Barry’s Finan’s Art Party

18 July | 6-8pm | The Whitworth

Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6ER

Free event

Join us as we celebrate the Whitworth’s acquisition of Barry Finan’s piece ‘YES I WANNT TO DO TRRICKSSERS’, currently exhibited in the Exchanges 2 exhibition. The acquisition was supported by the Friends of the Whitworth and the Nerys Johnson Foundation.

6 – 8pm: Drinks, Radio Caroline broadcasts and giant scroll-making with Barry Finan
6.15-6.45: Speeches and film screening

This event celebrates the newest addition to the Whitworth Collection – Barry Finan’s YES I WANNT TO DO TRRICKSSERRS (2016) on display in Exchanges. Meet the artist and contribute to a new participatory work of art.

From 5.15pm you can also join a special edition of the Whitworth Look Club. A chance to meet Whitworth Curators and staff from Venture Arts to discuss Finan’s art. This is free but spaces are extremely limited so please book here: http://bit.ly/look-club

About the artist:

Finan’s art defies categorisation. His wall-based work straddles writing, painting, banner-making and performance.

He produces all of his work in the Venture Arts workshop, an art studio in Hulme, that supports the work of learning disabled artists. YES I WANNT TO DO TRRICKSSERRS was produced as part of a collaborative project, for which the Whitworth was a partner along with BALTIC and Castlefield Art Gallery – OutsiderXchanges (Conversations Series I )

Conversations Series is a programme of four artistic projects and residencies delivered by Venture Arts aimed at creating new work in a shared exchange of art and ideas. This programme brings together a range of learning disabled and non-learning disabled artists to develop collaborative, reciprocal learning and creative exchanges. Through this we hope to generate open conversations and new dialogues about the role of art in contemporary society. Find out more www.conversations-series.com.

The acquisition of Finan’s work would not have been possible without the generous support of Nerys Johnson Contemporary Art Fund, and the Friends of the Whitworth.

‘YES I WANNT TO DO TRRICKSSERRSS’ had been shown at venues that include BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Manchester Contemporary Art Fair and The Lowry, and its acquisition continues the Whitworth’s commitment to collect the work of historically marginalised artists, following their acceptance of the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, gifted in 2010.