An exhibition is a necessary platform for artists to showcase their work, engage with the public and find supporters, but the heart of what we do is building a community within the arts where we can pass on practical and useful working knowledge from one artist to another.
TASC At Hand 2022 is an exhibition focussed on the challenges that all artists face - from art students to working artists, highlighting the issues in the arts that have been often neglected and hidden from the art scenes.
In this exhibition, we were showcasing artists who have worked with TASC in the past, alongside fresh-faced art students and recent graduates.
The exhibition was supported by a weekend of talks that covered diverse issues such as 'professionalism', 'collectives and residencies', 'art therapy', and 'copyright'. The exhibition continues online and is further supported by a series of workshops.
A special thanks to The Muse Gallery for their kind support as the host to TASC's London home.
TASC at Hand 2022
Exhibition and artist talks programme, 2022
EXHIBITIONS BY THE ARTIST SUPPORT CENTRE
Our exhibitions carry a spirit of creating an interactive and immersive experience for the general public.
We do this by hosting collateral events for the exhibition to help further engage with its visitors through other interactive activities. Such as artist talk, group discussions and workshops. We believe each collateral event is an essential act that helps maximise one's experience when visiting an art exhibition.
BEYOND EXHIBITIONS
TASC uses the exhibition space as an environment to build and develop a community, one where we can pass on practical and useful working knowledge from one artist to another.
We believe that through establishing the right framework an exhibition can become an invaluable hands-on learning opportunity for artists at any stage of their career. We do this by providing opportunities to work closely with exhibiting artists, through which they can either share their first hand working knowledge and/or learn through the experience of working with a group of creatives in a real-life professional setting.
Our role, as TASC, in an exhibition moves beyond 'event organiser' into that of facilitator, taking on the responsibilities of an educator, guide, and counsellor. As TASC we have a sense of responsibility to create opportunities for the exhibiting artists, and we know that through getting artist together as a team they can work, learn and support one another beyond the exhibition.
TASC AT HAND 2022 EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
TASC At Hand 2022 took place in August 2022 at The Muse Gallery on Portobello Road, in the heart of West London, UK. A number of collateral events were created to support the exhibition.
The theme of this exhibition highlighted the day-to-day challenges that all artists face - from art students to working artists. These issues and challenges are ones that we have recognised as an organisation working in the arts, but it was more important that these issues and challenges came from the mouths of the artists themselves. The issues and challenges they shared are ones that have a profound impact on artists's life but are rarely being discussed openly and honestly in public settings. These real-world challenges, whilst likely shared privately between artists', are not discussed with any hope that there could be change.
(examples of these can be seen below under 'The Artists' Voice')
In order to express this theme, with balance, we invited emerging and established artists and a graduate group who had their studies disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic.
The front gallery space exhibited artists who have worked with TASC in some capacity. The middle corridor space showcased the anonymous quotes from the exhibiting artists, presenting their voice on the issues and challenges they face. The back of the gallery space featured artwork from art students and recent graduates (from 2019-2022) curated by Kieran Cook (TASC team member and 2022 art graduate from Norwich University of the Arts).
THE ARTISTS' VOICE
TASC believe that the difficult issues and challenge that artists face day-to-day should be an open discussion that involves the general public. Below are some extract quotes from the exhibiting artists' that were used in the exhibition.
"There is very little stability or support if things change suddenly. The concept of linearity in a career is not really valid with arts and humanities.”
"Many arts programmes in universities don't really want to discuss the day-to-day job of being an artist, which is a shame, as much of being an artist is a practical experience.”
"Most jobs in the arts don't want you to be an actual artist.”
"I always knew the industry was elitist, however, I never quite realised the extent of it. Full of unpaid internships, volunteer work, the unfairness in the gallery system and art market."
"You will get exploited by the industry in a steep battle for recognition, opportunity and stability."
"The same problems reoccur ... however, because creatives love creating - everyone carries on and ignores the issues"
Much to our surprise, the quotes resonated with so many of the visitors. They led to a number of fruitful conversations with people from the general public, art students, practicing artists at various age groups and culture backgrounds, and professionals who work in the art scenes.
This is the connection we set our mind to build with the visitors - to start a conversation, invite a discussion on those challenges and issues in the arts that are actually hidden. We are proud to have achieved it through using genuine voices from our exhibiting artists, and we as TASC will continue to be channel for the voice of the artists.
COLLATERAL EVENTS
To further support this space for the general pubic and arts community to reflect and discuss on the themes of the exhibition, we created a series of talks and group discussions during the exhibition run. Important in TASC's approach is that the spaces for discussion and conversation are safe and friendly, and that there are no pedestals - whether you are an artist of many years, or just starting out, or simply an art curious person, each perspective is equally valid.
In our design for these events, we make sure to flatten the hierarchy whilst allowing for TASC to facilitate and guide the discussion. Each collateral event at the exhibition was led by a working artist who could offer their first hand knowledge and/or share their skillsets. The topics covered diverse issues such as 'professionalism', 'artist collectives and residencies', 'art therapy', 'copyright', 'randomness and chance in creativity' and a final open discussion.
One of the most well received event was the "open group discussion about issues in the arts". In this event, we opened the floor to anyone who wanted to discuss an issue or challenge they were facing. It started with a photographer who saw his work used on a billboard without his knowledge. From this jumping off point the discussion covered ground from copyright protection, to contracts and legal support, and then developed into discussions around artist motivations, balancing creativity with work, finding inspiration and meaning to why artists continue to do what they do.
Our aim isn't just to try and provide a solution to a problem (if one can be found). We also aim to highlight the problem and offer alternative perspectives to that so-called problem. We believe there is no "correct" solution that can fix all these issues, but by sharing each other's experience and perspective we can definitely inspire others to look at the problem in new ways leading to new avenues for solutions for their own challenges and problems.
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See the list of collateral here: https://www.theartistsupportcentre.com/tascathand2022
THE INTERVIEWS BY PORTOBELLO RADIO
During the exhibition run, we were pleased to have the additional support from Portobello Radio, a radio station that provides a voice to West London's local cultural communities, with an emphasis on arts and music.
Our co-director Amit Rai Sharma joined them on air to talk about why we set up TASC, how we work to support the artist community, and gave an introduction to 'TASC At Hand 2022' exhibition. Kieran Cook, our young curator who recently joined TASC team also participated in Portobello Radio's interview to talk about his curation process and the creative challenge of presenting works from art students and recent graduates who studied through the globe pandemic.
In addition to our team, two of our exhibiting artists, ViNNi KiNiKi and Abbie Horberry were also invited to talk about their art practice with Portobello Radio. It was yet another (unexpected) opportunity for our exhibiting artists to reach out to an extended audience. One that they would not otherwise meet in a gallery setting.
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listen to Amit's recorded audio interview at https://www.mixcloud.com/Portobello_Radio/portobello-radio-show-ep-354-with-with-isis-piers-thompson-greg-weir-get-ready-special/ | Amit Rai Sharma at 01:26:30 mins
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See Kieran, ViNNi and Abbie's interviews at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h3FQn2PpFI | Kieran Cook at 00:15:00 mins | ViNNi KiNiKi at 00:55:00 mins | Abbie Hornberry at 01:42:00 mins
TASC AT HAND 2022 IN 3D
A special thanks to The Galleries Association for supporting us by documenting our physical exhibition and converting it into a 3D digital experience. We are very thankful to have this documented in this way. A viewable digital walkthrough of the 'TASC at Hand 2022' at the Muse Gallery on Portobello Road is now available to view at the link below.
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View the digital TASC At Hand 2022 online: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=ypNKzFDWA7o
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
TASC worked with 23 artists from across the globe; from art students to working artists. We were incredibly pleased to see how naturally the art student and recent graduate exhibiting artists work merged with other exhibiting artists. The artists were able to exchange ideas and ambitions as well as share their experiences in their art practice and how they live and work on a day-to-day basis.
It is evident that artists benefit from peer support. It is also evident how important it is for artists to surround themselves with a group of people who are focussed on building their artistic career. This is an especially beneficial environment for those who have just left art school and have many questions about how to establish a career for themselves.
Some of the recent graduate exhibiting artists described this exhibition experience as helping them build their confidence and gain practical working knowledge, all within a short span of time. It provided a stepping stone into the working art world, and was an invaluable educational channel.
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Participating artists information can be found on the official exhibition webpage here: https://www.theartistsupportcentre.com/tascathand2022
WHY TASC DO THINGS THE WAY WE DO
We work to challenge the current status quo in the art world. The art world can feel quite lonely and stagnant for artists. There are 'common' and 'typical' art exhibitions that open weekly, and they exist in the way that they do because they haven't changed with the world.
In the majority of the cases when artists are invited to participate in an art exhibitions, they have the expectation to drop their work to the venue and then turn up for the private view. What do artists learn from this experience? Unless they have set up the show themselves they are rarely there to invigilate and interact with their potential audience. Can we not change this and make an exhibition and opportunity to learn and develop one's practice?
For those that do decide to set up exhibitions themselves, we understand how challenging it is to wear multiple hats at the same time. The exhibition is often measured by sales and public exposure. But could it not be measured by growth in knowledge for the artist? This is in fact how artists learn through their career, by experiencing the working art world first-hand and learning by doing.
Would it be possible to maximise an exhibition opportunity into something that can be more than just a tool for showcasing artwork or networking? What are other opportunities that can be created within an exhibition setting for those exhibiting artists?
Without the challenge of a commercial gallery to meet a sales target, TASC is in the position to exercise, experiment with, and execute ideas of building multiple types of opportunities for the artist:
1. providing shared cost or no cost opportunities
2. gaining first-hand practical experience by creating collateral events that invite artists to be on-site
3. building a peer support network that extends beyond the exhibition
There isn't a blueprint for how one should or could develop their artistic career path, however, we strongly believe having a trustworthy and healthy support system is one of the key factors towards longevity in the arts. For TASC, an exhibition can work as a perfect platform to help develop an artist's career by daring to be more than a sales and publicity opportunity.
See more exhibition archive videos and images below.
