ART SHEDS @ VICTORIA GALLERY & MUSEUM, LIVERPOOL

This week I attended the Art Sheds exhibition at the Victoria Gallery and museum as part of a group show for the Liverpool Biennial. We were fortunate enough to meet the participatory artist behind the Art Sheds, Susan Forsyth and curator, Moira Lindsey.

In her talk to the group,Forsyth contextualised her work, by explaing how she found inspiration in the history of the building (VG&M) itself; From 1894 – 1905, makeshift Art Sheds in the Quadrangle behind the VG&M were used by the University’s School of Architecture and Applied Art.

More than 100 years later,  Susan Forsyth, re-imagined the iconic sheds in the VG&M gallery space and invites visitors  to draw and paint inside these quiet spaces and exhibit their work for others to enjoy.

`Art Sheds’ features three unique sheds designed by the artist and constructed in Liverpool. In creating these individual studio spaces Forsyth applied 2,500 leaves of 22-carat gold leaf to the roofs using the traditional Renaissance technique she explains. Within each Art Shed, traditional Victorian subjects of portraiture, still life and the nude have been carefully chosen by Forsyth to inspire visitors.

The second space in the exhibition houses Forsyth’s personal selection of early paintings, drawings, prints, textiles and sculpture from the VG&M collection including works by artists who taught in the original Art Sheds

Susan Forsyth Portrait shed , 2014.

Susan Forsyth, Still Life shed, 2014.

Susan Forsyth, Nude Shed, 2014.

.VG&M Curator, Moira Lindsay, said: “This exhibition celebrates the site’s creative history but it is very much a contemporary installation and we hope that visitors will spend some time within the sculptures.

“It was a delight to work with Susan and we are pleased she chose to use our collections. Looking at historic collections with an artist brings a fresh perspective and hearing what inspires artists is insightful and often unexpected.”

Susan Forsyth added: “I was inspired to create this participatory exhibition by the history and collection of the Victoria Gallery & Museum. My public art work contains a strong sense of place and a link to history and `Art Sheds’ combines elements of the wonderful collection with the architectural and social history of the institution. It is also important that this work is site-specific and has open-ended participatory outcomes for anyone to come and enjoy.”