Seeing in the Dark
— A Group Show


19 October —
12 November 2011


Curtis Mayfield House,
Newcastle upon Tyne


Wed — Sat
10 am — 5 pm

Featuring work by

John Adams, Kevin Atherton, Darren Banks, Jon Bewley, Ian Breakwell & Mike Leggett, Noel Clueit, David Critchley, Benedict Drew, Mat Fleming, Ken Gill, Richard Grayson, Emma Hart, Tina Keane, John Kippin, Hilary Koob-Sassen, Stephen Partridge, Heather Phillipson, Peter Todd, Maria Theodoraki, Belinda Williams

Over four weeks Seeing in the Dark will occupy one floor of Curtis Mayfield House, a one time industrial space a stone’s throw from the original Basement Group venue, to celebrate the influence and legacy of those artist-run spaces, extending this into the present with a contemporary focus. The exhibition will revisit key works from the ‘70s and ‘80s by artists associated with those groups among others, alongside contemporary media and performance
artists’ work, bringing together moving image and live performance by some of the most innovative artists working in the UK, from the past thirty years to the present day.

These are hybrid cross-disciplinary, sometimes collaborative works that reverberate with a spirit of playfully serious enquiry and exploration; they are often wry, humorous and irreverent, revelling in language and wordplay, realised through film, video, spoken word, musical performance and installation.

Live Events

Wednesday 19 October
7.30 pm — 9 pm
Guy Sherwin & Lynn Loo

Saturday 29 October
6.30 pm — 9 pm
Kevin Atherton, Heather Phillipson,
Hilary Koob-Sassen

Saturday 12 November
7.30 pm — 9 pm
Benedict Drew & Rhodri Davies, Cara Tolmie,
Peter Todd


Seeing in the Dark is an exhibition and series of events inspired by artist run groups from the 1970s and ‘80s, such as Newcastle’s Ayton Basement and Basement Group, and London’s 2B Butler’s Wharf. These groups were formed by artists with diverse practices (music, performance, film and video) inhabiting vacant industrial spaces to produce opportunistic and eclectic
events.

Seeing in the Dark is curated by Sam Watson,
Adam Phillips (CIRCA Projects) and Steven Ball.

The exhibition is presented with the kind support of Locus+