Press Release

24 July 2013

Exhibition at the Bluecoat probes the night’s darkest hour

3 am: wonder, paranoia and the restless night

Sat 28 Sept–Sun 24 Nov daily 10am - 6pm. Free

Francis Alÿs, Tonico Lemos Auad,Jordan Baseman,Sandra Cinto,Dorothy Cross, Dornith Doherty, Anthony Goicolea, Marc Hulson, Rachel Kneebone, Nathan Mabry, Michael Palm & Willi Dorner, Hirsch Perlman, Ed Pien,Lucy Reynolds,Sophy Rickett, Paul Rooney, Anj Smith, Fred Tomaselli, Danny Treacy, Bettina von Zwehl, Tom Wood.

Bleary-eyed sleepers woken up to be photographed, prowling coyotes caught on specialist digital cameras, and a helicopter spotlight searching the nighttime waters for a missing person. These are just some of the highlights of a new exhibition opening at theBluecoat in Liverpool this autumn,before touring the UK.

Independent curator Angela Kingston was invited by the Bluecoat to curate
3 am: wonder, paranoia and the restless night. The exhibitionfeatures 22 UK and international artists, including Francis Alÿs, Sophy Rickett, and Fred Tomaselli,and includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and video, some made especially for the show.

The exhibition demonstrates how this particular nocturnal hour has captured the imagination of artists. They explore various themes– psychological, sociological, natural and astronomical – to capture something of the strangeness of the night and the extraordinary range of emotions, states and experiences it witnesses.

The featured artworks show teenagers running wild and free, a woman’s rapture at the cosmos, a man quite alone and afraid, the steely imaginings of a frightened child, and an emboldened fox.

Highlights include:

  • Photographs from Tom Wood’s The Chelsea Reachseries, which shows revellers at the New Brighton club of the same name;
  • Frances Alÿs’film, The Nightwatch, in which a wild fox, let loose in the National Portrait Gallery, was recorded by surveillance cameras;
  • Haunting sculptures that suggest dream states byRachel Kneebone and Nathan Mabry;
  • A new, intricate installation byBrazilian artistSandra Cinto, made during a residency at the Bluecoat;
  • Sophy Rickett’s photographic series of smartly dressed women urinatingwhile standing up in the most unlikely of locations;
  • The song of a nightclub cloakroom attendantin Liverpool artist Paul Rooney’s sound piece,Lights Go On;
  • Dorothy Cross’s Searchlightphotographsdocumenting helicopter spotlights skimming the sea, searching in vain for missing persons;
  • Disturbing life size images byDanny Treacyof himself dressed in discarded clothes he finds in the street in the dead of night;
  • Michael Palm & Willi Dorner’s film documenting young people reclaiming deserted, late-night city streets through ingenious performance actions;
  • Marc Hulson’s intimate drawings set within the dark recesses of our domestic spaces.

Kingston said: “Visitors to 3 amwill venture into the far night as somewhere that offers refuge and release from the pressures of the day, a place of adventure and creativity. It belongs, too, to nature and nocturnal creatures – and to sexual encounters and death. Also, it’s a time of lawlessness and abjection, and the dark realm of ghouls and witchery.

“3 amcould be seen as a metaphor for our current situation: we have reached the nadir, are in a very dark place, with only the hope of imagination and daring. The exhibition, with an associated series of nocturnally themed events, comes therefore at an opportune time.”

The Bluecoat’s Artistic Director Bryan Biggs said:“We were delighted when Angela approached us with her idea for 3 am. The nightseemed to be fertile territory for the artist, and her selection of some of the most engaging artists working today promises to produce an imaginative and compelling exhibition, a nocturnal journey to the outer extremes.”

To accompany 3 am, Liverpool University Press, in association with the Bluecoat, is publishing a 100-page anthology for insomniacs, featuring contemporary and historic night-related material and illustrations of artworks in the exhibition.

The full list of featured artists is: Francis Alÿs, Tonico Lemos Auad,Jordan Baseman,Sandra Cinto,Dorothy Cross, Dornith Doherty, Anthony Goicolea, Marc Hulson, Rachel Kneebone, Nathan Mabry, Michael PalmWilli Dorner, Hirsch Perlman, Ed Pien,Lucy Reynolds,Sophy Rickett, Paul Rooney, Anj Smith, Fred Tomaselli, Danny Treacy, Bettina von Zwehl, Tom Wood

3 am: wonder, paranoia and the restless nightis showingat the Bluecoat, Liverpool, from 28 Sept - 24 Nov 2013 and tours until Nov 2014 to Chapter (Cardiff), The Exchange (Penzance) and Ferens Art Gallery (Hull).

Ends

Editors’ Notes

The Bluecoat

The Bluecoat is a dynamic, creative hub that showcases and develops talent across visual art, music, dance, live art and literature.

The most historic building in Liverpool’s city centre, the Bluecoat has four galleries. It is alsohome to over 30 creative industries and individuals including artists, graphic designers, arts organisations, craftspeople and retailers.

Dating from the early 18th century, the building’s architectural importance is illuminated by its UNESCO world heritage and Grade One listed status.

It is believed to be the UK’s oldest art centre, with a rich artistic history; early exhibitions included the first Post Impressionists show, which came to Liverpool in 1911 following an earlier showing in London and featured works by Picasso, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Matisse and Gauguin, exhibiting alongside British artists for the first time.

Five years ago, the Bluecoat reopened after major redevelopment and has since inspired tens of thousands with its mission to engage, innovate and excel.

The past few years have seen it attract internationally renowned artists such as Angie Hiesl, John Akomfrah and Mark Leckey, while simultaneously engaging the most vulnerable, from those with dementia to disadvantaged youths, through its community projects.

The Bluecoat’s location, in the heart of Liverpool city centre, has made it a welcome oasis from the hustle and bustle of the nearby shops, and the relaxing garden makes it the ideal place to escape for a while.

The Bluecoat is more than a contemporary arts centre in an historic building: it is an intersection between art and our times, a cultural and social meeting point where it creates a strong dynamic between art, the city and the culture of Liverpool, and everyday life.

Angela Kingston

Angela Kingston is an independent curator and writer. She curates touring exhibitions in partnership with public galleries, and also works in hospitals, parks and other locations.

Her most recent show, ‘Underwater’ – which featured ten international artists, including Bill Viola, Dorothy Cross and Ellen Gallagher – toured to five galleries around the English coast in 2010-11, attracting big audiences and positive press coverage.

Art with Strangers – with works by Jordan Baseman, Kathryn Boyd, Anne Elliot & Jeanette Bell, Sonja Feldmeier, Charlotte Ginsborg, Adam Green and Ben Rivers – took place at Turnpike Gallery in Greater Manchester (2008), also proved popular.

Her previous exhibition, Fairy Tale – featuring six international artists – toured from The New Art Gallery Walsall to Chapter in Cardiff and Leeds Art Gallery (2007). An estimated 80,000 visitors saw the show.

Since 1999, Angela has curated several public art commissions at The Cancer Centre in Birmingham – including a drawing for a waiting area by Simon Faithfull, and a 40-part artwork for the corridors by Sharon Kivland.