Inaugural Channel Islands Contemporary Art show

ArtHouse Jersey & Art for Guernsey’s partnership exhibition celebrating the Channel Islands to open Friday 19th January to 25th February 2024 at ArtHouse Jersey at Capital House.

This diverse exhibition features 19 carefully selected artists and was drawn from an open call to Channel Islands and international artists earlier this year. It is produced and curated by ArtHouse Jersey and Art for Guernsey, in association with Les Champs Libres in Rennes.

The work will be first showcased at ArtHouse Jersey at Capital House between 19 January and 25 February 2024 followed by a month-long exhibition at Art for Guernsey in St Peter Port opening on Thursday 7 March 2024. Five artists are from Guernsey, seven from Jersey and seven from other countries around the world, including Germany, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Switzerland and Russia.

There will be a special celebratory launch evening on Thursday 18 January between 5.30pm and 7.30pm at ArtHouse Jersey at Capital House in St Helier where all are welcome to preview the work and toast the exhibition.

The Exhibition

For the inaugural Channel Islands Contemporary Art Show exhibition opening in Jersey audiences can expect a show that brings to life the curatorial ‘anchor point’ which is the inspiration for the Channel Islands have offered to artists through history, particularly from the late 19th century to mid 20th century, as well as reflecting the more complex social realities of the Islands today. It will also explore how both these realities continue to shape the Channel Islands’ relation to the wider world.

With stunning landscape and portrait photography, exquisite and subtly layered painted works alongside sculptural and video pieces, it will both question and invite the viewer to reflect on themselves and the complex global histories of these Islands. The show promises to be mysterious and experiential for the visitor, with shifting and changing perspectives, much like the Islands themselves when seen from close-up and afar, as visitors walk through the gallery environment.

A Shared vision between the islands

Earlier this year Art for Guernsey and ArtHouse Jersey announced their intention to work together, joining forces to promote the Channel Islands – collaboratively to France and other jurisdictions. The partnership came to fruition following a cultural diplomacy field trip to Rennes in June 2022 where the organisations engaged with galleries and museums, as well as the cultural services of the city, Les Champs Libres, with the view of exploring artistic collaborations aimed at building connections between the respective jurisdictions. Through this process, the two organisations identified a shared vision for how art can make concrete contributions to society, and in particular how it can connect communities, opening new and more positive dialogues across a wide range of topics. The Channel Islands Contemporary Art Show will be the first project of this exchange.

The artists are Leo Boyd (N. Ireland), Charlie Buchanan (Guernsey), Jason Butler (Jersey), Notta Caflisch (Switzerland), Paul Chambers (Guernsey), Connor Daly (Jersey), Emily de Gruchy (Jersey), Sally Ede-Golightly (Guernsey), Eugen Gorean (Moldova), Tim Le Breuilly (Jersey), Yulia Makeyeva (Jersey), Peter Mammes (South Africa/UK), Oleg Mikhailov (Russia), Shan O’Donnell (Jersey), Vesna Parchet (UK), Hugh Rose (Guernsey), Martin Toft (Jersey), Philipp Valenta (Germany) and Aaron Yeadle (Guernsey).

Head of Programme for ArtHouse Jersey, James Tyson, said: “It is an honour to be launching this partnership exhibition that has enabled us to work more closely with our peers in Guernsey and Rennes, and also through this process to have connected the artistic communities of both Islands and with artists internationally. It has provided such a rich opportunity to reflect and see in a new light the particular realities and moments of the Channel Islands in their ever-changing history. We are looking forward to opening our doors in January when audiences will first get to see some of these extraordinary, vibrant and thought-provoking works.”

Founder and Chairman for Art for Guernsey, David Ummels, said: “Our exhibition aims to epitomise a first-class example of a collaboration between our islands and is meant to be a platform for local and international artists inspired by the Channel Islands to shine, and not only inspire islanders but also to positively spread our values and culture abroad.”