New Lines In Space by Colin Taylor

About

Rather than the traditional use of photography or video to record a buildings evolution, it was thought that a series of paintings depicting the two year transformation would be a unique and special interpretation of the process.

Throughout the commission, Taylor captured the changes he witnessed within and around the Spinningfields area, from street views to the vantage points. The exhibition also includes original sketches Taylor made whilst flying 1000 feet in a helicopter over the city.

Renowned for capturing landscapes, Taylor's latest project witnesses the before and after, "it all started with a hole in the ground, and the landscape around this, but as the building work developed I saw the transformation of that landscape."

For Taylor, it is the transience of the landscape that inspires him, “it’s normal to represent a landscape that hasn’t changed for decades, often longer… in this instance the constant change and very deliberate method of construction offers the opportunity to bookend that process in one distinct body of work. For a landscape painter, I think that’s a huge privilege.”

New Lines in Space follows Taylor's successful 2015 exhibition at Contemporary Six, ‘Cityscapes/Wordscapes’, a joint project with the Manchester poet Anthony Rowland.

As well as being a painter, Colin has over 30 years experience climbing and working in mountains. Born in the East Midlands, Taylor studied art and drama at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham in the mid-eighties following which he taught 20th Century Art History at a local FE College. In 1987, he re-located to Manchester, worked for The Guardian and Manchester Evening News and then worked for an advertising agency, eventually specialising in economic development and destination marketing.

In 2008/09 Taylor undertook ' A Short Walk in The Big Landscape’, an Arts Council funded series of nine solo exhibitions re-visiting Thomas West’s 18th century viewing stations around the Lake District. In 2010, Taylor was invited to undertake a year-long residency at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral leading to an exhibition of 30+ drawings which later transferred to Cologne, Germany. Taylor has had solo exhibitions in New York, Washington DC, Germany, and Paris.

There are a limited number of places available for the preview evening on 31 May 2017, for further information and to book please contact the Gallery at:

info@contemporarysix.co.uk or call 0161 835 2666