Radical Residency® VI

Matthew Dowell, Stefano Giordano, Noel Hensey, Sam Hodge, Laura Hudson, Noa Ironic, Liam Mertens, Ally Rosenberg, Diana Savostaite and Alexandra Searle

 

Working studio dates: 15 June—10 July 2021

Exhibition dates: 15—31 July 2021

 

So very exciting to have a return to regular programming and bring one of our favourite initiatives back to life — the Radical Residency® VI is on! We are happy to announce the continuation of this amazing programme: Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop is again hosting artists for the sixth instalment of the Radical Residency®, the exciting and dynamic initiative that welcomes 10 artists from all over the world to work side by side in a large communal studio for one month after which we curate an exhibition from the results of this intense experience. The working studio time is also open and seen as a living exhibition, inviting the public during opening hours to engage with the artists at work. This is an unmissable opportunity for visitors to witness 12 artists working on site, including founder Stacie McCormick and current Solo Resident Stephen Burke.

The 10 places have been awarded to a multi-disciplined group of artists from 5 different countries: Matthew Dowell (UK),  Stefano Giordano (Italy/UK), Noel Hensey (UK), Sam Hodge (UK), Laura Hudson (UK), Noa Ironic (Israel), Liam Mertens (New Zealand), Ally Rosenberg (UK), Diana Savostaite (Lithuania/UK) and Alexandra Searle (UK).

Matthew Dowell (b.1994, Sunderland, UK) has a research based practice working across the expanded fields of print, performance, and sculpture. He studied Fine Art at Kingston School of Art (2013-16) and Print at the Royal College of Art (2018-2020) where he received the Augustus Martin Print Prize. He was shortlisted for the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculpture (2019) and is the recipient of the Stanley Picker Print Tutorship (2021).

Stefano Giordano (b. 1986, Milan, Italy) grew up in Cologne Monzese, Italy. He’s been based in London since 2010. In 2020 he graduated from City & Guilds of London Art School. Recent shows include Final, Not Over, Unit 1 Gallery | Workshop, London (2020) and A High Hang, Eccleston Project Space, London in 2020. He was Shortlisted for the Skinner’s Company/ Phillip Connard Travel Award in 2019 and for the Painter Stainer Scholarship in 2018.

Noel Hensey (b. 1977, Dublin, Ireland) is currently based in Co. Kildare, Ireland. He graduated with a MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Arts in 2010. He is a multi-disciplinary concept artist working primarily in installation, photography, sculpture, sound and video. His art practice is concerned with philosophical exploration balanced with some humour. Selected exhibitions include: Verloren Und Gefunden, SomoS, Berlin, Homage, Peak, London, Jammed Into A Paradox and 601 Artspace, New York (2020).

Sam Hodge (b. 1963, Kent, UK) originally studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and then Painting Conservation at The Courtauld Institute of Art. She worked as a painting conservator including several years at Tate, before becoming a visual artist. Now working with paint and print processes in her studio in East London and at East London Printmakers, she has exhibited and taken part in artist’s residencies in the UK and internationally. These include several solo shows in London, for example: Vital Matter, Muse Gallery (2019), A Catalogue of Misfortune and Roz Barr Architects Gallery (2015).

Laura Hudson (b. 1966, County Durham, UK) is a trans-disciplinary artist with a background in experimental film, edible horticulture and digital technologies. A graduate of Glasgow School of Art’s Environmental Art Department, Laura went on to study artist’s film at Central St. Martins before working as a curator and promoter of film and new media arts. Returning to her own practice in 2016, she completed her studies in 2019, graduating with Distinction in MA Fine Art from City and Guilds of London Art School. Laura’s work is now held in private collections across Europe, USA and the UK.

 

Noa Ironic (b. 1993, Israel) is a painter and sculptor. She completed her BFA Fine Art at the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art in 2019. She grew up in Israel in an orthodox Jewish household and went to an all-girl orthodox school until the age of 13, later turning nonreligious and changing her family name at the age of 17. She cleverly incorporates the humouristic and grotesque elements inside her paintings to bring the space around them alive. Recent exhibitions include full of myself, Rosenfield Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel (2021), Bull in a china shop, Tchotchke gallery, New York (2020) and Fresh Paint Art Fair, Tel Aviv, Israel (2020).

Liam Mertens (b.1991, Blenheim, New Zealand) is currently based in London, UK, where he completed an MA in Painting at Slade School of Fine Art, UCL (2019). Liam explores the notion of presence and absence in relation to home through the medium of painting. He was part of New Contemporaries 2020. Recent exhibitions include New Contemporaries 2020, South London Gallery, London, UK (2021), Still Here, Newington Gallery, London, UK (2019), neo:artprize2019 and Bolton Art Gallery, Bolton, UK (2019).

Ally Rosenberg (b. 1991, Manchester, UK) is a London-based artist from Manchester, primarily working in sculpture. His work takes an irreverent look at the body, slicing and casting materials with a structural quality that reveal a relationship between image and object. After graduating from Central St. Martins, he took an academic detour into cognitive neuroscience, completing an MSc at UCL and a residency at Harvard’s neuro-imaging lab. This period of research, looking at the interface of anatomical structure and conscious experience, through the multiple planes of MRI images, certainly influenced Ally’s recent sculptural work.

Diana Savostaite (b.1983, Lithuania) is living and working in London. She uses oil paint as her primary medium to create expressive, colourful, semi-abstract paintings. Diana is a graduate of Vilnius Academy of Arts, where she achieved a BA in Fine Arts/Painting. Latest exhibitions include Summer Exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts (2020), Sunny Art Prize at Sunny Art Centre (2020). In 2020 Diana won an artist’s open call with Colle’s Gallery (Leeds, UK) and has been awarded a solo exhibition. In 2017 she was awarded with Winsor and Newton Young Artist Award, exhibiting her work in Mall Galleries (London, UK).

Alexandra Searle (b. 1992) is a sculptor based in London. After studying Fine Art at Newcastle University graduating in 2015, she went on to complete an MFA in Fine Art Sculpture from the Slade School of Fine Art in 2019 where she was awarded the Nancy Balfour Scholarship and the Henriques Scholarship Prize. She was awarded the Slade Summer School Art Education Residency upon graduation. In 2020, she was shortlisted for the ACS Studio Prize and was a finalist in the Ingram Prize (2020).

As an organisation we encourage visits during the Working Studio Time. Visits will follow COVID-19 regulations and can be booked in limited time-slots.