Tracing the Independents Biennial

Tracing the Independents Biennial
Bluecoat

7 June – 14 September

Independents Biennial launched as Tracey in 1999 under the umbrella of the Liverpool Biennial of contemporary art, the UK’s first such festival.  Described as ‘a festival for the uninvited’, the first Independents featured artists who were not engaged in the main programme but who played a vital role in revealing the city through a dizzying range of exhibitions, interventions and performances across multiple spaces and sites.

Tracey’s energy of protest represented Liverpool’s art scene and was complemented by artists from outside. Produced by Jonathan Swain, with a second edition in 2002 led by Jayne Casey, the ambition of these programmes was significantly different to subsequent ones. As the Independents Biennial returns to its roots this year, inviting international artists into a blended programme with the best of the city region’s arts scene, this archival exhibition is a reminder of the Independence’s origins.

Tracing the Independents Biennial is an opportunity for audiences to revisit our early years, and for artists to consider a future context for their work. The exhibition includes documentation, print material and other ephemera, with a particular focus on the early years, as well as some original artworks shown then. Material has been drawn from the Bluecoat’s and the Independents archives, from artists and from individual collections.

The exhibition reflects something of the recent history of independent artists’ initiatives and gallery provision across the region, including the rise, fall, and rise of artist-led spaces, and how artists work with spaces in the urban environment.

Thanks to Nicki McCubbing, Jayne Casey, Lucienne Cole, David Blandy, Gelatin Collective, Julian Gillespie, Brigitte Jurack, Fiona Stirling, Nina Edge, Jonathan Swain, Jason Jones and Mark McNulty for their contributions to this archive, and to Independents Biennial over the years. – Patrick Kirk-Smith, Director, Independents Biennial

An events programme of talks accompanies this exhibition, details from www.independentsbiennial.com and the www.thebluecoat.org.uk

Bluecoat is Liverpool’s contemporary arts centre, a working home for artists, and a place where audiences can experience art in new ways.