 19

Monday, 26 November 2012

In Memory 10.11.2012 - The Killing Jar - Installation & Talk

After much planning, emails and butterfly folding I arrived at the Walker Art Gallery to give my artist talk and deliver the workshop. I was welcomed into the bowels of the Gallery and delivered to the resource area by means of the biggest lift I have ever seen. Angelica was on hand to setup the workshop area, and we began to pin the butterflies in preparation for the workshop. The artist talk took place in the main gallery in front of my painting. If you want to find out more about that some of the main topics that I covered are in this interview by Stephen Martin click here

The initial aim of the workshop was to deliver a collaborative installation piece that could be contributed to over the day by members of the general public; it had to have a painted element and reference my entry for the John Moores painting prize. I knew straight away what I wanted to do, and it was a piece that was on my mind for some time.

437 butterflies were folded and painted each one represented a British serviceman or woman who had lost their life in the current afghan conflict. One member of the public said “Its quite sad really when you see how many people have died, the families that have been effected, loved ones lost”.

The final piece is on Display at the Walker art Gallery until the end of the John Moores Painting Prize 5th January 2013.

BIOGRAPHY

James Bloomfield (b.1977) lives and works in Manchester, UK. He Studied Art at Manchester Metroploitan University a. Since then he has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally. Selected group exhibitions include: 2014 Fire and Forget Federation House - Manchester, 2013 Landfillart Project - Pennsylvania, USA, 2012 In Memory The Walker Gallery - Liverpool, 2010 The Killing Jar AWOL Studios - Manchester.

In 2012 Bloomfield was selected for the John Moores Painting Prize and was also Artist in Residence for Lime arts. In 2014 Bloomfield was awarded Grants for the Arts funding by Arts Council England for Research and Development of new work and professional devlopment.

Bloomfield is an associatew member of Mark Devereux Projects and Castlefield Gallery Manchester.