NEWEST ROTATION FROM LOCAL ARTISTS
HappeningInMCR continue their successful exhibitions at Afflecks and have transformed their gallery space yet again with a new wave of local artists. If you caught the last collection, you should notice a change of pace as the image evolve from dark and gothic to more bright and colourful.
The HappeninginMCR gallery can be found next to our Tib Street entrance. Curious to see who's taking the spotlight this time? Take a look below at who is being featured in this latest installation:
Isioma Thompson | She/Her | @isiomathompson
As a former art teacher, I like to incorporate play into my work, by using abstract mark-making and loosely guiding the mediums. As a (currently) full-time career, I create art to soothe and heal myself. I believe my work fits within the Afflecks setting as it's chaotic, a cross-over between soft and painful and work that can spark curiosity through its individuality.
ReMouse | He/ Him |@remouse1991
Beetle Scoop was inspired by the Tim Burton Beetlejuice. We all know that if Tim Burton ever made a trip to Manchester he would be running to Afflecks and I'm sure a lot of his fans can be found amongst its walls.
Leeham The Wizard | He/Him | @leehams_spellbook
Leeham works part-time as an Alchemist and practices magic at night, hoping one day to make magic full-time. Like grinding a skill in an RPG game, creating magic is an endless quest for Leeham to unlock new skills and techniques. Leeham is a fun, chaotic person working compulsively to better himself and leave whatever mark he can on the wizarding world. Leeham first discovered Afflecks when he travelled to Manchester from Stoke-on-Trent as a teenager. Already a bit of an alternative weirdo, Afflecks was a wonderful place full of the strange and wonderful. Seeing the artwork that decorated the many winding walls of the building, Leeham dreamed that one day his artwork would be proudly displayed there. Leeham now is part of an art collective, Avant Garms on the 2nd floor in Afflecks and also has a self-portrait on display in the stairwell. Afflecks has been a fantastic source of community for Leeham and he is incredibly excited for his future there.
Sandy Rushton | She/Her | @sandyrushtonprints
I'm an artist working primarily in relief print, such as linocut. My work is graphic and expressive, drawing from a lifelong love of film and photography, capturing daily dramas and fleeting moments. I’ve been going to Affleck's since I was a child. While many different vendors have come and gone over those years, the place feels timeless to me and is comforting in its steadfastness in the face of the commercialisation of the Northern Quarter. The prints that I'm submitting all feature portraits of people who I think embody this spirit of nostalgia, independence, and strength.
Francis Glass | Xe / Xer | @moongatti
Francis is a Manchester-based artist whose heavily varied body of work is inspired by folklore, nostalgia, and human connection. With a strong focus on the symbolic and macabre, but never taking xerself too seriously, Francis aims to encourage artists to be playful with introspection and to demonstrate that there is no shame in being unconventional in expressing your story.
Eye.scream.sand.wiitch | She/They | @eye.scream.sand.wiitch
I'm a self-taught artist from Manchester who mainly creates digital illustrations. I started drawing in 2020 to deal with my feelings and mental health, and it's now an integral part of my life. A lot of my work explores themes of queerness, mental health, and relationships, but I also enjoy using bright colours, referencing pop culture and infusing a bit of silliness into my work. Losers is my first mini comic. I enjoy making art that tells a story, so moving from illustrations to writing a comic felt like a natural progression. Losers is about two young adult cousins who are navigating life outside of formal education, and often feeling a bit left behind by the world. I'm submitting the first episode to the open call, which introduces a narrative that will be ongoing through the first few episodes. As the story progresses, we learn the girls live in a semi-magical world that is based on my experience growing up in Manchester in the 90s and 00s. This was when I first discovered Afflecks, and it's been one of my favourite places in Manchester since childhood. I feel that episode one fits into the ethos of Afflecks because it has funky colours, anti-establishment sentiments, some tongue in cheek humour and a bit of drama... all things you can find at Afflecks!
Nelsonboy | He/Him | @nelsonboyartist
Magnolia 6 was created through the cataloguing of items found in the junk draw in my kitchen. The focus of this work is the everyday and the mundane. As I was working my way through the draw (over 200 individual items) I was forced to spend time with theses forgotten trinkets and that will come in handy one day items. This forced time opened the magic of these small things and the significance to me and those close to me of items insignificant to the world at large. I believe this work fits in with the ethos of Afflecks as it tries to view the everyday from an angle of wonderment and in doing so foster this wonderment in others.
Yi Zhen Leong | they/she | @shirotenzhen
I'm Zhen, a graphic designer and illustrator from sunny Malaysia, now based in Manchester! My practice looks at communities and self-narratives to inform ideas. Currently, my work tends to gravitate towards cuteness as an aesthetic of comfort and rebellion. I believe cuteness does not live on a binary spectrum, but on a much expansive plane. Fluxing between tensions of tenderness and aggression; this malleability can empower those that resonate with it, no matter your identity and background. Wandering through Afflecks gives me a similar sense of comfort and rebellion, seeing within its nooks and crannies a safe space for anyone who would like to express themselves. I feel welcomed, as I see others being welcomed too. Cuteness has the potential to inspire care for others and self, I hope my work will be able to do so as it finds itself displayed at a portal into Afflecks.
I'm a photography graduate and visual artist from Manchester. I spent many years growing up in Spain and that upbringing has directed my practice towards a cultural and identity based one. The work I've submitted is an exploration of how I am creating work now that I have graduated. The black and white works are created with other creative graduates in mind and how they could keep making work now they work full time, something that can be quite suffocating if you're not used to it. These works look at my closest friends and the everyday places I found myself, who happen to also be friends I work with full time and sights I see on an everyday basis. The overall goal of the project is to understand how you can mix your working with the creative practice.
Gem Poole | She/Her | @gempooledesign
I am an illustrator and designer currently studying for an MA and working in Manchester. I am researching comedy within design; I feel that humour in art is an essential way to connect with an audience and is really important in my practice. I love having fun with designs and experimenting with combining traditional and digital elements. My work often involves watercolour and ink line illustrations, and I am currently working on risograph publications and getting involved in exciting collaborative projects like this exhibition.
Harry Flaherty | He/ Him | @documcr
My name is Harry Flaherty and I am a documentary photographer based in Manchester. My work is a personal exploration of culture and heritage, which is why I feel it would fit perfectly in Affleck's. An integral part of Manchester's modern heritage, Afflecks is a place in which I feel very much at home. Although the piece was made in Blackpool, I feel it mirrors much of the same ethos. A counterculture landmark which champions creativity and a wide variety of cultures.
Michael Ridley | He/ Him | @michaels_temple
Inter-universal Wormhole Waltz explores a surrealist idea of representing the non-visual art of music in the visual form of dancers dancing out of the speakers in lieu of sound waves. This syn-aesthetic theme fits the ethos of Afflecks which has been at the centre of many music scenes; providing the fashion for the musicians and fans thus giving a visual identity to that music in the 3D space. The analogue collage technique Michael uses takes physical media from vintage second-hand magazines and books and recycles it to create something new from old. This also fits with the Afflecks ethos which is home to many sellers of vintage and second-hand wares that are looking for one of Manchester’s many creatives to take and make their own.
Heather Jones | She/Her | @heather_jones_art
My name is Heather Jones, and I am an emerging mixed media artist. My work is influenced by a broad range of sources and l use collage to produce alternative colourful compositions often based on subverting mass media images by combining them with natural forms and other found materials as well as photographs l take. I have lived in and around Manchester since the early nineties and Afflecks has always being a vital and important part of the city to me, as a showcase for alternative culture and independent traders. It’s a bed of creativity and always inspires me when l visit; from the building itself, to the colours, the vibe, the eclectic mix of people and the things they sell and create. I love music and vintage fashion and l feel all these things feed into my work.
Em | They/Them | @emeryterblanche
I’m a 25-year-old with the biggest love for things of the unknown, who constantly lives in their wonderland, imagining twisted and magical things in their head. If I’m not always coffee shop hopping and ironically drinking peppermint tea, I’ll either be wandering in the Manchester Museum or getting more art supplies. I moved to Manchester not only for how safe I feel as a Trans person but also for the culture and art. For someone who’s originally from South Africa and never had the opportunity to go and study art, I carved my own way as a creative and taught myself what I needed to know. I think my art fits the character and spirit of Affleck’s for several reasons, it is magical and wild, but also filled with wonder, there is always something to look at, and you always find something new every time you return to it.
Alt Art | They/He | @wytchofthenorthwest
After recently graduating from a master’s degree, I have attempted to expand my knowledge of experiment photography and printing to create a more sustainable practice. The works above are my most recent works inspired female queer (Sappho of lesbos 620-570 BCE) poets from different time frames in the past and the style of imagery used at those times. In this work I wanted to create something that felt as ethereal and delicate as the images I was seeing from these time frames but more familiar, not as removed as when you would look at photos or drawings from the time periods. I feel as though my work fits with Affleck’s ethos as I have been going to Affleck’s since I was a child and have seen it evolve and change over the years but has always had a sense of creative individuality that has stayed because of its support unique artists, makers, and artisans etc from all kinds of fields. This has given me a confidence that, no matter what when I enter the space it’ll mean it’s an accepting one and this something I like to extend into my work and practice my making work that is inclusive and evocative.
Danna Elizabeth Campoverde Nono | She/Her | @pokesaur3078
My name is Danna Elizabeth Campoverde Nono, and I use her/her pronouns. I was born in Spain and came to Manchester four years ago to study Fine Arts, a career I finished last summer. When I started exploring the city, I found myself in this amazing building that brought together a mix of all kinds of styles, backgrounds, and genres. Afflecks spark diversity, friendship, and inclusion. The building was one of the first things I visited, and I took my friends to it when they came to visit me. It used to have this little space with some ukuleles and filled with notes that different people from all over the world had written. I remember reading every one of them and even leaving mine. My artistic work is related to the feeling of community, friendship, and memory that I felt when reading all the messages. My works use different materials and processes such as photography, uncooked clay, drawings, and engraving.
