James Aldridge Artist
James Aldridge Artist

Neuroqueering Nature at Spud

In June/July 2024 I created an installation at Spud in the New Forest, as the result of a residency titled Neuroqueering Nature, spent exploring queer and neuroqueer perspectives on the Forest's wetlands.

 

A central, sculptural piece, formed from wooden furniture, found objects and Walking Pages, bound together with rope and orange twine, was joined by drawings made with clay from Avon Water (a local river), and an audio-visual piece that incorporated footage from camera traps together with video and sound of marsh, river and bog.

 

The central, sculptural element was also shown at The Long View conference in September 2024, in a treehouse at Beaulieu, convened by Dr Melanie Rose and Laura Eldret of More Than Ponies.

Drawing on Water at The Pound Arts Centre

In July and August 2023 I held a solo exhibition at The Pound Arts Centre in Corsham, Wiltshire. Drawing on Water showed artwork that had emerged out of my Queer River research project, including drawings, collages and the film Chalk in the Blood. I am currently working on a short virtual tour of the exhibition will will be made available on the Queer River website.

Water Body Screening at Riu D'art

My short film Water Body was selected to be shown at the Riu D'art (River of Art) festival in Riba-roja d’Ebre, Catalonia in September 2022. Thank you to Riba Rocks for the images of the festival in progress. You can watch Water Body here on my Youtube channel.

Inbetweeners - CAS Associates Exhibition

I exhibited a Queer River drawing made with Alder Cone ink, black ink and candle wax at the CAS (Chapel Arts Studios) Associate Artists annual show Inbetweeners in August 2022.

Black Swan Open Exhibition

I had two pieces selected for the Black Swan Open 2022 at Black Swan Arts Centre in Frome, both multiple exposure images taken using a camera trap as part of my The Ash Looks Back series, The Fox and the Boy and I Don't Know. (Thanks to Black Swan Arts for the bottom right image)

Groundworks: Landlinks

The Landlinks exhibition took place at Three Storeys in Nailsworth, Glos in June 2021. I was invited to take part in the Landlinks project and the resulting exhibition along with artists from around the world, each of us responding to a walk in our locality and a script provided by the curators/organisers, Kel Portman and Lizzie Walton

 

'The project was initiated as a result of the pandemic and the inevitable lock downs that followed.  As we found our movements restricted and any collective walking projects untenable, we instead decided to initiate walks that were made together, but alone.'

Yarmouth Springs Eternal and Queer Constellations

In Spring 2021 I was commissioned by Yarmouth Springs Eternal to create a new Queer River piece for their exhibition at Primeyarc in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The exhibition and associated conference, at which I presented, aimed to ' ...explore relationships, perceptions and experiences of connecting with the natural world through the arts'.

 

Later that year exhibited a different version of this work at the Queer Constellations exhibition at The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) in Reading.

 

'Queer Constellations is an exhibition that poses the question as to whether there is queerness in rural life. It brings together artists from around the UK and Ireland...to delight in the strangeness of rural life and to feel its enough-ness. We invite users to trespass the space, explore the margins, and to join us in queering the countryside.'

 

Both pieces consist of walking pages from two different River Avons, the Bristol Avon and the Salisbury Avon, brought together in a small scale installation with bottles of water collected from each river. For Yarmouth Springs Eternal , these were joined by two walking bundles (Queer River: Two Avons), and for Queer Constellations a paper boat and male doll (Queer River: Boat and Body).

Ash Tree Stream

Curated with Susan Francis, Programme Curator at CAS (Chapel Arts Studios), and funded by Arts Council England, the Ash Tree Stream exhibition combined documentation of this year-long art and outdoor learning project (run in partnership with Andover Trees United) with my own artwork, made in response to research into Ash trees and Ash die back disease. November 2020. (See here for a video tour of the exhibition)

Saturated Space - Sandham Memorial Chapel

A group exhibition with other CAS (Chapel Arts Studios) Associate Artists, made in response to the paintings of Sir Stanley Spencer doumenting his experiences of WW1. My piece Heft, explored place attachment and the trauma of disconnection with the land of home. March 2020.

Interbeing Exhibition at Pound Arts, Corsham

A two-person exhibition with Jonathan Mansfield at Pound Arts, exploring the role of visual arts practice in coming to know oneself and the more than human world, through connection and relationship. January to February 2020.

Urban Rural Exchange Exhibition at Sky Gallery, Spitalfields Studios

A two person exhibition with my Urban Rural Exchange collaborator Karen Wood, documenting our year-long collaboration in London and Wiltshire. Spitalfields Studios, East London. November to December 2019

The Laboratory of Dissent, Winchester School of Art

River Itchen Water Body installation, created as part of The Laboratory of Dissent 2 in the Winchester Gallery at Winchester School of Art alongside work from other CAS Associate Artists. December 2019.

 

A Gathering of Unasked Possibility, Centrespace Gallery, Bristol

An installation created for this interactive exhibition, comprising of my short film 'Walking Back to Marden' and Walking Bundles made with exhibition visitors on a group walk to the Bristol Avon. Centrespace Gallery, November 2019.

 

'Our contemporary moment of precarity - climate, political, economic, social - calls for a progressive response that resists the pull of anger and despair. Inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s words, our aim is to create a propositional space with breathing room for alternative ways of thinking, expressing, and being.'

Let Us Dissent Exhibition at Spudworks

Walking Bundles, Doll Bodies - exhibited as part of this group exhibition with other CAS Associate Artists at Spudworks in Sway, New Forest. August 2019.

Asking Andover Exhibition at Andover Museum

From Anton Lakes to Ladies Walk: 16 Walking Pages - Commissioned by Hampshire Cultural Trust and exhibited as part of this community exhibition. July-August 2019

In The Round, CAS (Chapel Arts Studios), Andover

The Distance Between Us, exhibited as part of this group exhibition with other CAS Associate Artists, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of CAS (Chapel Arts Studios). March 2019

The Redhouse Museum and Gardens Open Exhibition, Christchurch

What Is A Garden? Exhibited alongside the open entries for this yearly exhibition at The Redhouse Museum and Gardens in Christchurch, Dorset. (2018/19)

The Atkinson Gallery Summer Show, Street

Out of My Head exhibited as part of this Somerset-based gallery's open exhibition, and bought by the Gallery for their permanent collection. (2018)

#ArtAfterTurner - Willis Museum, Basingstoke

Heavenly Body exhibited at the Willis Museum, alongside artwork by participants in the #ArtAfterTurner project. Curated with Project Coordinator Bryony Waterman and project participants. Commissioned by the Hampshire Cultural Trust, 2018

Black Swan Arts Open - Frome

10 Walking Bundles and Body Warmer exhibited at Black Swan Arts Centre as part of this open exhibition, 2017. Winner of the Black Swan Friends Prize for 10 Walking Bundles.

Making Memories - Salisbury Art Centre

Toy Bundles and Badger Boy drawing, exhibited at Salisbury Arts Centre, alongside documentation of the Making Memories Project with First Steps Nusery and Salisbury Secret Garden. Curated with Leigh Ann Chalmers, 2017.

Embodied Cartographies - Walcot Chapel, Bath

Walking Bundles (Doll Bodies) exhibited as part of a group exhibition curated by Fay Stevens during Fringe Arts Bath, 2017

The Art of Outdoor Learning - MK Gallery

Walking Pages and Walking Bundles, exhibited alongside documentation of the Green Town Group residency, and previous outdoor learning projects. Curated in partnership with the MK Gallery Learning Team, 2017

 

 

The exhibitions featured above are a few of the exhibitions that I was involved from 2017-22. Please see my c.v (download from the News and Contact page) for further examples or email me to find out more.

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