JANUARY 10 - FEBRUARY 7, 2004

COMPASS

Through 3-dimensional drawing, Sarah Reilly uses space as the material for her work, sculpting large areas with lines that claim and redefine the environments they occupy. In the gallery she crystallises ideas around memory, preservation, and decay, using a combination of steel rod forms, sheet metal canvases, salt and crushed glass. The result is a meditative and thought-provoking installation that reorients the viewer in place and time.

Juliet Kac

Drawings, prints and paintings by Juliet Kac explore variations of multiple perspectives in order to arrive at a framework in which four distinct images may be viewed simultaneously. A large frieze, composed of numerous permutations of a single image, has arisen out of research into the intersections between music and visual art.

Dinah Kelly's installation Windows of Change provides a glimpse into the world of women and children in the developing countries of North Africa and the Middle East. Based on her recent travels, she works in collage, relief sculpture and assemblage, incorporating elements of Islamic text, architecture and design.

Mixed media paintings by Christelle Naude reflect journeys made through internal and external landscapes. Boundaries, scale and compass points lose their meaning as a new map emerges, one which records the essence of the places visited and people encountered.

Alasdair Willis uses a computer to generate complex sequential images based on patterns. The result is a large and dramatic wall installation composed of hundreds of digital prints.

VIEW: Saturday, January 10, 6 - 8 pm.

MEET THE ARTISTS:
Saturday, January 31, 2 pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 14 - MARCH 13, 2004

NOW

Gisli Bergmann

then... (Emi Avora, Gisli Bergmann, Birgir Snaebjorn Birgisson, Robin Dixon, Peter Lamb, Tom Merry, and Gwendolyn Rowlands) is a group of international, London-based artists who have been developing a network based around cultural discourse with other European artists. Employing the traditional media of sculpture and painting, the artists acknowledge the influence of the past on their work yet bring a contemporary perspective to their subject. In then...part 6, developments, the viewer will encounter a series of enigmatic objects and images, which create a subtle undercurrent of malice, loneliness, and dysfunction.

These strangely evocative works seek to disrupt the usual thought patterns of the observer, infusing them instead with a sense of psychological significance. Narratives are anticipated but never materialise; strangers are encountered but not quite identified. This unsettling situation ultimately involves belief rather than knowledge, through work that poses questions in the place of answers, and inevitably demands a resolution from the viewer.

Diagrams, computer generated shapes, aerial photographs and books on drawing technique are some of the sources for Mark A. Williams' mixed media landscapes. Upon this backdrop the artist creates a range of intriguing scenarios involving childish adventures, science fiction escapades and technological inventions.

Barry Falk's paintings are concerned with interior states and their expression within confined spaces and institutional settings. Drawing upon his background in mental health work, the artist places a series of ambiguous figures within fields of intensely saturated colour to elicit physical and psychological states of discomfort and empathy.

PREVIEW: Saturday, February 14, 6 - 8 pm.

MEET THE ARTISTS: A presentation and discussion on the theme of artist as curator. Saturday, March 6, 2 pm, in the gallery, free.

THE STATE OF THE ARTS IN BRIGHTON & HOVE, PART 3
Phoenix presents a panel discussion involving representatives from local arts bodies in an ongoing discussion of the opportunities and challenges facing local artists. Thursday, February 26, 7 pm.

MARCH 20 - APRIL 17, 2004

ELEVATION

Four artists create an installation responding to the qualities of space and light within the gallery. Human presence, the passage of time, memory, and transformation are some of the experiences explored within an architectural setting. Johanna Love traces the contours of the human figure and observes the effects of light and movement through large-scale digital photographs and prints. Kate Thomas delves into the process of metamorphosis and the ephemeral qualities of the female form in a series of digital prints and books. Leora Brook and Tiffany Black (brook & black) explore the properties of a particular space, using plaster prints, video projections, and sound. Together the artists create a subtle and mysterious ambience in which the physicality of the body and building are transformed into apparitions of unnerving and surprising beauty.

Elevation

Sarah Kimber is interested in the sensations encountered within small, enclosed, awkward spaces; functional, transitory places that one is forced to share and negotiate with other people. She uses sculpture, video and photographs to explore her ideas, creating a world of interlocking narratives and subjective impressions.

The landscapes of Sussex and Cornwall are the starting points for a series of abstract interpretations based around shape, colour and texture. In her recent work, Susan Ashworth uses a combination of painting, photography and digital imagery, which is layered onto grainy wood surfaces.

Katie Sollohub brings the space of her studio and home, and the objects contained within it, into the gallery domain, presenting her explorations of meaning and memories through drawing, text and installation.

PREVIEW: Saturday, March 20, 6 - 8 pm

MEET THE ARTISTS: Saturday, April 17, 2 pm, in the gallery, free.

April 24 - May 29, 2004

WATCH THIS SPACE

Action and reaction: a studio environment is recreated in the gallery, with visitors watching and respoding to the artists at work. Fairy tales, shadows, sound, puppets, drawings, words and moving images populate an evolving installation by Jane Fox and Tony Gammidge. Brigid McLeer explores real and imagined places, generating mixed media and digital drawings from sources ranging from email correspondences to architectural plans. Through the construction of several sculptural "experiments," Andy Ray devises inventive, ad-hoc solutions to spatial challenges. Andy Fung's series of site-specific paiontings emerges out of automatic drawing and hybrid forms.

OPENING RECEPTION : Friday, April 30, 8 pm
CLOSING RECEPTION: Saturday, May 29, 6 - 8 pm

April - June 2004, 2004

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCY

Maha Maamoun

Phoenix hosts the first Brighton Fellowship in partnership with Visiting Arts, Brighton University and Fabrica Gallery. Maha Maamoun is a photographer from Cairo, Egypt, whose work is concerned with issues around social conditioning. A series of activities provide opportunities ot meet with Maha, and learn more about her work. Contact Phoenix on (01273) 603700 for details.

ARTIST'S TALK: Friday, April 30, 7 pm, free. Maha Maamoun talks about her work. (The talk is followed at 8 pm by a reception for "Watch This Space")

JUNE 5 - JULY 3, 2004

VOYAGER II

A joint exhibition of artists based in Picardy, France, and at Maze Studios, Brighton.

Denis Pondruel

Six artists from Picardie reveal the unexpected qualities of everyday materials - paper, clay, plastic bags, concrete - and their potential to transcend their usual applications. BEAU TRAVAIL encompasses panoramic photographs, video, installations, mysterious sculptures and beautiful relics, which function as social documentary, and explorations of form, space and time. Fred Boucher, Dominique De Beir, Gaele Braune, Jean-Sebastien Leblond-Duniach, Denis Pondruel, and Gabrielle Wambaugh.

Setting off on "The Road", Maze artists create their own LOST HIGHWAY. Louise Body, Louise Bristow, Barry Falk, Jane Fox, Simon Grennan, Julia Ingle, David Miles, June Nelson, Sebastian Pedley, Michael Seal, Russell Webb, and Ina Weber.

PREVIEW: Saturday, June 5, 6 - 8 pm

JULY 10 - AUGUST 7, 2004

TRANSITION

Karen Moser

Karen Moser creates fragile spheres of clay, drawing inspiration from relics ranging from ancient tomb graffiti to everyday discarded objects. Grant Smith employs a talking computer, environmental sounds and a revolving slide show to explore the multiple layers of words, noises and silences by which our sense of presence is defined. Photographic images from a solo climb up a Scottish mountin are translated into large paint and ink drawings as Lucinda Holmes surveys internal landscapes. Using corrugated plastic to construct modular units, Gavin Peacock explores the realm between art and its commercialisation, and invites visitors to participate in the creation of a piece whose development will be documented and displayed. Woven tapestries by Theresa Sundt combine colour, texture and light in luminous mixed media works.

PREVIEW: Saturday, July 10, 6 - 8 pm

MEET THE ARTISTS: The artists will be present in the gallery to discuss their work and answer visitors' questions. Saturday, July 24, 2 pm

AUGUST 28 - OCTOBER 9, 2004

CULTURE

Gauthier Leroy

Enter a terrain of shifting shapes and blurred boundaries: is that a cloud or a rock, a plant or an animal? Ten artists take part in this cross-Channel assembly, exploring the protean nature of their respective media. Their raw materials are paper, cement, wood, metal, water, plastic and a myriad of found and re-appropriated objects. Through careful crafting and artistic transformation, these elements assume a range of new and intriguing forms. Stéphane Cauchy, Cathy Christiaen, Bruno Desplanques, Andy Kraft, Amélie Lerebourg, and Gauthier Leroy are based in and around Lille, in the Nord Pas-de-Calais region of northern France. They are joined by British artists Nadine Feinson, John Holland, Angela Rogers, and Dave Stephens.

PREVIEW: Saturday, August 28, 1 - 3pm

ARTIST'S TALK
Wednesday, September 22, 7pm, free
John Holland discusses his recent experience of preparing and presenting an exhibition at le 118 gallery in Lille.

EVENT
Saturday, October 9, 7 - 9pm, free
A social and networking evening to encourage the development of ideas, exchanges and grassroots initiatives between British and French artists and organisations. We will explore the reasons artists undertake such activities, the types of connections that can be made, and examples of recent projects. Contact Phoenix on 603700 ext. 3 to book a place.

Phoenix Gallery and Fabrica have been developing links with artists and organisations in France as part of a cross-channel collaboration. This exhibition has been funded by the European Union Interreg IIIA project and the Arts Council England.

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCY

Zambian artist David Chirwa is currently based at Phoenix, and will create a special site-specific installation for the open studios event. He will be talking about his work on Saturday, October 16, at 7 pm.

OCTOBER 16 - NOVEMBER 27, 2004

ON SITE

This large group exhibition surveys the range and scope of work produced beneath one roof. Both new and established artists from the studios are represented in a stimulating mix of media and approaches.

PHOENIX OPEN STUDIOS

Saturday, October 16, 11am - 6pm

All eyes will be on Phoenix for this one-day-only event, when artists from Phoenix, Maze and Red Herring open their doors to the public. Now is your chance to glimpse inside the studios, meet the artists, view work in progress, and buy contemporary artworks, all at Brighton's biggest art landmark. Completing the event are lively music, taster workshops, and a café selling delicious food.

THE STATE OF THE ARTS IN BRIGHTON & HOVE 2004

Thursday, October 21, 7pm, free.

For artists and those working in the arts. Susan Jones, Director of Programmes at a-n The Artists Information Company, will make a presentation on the guidelines and applications of the Code of Practice for the Visual Arts.