Student curates her own exhibition that gets ‘down and dirty with art’

Tomorrow is the opening of History of Art student Emily Leach’s new exhibition, where viewers are invited to be part of the artworks themselves.

Unlike most exhibitions, ‘impART’ actually encourages you to touch, scratch, and draw on the artworks to become involved in the piece yourself.

Emily’s vision came from studying the art of others and spending afternoons wandering through their shows.

Working with artists from across the UK, Emily’s show will be held at the Great Northern Playhouse in Deansgate from tomorrow.

When the doors first open there will be drinks and a chance for visitors to interact with each other, before interacting with the art on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The event’s Facebook page describes it as an “interactive exhibition that gets down and dirty with art, with the mission to playfully explore the ways in which viewers can physically interact with artworks.”

Visitors can expect installations of all varieties, showcasing young artistic innovation.

The artists are an array of current students and recent graduates.

Among them are Hannah Anderson, a student of Fine Art at Falmouth, and Harriet Bruce, who has just completed an illustration course at the Paris College of Art.

University of Manchester’s Emily Leach will be bringing them all together.

The Tab spoke to Emily about her influences, prospects and what she is hoping to achieve from her debut show.

Emily Leach, student and curator of ‘impART’

• Which artist’s work interests you most at the moment?

“I am influenced by Yayoi Kusama as she invites her audience to make additions to her work which transforms the galley experience into one where when you walk away, you leave a trail of dust behind you.

“I am also inspired by the minimalists however you won’t see much of them at this exhibition.”

Perhaps fans of impART can hope to see an exhibition of minimalism in the future after ‘impART’.

• How have you found studying Art History at Manchester?

“Yeah I’m really happy to be studying art history.

“It’s surprising how much art channels into different fields like politics, philosophy and even chemistry. So I feel it’s an important subject.”

• Is curating something you want to do in the future as a profession?

“Yes, that’s why I’ve done this. To practise and learn how to do it so that I’m prepared when I leave university.”

• What can people hope to expect from ‘impART’?

“The exhibition ‘impART’ is all about tangling a web of strangers together by inviting them each to make additions to the artworks, under the artist’s guidance.”

• What drives you to become a curator in the future?

“I love it when I receive the artworks and talk to the artists – it inspires me and gets me excited. I also love to see all the abstract plans in my head become real.”

The exhibition opens tomorrow, Monday 3rd November, for drinks, and runs from Wednesday until Friday.

Check out the Facebook page here.