Spring 06

 March 6th - June 16th 2006

Not me, not you: Neither us nor them was a vibrant group show of artwork in a variety of media, including video, photography, painting and sculpture, with a focus on portraiture, and individuals' relationship to their environment.

The artwork in the exhibition was created by a group of participants from North Ayrshire, who worked with contemporary artists on a one to one basis over three years, as part of the PixelCurious arts project in Saltcoats. PixelCurious is a new media collaborative arts initiative, which works with a wide range of people from various backgrounds, the majority of whom have never participated in a arts project before.                                     

The artwork exhibited included 'Fair Creature', an un-selfconscious portrait of family life by Christine Gibb and Mandy McIntosh, a ceramic sculpture of an oyster decorated in imitation of a traditional seaside souvenir by Stuart Clements and Jim Ewen, and a series of paintings created by Paula Hamilton and Belinda Guidi, who developed a physical 'conversation' by working together on the same canvasses.

The exhibition toured across Scotland from Sutherland to Midlothian, and was visited by almost 6000 people. Here are some of their comments about the exhibition and the Travelling Gallery:

It was great. I really liked some of the paintings and movies. They told great stories. Pupil, Rosehall Primary School

Loved the different concepts, recognised the footage of the grumpy teenager - could be any home with one of them in! Visitor, Langholm

We spent the entire afternoon watching the DVD from start to finish and found it very thought provoking...especially the films " I know what I be" and " One piece missing" which are relevant to particular issues in our school at the moment. Teacher, Durness Primary School

I think the fact that nearly 100 of my S1 and S2 students saw an exhibition is most important - most had never been to a gallery - they were able to see that artists do not have to paint pretty pictures.  Teacher, Craigmount High School

It was brilliant, the artists used lots of imagination. P5 pupil, Kinlochbervie Primary School

Great bus, it's pure dead brilliant. Visitor, Branchton Community Centre

PixelCurious aims to build and extend individuals' confidence in, and their experience and knowledge of, contemporary art practice. The project focusses on issues such as the collaborative nature of the work, the conceptualisation of ideas and their subsequent research, investigation and development, all of which are crucial to creating artworks that are strong, individual and have a contemporary but enduring currency. You can have a look at work in progress at www.pixelcurious.com.