FolkeFest: Exhibitions
“The Gathering Of Folk”
Exhibitions at UCA Brewery Tap, DIY4Folke, SpaceBox and Fourth Wall
Exhibitions.
The Gathering of Folk
The Gathering of Folk is a series of contemporary folk art exhibitions that will run in Folkestone's Creative Quarter from Wednesday 23 March to Sunday 27 March 2022, supported by the Festivals Fund from Creative Folkestone and the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and produced by Moving Being C.I.C.
The exhibitions have been curated by local artists and curators Ethan Sheppard and Louise Webb and will be exhibiting alongside a diverse contemporary music and arts programme during the festival week.
Gathering of Folk includes exciting contemporary artists from around Kent, who are exploring different themes of folk art within their practice. Work on display has been inspired by traditional folklore, popular folklore and contemporary matters in folklore.
Exhibition launches:
Wednesday 23/03 16:30 SpaceBox Gallery, Space Bar - “Supernatural Kent”. Followed by launch of The Journey Is The Map project at 17:30 and a talk by artist and researcher Dr Lucy Wright at The Clearing, Folkestone Quarterhouse at 18:30. Live music with Erin Mansfield and Sam Brookes will round off the evening.
Thursday 24/03 18:30 UCA Brewery Tap Project Space, 52 Tontine Street - Exhibition viewing followed by live music with Anil Sebastian, Shovel Dance Collective and Lunatraktors. Followed by DJ set from Local Foreigner vs DJHD.
Friday 25/03 15:00 DIY4Folke, 62 Tontine Street - Exhibition viewing followed by live performance art from Helen Davison and a Folkestone Puppet Festival teaser 16:00-17:00.
Exhibition opening times:
SpaceBox Gallery, Space Bar
Weds 23/03 4pm-6pm
Sat 26/03 11am-3pm
UCA Brewery Tap Project Space, Tontine Street
Thurs 24/03 6:30pm-11pm
Sat 26/03 11am-3pm
Sun 27/03 3pm-8pm
DIY4Folke, Tontine Street
Fri 25/03 3pm-6pm
Sun 27/03 2:30pm-7pm
Fourth Wall Gallery, Old High Street
Open Daily
MATT ROWE
Matt Rowe's object based practice is focused on vernacular symbols and language of folklore. He often combines various disciplines, ceramics, model making and textiles to produce sculptural costumes, props and artefacts that play with notions of regional and local identity. He uses his costumes and props as a means to create unexpected structures in the landscape that echo with associations of storybook narratives and ancient legends. Continuingly photographing his structures, he is developing a portfolio of landscape images that blur the real and the imaginary.
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AMY ROSE
Amy Rose is an artist based in Margate specialising in oil painting, watercolour, and linocut prints inspired by nature and folklore.
“I studied Painting at Wimbledon College of Art, after which I shortly began printmaking too. Having grown up in the countryside of Kent my art is inspired by the landscape and wildlife around me, as well as the folk stories and history behind it. Tales of shipwrecks, sea creatures, stone circles and woodland animals can be found entwined in my artwork, as well as stories and characters from traditional folk songs. I love walking and exploring, collecting fossils, feathers, hunting mushrooms and badger watching, all of which provide constant inspiration for my artwork.”
MAIDSTONE JOHN
Maidstone John is a Canterbury based tattooist who specialises in illustration and printmaking. He is currently based at Oathbreaker Tattoo in Canterbury and Parliament Tattoo in London though travels regularly across the UK for guest spots and conventions.
“I take inspiration from Medieval woodcuts, folklore, flora and fauna, natural history and a vast personal collection of old textbook illustrations.”
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FREYJA MATHEWS CROW
Freyja Mathews Crow is a multi-disciplinary artist from Dover. Freyja’s work is rooted in DIY ethos, heavily influenced by ancient craftsmanship, mythology, folklore and the 1970’s punk movement.
“I love to observe the beauty and absurdity of everyday life within my work… intrigued by mythical creatures, deities and idols from around the world, historic to present day. Studying humans constant search for a higher purpose; to belong.
This research inspires me to create my own mythical deities; the sprouts, which live among trees, stars and sea. Although the sprouts seem like other worldly creatures, in reality, they are just you or I. We are all the sprouts, living amongst the trees and stars.”
MOLLY JONES
Molly Jones is an artist and illustrator based in Folkestone and the founder of MOJO Studios.
Molly’s work is currently influenced heavily by female empowerment, which is represented by the strong female figures, recurring in her work. Folklore, mythology and Folkestone’s rapidly evolving landscape are also narratives that appear within her artwork. Her use of playful shapes and strong lines are reminiscent of the works of Picasso and Matisse.
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CARRIE PHIZZOG
Carrie Phizzog is a Folkestone-based artist working in face and body art. She will be showing work inspired by Ostara, the pagan goddess of spring. Many European carnivals and festivals, which so often use body painting in their customs, can trace their origins to pagan festivals and gods.
LOUISE WEBB
Louise Webb is a Dover-based artist, researcher, and curator. Louise has recently been researching the importance of listening spaces in communities. Through a multidisciplinary practice, she has been investigating the intimacy of electronic devices and digital hospitality observing how new social histories and fictional realities are being created through shared technologies.
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ETHAN SHEPPARD
Ethan Sheppard's artistic practice currently explores topics of identity, values and value judgments; the constructed and the pre-conceived. Researching in-depth topics about the human condition, investigating how we view each other by first looking at ourselves. They do not look to provide answers in their work but rather seeks to investigate the role of the "creative”.
Outside Puppets Collective
The Puppets displayed in Fourth Wall Gallery have been created over the last 13 years by members of Outside Puppets (born in London, 2009). Outside Puppets grew as a collective of artists with a passion for puppetry and performance. They began making puppets and masks out of recyclables and everyday used objects, bringing to life the unwanted and the rejected as a statement of acceptance and social dialogue. The group operates on the margins of theatre and art, mostly in schools, charities, occupied spaces and streets..
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