Drawing Dialogue 3 / 2019 – 2021

Project Curated by Gabriela Boiangiu

10 June- 1 July 2021

Keighley Creative Gallery

Where?

Keighley Creative / Hanover Street / Keighley / BD21 3QJ

When are you open?

Monday     11am – 3pm

Thursday    11am – 3pm

Saturday   10am – 4pm (Hours extended due to requests!)

Tell me something about the show?

The Drawing Dialogue Project started in 2015, when Romanian born artist and curator Gabriela Boiangiu had the idea of creating an open call for artists who were interested in using drawing as a way of creating work together.

This exhibition at Keighley Creative Gallery features Drawing Dialogues: Chapter Three, the most comprehensive display of work the project has had since it began, featuring thirty-six artists from across the UK; Romania; Vietnam; Portugal; New Zealand; Germany; Australia; and Russia. The artists send artwork to each other and work on top of these drawings. Each piece on display features the collaborative results of four artists working together.

Drawing By Ramona Galardi, Penny Simmons & Valentin Boiangiu

IN CONVERSATION WITH GABRIELA BOIANGIU

Tell us about the project… It must take some co-ordination!

It does! This is our first Drawing Dialogues exhibition in three years. Every chapter takes two years, but this one has taken longer for unforeseen reasons, that we are all still trying to digest and accustom ourselves to.

The Drawing Dialogue Project takes place by sending artwork in the post, making the collaborations available for artists that would not normally be able to work together. I suppose this is the reason why this project keeps surprising me and keeps offering new opportunities all the time.

This drawing exchange is a dialogue using visual communication rather than words. We all use an A2 sized surface and negotiate the space and forms as well as new themes using this experimental approach. You have to be open to this experience, it can be challenging receiving an image created by another artist and responding to it in an inclusive and creative way, but it pushes you as an artist to try new things and think about the language of drawing.

What materials do the artists use to draw with?

Anything that can be supported on paper, however recently some artists have used tracing paper and fabric. Artists use pencils, crayons, brush and paint, printmaking, thread, stitch, and generally any materials that they can draw with. The only restrictions are the size of the drawings and the fact that the drawings can be rolled and sent in the post easily enough.

As an international artist, curator and teacher, what got you involved in the arts?

I am not sure why? People have all sorts of answers, and I am sure I could think back and give you a rational reason why I have become an artist, however, the real reason is that this is my happy place: creativity. 

I find that teaching is part of my creativity and making art and teaching feed one another. I don’t consider myself an international artist, although my national identity does play a role in who I am as an artist, I believe in identity and art without borders.

What have been some career highlights? 

Working collaboratively with my brother Valentin Boiangiu, in 2007, we obtained a large grant from the arts council to tour our project from the UK to Romania and then brought it back again. This was a two-year complex project, and had many individual successes along the way including an exhibition at the Leeds Arts Gallery and another one at the Museum of the Arts in our hometown Craiova (Romania)

In terms of educational career, I worked for the British Higher School of Design Moscow 2016-2017. This was the best job I ever had. The students were so motivated and hard working. I was the director of the Foundation Diploma Course and I lived so many happy moments and had so many accomplishments there.

Tell us anything else you’d like us to share about upcoming work, or about you…

Drawing will always be part of my life. I am hoping that I will continue working on collaborative projects with other artists and with my brother, Valentin. We are currently planning several exhibitions at an art hub we have built in Romania called DalgArt. We have two exhibitions planned during the summer.

FEATURING THE ARTWORK OF:

Amanda Allan, Leslie Atkins, Garry Barker, Kate Black, Gabriela Boiangiu, Valentin Boiangiu, Wendy Chandler, Fergus Channon, Hannah Chesterman, Niamh Clarke, Claire Daniel, Patrick Ford, Ramona Garaldi, Mirela Ivanciu, Madeline Jones, Becky Korn, Gaby Lees, Amy Mahony, Matthew Merrick, Toni Mosley, Joan Murray, Elizaveta Ostapenko, Lena Phalen, Jan Phillip, Lada Shapovalova, Penny Sharp, Andrea Shearing, Penny Simmons, Bridget Tempest, Diana Terry, Andrea Thoma, Skye Williams, and Stuart Wilson.

Private View on Saturday 26th June, 6-8pm

We would love to meet you! There may even be drinks and snacks if regulations allow!

Online Drawing Symposium on Saturday 26th June, 2-4pm

Please email drawingdialogueproject@gmail.com if you may like to participate in person to the symposium: places are limited.

Please book your free ticket to the online event:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/drawing-dialogue-symposium-tickets-156296602345

If you would like to give a short presentation or talk (Max 20min) about your drawing practice, please write to Gabriela for an informal chat.

Follow the project on:

Instagram: @drawingdialogueproject

Facebook: @Drawing Dialogue

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