Impressions Gallery

New Focus

New Focus is Impressions Gallery's Young People’s Advisory Board established in Spring 2012.

This talented and committed group of individuals from the Bradford area aged 16 to 25 guide our work and help us develop new ways to reach young people. They also have the opportunity to learn about how the gallery works and take part in projects that showcase and grow their skills.

You can follow the activities of New Focus via Facebook at www.facebook.com/NewFocusImpressions or on Twitter https://twitter.com/ImpNewFocus

Gentlemen of Bradford

Friday 10 June to Saturday 27 August 2011

Gentlemen of Bradford is an exhibition created by Mohammed Abaas, Ramzan Alyas, Mohammed Baqar Azam, Ali Butt, Bailey Lal and Hasan Sheikh and is the result of an Impressions Gallery education project.

Over a series of workshops these six young men aged between 13 and 19, who all attend Dixon’s Allerton Academy, discussed their ideas about image, style and how appearance can influence the way you see yourself and the way others see you.

Working with award winning photographer Paul Floyd Blake they used photographic portraiture to explore male fashion, identity and how they feel about being young men growing up in Bradford today. The resulting images reveal their wide-ranging influences; from weight-lifting to Lady Gaga.

This project took inspiration from the book Gentlemen of Bacongo by fashion photographer Daniele Tamagni, which depicts a group of flamboyant and elegantly dressed men from the Congo who always use fashion to express creatively their values and identity.
 
Gentlemen of Bradford is part of Art in Yorkshire – supported by Tate, a year long celebration of the visual arts in 19 galleries throughout Yorkshire Works from Tate's Collection of historic, modern and contemporary art will be showcased through a compelling programme of exhibitions and events. For more information see http://art.yorkshire.com/ or download the Art in Yorkshire App free from the App store.
 
With thanks to Bradford Youth Service for their help and support.

Click here to download Gentleman of Bradford Gallery Trail

The exhibition runs in the Studio until Saturday 27 August 2011, free entry.
The Studio is sometimes closed for education events, so please call ahead before travelling.

Knockout

10 March to 3 April 2009

Knockout is an exhibition created by a group young people from Bradford, in collaboration with Impressions Gallery, Kalasangam, Bradford Youth Offending Team and Nacro.

The group worked with photographer Shanaz Gulzar to create a series of photographs that explore the movement created by local Thai boxers from Bradford. The group started by exploring how to capture a moving image using digital cameras and then went onto photograph the boxers from Bradford Thai boxing ring, to capture the movement and motion they create as they train.

The group drew inspiration from James Pogson’s Ladykillers, shown as part of the Jerwood Photography Awards 2008 at Impressions Gallery. His brightly coloured portraits explore the confidence and strong-willed nature of UK female Thai boxers.

The exhibition runs in the Studio until 4 April 2009. Free entry.
The Studio is sometimes closed for education events, so please call ahead before travelling.

Still, Motion Capture

4 November to 24 November 2008

Still, Motion, Capture is a series of short films created by a group of Year 9 students from Bradford Academy. The pupils are Joshua Chamberlain, Natasha Conway, Chloe Holden – Wilson, James Parker, Mariah Fosse, Jordan Hodgson and Matthias Wardman.

Working with professional film-maker Sarabjit Kohli, the group took the Composure exhibition in the Gallery as their starting point. Challenged to use only a single, locked-off shot, the students took inspiration from everyday situations and objects in their school to create seven original short films. Friends and family joined them at a celebratory event to launch the exhibition of their work in the Studio, which runs from 4 November to 24 November 2008. 

The exhibition Still, Motion, Capture is on display in the Studio until 24 November 2008.
Opening times vary, please call ahead
Admission FREE

Secret Diaries

7 August to 28 September 2008

This exhibition was created by a group of young people from the Bradford Youth Development Partnership in collaboration with Impressions Gallery. Using the work of artist Anna Fox as inspiration, they worked with photographer AJ Wilkinson to create a range of images reflecting their everyday lives and interests.

Over a period of eight days the young people were given a digital camera to take home and document their lives. They also kept a diary to write down their thoughts, feelings and ideas about their work. Some of the diary entries are displayed to show their ideas at different stages of the project.

The exhibition is on display in the Studio until 28 September 2008.
Opening times vary, please call ahead
Admission FREE

YOUnique

2 February to 2 March 2008

The exhibition YOUnique was created by six pupils from Bradford Academy working alongside Colombian photographer and video artist Juan Pablo Echeverri. The pupils are Leonnie, Dominic, Hayley, Alison, Ky-Leigh and Curt, and all are pupils at the newly opened Bradford Academy.

The pupils visited Impressions Gallery for two full days in January 2008 and worked alongside Juan Pablo to produce this work. The pupils drew inspiration from Juan Pablo's Miss fotojapón, shown as part of the exhibition Once more with feeling: Recent photography from Colombia.

Miss fotojapón, which began almost ten years ago, is an ongoing work in which the artist takes a passport booth photo of himself everyday. The pupils also watched Juan Pablo’s video works in which he invents different identities for himself and performs as these characters.

Juan Pablo and the pupils explored ideas inspired by his work, such as the links between identity and appearance, similarities and differences between people, and what makes us unique. They used choreography, dialogue, filming and stop-motion animation to create the video work YOUnique.

This exhibition includes stills from YOUnique as well as the video work itself. You can also view YOUnique on the Bradford Big Screen.