Artists, galleries and studio groups based in Liverpool have organised clustered programmes of studio visits, talks, discussions, exhibitions, workshops and salons across three separate weekends.

The North West Visual Arts Open weekends have been organised to encourage artists and people interested in the arts from other towns and cities across the North West to visit new galleries, or places they haven’t been for a while, to experience what the visual arts has to offer and current developments in artist’s practice.  

Dave Moutrey,  Chief Executive of Cornerhouse in Manchester said:
“The Liverpool visual arts scene continues to be one of the most dynamic and exciting in the UK, so it’s fitting that the first North West Visual Arts Open is taking place in the city, with a wide variety of artists and galleries involved. We’re looking forward to Manchester and Preston hosting similar events in the coming months.”

Key highlights of the Liverpool weekend include:

Friday 2 March

FACT (The Box)

Seminar: Cracking the Curatorial

2 to 5 pm, FREE

Marking the launch of Open CuRate It, a three-month programme of events designed to experiment with new models of curation and institutional engagement, this seminar questions the role arts institutions and new forms of media play in facilitating community connections and generating frameworks for public meaning. Featuring Neil from Defnet Media 

Tate Liverpool

Curator tour: Charline von Heyl: Now or Else

3 pm, FREE (visitors are required to purchase an exhibition ticket, £7.20 / £5.40 concs.)

Join Gavin Delahunty, Head of Exhibitions, for a tour of Tate Liverpool’s latest exhibition. Distinctive, imaginative and always surprising, Charline von Heyl’s work offers a fresh and exciting approach to the world of abstract art. Von Heyl is at the forefront of a new generation of abstract painters who have rejected late modernism’s emphasis on a singular signature style.  This is the first major exhibition of the artist’s work in the UK and features 42 large canvasses and a number of unique works on paper.

The Bluecoat

Private view: Topophobia

6 to 8 pm, FREE

Topophobia is an exhibition about fear of place. 10 artists - Anne Eggebert, Matze Einhoff, David Ferrando Giraut, Polly Gould, Marja Helander, Uta Kogelsberger, Abigail Reynolds, Almut Rink, Emily Speed and Louise K Wilson - respond to this intriguing subject through drawing, video, painting, photography sculpture, sound and installation.

Arena Gallery

Private view: Acetate Steps

7 to 9 pm, FREE

A collaborative installation by Arena artists Niamh Crimson and Carol Ramsay with sound by Iain Yell. Digital technology has replaced the cassette tape but can we ever forget the pleasure taken in ‘taping’ the Top 40 from the radio on a Sunday night or making a mix tape of favourite songs for the one you loved? Join us for a celebration and a reinvention of the joy of tape.

Elevator Café & Bar

Aftershow party: includes DJ set by The Coral’s Nick Power.

9pm till midnight

Saturday 3 March

The Bluecoat

Bluecoat Open Studios

10 am to 6 pm, FREE

As part of the weekend’s city-wide focus on revealing more about contemporary artists’ practice, some of the Bluecoat’s creative community artists open their studios to the public.

The Royal Standard

Artist talk: Oliver Braid

2 to 3 pm, FREE

Last year artist Oliver Braid embarked on a mission to develop relationships with the five most attractive young male undergraduates from Glasgow School of Art, in the hope of better understanding his interactions with other men. The documentation and interpretation of these encounters form the basis for his new work My Five New Friends. Join Braid, and writer and Art-psychotherapist Stephen O’Toole, on the final day of the exhibition, for a talk about the project. 

The Bluecoat

Workshop: Reactor micro-projects (part of The Royal Standard Dialogues programme)

4 to 6 pm, FREE

Reactor is an art collective that creates projects in which audiences become active participants. Reactor leaves no room for the passive observer, creating work in which, rather than being forced, active engagement becomes the norm. Group dynamics and social interaction come to the fore, as participants immerse themselves in an unknown that invites risk-taking and a heightened sense of reality. You are invited to experience the results of a day-long workshop, in which Reactor will have worked with participants to develop a series of micro-projects.

Wolstenhome Creative Space

Closing party: Fixation

7 pm to midnight

Wolstenholme Creative Space opens its doors for one last chance to see current exhibition Fixation, curated by Joe McNulty. Focusing on the nature of obsession, Fixation presents work from a variety of sources in an exhibition that is diverse but cohesive in theme and media, producing a focal point for dialogue and reflection. Come and join us for an evening of drinks and interesting sound performances!

For further information about what’s on visit: www.northwestopen.wordpress.com

Join in the conversation: #NWopen