Nearly 10 years ago Ropewalk studio artist Marc Renshaw began his own fictional football super league and since then the project, The Sporting League, has become a way of life for Keelby based Marc.
Since 2002 he began to faithfully documented results and statistics in a fictional super league – a conceptual football world that Marc claims has existed since 1985.
Since then Marc has faithfully recorded every kick, foul, goal and red and yellow card which now can be seen in all its detail at an exhibition of the same name which opens at The Ropewalk on Saturday, October 29.
“Since I began The Sporting League results and league tables have been faithfully recorded,” explained Marc.
“Bayerns, Tranquilayers, Delta and Olby may sound like international football teams but in fact belong to my fictional super league,” he went on.
“Match results and league tables from 10 seasons have been faithfully recorded with the dryness of a serious statistical archive, yet rendered with an obsessive and imperfect drive that appears self-indulgent.”
A whole wall of the Artspace Gallery at The Ropewalk will be lined with intricate text panels, produced in biro, on large sheets of off-white paper.
“Although the project may have an appearance of obsession, it retains sophistication and an understanding of itself within a wider art historical context,” Marc believes.
And visitors to the exhibition in can do far more than just take in the intricate detail of the exhibition – they can also participate in score prediction and compete at table soccer.
And to bring some immediacy to the exhibition, Marc will be relaying The Sporting League fixtures live in the gallery space each Saturday for the duration of the show.
The launch of Marc’s exhibition coincides with Football Frenzy at Barton’s Library on October 29 from 1am to 4pm when there will be a wide range of football games to enjoy at the first football gaming event held at North Lincolnshire’s libraries.
The exhibition, which is funded by Arts Council England, continues until Sunday, November 27. The exhibition is open from Monday to Saturday between 10am and 5pm and on Sundays between 10am and 4pm.
Throughout the summer in the Box Gallery we are showcasing work from makers who are influenced by the sea.
Featuring in Coastal are ceramics by Tregear Pottery from the Isle of Wight, Rebecca Harvey from St Ives, Pru Green from Essex and Dianne Cross from Yorkshire. A new collection of work by Tony Bellars of King’s Lynn brings a bright splash of colour, looking at his fishing boats and gulls you can almost smell the salt air and hear the unmistakable cry of the gull.
This month in the Box Gallery we are celebrating everything nautical with a range of makers from around the UK. Their pieces aim to represent the fun of the ocean and the curious creatures that live within it.
We have a range of ceramics and prints to transport you back to the seaside or give you gift inspiration for that perfect someone who is never far from the beach. So why not come and visit the Craft Gallery today and start your holiday early with a piece from our exhibition, transforming your home into your very own seaside escape.
Here are just a few of the pieces we have on offer in the exhibition.
You are probably wondering why we have a boat within the Box Gallery exhibition!
Not only does it match this month’s nautical theme in the gallery it also promotes Barton’s Heritage Open Days and the free tours taking place from September 14 to September 22 in the neighbouring Barton Haven Shipyard.
Don’t forget to book your free ticket today along with many more events on offer at The Ropewalk.
Selected by Rob Moore and Melvyn Petterson, this biennial exhibition aims to show the best of our region’s printmakers.
Situated on the rugged south coast of the Isle of Wight, Tregear Pottery produces a beautiful range of handmade stoneware pottery. Each piece is made from fine white stoneware clay. The work is hand decorated in a variety of designs – all drawing their inspiration and influences from the exceptional beauty of the surrounding landscapes.
Trained in Kyoto, Japan, in porcelain throwing, Neil’s passion for pottery has seen his work travel across the globe. He continually pushes and challenges the work at Tregear Pottery, refining glazes, developing new designs and expanding the studio. Neil has been awarded with a number of grants, international show selections, and other accolades for the quality of his work. The work is sold in several galleries and shops on the Isle of Wight as well as many well-known outlets across the mainland and now at The Ropewalk. Come in to the Craft Gallery during the month of June and admire the coastal bliss that Neil Tregear’s pottery creates.
Noted brings together artists Lou Hazelwood and Sarah Pennington for the first time, as they negotiate similar interests in the mechanisation of music and roles of women.
Hazelwood’s piece in progress ‘La Boheme/I’ve Got Her Disease Inside My Head’ transposes pianola scores to playable music boxes working with the oppositional themes of the female bohemian and hysteric.
Pennington has constructed a series of new sculptural observations and print works through a combination of historical research and material experimentation with player piano rolls and remnants of piano mechanisms.
This exhibition showcases the initial findings of their separate but related research into, and interventions with, the structures of pianos and pianolas, and social situations surrounding their key periods of use.
If you are interested in following these processes of exploration as they continue to unfold, please visit www.facebook.com/Noted
Rachel Morley creates unique felt items by hand using the wet felt method. The natural colours and shapes of the Scottish coastal landscape have inspired the Pebble range or Doorstops, Cubby Bowls, Cubbyholes and Pebble Pods. Rachel experiments with wool fibres from British breeds of sheep to take advantage to their varying qualities. As a contrast, Rachel enjoys the challenges of felting with a broad colour palette to create the colourful range of bowls.
Rachel’s aim is to elevate felt craft to create innovate products for the interior, echoing organic forms of the coastal landscape. Her fine art background brings a very sculptural feel to her work which is tactile and evocative.
Rachel has a Fine Art Degree and Level 2 and Level 3 Diplomas in Feltmaking. She is a member of the international Feltmakers Association and Design Nation. She is a supporter of the campaign for Wool and member of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Rachel works from a studio in Hickling a village situated between Nottingham and Melton Mowbray. Come in to the Craft Gallery during the month of May and admire the Scottish bliss Rachel Morley felt pieces create.
