A rare opportunity to view work by a range of artists and practitioners who teach at the prestigious The Northern School of Art has been announced.

The collaboration between a select group of practitioners and lecturers at the School will showcase a diverse range of disciplines including fine art, sculpture, graphic design and typography, photography and print-making.

Called ‘Practice’, the exhibition is being held in Hartlepool Art Gallery, which is situated in a Grade II Victorian Church adjacent to the School’s degree and masters level campus, from 21 March – 23 May.

Works on show will include ‘TypeBase’ by graphic designers Olivia Watson and Paul Clay, a giant typographical artwork incorporating open source typographic letterforms which will fill the Apse Gallery space.

Olivia, who is the Programme Leader for The Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) Graphics Design degree programme, said: “Our exhibit stems from our programme research and interest in process methods to develop and promote creativity. Paul and I established a type foundry which designs and shares typographic forms.

“Typography sits somewhere between art and industry. Our installation uses a single grid structure to create hundreds of bespoke typefaces, influenced by the vast interpretations of graphic design and its illustrious history.”

Dr Tony Charles, director and artist at Platform A Gallery in Middlesbrough who won the 2103 Premio Comel Award in Rome and lectures on the School’s Fine Art degree, is curating the exhibition in the Main Gallery space, which will feature a selection of his signature ‘Unpaintings’ that blend painting, drawing and sculpture.

Tony added: “The Northern School of Art is renowned for its practitioners and educators who deliver the highest calibre of artistic practice within the setting of a specialist independent art school.

“This exhibition is an exciting showcase of work by artists and practitioners who have helped to cement the School’s reputation as an established provider of highly skilled graduates to the creative industries.”

His colleagues Dr Jonathan Chapman, pictured above, Programme leader for The Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) Fine Art degree programme, and the Fine Art technician, Katy Curran, are also exhibiting.

Katy’s industrially-processed wooden sculptures focus on the history of houses in the now derelict Gresham Road area of Middlesbrough, where she was born, and use materials found in the area, including materials recovered from her childhood home.

A series of work by staff on the School’s photography degree courses will hang as part of the Main Gallery exhibition. Photography on show by the Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Photography degree courses, Jamie Macdonald, pictured below, captures the decommissioning of a North Sea Oil rig, highlighting how the use of film is integral to his creative process.

Photography lecturer Antony Chambers is exhibiting images reflecting a quarter century of photographing the streets and hinterlands around his hometown of Middlesbrough, which are permeated by undercurrents of cynicism, playfulness and a sense of impending doom.

Jill Cole, who alongside her role as a photography lecturer and documentary photographer has exhibited in the UK and internationally, is also displaying work.

Having undertaken research and photographic commissions focusing on social and environmental issues, Jill is currently developing a new body of work that will look at mountainous regions in a prevailing context of environmental change and loss.

Prints by Kathryn Bell, pictured below, an artist and print technician at The Northern School of Art, feature as part of the Main Gallery show.

Kathryn is a member of People of Print, a community of printmakers, illustrators and graphic designers who are ‘leading in the field of print’.  She regularly exhibits and sells her work around the UK.

Ashley Landsbury who is Museum and Art Gallery Manager at Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to be showcasing a range of multi-media works by lecturers and practitioners from The Northern School of Art in this diverse exhibition at Hartlepool Art Gallery and really hope people come along and visit when we open again.

“We have a solid working relationship with The Northern School of Art and this collaboration will only strengthen our professional affiliation moving forward,” added Ashley.

The Northern School of Art is the only specialist provider of creative degrees and masters courses in the North East.  It is rated TEF Gold whereby students receive outstanding teaching which is of the highest quality found in the UK in both its college and university campuses.

For further details of the wide range of specialist creative degree and masters’ courses offered at the Northern School of Art’s campus in Hartlepool visit: https://northernart.ac.uk/