Flood
A rare opportunity to interact with a working artist as The Lowry’s gallery is consumed by a vast flow of corrugated paper…
Flood: Howard Silverman
Monday 22 May – Sunday 16 July 06
The Lowry, Salford Quays, Greater Manchester
Visitors to The Lowry galleries will have a unique opportunity to witness an installation develop over a one week period when Bristol-based artist Howard Silverman fills The Deck area of the galleries with a torrent of corrugated paper. Flood will open on Monday 22 May when Silverman begins work on the piece and the end result will be on display until Sunday 16 July.
Some preparatory work for Flood will be completed at the artist’s studio and then transported to The Lowry. Other components will be made on site, where their construction and installation can be witnessed by the public, who are invited to talk with the artist as his river of paper begins to engulf the space.
Since absentmindedly playing with some corrugated packaging one day and realising its versatility, Silverman developed a passion for working with the material. He effectively draws in space or in the words of the Swiss artist Paul Klee ‘takes a line for a walk’, spontaneously creating shapes, rhythms, currents, punctuations of light and dark, as the material flows across the gallery floor. The final impact will be heightened by reducing natural light and using overhead spotlights, emphasising shadows, and illuminating its pulse.
Flood draws inspiration from the region’s industrial past of papermaking. The raw materials for its manufacture came from the booming textile industries and rivers like the Irwell provided a natural source of power for the mills. Early records show that Throstle Nest Mill once stood very close to the site of The Lowry on the south bank of the River Irwell, before the advent of the Manchester Ship Canal.
Howard Silverman moved to the UK in 1974 from his home city of New York after studying in New York City, Cleveland, Ohio and San Francisco, California. He has had solo exhibitions in the UK, France, Italy and the USA.
Posted on Saturday, 20 May 2006 under Press Galleries Press