Without the Sun: An Exhibition by Ryan Boultbee,
Holly James, and Miklós Ladányi-Tóth
15th – 29th January 2022
Opening: 14th January 18:00 -21:00

Surface is delighted to present Without the Sun, the culmination of the eight-week Platform residency awarded to three local artists intent on lighting up even our darkest days as we head into a new year with renewed optimism. 

Three artists borrow the sun; you won’t even know that it’s gone -- it's a short exhibition with new work changing a familiar environment. They promise to bring it straight back once they’re done. If you’re missing the sun, or need it back for any reason, we can tell you exactly where it can be found. Join these three emerging artists, and enjoy Without the Sun.

Each of the selected artists bring their distinct approach and practice to the process that shapes this unusual and intriguing exhibition. Boultbee re-imagines how we experience the spaces we occupy, collaborating with the built environment itself and the materials he finds there. His playful works invite you to look again: new possibilities are created when we inhabit the world a little differently. James' interest in phenology (the study of seasons) and in the natural environment results in a hybrid approach to generative art. Her process involves walking and photography to produce handmade algorithms to give her abstract work a natural feel, to mirror nature’s patterns without repeats. Her work in the exhibition will include drawings and a 12-month colour study. Ladányi-Tóth also uses patterns, but creates inwrought shapes and objects that lose their original function and become dysfunctional. He applies diverse techniques such as ceramics, embroidered textiles, papercuts, and sculptures, to reflect socio-political issues. Ladanyi-Tóth’s new project involves multimedia installations to focus attention on the effects of capitalism on the environment. The paths of these three distinct artists converge on new terrain as they explore and create new visions of our natural and built environments for Without the Sun.

Without the Sun opens in the Project Space in conjunction with the International
Postcard Show in the Main Gallery. As always there will be a donations bar with ales from local brewery, Pheasantry.

Free Entry: Everyone Welcome

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England