“What does it mean to return to the place you wanted to leave behind?”
This exhibition presents the outcome of Scott Brown’s fourteen-day residency in our Mill 2 Gallery. Brown, a recent Slade School graduate, grew up in Oldham in very close proximity to Osborne Mill—the home of 1853 Studios & Gallery. The work created during this residency will respond to the Oldham he sees now, through a practice based on looking, and not looking away. Drawing loosely from Oldham’s industrial past, but acknowledging its present as a place that’s steadily redefining itself, this exhibition explores a town in a time of change.
“I don’t remember much about my childhood, but it was spent in Oldham. That time is closed to me now. All we have is the present. I would like to see the town as it is now, to take it on its own terms. But how, and where, does the past leak in? Oldham was once a place of industrial significance. Now it sits somewhere outside of the major centralised zones of both cultural and financial production. A vantage point from which to look both in and out. To imagine new futures, new ruptures in the fabric of the everyday.”
Scott’s practice is led by intuition, and finds meaning in the exhibition-making process itself. Expect a combination of painting, sculpture, photography, and collage—individual artworks that form part of a larger network. “I take images and physical materials liberally and indiscriminately, from varied sources, and remix them into new combinations, searching always for affective traces in that which already exists.”
“Fourteen days is not, in fact, a long time, but it is all we have.”
Preview - Friday 4th July
6-9PM - all welcome, refreshments provided
Exhibition runs 5 - 26 July
open to view Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11 - 4
Public programme dates TBC
Scott’s website and instagram
Getting here:
Address: 1853 Studios Mill 2 Gallery, Osborne Mill, Waddington St, Oldham OL9 6QQ
Google Location
There is free parking on site (car park entrance on Waddington Street) or alternative street parking around the mill.
Public transport: Our nearest metrolink stop is Westwood (one stop from Oldham Central). Take the Oldham/Rochdale lines from around Greater Manchester. We are a 10 minute walk from Westwood.
Accessibility info:
This exhibition takes place in Mill 2 Gallery. Enter through the carpark on Waddington Street and follow the posters/signs to the Mill 2 entrance, see image.
Mill 2 Gallery is accessible via a ramp and lift to the 3rd floor. There is an accessible toilet on the same floor as the gallery.
If you have any questions regarding access or about what to expect when you arrive - email luca@1853studios.co.uk
This exhibition has been made possible with support from public funding by National Lottery through Arts Council England.