Writing

Lynda Roberts

Lynda studied textile at the Glasgow School of art, worked in design studios in Canada before teaching art in Wirral.  Through travel and an observation of landscape her multi-media,...

Dennis Spicer

“I go out into the landscape and bring bits of it back into the studio to paint. There, they join other bits of nature on the finds table and bide their time...

Daniel Meakin

Daniel Meakin is a freelance artist painter and has been executing and selling work for over 30 years. After 20 years living in Barcelona, Meakin recently relocated to West Kirby...

Louise Waller

Louise graduated from Liverpool Hope University in 2003 with a BA (Hons) in 3D Design and continued to develop her creative practice by taking an MA in Ceramics 2005 -7.

Carol Emmas

I am a Wirral-based artist who works with acrylic, oil paint, mixed-media and photography. My aim is to interpret landscapes through ephemeral emotion rather than literal representation.  Photographically, I work from found...

Carole Dawber

I intuitively operate in an experimental way using different resources to allow the work to evolve organically. Usually supported within linked themes, they often overlap or emerge from previous stimuli that I have exploited along...

Dan O’Dempsey

Dan O’Dempsey’s practice is broad and eclectic with interests in public engagement, collaboration, Taoism and mindfulness at its core. As a neurodivergent person with ASC, ADHD, OCD + Tourettes his practice investigates...

Chiz Turnross

I’ve been, messing with materials, with art stuff and other stuffs, with sound and music’s. For a long time now, looking under things, having shows, refining stuff. Cutting things up, history and...

Danny May

Danny May graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a BA(hons) in Fine Art in the mid-1990s. He currently lives and works in Wales. Further information can be found on Instagram

Ben Lloyd

Ben Lloyd graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Liverpool School of Art in 1997, after which he worked in community arts in Liverpool. In 2008 he gained a Masters...

Vicki Lucas le Bon

Vicki Lucas le Bon is a visual artist living in Liverpool whose practice includes painting and drawing, ceramics, collage and installation.  The basis of much of her painting grows...

Anna Ketskemety

Ketskemety explicitly uses the photograph as source material, raising questions about authenticity, objectivity, capture and permanence.  Her paintings are sometimes subtly sculptural, freeing them from the gallery wall while making viewing even...

Cos Ahmet & Gary Finnegan

Cos Ahmet and Gary Finnegan have been collaborating since 2020. Both artists share an interest in the moving image. Cos is best known for his performance and video works, making enquiries into...

Emily Salinas

Emily Salinas is a graphic designer and is also training to be a sign painter. Her personal practice is focussed on making art that empowers people or is for social good. In...

Abbie Bradshaw

Instagram: @abbiebradshaw___artist Website: https://abbiebradshawart.wixsite.com/abbiebradshaw

Anna Jane Houghton

Website: @annajanehoughton

Maeve Thompson

Website: @7maeve7

Kelly Stubbs

Melody Carey Art is a project centred around a fictional autobiography written by Kelly Stubbs. Kelly didn’t have the understanding she needed to come out as a transgender woman, until relatively late...

Stephanie Trujillo

Stephanie Trujillo is a multidisciplinary emerging artist exploring her Peruvian-German- American heritage as an estranged person based in Liverpool through painting, collages, and spoken word. She studied fine art, art history and...

David Ballantyne

My creative practise generally involves working with paint, mixed media, and collage, however, the work for this exhibition was created as part of a series of an ongoing experiments in print making....

John Elcock

John Elcock is a visual artist based in Liverpool. His work explores symbolism, birds and aspects of the divine in a multidisciplinary practice centred on painting and conceptual sculpture. He has exhibited...

Silvia Battista

Dr Silvia Battista is a performance artist and senior lecturer at Liverpool Hope University. Her work investigates perception and identity; with all the processes, discourses and practices that affect...

Patric Rogers

Patric Rogers is a multidisciplinary contemporary artist and filmmaker based on the Wirral. Frequently focusing on the hidden nature of the self, both internal and external, his recent works...

Angelo Madonna

Angelo Madonna is a multidisciplinary artist and teacher originally from Southern Italy, now based in Liverpool. He was formally trained in nautical science and mechanical engineering, followed by an education in fine...

Helen Lydon

Website: https://www.instagram.com/mindsreimagined/

Daniel Halsall

Daniel Halsall is a painter who creates modern minimalist figurative paintings that draw on Modern day themes on technology, vector glyphs, computer data, and living in the digital information age.

Luke George

Luke George is an abstract painter based in Liverpool, currently studying for his MFA (Painting) at Manchester School of Art. Luke’s large-scale painted works are the product of time-intensive, cumulative mark-making, which...

Ali Barker

Music is a major influence on my work. I create visual representations of music and sound in colour, inspired by my experiences of the phenomenon of sound-colour synaesthesia.  There are...

Elisa Sallis

Website: @leeleepants

Xanthe Tilzey

Xanthe’s practice combines painting, sculpture, and textiles to create sensual and suggestive works, attempting to articulate her fascination with complex power dynamics through feminine and comedic imagery.  Website: @xtilzey

Sian Hughes

Sian is based in North Wales, where she has her studio. A key driving force is the exploration of material – currently the translucent properties of porcelain and latex...

Elizabeth Challinor

Elizabeth Challinor is an (occasional) artist and curator from Liverpool, whose work focuses a lot on communication, language, and highlighting the importance of process instead of final outcomes.  websiteinstagram

Richard Meaghan

Richard Meaghan is a contemporary painter who has exhibited nationally and internationally. He has won prizes for his work and his paintings are in many public and private collections.

Freddy Francké

Francké’s practice revolves around researching identity and heritage and using his internal experience as a guide for self-discovery. He creates works based on this research, digested through his imagination into surreal landscapes...

Max Mallender

Max Mallender is an artist based in Liverpool, UK. He is represented by the contemporary gallery Artbase in Wiesbaden, Germany, and has exhibited extensively throughout the UK, in Liverpool Manchester and London.

Josie Jenkins

Josie Jenkins is an artist based in Liverpool, UK. She studied for her BA Hons in Fine Art (Painting) at Norwich School of Art and Design, UK, graduating in 2002 and has...

Emma Case

Emma Case is a photographer specialising in projects that explore home, memory and place. Focusing particularly on nostalgia and the ‘everyday’, Emma is interested in working with individuals and communities, working collectively,...

John McDonald

Liverpool City of Music: The Buskers Back when I was a bit younger, in the late sixties, I used my family’s box brownie and took pictures of some traveller...

Andrew Small

I am primarily interested in the relationship between art and design and its functions in our shared spaces, working predominantly on site-specific projects. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with many fantastic...

Fiona Stirling

Fiona Stirling is an artist and mother. Since beginning her PhD, she has been researching into the impact of time and space on the paintings of contemporary mid-life women artists. She investigates...

Adam Cain

Artist and producer, Adam Cain, works across disciplines, primarily focussed on games art, and lectures at the School of Digital Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. Exhibitions produced by Adam...

Call to artists and venues: Independents Biennial 2023: 10 June – 17 September

Deadline: 21st May 2023 Independents Biennial 2023 is calling on all artists, makers, performers, and producers, to submit events towards a combined programme of visual arts this summer.

Montse Mosquera, Too Foreign (2021)

Montse Mosquera, Too Foreign (2021) https://youtu.be/BGxEFxflKSc Subtitles: Living in another country is one of the most enriching experiences you can have.When...

Feiyi Wen: Wood, Water, Rock (final test submission)

See all tests for this work here, with explanations of the project's origins Wood, Water, Rock Wood, Water, Rock

Responses to ROOT-ed on Joy

Responses to ROOT-ed on Joy(Fauziya Johnson & Amber Akaunu from ROOT-ed published a series of poems on Joy for Independents Biennial 2021. Their purpose was to illicit responses and recollections of Joy...

Pierce Starre, Scrutiny

Pierce Starre has been in residence with Metal Liverpool for Independents Biennial since 2020. This commission is Scrutiny, a video performance exploring personal experiences of deprivation, oppression and survival, from the perspective...
stop Asian hate

Sufea Mohamad Noor, Stop Asian Hate

Sufea Mohamad Noor has been researching the development of diversity and inclusion (D&I) terminologies since the beginning of her career. In 2020 Independents biennial, in collaboration with Metal Liverpool commissioned the development...

Jay Hampton, Weeds Wanted (citizen science data project now live)

Jay Hampton begun Independents Biennial with a recipe for foraged Dandelion Lemonade. The project has evolved into Weeds Wanted, a region wide citizen science experiment seeking submissions of photos...

In Conversation: Emmer Winder / Elizabeth Challinor

Emmer Winder is an artist from St Helens now working in Manchester from the Rogue Artist Studios. With 20 years background in conceptual art, photography and teaching, she has recently begun to...

In Conversation: Fiona Stirling / Elizabeth Challinor

Fiona Stirling is an artist and mother. Since beginning her PhD, she has been researching the impact of time and space on the paintings of contemporary mid-life women artists. She investigates this...

In conversation: Alan Dunn / Phaedra Hardstaff / Steve Hardstaff / The Singh Twins...

FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL is a continuation of Alan Dunn’s series that began on the Liverpool Media Wall working with Metal in 2016. This new iteration celebrates some hidden narratives around Spital, New...

In Conversation: Grace Collins / George Gibson / Elizabeth Challinor

Grace Collins is an artist from St Helens who researches how people work together and documents collaborations to create new artworks. This interest led to them to becoming a member of School...

In Conversation: Jay Hampton / Elizabeth Challinor

Jay Hampton is a working-class citizen Sciartist from Liverpool with a BSc Earth & Ocean Sciences and Zoology from the University of Liverpool and MA Art in Science from LJMU. Her practice...

In Conversation: Kevin Crooks / Callan Waldron-Hall / Elizabeth Challinor

Kevin Crooks is a St.Helens based photographic artist and Deutsche Bank Award recipient, and also the Head of Photography at Carmel College. Kevin’s work explores the effects of how governmental policy, initiatives...

In Conversation: Montse Mosquera / Elizabeth Challinor

Montse Mosquera is a Spanish graphic designer based in Liverpool who explores multiple disciplines, and has a passion for the exploration of her self-image throughout experiences, digital interactions and the different cultures...

In Conversation: ROOT-ed / Elizabeth Challinor

ROOT-ed (Revolution Of Our Time) is a self-published zine and social platform, that aims to promote, support, represent and inspire creative people of colour within the North West of England. ROOT-ed has...

In Conversation: Sam Venables / Elizabeth Challinor

Sam Venables is an artist whose work explores fandom, advertising and ideas around what makes something feel ‘local’ to a place. The things we choose to discard and the items we cherish...

In Conversation: Sorrell Kerrison / Elizabeth Challinor

Sorrell Kerrison is an artist working in many different mediums, including film, sound, and print. Sorrell is most known for her complex fauvist style hand embroidery portraiture, has had exhibitions in the...

In Conversation: Stephanie Fry / Elizabeth Challinor

Stephanie Fry is a Billinge-based artist, using a variety of traditional and non-traditional techniques to create artworks focusing on themes of place, history and storytelling. Exploring the local landscape supports the development...

Artist Host, Conversation (Final)

Artist Host Conversation- Elizabeth Challinor Elizabeth ChallinorJo Mary WatsonHarriet BurnsMatt Retallick Elizabeth: So yeah. I wanna ask like general questions and we can just sort of...

Grace Collins & George Gibson, The Book of Sand

Find out more about this project here The National Library of Argentina is the last known whereabouts of the infamous Book of Sand – a book about a book that can never...

Jo Mary Watson, Reflection

In the following reflection I am using the words “Motherhood” and “Parenthood” to talk about the focus I have set on my...

Elizabeth Challinor, In Conversation With IB21. Reflection (final)

In Conversation With IB21 (a title I started off with, and never actually used) is a project focusing on the artists featured in Independents Biennial, an ongoing series of informal Q&A’s that...

Merseyside: State of Independence? – Matt Retallick

Merseyside: State of Independence?Matt Retallick  This short piece is written at the end of Independents Biennial ’21. It does not aim to provide answers but should instead be read...

“The Impact of Motherhood on being an Artist” (very short) Booklist, Jo Mary Watson

“The Impact of Motherhood on being an Artist” (very short) Booklist “Feminist Art and the Maternal”Andrea Liss “Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution”Adrienne Rich

Grace Collins & George Gibson, Book of Sand (Prototypes)

Find out more about this project here The National Library of Argentina is the last known whereabouts of the infamous Book of Sand – a book about a book that can...

Montse Mosquera, Too Foreign (part 2)

Living in another country is one of the most enriching experiences you can have.When you leave, your memory will remain fixed in that moment, unchanged, hoping...

Emmer Winder, Posters

Emmer Winder's Social Prescription Pharmacy was produced to a commission funded by St Helens Arts in Libraries in collaboration with Independents Biennial. Her advice has been open to all...

Mark Simmonds, […] Font Download

Download the font files here(instructions below) Download Instructions: Mac:

Emmer Winder, Social Prescription Pharmacy 2021

Find out about Emmer's full project here This post is produced by Emmer Winder, from images at the end of a year recording conversations and affirmations from audiences sharing...

Mothman #4

Mothman issue for Poster Edition ROAD Studios’ Director Tony Knox will be collaborating with ROAD members and guest artists to produce the latest issue of the Mothman comic book,...

FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL launches today

www.fourwordswirral.com Some of Wirral’s contemporary folklore and social history can now be explored in a new community project which sees artists condense the stories of the borough into FOUR...

Week 6 Thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

View more work in progress, essays, and blogs from Elizabeth Challinor here View & comment on the original text here

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #5: “Climbing walls & fireworks” (on Galleries)

View all podcasts here Harriet Burns, Elizabeth Challinor Jo Mary Watson and Matt Retallick (Independents Biennial 2021 Artist Hosts) and Patrick Kirk-Smith (IB Director) attempting...

Week 6 Notes – Spaces part 2, Galleries (hand written notes and appalling automatic...

The hand written notes below are the result of limited capacity to stare at a screen this week. An attempt to automatically transcribe them has been included below, but is not helpful.

Matt Retallick: State of Independence

Brief musings on independence v collective, another prompt for discussion.  In my recent walks around Liverpool, independence has been on my mind. What does it mean to be Independent,...

In Conversation With GRACE and GEORGE, Harriet Burns

See more of Harriet Burns work here Download: In Conversation With GRACE and GEORGEDownload

Week 5 thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

Read more of/about Elizabeth Challior's work here Comment & edit this article here 19/04 It’s week 5, and we’re either talking about social...

Week 4/5 (base texts)

Week 4/5 bled out of week 3, and didn't have a particularly clear theme. Our podcasts focused on social media, and our writing stumbled between that and a continuation of studio discussions....

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #4: “Caterpillar” (on ‘Studios / Social Media’)

Listen to all podcasts here Harriet Burns, Elizabeth Challinor Jo Mary Watson and Matt Retallick (Independents Biennial 2021 Artist Hosts) and...

Scrapbook, inspired by talks with others (part 1), Jo Mary Watson

See more of Jo Mary Watson's work here Maintenance of Self <> Maintenance of Practice*Everything you do is art, otherwise you get stressed about not being able to...

woke up in the ‘am’, composed a beat – Harriet Burns

See more of Harriet Burns work here Comment & edit the document below here

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 12: Montse Mosquera

Name: Montse Mosquera Location: St Helens / Liverpool Website: montsemosquera.com 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  Four years ago...

Too Foreign, Montse Mosquera – updates (12/04/21)

Find out more about Montse Mosquera & this project here >> These are drafts I made attempting to express the way I feel and tell my...

Out of context images (continued), Grace Collins & George Gibson

Find more work by Grace Collins & George Grace Gibson here Book on to their latest workshop, 28th April, here "Still not sure what's missing in...

“I think I’ve got the cover […]”, Grace Collins & George Gibson

Find more work by Grace Collins & George Grace Gibson here Book on to their latest workshop, 28th April, here "I think I've got the cover,...

Matt Retallick: Social Media – a prompt for a podcast

This short post is a prompt for a podcast we are recording this week. It does not intend to answer any questions but lay down ideas towards our forthcoming discussion. 

New Podcast: Artist Hosts, Conversation #3: “Unknown Visibility” (on ‘Where are artists?’)

Harriet Burns, Elizabeth Challinor Jo Mary Watson and Matt Retallick (Independents Biennial 2021 Artist Hosts) and Patrick Kirk-Smith (IB Director) attempting to stumble around one of the most...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 11: Sorrell Kerrison

Name: Sorrell Chrystal Kerrison (SorrellCK) Location: Mossley Hill, Liverpool Website: www.sorrellkerrison.co.uk 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  I live...

State of the Studios Report

Over the last twelve months, we've been working with studios to understand the issues they have faced during the pandemic. In almost every case, those issues were heighted and highlighted by lockdown,...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 10: Grace Collins

Name: Grace CollinsLocation: St HelensWebsite: www.gracecollins.cargo.site  1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I grew up in St Helens, moved away to London for uni & came back in 2020. 

My Joy by Annie Kamara, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Artwork by Fauziya Johnson Annie Kamara, My Joy My Joy is my joyJoy is the...

How Lucky Am I? by Fartun Abdulle, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Artwork by Amber Akaunu Fartun Abdulle, How Lucky Am I? You can tell when a...

All You Need is Joy by Tony O’Leary, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Artwork by Amber Akaunu Tony O'Leary, All You Need is Joy I thought this would...

Joy by Pauline Cummins, ROOT-ed on Joy

More about this projects & the artists here Artwork by Amber Akaunu Pauline Cummins, Joy Jazz beats repeat melodically.Saxophones float rhythmicallyCaptivating hearts,...

Trompe l’oeil: Still Life of Books, Sarah Gilman – part 2

More on the artist & the project here 1. Trompe l'oeil vanitas with a skull and book after Jan Davidsz. de Heem, 2020, Oil...

What a find, Grace Collins & George Gibson

More on this project & the artists here "Hello, so I found this, I’m still searching for more info on it and obviously it’s not much to go off...

Wood Water Rock, Feiyi Wen – (test prints – development)

More about the project & the artist here Prints on Munken Paper. Tests for Wood Water Rock

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 9: Kevin Crooks

Name: Kevin Crooks Location: St. Helens Website: www.kevincrooks.co.uk 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  I grew up in St. Helens and...

COVID AWARENESS, Harriet Burns

View more of Harriet Burns' work here COVID AWARENESS from Harriet on Vimeo.

‘Where are artists?’ – At ome’

Comment & edit here View & read more of Harriet Burns' work here

Week 2 Thoughts, Elizabeth Challinor

View original text here More writing by Elizabeth Challinor here I keep forgetting that weeks aren’t just Monday-Friday, and that Saturday and Sunday’s are available days...

Community Leaders

Comment & edit here

Monday, 9_45pm.docx

Comment & edit here

Splitting Time

Comment & edit here

Social Prescription Pharmacy, Emmer Winder

St Helens Social Pharmacy is a project which invites everyone to share their personal mantra/ words/ phrases that help them through the continuing Covid19 pandemic. Everyone is invited to...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 8: Sarah Gilman

Name: Sarah GilmanLocation: St HelensWebsite: www.sarahgilman.co.uk  1. What is your relationship to Merseyside? I moved to St Helens from Crewe in 2005 and have studied and...

Artsy people are weird, Harriet Burns

by Harriet Burns Follow her live work here

Care Wildly, Jo Mary Watson

by Jo Mary Watson & E.

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 7: Luke Skiffington

Name:  Luke Skiffington Location:  Liverpool Website:  www.lukeskiffington.com Instagram: @luke_skiffington 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  We only moved here...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 6: Elizabeth Challinor

Name: Elizabeth Challinor  Location: Liverpool  1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  I was born in Liverpool, and have lived/worked here my whole...

Artists Union England – Survey of Income Levels and Work Models for artists (with...

Following a year where artists and freelancers have been left behind in the frantic grabbing of emergency funds from the organisations that make up the visual arts sector, Artists' Union England are...

Time is Money

I’m slightly treading water here. Self-preservation I think. How content1 are artists with being content2? 1 happy, fulfilled, satisfied2 subject matter, material I...

A Brief (and inaccurate) History of Selling Art

It’s pretty impossible to talk about paying artists without referencing the art market – locally, nationally, internationally. And given that my job this week is to write about paying artists, I’ll try...

F*** you pay me

by Harriet Burns

What Happened This Morning

by Jo Mary Watson Wanted to do something productive and shareable for @indybiennial today. Even though this is not what I initially planned, nothing would fit better in regards to my...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 5: Emmer Winder

Name: Emmer Winder Location: Manchester Organisation: Just me! But business trades as NumberSix Website: www.emmerwinder.co.uk What is your relationship to...

Matt Retallick: Going for a walk – an introduction to a method

As we mark the year anniversary of the first lockdown, I’m going for a walk. For a significant portion of the last twelve months, walking was pretty much all we could do....

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 4: Alan Dunn

Name:             Alan Dunn        Location:         Wirral Organisation:  FOUR WORDS/cantaudio/Alternator Studio & Project Space (Birkenhead) Website:         www.alandunn67.co.uk          #alandunn67 1. What is your relationship...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 3: Jo Mary Watson

Name: Jo Mary Watson Location: Liverpool 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  Liverpool is my partner’s homeport, and our daughter’s birthplace.

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 2: Harriet Burns

Name: Harriet Burns Location: Allerton (South Liverpool) 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  My mum was born here. I wasn’t. I have lived here...

Matt Retallick Research Questionnaire 1: Patrick Kirk-Smith

Name: Patrick Kirk-Smith Location: Huyton Organisation: Art in Liverpool Website: www.artinliverpool.com 1. What is your relationship to Merseyside?  I was...

Dad’s Project (ongoing)

My current portrait project looks at the small (but growing) number of families where fathers have chosen to be the main childcarer. While attitudes are shifting towards acceptance of dads taking a...

Chorlton Lockdown Portraits (Lockdown 3), Exhibition

The Chorlton Lockdown Portrait project started soon after the UK entered it’s first nationwide lockdown. Everything stopped overnight, and what we had always taken for granted suddenly become something to consider and...

Chorlton Lockdown Portraits (Lockdown 2), Exhibition

The Chorlton Lockdown Portrait project started soon after the UK entered it’s first nationwide lockdown. Everything stopped overnight, and what we had always taken for granted suddenly become something to consider and...

Chorlton Lockdown Portraits (Lockdown 1), Exhibition

The Chorlton Lockdown Portrait project started soon after the UK entered it’s first nationwide lockdown. Everything stopped overnight, and what we had always taken for granted suddenly become something to consider and...

Trompe l’oeil (films)

For images from this project, see HERE https://youtu.be/DUGTcsxlQ_Q https://youtu.be/Lo_ctHHbBOw https://youtu.be/OHFlhMCtps8

Motherhood – image #1

Motherhood, Jo Mary Watson (created with E.), 2021

Out of context images

Grace Collins & George Gibson, 2021

Dear Diary 01/03/2021

01/03/2021 ‘Live Essays’ across different platforms: audience, artists, producers etc. will have access to, to create a series of new writings to educate ourselves (as a sector), taking away ‘roles’ and ‘positions’... Narratives with the festival,...

Jay Hampton: Bio & Background

I am a working-class citizen SciArtist from Liverpool with a BSc Earth & Ocean Sciences and Zoology from the University of Liverpool and MA Art in Science from LJMU.  My...

Stephanie Fry, Threads of History (Film)

https://youtu.be/DHXe9r76Ejw BACK TO MAIN PROJECT PAGE

Sufea Mohamad Noor, poster #1

The Evolution of D&I Terminologies, Sufea Mohamad Noor. 2021 BACK TO MAIN PROJECT PAGE

Feiyi Wen, Wood Water Rock (background)

The second chapter of the work: Wood, Water, Rock is a continuing exploration of interpretations of landscapes from different cultural perspectives with an emphasis on the discussion...

Feiyi Wen, Under The Yuzu Tree (background)

I am looking into the idea on how we understand concepts of emotions such as pathos through a cross-cultural context. Using the Greek notion of pathos, I...

Dandelion Lemonade, Jay Hampton

Dandelion Lemonade, Jay Hampton, 2021 Dandelion Lemonade Only 3% of UK wildflower meadows are left. Embrace the weeds. Let your garden overgrow. A weed is...

Sam Venables, Bio

Interests include but not limited to: Fandom, display mechanisms, signwriting, mass production, shopfitting/ shopfitters, roadside attractions, abandoned places, homemade substitutes, multi-packs, wear dated carpets, unofficial museums, localised advertising, custom...

Photographs from Bonanza, Sam Venables

The following images are taken from a film by Sam Venables, commissioned by Independents Biennial in partnership with Open Eye Gallery. You can see the full film in the Digital Window Gallery...

Film stills from Bonanza, Sam Venables

The following images are stills from a film by Sam Venables, commissioned by Independents Biennial in partnership with Open Eye Gallery. You can see the full film in the Digital Window Gallery...

Pierce Starre, Banquet Invitation

Pierce Starre has no authority to command the Lord Chamberlain to send this invitation so instead personally invites Anyone to the performance titled "Empty"; a digitally presented...

Too Foreign, part #1

TOO FOREIGN Living in another country can be one of the most stimulating and enriching experiences someone can have. They will never be the same...

Stephanie Fry, Bunker

Threads of History, Stephanie Fry, 2021 Threads of History, Stephanie Fry, 2021 Threads of History,...

Fiona Stirling, Sketchbook #1

In studying the impact of time and space on her painting practice Fiona Stirling made up two terms ‘painting ad hoc’ and ‘inbetweener painting’. These terms describe the process of painting in...

Avoid HaHa, Provocation #1: Ready when you are …

Avoid HaHa Ready when you are … For Independents Biennial 2021 Avoid HaHa collective is presenting a series of free laboratories where artists and performers...

Mark Simmonds, update #1

Page from newsprint gallery: BACK TO MAIN PAGE

ROOT-ed on Joy, pt.1

ROOT-ed has decided to dedicate their page to Joy. In these particular circumstances, it's important to look at the positive aspect in life and try to highlight what brings us Joy. ROOT-ed...

Human Libraries — Soft Sanctuary Online, Bella Milroy

This recipe is part of Soft Sanctuary Online — a programme of live events, written essays, recipes, film and podcasts. Featuring exclusively disabled artists, Soft Sanctuary explores the ceremonies of everyday life and...

Page 40,514

page 40,514, Grace Collins & George Gibson, 2021 BACK TO PROJECT PAGE

Sarah Gilman, Reading List

When these paintings are eventually able to be displayed in a library setting, books on the subject of still-life painting (particularly 17th century still-life) will hopefully be displayed near to the paintings...

Sarah Gilman, Trompe l’oeil after Gijsbrechts

"Trompe l'oeil after Gijsbrechts", Sarah Gilman, 2021 This project consists of a series of four oil paintings on canvas. It is an investigation into reproduction and appropriation in...

Kevin Crooks Instagram Takeover, February 2021 @indybiennial

@indybiennial is hosting artist takeovers, in the lead up to, and during the festival programme, 20th March - 6th June Kevin Crooks opened this programme in February. Follow him...

(Previews) FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL

FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL will be launched in full Tuesday 4th May HERE FOUR WORDS: WIRRAL is a continuation of Alan Dunn’s series that began on the Liverpool Media Wall working with...

ABOUT: Emmer Winder, Social Pharmacy

St Helens Social Pharmacy is a project which invites everyone to share their personal mantra/ words/ phrases that help them through the continuing Covid19 pandemic. It is hoped that these statements will heal those that read them, causing a therapeutic, shared sense of community.

Thoughts (Part 8): Rabbit Poo

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators of Independents Biennial to our small staff team. As we...

Thoughts (Part 7): Spin to Win

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators of Independents Biennial to our small staff team. As we...

Thoughts (Part 6): Health & Safety

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators of Independents Biennial to our small staff team. As we...

Thoughts (Part 5): Essential

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators...

Thoughts (Part 4): Paying Artists

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators...

Thoughts (Part 3): Format

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators of Independents Biennial to our small staff team. As we...

Thoughts (Part 2): Introduction

‘Thoughts’ is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators of Independents Biennial to our...

Thoughts (Part 1): But why not open if its safe?

'Thoughts' is a series of text based images responding to questions posed by the artists and collaborators of Independents Biennial to our small staff team. As we plod on with developing a...

Job / Call: Artist Hosts – Independents Biennial

This call is somewhere between a temporary job description, and an artist residency. We’re hoping it provides a brief opportunity to work within an aspect of production you’d like to gain knowledge or experience of...

Independents Biennial 2020 Associates Programme

Independents Biennial 2020 was postponed to March 2021. If you want to get involved as an artist, collective, studio or gallery we want to know what you've got planned.

Programme dates, and first wave of artists for 2021

Independents Biennial20 March – 6 June 2021 The Independents Biennial will return in 2021, celebrating the art and artists of Liverpool City Region. Having secured funding from Arts Council...

Independents Biennial Postponed until 2021

Independents Biennial Postponed until 2021 Following discussions with Liverpool Biennial and many concerned artists, Art in Liverpool have decided to postpone Independents Biennial 2020 until next year. We...

OPEN CALL: Independents Biennial x Open Eye Gallery

DEADLINE: 23 MARCH As part of Independents Biennial 2020, Open Eye Gallery is looking for photographic work to celebrate the creative talent of the region. This year’s Independents Biennial...

Residency Opportunity – Independents Biennial x Metal

Independents Biennial x MetalResidency Opportunity Download this brief hereDownload the brief in large text format here Independents Biennial (@IndyBiennial) is a festival of...

Key Texts

Google Drive

Follow our work as it happens, and have your say on our public Google Drive. We’re feeling our way through this digital programme, and have questions for everyone. View HERE

Artists