TXLW & As One - Video Now Online

TXLW & As One Video by Humdrum

Over on our new Vimeo channel we've just uploaded our first video at the link above. Shot and edited by Humdrum its hopefully gonna be the first of many videos documenting what goes on in our hidden away art world.

Submit & Exhibit - Opening Night Photos

Here's some photos of last weeks opening night, kindly taken by Chris Joyner

Open submission show...

The opening of Submit & Exhibit was attended by over 70 people, setting another record for the space and saw a beautiful performance from the experimental group, Transept. We'll be uploading photos, video and audio recordings from the eve over the next couple of weeks. We're off into hiding for a bit in terms of openings as we plot the new years program, in the meantime, get down to the space and check out the work if you havent already.

Submit & Exhibit - Tomorrow Night

All the submissions are in, come down tomorrow night to see whats in the packets...

Submit & Exhibit - An International Exhibition

So our next show has morphed from a simple open submission show, into one featuring artists from around the country and as far afield as the USA and Pakistan. We've get a live performance from the perplexing yet spell binding Transept and DJ sets from artists featured in the show including Humdrum, Dan Tombs, Forrest City Joe and more!!

Five days until deadline for Submit & Exhibit

TXLW & AS-ONE

Chris Joyner was kind enough to capture some of the action from last weeks opening night. Hit the link to check them out Art in the Underbelly Facebook

It begins...

Our next show, live illustration, street art and DJ's - Nov 4th 8pm

Two artists join together to create the next show for Art in the Underbelly, which will culminate in an opening night that will bring the audience one step closer to the creative process they explore. Tasha Whittle and As One will create illustrative, street art and graffiti influenced works directly onto the walls and during the opening night whilst being soundtracked by one of Norwich's finest DJ's, The Anthropologist.

For Tasha, this marks her return to her native Norwich, for As One this marks his first show in our fine city. Tasha's work is inspired by idioms, phrases, cosmic thoughts, nature, pattern and the little funny creatures she creates when she is drawing. Inspirations she has drawn on whilst creating murals with the Sketch City collective in Manchester as well as solo work for the Free for Arts Festival, Unconvention festival, The Chinese Arts Center and Berlin. West Midlands based As One is influenced by the comics he read whilst making his first graphic explorations with crayons at an early age. Inspired by a nomadic lifestyle that has seen him travel across the world, As One creates bold, striking, graffiti style pieces both in public spaces and on gallery walls.

Opening Night:

In the Underbelly at The Rumsey Wells,
Thursday Nov 4th, 8pm until 12am, Free Entry

We'll be uploading pics and some video a few days after the show for those of you that cant make it.

Our busiest private view so far...

Ryan's show opened on Wednesday night last week and what a turnout! We were delighted to see a huge amount of new faces at one of our openings with over 70 people through the door. It was hot, sweaty and packed out but Micheal Farrant played a gentle acoustic folk set and The Vagaband peaked the evening with a fantastic horn filled country-esque set. On top of this, Ryan sold four prints on the night.

Next week Ryan will be hosting another evening of live music and he's working hard to confirm the final line-up. We'll let you know as soon as we've got the details. It was so busy on the night that I didn't get a chance to get out from behind the bar to squeeze through the people and take some photos, managed to grab this shaky one on my phone...

The Vagaband and Michael Farrant

Here at Art in the Underbelly we are very excited to announce that we have just confirmed Norwich legends The Vagaband to play the launch night of our next show. Having played around the country, at Glastonbury and across East Anglia they will be squeezing into the Underbelly to play for us with support coming from acoustic singer/songwriter Michael Farrant.

Check them out here and check out Michael here and we'll see you on Wednesday the 6th of October, in the Underbelly for some art, drinking and music!

Submit & Exhibit - Submissions wanted

The first Art in the Underbelly Open Submission show is now open for applications, taking place at the end of the year and running for two months through December into January 2011. We are seeking work that explores the following themes: the underground, the hidden, a sense of intrigue, antiquated, aged, wall art, work responding to the space. We are looking 2D work but submissions of small scale 3D work and hanging work will also be considered as will submissions from performance artists or groups for performances to take place on the launch night. For details on how to apply, please email us. The deadline for submissions is November 20th, 2010.

Open Submission Show, Live Art and Ryan Watts

Here at Art in the Underbelly, we're working hard to bring you even more new and exciting shows. Coming up in October, we'll be showcasing the photographic talent of Ryan Watts. Ryan works professionally as a photographer and recently worked for the Norwich & Norfolk Festival.

For this show, Ryan will be showcasing his captivating band photography featuring local and national acts. Ryan captures the moments that flash by in an instant, that the audience sees but often misses. he has photographed The Duke Special, The Brownies, Violet Violet, Epichunt, Spidermilk and The Vagaband and this show will feature a selection of the finest shots from those shoots. To take the audience one step closer to the energy that is captured in the images, Ryan will be curating two evenings of live music from some of the bands he has captured over the last two years.

In other news, we are currently plotting the first ever Art in the Underbelly Open Submission show where we will be aiming to fill every available wall space with work, if you think you'd like to submit some work then send us an email. We are also planning on expanding the 'work made onto walls' aspect of our shows by organising a live art event where people will have the opportunity to watch artists making work directly onto the walls of space, more details to follow on that one but it will hopefully feature the work of this talented young lady.

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Our Current Show...'Samboosluga' Collage by Phil Cooper and Digital Prints by Sammy Merry

To kick off our new blog, we'd like to introduce you to the latest show at Art in the Underbelly. Its been our best received and attended show to date and showcases the work of Phil Cooper and Sammy Merry.

United by an interest in collage, found images, illustration and graphic design Sammy Merry and Phil Cooper explore similar but individual themes throughout their work. Sammy's work wanders through a Poland that sits uneasily in front of its communist past, stops briefly in a disbanded utopian estate deep within the Krakow suburbs before leaving with the sounds of eastern European music ringing in his ears and the residue of post-communist art and architecture in his mind. Phil Cooper's speaks through commercial, artistic and ritualistic forms of communication but always leaves an ambiguity that leads the audience to make their own way towards a hidden centre that is shrouded in elements of astronomy and nature.

For their show, Phil created collage works directly onto the walls of the Underbelly in response to several of Sammy's framed digital prints thus uniting both the finished pieces and the processes used to create them. An accidental alignment of colour occured when the work was completed, with Phil's collage colour scheme almost perfectly matching the Underbellys wall and ceiling colours. To see more photos of the exhibition, head over to our Facebook page or why not come down and see the work in the flesh?