Grand Union, June 2021
Grand Union and seven MA Art History and Curating students worked together to launch On Tropism, a project to display new work by three Grand Union studio artists, celebrating the way artists have approached the many obstacles brought about by a global pandemic as an opportunity to think creatively.
On Tropism consists of an online performance by composer Dan Cippico; illustrations displayed on billboards across Birmingham’s canals by Mengxia Liu and a mail art project by photographer Adam Neal.
Birmingham Conservatoire trained multi-disciplinary composer and performer Dan Cippico presented a new composition, Wildforms, in the form of a series of video works presented on Grand Union’s website. Wildforms references childhood nostalgia through an evocative blend of electronica, ambient sounds, recorders, ukuleles, shakers and bells.
Intended to facilitate a joint reflection on connection, love and loss after a year of isolation, Northfield-based artist Adam Neal’s body of work Until Then, takes the form of ‘mailed art’ packages. Until Then is Adam’s tribute to the joy, warmth and humour of his late grandmother’s legacy, and will be sent to twenty UK based participants for whom experiences of fondly remembering their elders especially resonate.
Guided by the stories and memories of Birmingham-based canal residents, Mengxia Liu has produced a series of illustrations depicting the experiences of those who know our cities waterways best. These illustrations will be displayed in public art form, on billboards overlooked by Grand Union’s new canal side garden.
This exhibition was curated by: Jessica Court, Hongli Li, Xiang Li, Sian Matthews, Orla Taylor-Davies, Georgia Williams and, Junyi Zhao
Further details on the project, including the artists’ works, and public programming, can be viewed on the exhibition website.
Visit the On Tropism webpage