Paulette Brien

I found the lecture this morning 'On the Outside', lead by the director of the 'International 3' gallery which is based in Manchester really interesting, and definitely helpful; especially around this time with us planning our own exhibitions. I was inspired by Paulette Brien's passion and knowledge of art and the professional industry she works in; most definitely giving me a better insight and understanding of the role of the curator and the research and planning behind a major exhibition held in a venue, such as the 'International 3'.

She talked about the process the gallery takes on how they come about selecting artists; listening to the individuals desires alongside the work itself, making sure the certain works reflect strongly with the venue and theme throughout the organisation, and showed us a number of the different past and present art works exhibited in the gallery; it was interesting to see how the work varied and was presented in the space and the structure of the shows. It was pleasing to hear that they too approach artists to exhibit in the 'International 3'; visiting art fairs and studios to find new and old artists who are trying to get their work out there, who are motivated by the limited opportunities in the competitive art market.  

She certainly got me thinking about my own work and desires after graduating from university, and how I may approach galleries in the future. Also making me realise that I need to learn how to talk about my work more in depth and the reasoning's behind why and how I came about doing it; making it clear to the curators who need to know the information in order to discuss the work further. I suppose I simply need to become more confident in myself and my own practice, questioning my own concept. Like Paulette herself said "In order to develop as an artist, continue your practice, keep developing and keep asking yourself why". This final straight to the point statement gave me a more positive frame of mind towards the end of the talk.
To end the session we spoke in groups about our works and plans for our upcoming exhibitions and what we hope to achieve from them. It was interesting to hear her response to our ideas; especially the positive feedback as she is the role we as students are eager to impress.

I left the lecture thinking a lot about the different art fairs Paulette spoke about which I will definitely be researching into for future visits as they sound really inspiring although I don't understand how I haven't come across them previously. I would like to get thinking more so into getting my work out there and seen, working with more people with similar interests. My upcoming exhibition is definitely a motivating start.

http://www.international3.com/artist.php?A=8