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“ The Potato Eaters ” 2011
110 x 75 cm Graphite powder and pencil on paper
for Margate show “KISS ME QUICK”
Working mainly with large-scale drawing along with the appearance of faces relating to some urban human existence in the work, “The Potato Eaters” is partly engaging with my past work; where the chosen participant is asked to perform as if he is sitting for an ID photo for a document that may determine the course of their life, and result in the realisation of their hopes for the future.
This ID photo style drawing 110 x 75 cm of Nabil Musa, wearing swimming goggles and biting a raw potato, is inspired by a photograph of Tony Blair, eating his chips in a fish ‘n’ chip shop and the painting “The Potato Eaters” by the Dutch Painter, Vincent Van Gogh, 1885.
Ellie King, from the Potato Council said: “As a nation we’ve been enjoying chips for more than 150 years. To celebrate National Chip Week, Potato Council set out to discover what it is that keeps the British love affair with chips alive.”
As the Margate show “Kiss me Quick” is the first art project I am taking part in since I have become a British Citizen, I thought it would be great to reflect on the ideas of ‘Britishness’ and to look at traditional English seaside foods. The first answer to the question “what would be the traditional seaside food in the UK” was “Fish n Chips”. Somehow I want to look at the potato as a strange, weird and foreign looking object, as potatoes are not a native breed/species and are mostly imported.
13 artists from Stoke-on-Trent will be packing their cases, rooting out their buckets and spades and spending their summer holiday in Margate.
The Artists: Behjat Omer Abdulla, David Bethell, Michael Branthwaite, Andrew Branscombe, Bernard Charnley, Anna Francis, Janine Goldsworthy, Kate Lynch, Brian Holdcroft, Stuart Porter, Phil Rawle, Katie Shipley, Glen Stoker
In the summer of 2011 AirSpace Studio artists, Rednile ‘and friends’ will be mirroring the traditional ‘Potter’s Holiday,’ which saw large groups of Stokies heading for the seaside for their annual 2 week holiday. The 13 artists will descend on the Seaside Town of Margate for Kiss Me Quick an exhibition to be held at the in Margate Harbour Arm Gallery.
The artists have made work in response to the town, and, in the light of rising fuel prices putting foreign travel out of the reach of many people, will be considering the possible resurgence in popularity of the British Seaside Holiday. With the opening of Turner Contemporary in April as a backdrop, the artists will explore whether a new art space can aid the rebirth of this beautiful Victorian resort through an exhibition and a series of beach based interventions and events.
Kiss Me Quick sees the artists variously examining the social and architectural history of the seaside holiday, as well as the Town’s present and projected future. This multi-media, site-responsive exhibition on the Harbour Arm promises to be a feast of the best in contemporary art. Kiss Me Quick introduces a wide range of different media from painting to sculpture, performance, photography, video and site-responsive intervention.
In light of major cuts to funding for the arts, the artists involved have embarked upon a series of fundraising initiatives in order to raise the capital for this summer show, becoming a case study for self-funded, artist led activity in the U.K. Testing various methods, the artists have held yard sales, and boot fairs, created a Zine and made small artworks in order to ascertain which fundraising schemes are most successful. This activity has expanded the remit of the Kiss Me Quick project, building momentum towards the Margate Exhibition.
After the holiday (Margate Exhibition) is over the artists will return to Stoke-on-Trent, and hold the Kiss Me Quick Slideshow. Where documentation of the show will be exhibited, detailing the artists’ experiences in Margate.
I have been working with the notion of identity for many years since I first found myself in a state of exile trying to gain recognition by the Immigration system in the UK. It has been over thirteen years since I left my native land, Kurdistan-Iraq.
I’ve often been asked for identity pictures for the various types of ID cards I was required to have and I now own a collection of “self-ID pictures”. My work developed directly from an investigation into the use of these ID cards, what they say about people’s origins, and how these people are ultimately presented at the end of the governmental process.
I try to question the effects and the outcomes of this systemic categorization. It is shocking to see how codes and numbers classify and shape us within a system that, to us, is almost invisible. It is quite surprising and rather fascinating to see that we expect ID photographs to be a true reflection of who we really are, when in fact they only represent a superficial side of our identity; our physical appearance. However, this process of categorisation extends beyond the Immigration services and other governmental departments. The desire to reduce a person to only their photographic image is widespread.
As a mixed media artist working mainly with drawing, photography, and video installation, I use my practise to listen to peoples’ stories and try to create a platform for debate around the issues raised. To me art questions who we are and how we place ourselves in the world. It is a way to be in touch with our responses to life and a way of speaking that allows viewers to translate, decode and change it to their own languages.
e-mail: baha.baha@hotmail.co.uk
Education:
2010 First Class Honours, BA-Fine Art in Staffordshire University. UK.
2010 Awarded the prize for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Fine Art. Staffordshire University.
2006-2007: ABC Level 1 Art design and Creative Studies Digital Imaging. S-O-T College, UK.
1991-1997: Diploma, Sulaimaniyah Institute of Fine Arts. Iraq.
Solo Shows:
2002 A Tribute To All Mothers, The potteries museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-On-Trent. UK
2002 Colour in my memory, Newcastle-U-Lyme, staffs. UK
1994 First solo exhibition, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.
Group Exhibitions:
2011: “Factory Night”, National Garden Festival, S-O-T, UK
2011: “AVENUE OF PORTRAITS” Hayward Gallery, London, UK
2011: "anti curate" Midland Art Center, Birmingham, UK
2011: "KMQ" slideshow, airspace Gallery, S.O.T, UK
2011: "BE Festival" AE Harris, Birmingham, UK.
2011: "BE Festival" Midland Art Center, Birmingham, UK.
2011: "KISS ME QUICK" Harbour Arm Gallery, Margate, UK
2011: "Here Is My World" The Crocus Gallery, Nottingham, UK
2011: “DAT fest”, 100 Stories, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
2010: “Conjunction 2010”, airspace gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
2010: Southgate Place, Bath, UK
2010: Black Country Creative Advantage, The Public, West Bromwich, UK
2010: “Derby Big Draw”, HUB, 48 St Peter’s Street, Derby, UK
2010: “Wirksworth Festival”, Newbridge Gallery, Wirksworth UK
2010: “A Familiar Face” – Stoke Town 2010, SHOP, UK
2010: “Amaze” Staffordshire University, S-O-T, UK
2010: “HEP”, Video installation, Iran
2009: “HEP”, Video installation, José Malhoa Museum, Portugal
2009: “World Domination 6”, Schloss Blumenthal, Germany
2009: “HEP”, Video installation, IM BANANAPARK, Berlin, Germany
2009: “HEP”, Video installation, Guildford Lane Gallery, Melbourne 300, Australia
2009: “Shifting Origin”, Art Waves, Nile Street Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent UK
2009: “Irresistible”, Staffordshire University, S-O-T, UK
2009: "Home" Burslem School of Art, Queen Street, Burslem, Stoke on Trent. UK
2009: “Oslo Open 2009”, Art film, Oslo, Norway
2008: “Bethesda Splendors”, Video installation, Bethesda Chapel, S-O- T, UK
2007: “Dishinit”, 404 Bowls with 101 People, New Vic Theatre, S-O-T, UK
2007: “Celebrating Sanctuary”, The Pierian Centre Bristol, UK
2007: “Artists Against Racism & Fascism”. Stoke-On-Trent, UK
2007: “The Commemoration of HALABJA Committee”, Manchester, UK
2006: “Straight from the Heart”, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, S-O-T, UK
2006: “Second Kurdish Short Film Festival”, Red Cinema, Manchester, UK
2005: “Holocaust Exhibition”, New Vic Theatre. S-O-T. UK
2005: “Piconnectic”, Semi Gallery Staffordshire University, S-O-T, UK
2004: “Beyond Experience, Beyond Appearance”, New Vic Theatre, S-O-T, UK
2004: "Behind the veils", Elective Gallery, Staffordshire University, UK
2003: “Travelling Light”, Art Exchange, The Surface Gallery, Nottingham, UK
1997 Sulaimaniyah institute of fine Arts Gallery. Iraq
1996: “Diwar Band”, media gallery, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq
1996: University of Sulaimaniyah, Iraq
1995: Media Gallery in Iraq
1992: Museum & Art gallery of Sulaimaniyah. Iraq
Commissions and artistic experience:
2011: Kibblesworth Insider Art project, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
2011: Barefoot Doctors Summer School’, S-O-T, UK
2011: Curated ‘Kiss Me Quick ’, slideshow, airspace, S-O-N, UK
2011: Drawing Workshop, New Generation Space, S-O-T, UK
2011: 100 stories, Performance, S-O-T, UK
2010: Talk and drawing workshop, Staffordshire University, UK
2010: Conjunction ‘ESCAPE’ airspace Gallery, S-O-T, UK
2010: Documentary Film ‘Common Ground’ S-O-T, UK
2010: ‘Escape to the hidden garden’ land art drawing Workshop, S-O-T, UK
2010: Over the Bridge Night, Film projection, Stoke, UK
2009: Place Space & Identity 2, S-O-T, UK
TV Interview:
Kurdsat.tv, Heftenamey rwnakbiri 25-07-2011
Bibliography:
2011: ‘Invisible Man’ by: Paul Moore, Beyond Borders, July 2011
2011: ‘Let's finish the job and create an all-singing Cultural Quarter’ The Sentinel, by: Mike Wolfe, June 01, 2011
2011: Haftanna Magazine, www.cawder.org/chawder2/cawder/327/r1.pdf, June 2011
2011: Kurdistany Nwea, www.calameo.com/read/000163913bd2915b493fd, June 2011
