Preview: Radical Residency II

Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop is opening its doors again for the second instalment of the Radical Residency programme. This dynamic and innovative opportunity provides 10 artists from across the world with a communal studio space for 4 weeks, culminating in a group exhibition featuring works created on the premises. Following its first iteration in April 2018, for the second Radical Residency 10 places have been awarded to a multi-disciplined group of artists from 5 different countries and with an age range of almost 40 years: Sol Bailey Barker, Gwenyth Fugard, Mirra Goldfrad, Connie Harrison, Jae Jo, Amina McConvell, Amy Mizrahi, Lucian Strindberg Boyle, Dominic Till and Frank Wasser. The Solo Studio Residency, with artist Bianca Barandun, will be running in tandem upstairs.   

The Radical Residency programme is a direct response to the volume of high-calibre applications received for Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop’s 3 month solo residency. Due to the impressive standard of applicants, it seemed logical to expand the programme in a way which would also give the public access to the artists in a work-in-progress studio environment via a series of open discussions and critical seminars. Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop founder and director Stacie McCormick sees the Radical Residency as a means of providing not only space and time for artists to work on their own individual practices, but also to open up opportunities for dialogue and exchange, transforming the normally hushed gallery space into a thriving hub of potential provocation and conversation. This is a place where artists have a chance to learn from each other, disrupt their routine, change context, reflect comparatively, and garner feedback and support from both peers and visitors, all within a nurturing, professional space.  

On the aspect of visitor engagement, McCormick further explains: “Through directly connecting to practicing artists there is a way for a broad community to profoundly engage with art by witnessing and understanding the process of its creation, which can truly enhance lives”.