Digital Citizen

Two Fine Art graduates are exhibiting at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art. Peter Hanmer and Petra Szemán are part of Digital Citizen - The Precarious Subject which runs until June.

Peter, who graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from Newcastle University last summer, is showing the latest version of his work Plato’s Lair, which won the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor competition in 2017.

It features a series of miniature figures, many of which are remade action figures and other mixed media. The artwork draws upon the philosopher, Plato’s ‘The Republic’, primarily from book 7, ‘The Allegory of The Cave’.

“I am very happy to be exhibiting the second iteration of Plato’s Lair in this extremely topical exhibition at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, alongside so many excellent artists’ work,” says Peter. “I can promise an artistically stimulating, thought provoking and immersive experience.”

Petra is showing two short videos, one of which How to enter a fictional realm/TUTORIAL (2017) was made during the final year of the Fine Art Degree.

"Digital Citizen – The Precarious Subject is a great exploration of the different aspects of digital realms, and the various perspectives through which we can interpret our relationship to it,” she says. "I’m really happy to have two video works in this thought provoking show, exhibiting alongside outstanding artists.”

Cheeseburn

Meanwhile, three artists who studied at Newcastle University are in the running for the prize Peter won in 2017, the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor competition.

This year, Jamie Hammill, who is based at NewBridge Studios; Susannah Curran based at Cobalt Studios, and Master of Fine Art graduate Ella Jones, are in the running for the coveted award.

Newcastle University Visiting Professor Matthew Jarratt is curator and mentor at Cheeseburn. He said, “We are delighted to have received a record number of applications to this year’s Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor competition.”

“We present a diverse selection of proposals from ten young artists, who come from a range of backgrounds, courses and institutions across the North East. What is particularly of note is that, this year, 70% of our shortlisted proposals are from female artists.”

With funding from the Gillian Dickinson Trust confirmed until 2021, the GDNEYS award provides opportunities to artists aged between 18 and 25 years old, who work or study in the region. The shortlisted artists for 2019 will present their proposals at Cheeseburn this spring, and the winner will receive £6,500 to develop their proposal into an installation or sculpture to be sited within the grounds of Cheeseburn.

Fellow Fine Art graduate and 2018 winner, Clare Townley, is set to transform the Cheeseburn landscape this summer with her sprawling, sinewy plastic installation, ‘Nostalgia de la boue: Plastic Friend’.

An important springboard

Irene Brown Head of Fine Art at Newcastle University said: “This is the third year Newcastle University Fine Art graduates have been shortlisted for this prestigious commission and we wish them luck.

“Peter Hanmer won the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year 2017 and the current recipient Clare Townley is also a Newcastle Fine Art Graduate. This is a wonderful opportunity for our ambitious students to engage in professional practice, and in such a unique setting. Opportunities such as this can be an important springboard in the early developing of their careers.

“We are extremely proud that Peter Hanmer and Petra Szemán are currently exhibiting at the Baltic in the group show Digital Citizen - The Precarious Subject. It is a testament to the quality of all out graduates that they are seen to be at the forefront of contemporary art practice.”

Newcastle University's Fine Art Department is ranked joint first in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, the third year it has held the top spot. 

 Press release adapted with thanks from Cheesburn