BV studios: 2010

Friday 19th November-6.00-9.00pm
Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st-11.00-6.00pm

Entry to the Open Studios and BV Gallery is free.

BV Studios, a new and exciting development of artists’ studios in Bristol, is opening its doors to the public for the first time with an Open Studios event in November 2010.

The converted 30,000 square foot warehouse is located in the heart of industrial Bedminster, in the space formerly occupied by the Wiltshire Print Works.

The studio building currently houses over 80 professional artists who have been selected based on the quality of their work and commitment to their creative practices. The artists work in a variety of mediums and range from recent promising graduates to award winning, international and established artists.

A cafe run by Katie & Kim's Kitchen will be on site all weekend with a delicious selection of food. Teas and coffees from Daisy Rollo of CoffeaArabica will be available on Saturday and Sunday.

Gallery

Founded in 2009 by artist Penny Jones, Motorcade/FlashParade was an artist-led project space in Bristol. It provided a platform for emerging artists, particularly from the South West region, and hosted an annual programme of exhibitions and events.
S
adly, practical considerations forced the closure of Motorcade/FlashParade at the end of 2013.

Motorcade set out to excite. We offered a tantalising vacuum to fill, an empty space ready for exploration, experimentation and adventure; where boundaries could be pushed, ambitions exceeded and where both artists and audience could be challenged.
Our full programme of solo and group exhibitions included a competition for curators - Blueprint, and the hugely popular INCUBE8 - a series of competitions offering artists their first major solo show. We also ran an annual Summer Residency, a mini-residency and exhibition for our team of volunteers, and our annual National Open Competition. We also hosted a range of other important activities to support contemporary practice, foster peer learning and invite participation from a wider audience.
Artist Ruth Piper added her organisational skills in November 2010, joined by Gordon Bonn. Julie McCalden joined in April 2011 and thus began Motorcade's strongest period. Our busiest year was in 2012... Arts Council funding enabled a glorious expansion to our programme and we showed some sensational work. Julie was integral to this intense year and when she left at the end of December 2012, she was very much missed.
Throughout the four years of its existence, Motorcade was supported by hosts of volunteers, always willing to give of their time and energies. In particular Garry Edison Cook, who time after time produced remarkable posters for our exhibitions. He also designed our brilliant logo and, not least, provided chilled DJ-ing at most of our Private Views.
Big thanks also go to Elizabeth Dismorr, Poppy Pitt (who established MotorMouth - regular peer critiques) and Charlie Cousins, who curated the last show, also Will Kendrick and Tom Johnson for their consistent technical support. Core volunteers included the redoubtable James Mark Whittet, Heather Wallace, Alex Hardy, Gareth Pitt, Lisa Friedberg, Joe Deighan, Charli Clark and Zara Bird-Wood, artists all. Gratitude and admiration extended also to Steve Norton, whose photographs of many of our PVs form part of his unique and invaluable archive of artist-led projects connected to the University of the West of England.

PENNY JONES

BV open studios