'ART/Converters!' 2015

'Art Converters' 2015 kicks off at studio1.1 in London from 2 April - 26 April 2015 (closed Friday 3 April).

A fundraiser group show to support the gallery, all artists work will be available at just £200 per piece.

Artists include:

ALEXANDER BUHLER, ALICE PEILLON, ANDREW GRAVES, ANDREW SETO, BENJAMIN DEAKIN, BRIDGET JACKSON, CHARLES WILLIAMS, CHRISTOPHER BOND, CLAUDIA BOESE, DAVID SMALL,  JOSHUA RAFFELL, JULIE UMERLE, KARL BIELIK, KATE LYDDON,  LUCIA VERA, LUCINDA OESTREICHER, MANDY WILLIAMS, MANUELA VIEZZER, MARCUS COPE, MARIANNE MORILD, MICHAEL BARTLETT, MICHAELA ZIMMER, MARTIN GAYFORD, MICHAEL HAMMOND, NATASHA KAHN, NATHAN EASTWOOD, OONA GRIMES, PETER SYLVEIRE, RACHELLE ALLEN SHERWOOD, RALPH DOREY, KERAN JAMES, REBECCA MEANLEY, RICHARD BATEMAN, ROBERT CERVERA, ROBIN SEIR, ROSS WALKER, ROXY TOPIA & PADDY GOULD, RUTH CALLAND, RUTH PHILO, SACHA MEADEN, SARAH KNILL-JONES, SARAH McNULTY, STEPHANIE MORAN, STEPHEN BUCKERIDGE, STUART BARNES, WILLIAM STEIN

studio1.1 is at 57a Redchurch Street, London E2 7DJ
Website: www.studio1-1.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)7952 986 696.
Open: Wednesday - Sunday, 12 noon to 6pm.
Email: studio1-1.gallery@virgin.net

Arts Council England Award

In January this year, I won a Grants for the Arts Award from Arts Council England.

I am delighted to receive this award: it is a rare achievement, especially for a painter. Such grants are extremely competitive in the current economic climate with the recent cuts to the Art Council's budget. The award will make a huge difference to my practice in 2015 and what I am able to achieve, as well as giving me great self confidence in my work. Thanks go out to all my friends and colleagues for your good wishes and congratulations.

This award is for professional development and will fund a period of research and development within my practice, enabling me to create new paintings. I have already made a detailed plan as to how I intend to develop my work and have outlined a budget of materials and a timeline to pursue. 2015 is going to be an extremely productive year where I will be able to paint under optimum conditions.

Now it is all about achieving results and making the most of the support I have been given at this time. I will keep you posted as my project develops.

'Present Tense' at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery

Here are three installation views from the exhibition 'Present Tense' at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery that I am currently participating in, showing contemporary painting and photography from Swindon's permanent collection. The exhibition has just opened.

My painting 'Drift' (2013, 54 x 60in, acrylic on canvas) is hung beside Steven Pippin's Turner Prize nominated 'Walking Naked' (Laundromat Locomotion) series of works. Pippin's sequence of photographs was presented to Swindon by the Art Fund. It consists of 12 circular black and white photographs representing the passage of a person from left to right across the line of vision of a row of 12 cameras - ie photographs from inside a washing machine.

The exhibition runs from 14 January 2015 - 18 April 2015. Please do try to see the show if you can. Lots of good work!

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First exhibition of 2015

Drift. 2013. 54 x 60 in. © Julie Umerle

Getting the New Year off to a fine start! I'll be exhibiting one of my paintings, Drift, in the exhibition 'Present Tense' at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery from 14 January - 18 April 2015. It will be the first time this painting has been displayed in a gallery.

'Present Tense' showcases contemporary painting and photography featuring more than 40 works from the Swindon collection including works by Lisa Milroy, Magnus Quaife, Steven Pippin, Maggi Hambling, Tony Bevan, Eileen Cooper and Julie Umerle among others. The exhibition challenges the idea that contemporary art is elitist or incomprehensible. Starting with the fall of the Berlin Wall and looking at history and society, the exhibition investigates the way artists continue to react to the world around them and create new realities.

Through painting and photography, the exhibition will examine how everyday life, place, memory and repetition influence contemporary British art.

The exhibition showcases painting and photography produced since 1990s and in the collection of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.

                                                                                         

                                                                                   

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
Bath Road
Old Town Road
Swindon
SN1 4BA

Tel: 01793 466556

The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday 11.00am - 3.00 pm.

St Marylebone Crypt group show

Red Strata, 2012
Oil/acrylic on handmade paper
© Julie Umerle

It's nearing the end of the year and almost time to take stock metaphorically speaking... What a year 2014 has been for me professionally! This year my work has been included in four group shows. I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to exhibit with so many exciting artists and to show my paintings in some amazing spaces.

My final group show of the year begins on 8 December 2014 and runs until 1 January 2015. The exhibition is entitled  Contemporary British Painting and is hung in the crypt of St Marylebone Parish Church, London. It is an exhibition of small works by 40 contemporary painters. I'll be showing 'Red Strata' (above) which is just back from the framers and looks particularly festive at this time of year.

Artists for this show are:

Edwin Aitken | Amanda Ansell | Claudia Boase | Jon Braley | Julian Brown | Simon Burton | Andrew Crane | Pen Dalton | Lisa Denyer | Annabel Dover | Nathan Eastwood | Wendy Elia | Christopher Gee | Chris Gilvan-Cartright | Terry Greene | Susan Gunn | Alex Hanna | Marguerite Horner | Barbara Howey | Silvie Jacobi | Kelly Jayne | Sue Kennington | Matthew Krishanu | Bryan Lavelle | Nick Middleton | Andrew Munoz | Stephen Newton | Gideon Pain | Barbara Peirson | Alison Pilkington | Robert Priseman | Freya Purdue | James Quin | Greg Rook | Katherine Russell | David Sullivan | Judy Tucker | Julie Umerle | Jacquie Utley | Sean Williams.

2015 promises to be an equally exciting year with several group shows throughout the year, so please watch this space for announcements of dates and locations.

I look forward to meeting some of you at future events. In the meantime, thank you as always for reading my blog and for following me through 2014.

And my next exhibition is at Ipswich Art School Gallery....

There are forty-five contemporary artists participating in this exhibition that opens at Ipswich Art School Gallery on 15th November 2014 and continues until 8th March 2015. I am delighted to be part of this show. Curated by Simon Carter, 'Paint Britain' presents a range of painters from across the UK.

There are six themed rooms within the exhibition, each sensitively curated, and the show is a 'must see' for everyone who loves painting. A catalogue has been published for this exhibition and is available through Amazon.

"'Paint Britain' includes some of the most exciting, emerging, and award winning painting happening in the UK today." The gallery, a former art school in the heart of East Anglia, is a wonderful venue for the show and well worth a visit.

Exhibiting artists:

David Ainley, Iain Andrews, Amanda Ansell, Julian  Brown, Simon Burton, Simon Carter, Jules Clarke, Ben Cove, Andrew Crane, Pen Dalton, Lisa Denyer, Sam Douglas, Annabel Dover, Natalie Dowse, Wendy Elia, Fiona Eastwood, Nathan Eastwood, Paul Galyer, Terry Greene, Susan Gunn, Alex Hanna, Marguerite Horner, Barbara Howey, Linda Ingham, Sue Kennington, Matthew Krishanu, Bryan Lavelle, Monica Metsers, Nick Middleton, Andrew Munoz, Stephen Newton, Kirsty O’Leary-Leeson, Gideon Pain, Ruth Philo, Alison Pilkington, Robert Priseman, Freya Purdue, Greg Rook, Katherine Russell, David Sullivan, Harvey Taylor, Judith Tucker, Julie Umerle, Mary Webb, Sean Williams.

Contemporary British Painting

On 1st November 2014, 'Contemporary British Painting' opens at Huddersfield Art Gallery. Showcasing works by over sixty artists, this exhibition highlights work produced by painters practicing in Britain in the 21st Century. It runs until 14 March 2015. I am very much looking forward to exhibiting here and seeing the collection. This is the first time the 'Priseman-Seabrook Collection' will be on display.

Artists include:

Alison Pilkington, Iain Andrews, Paul Galyer, Jemima Watts, Monica Metsers, Annabel Dover, Andrew Munoz, James Quin, Lisa Denyer, Amanda Ansell, Fiona Eastwood, Bren Head, Simon Burton, Emma Cameron, Simon Carter, Barbara Howey, Gideon Pain, Matthew Krishanu, Anne-Marie Kolthammer, Kelly Jayne, Wendy Elia, Silvie Jacob, Linda Ingham, Natalie Dowse, David Sullivan, Susannah Douglas, Greg Rook, Judy Tucker, Katherine Russell, Jules Clarke, Nicholas Middleton, Nathan Eastwood, Alex Hanna, Stephen Newton, Pen Dalton, Susan Gunn, David Ainley, Claudia Boese, Terry Greene, Julian Brown, Sue Kennington, Ben Cove, Andrew Crane, Bryan Lavelle, Mary Webb, Ruth Philo, Freya Purdue, Julie Umerle, Kirsty O'Leary Lesson, Marguerite Horner, Harvey Taylor, Sam Douglas, Robert Priseman and Sean Williams.