Helen Wheeler: Build a Wor(l)d with 'ing'

About

For the Portico Library’s October 2015 exhibition, Helen will show a selection of new and existing work that responds to the two-hundred-year-old library and its collection.

Join us for the free preview on Friday 2nd October from 5pm where you can see the works and meet the artist. The Portico Library, 57 Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3HY (entrance on Charlotte Street).

“Enquiry, experimentation and reflection are key components of my practice and are concepts which I feel are embodied by the Portico Library's extensive nineteenth century collection. With works by authors such as Faraday, Kant, Nasmyth and Dante, the diverse subject matter encompassed in this historic building has been highly inspirational to me and has influenced my choice of work for this exhibition.”

Incorporating themes relating to aesthetics, science and landscape and encompassing drawing, sculpture, photography and painting, Helen’s work for this exhibition is informed by ideas of experimentation and exploration in the library’s collection. Her sculptures utilise natural forces such as gravity and magnetism within their creation and explore the potential for change over time, whilst attempting to preserve their fragile qualities, echoing the conservation nature of the Portico library. Her work frequently draws parallels with nature on both a macro and micro scale, referring to elements of the sublime and for this exhibition also connects to a sense of history, preservation and restoration sensitive to the Portico’s environment and collection.

Helen Wheeler won the 2013 NADFAS North West Bursary Award for Fine Art and was also the recipient of the Leonard James Little Fine Art Prize. Since then, she has continued her studies at Manchester School of Art where she is currently reading for an MFA in Fine Art.

The Portico Library is a historic subscription library in Manchester city centre. Visitors can view our opening hours and find out more on our website: http://www.theportico.org.uk/