art in the car park, CCP Car Park, Duke Street, L1 5AA

About

Art in the Car Park is a diverse group show in response to the CCP Car Park, Liverpool. The result is a body of new artwork that weaves into the social, economic, political, historical and geographical situation of the site and the city at large. In the 80s, CCP Car Park, based in the heart of Liverpool, housed the offices of a car-sales business. After it was abandoned, it remained dormant in the portfolio of property developers until its rehabilitation by The Art Organisation (TAO) this year. TAO respond to the unique situation of a city in regeneration, negotiating the use of empty buildings for use as rich and compelling temporary space for artists and art. Liverpool is an 801-year-old city with a unique story. The intractable relationship between Liverpool's maritime successes, heavy bombing in WWII, slave history, diverse religious demographics, extraordinary cultural diversity and long economic decline make for a city loaded with ambiguous social history. It provides fertile ground for creative commentary at the CCP Car Park. Says co-Curator Hannah Hull: "Coming from London, Liverpool feels like a breath of fresh air for our artists. Liverpool is a receptive place to be making art right now. There is an artistic freedom here. We are excited to have this opportunity to respond creatively to such a rich environment." Curators Hannah Hull, Iavor Lubomirov and Jordan Dalladay-Simpson are dedicated to allowing artists freedom to create work in a range of challenging situations that are relevant to their practice. Working in partnership with TAO, they invited artists to match themselves to this opportunity via an open brief. This allowed an 'auto-curation' of site, producing work that could not happen anywhere else. Artists: Ryan Barrett Ryan is interested in the aesthetic values vs. the discarded value of abandoned objects and sites. Using scrap materials found in Liverpool, he will be creating a sculptural installation on-site in response to the architecture and scale of the disused Car Park. www.ryan-barrett.com Matt Blackler Matt's work will consist of two parts. In the lower gallery an industrial motor will slowly rotate a bore of used sanding discs precariously overhead. Directly above - and connected through the floor - the remnants of the sanding process are revealed: a battered pillar drill that has been modified to use the sanding discs is attached to a bored-out copy of Stephen Hawkings' A Brief History of Time. This piece continues Matt's interest in the aesthetic of process and the creation of histories. www.matt-blackler.com Daryl Brown Daryl uses the materials around him that look good" to him. He eats, regurgitates and plays with his materials until he replicates the feeling he had when he first encountered them - when he first tasted the idea. He is working in response to the exposed beams in the Car Park, creating a hanging sculpture made from polystyrene and cement to explore issues of stability.