Today marks the start of Conversations Series II in partnership with Castelfield Gallery and the Whitworth.
We’re excited to announce the six selected artists who will be taking part in this new collaborative residency to work alongside each other to develop shared ideas, create new work, and reflect on the labels placed upon us by society.

Photo: (Left to Right) James Desser, Joe Beedles, Andrew Johnstone, Amy Ellison, Frances Heap and John Powell-Jones.
John Powell Jones
Andrew Johnstone
Frances Heap
Frances Heap is a visual artist working with costume and textiles. Led by collaborative practice, she often works with other artists and communities to create unique representations; using the playful, democratic and empowering potential of costume to explore identity and create shared spaces of expression.
Website | http://www.francesheap.com/

The image is from a collaborative project for Sounds From The Other City: Microcosmic Delirium by Costumologists & Faux Queens
Amy Ellison
Amy Ellison has been a practicing artist at Venture Arts since 2013. Amy has a wide range of art skills working in photography, ceramics and textiles. Her practice ranges from traditional media into new technology. Her subject matter always something that makes her happy. Amy has a passion for photography and has particular interests in portraiture and digital photography.
See Amy’s Artist profile

Image: ‘Coronation Street Weddings’, ink on paper by Amy Ellison, 2018
Joe Beedles
Joe Beedles is an audiovisual artist exploring ideas surrounding club music abstraction and the threshold between the real and the simulated. Beedles has held residencies at The Banff Centre, Canada in 2016 and CFCCA’s AiR exchange to Chongqing, China in 2017. His work has been featured in both club and gallery contexts in Canada, China and across the UK. His hypnotic AV live show has been featured at Future Everything festival at The Whitworth, Manchester, No Bounds festival in Sheffield and Cafe Oto in London.
Website | http://www.islingtonmill.com/tenant/joe-beedles/
James Desser
James Desser is a young, emerging artist with an interest in many different types of art. He works across different disciplines but is a particularly skilled photographer and through this experience has developed a real interest in design, composition and structure as well as doodling in his spare time. James had his first experience in curating last year as co-curator for “Venture Arts presents..” at the Manchester Contemporary, 2017.
See James’ Artist profile