POSTPONED 'I'm a soldier to my, Own emptiness, I'm a winner'

About

A duo show by Robbie O’Keeffe & Will Hughes

Gallery North
Sandyford Building
Northumbria University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8QE

PV 2nd April 2020: 6-8PM
Open Tuesday - Saturday 10am-4pm
Exhibition runs from 3rd - 16th April 2020.

Performative talk and tour on 7th April at 1pm

It passes through me, an invisible energy, that touches what cannot be found. I search in this moment for why i feel this growing desire. I look for you under moon light, as the beat returns to me. You are tangible in the rhythm but always just out of reach, a phantom in my dreams, a spectre of desire, a ghost in my peripheral vision.

The exhibition brings together Robbie O’Keeffe a painter and Will Hughes a sculptor. Their practices in this exhibition are interwoven by the influence of popular culture and especially music on their work. The Exhibition title is taken from ‘Marry the Night’ by Lady Gaga, this is because Robbie’s Hospital dancer series of works are related to his recollection of the song and visiting his cousin on a mental health ward. While Will’s work explores memories of intimacy and feelings of detachment through a number of sculptural and digital works.

 Robbie O’Keeffe is based in London and has a studio at ACS Studios in Brixton. He was selected for New Contemporaries in 2017 and won the John Apthorp award in 2016. Robbie’s work seeks to portray a poetic message, with a foundation in expressionism, surrealism and landscape.

Will hughes is based in Newcastle upon Tyne and is studying for a Masters in Fine Art through BxNU. In 2018-2019 they completed a year long studio residency at Spike Island in Bristol and in the same year won the Kenneth Armitage Young Sculptor Prize. Will’s practice is based on narrative, memory and seduction with an emphasis on being in the moment, explored through anthropomorphic shapes with a strong material importance.