There's a very good exhibition coming up in Manchester in the New Year, organised by The Skyliner, Hayley Flynn's blog which has deservedly won awards. It boasts proudly of being
Based in Manchester, the Original Modern City
and dedicates itself to
the pursuit of rare and fascinating art, architecture and history.
There's certainly plenty of that in Skyliner's posts, including an overdue tribute to William Mitchell's Minut Men, three five ton concrete monoliths at Salford University whose first critique came from the Duke of Edinburgh. Opening the then technical college's Allerton Building, he looked at them aghast and said:
What the hell is that?
The Skyliner's new exhibition will look at the streets and buildings and people of Greater Manchester via artistic interpretations of that modern phenomenon, Google Street View. As you can see from the flyer drawing, this will include little boxy house drawings reminiscent of a child's urban world. But it also promises work by Secret Cities photographer Andrew Brooks and a variety of other artists incpired by Manchester: Stanley Chow, Mark O'Brien and Clare Allan.
Apart from talent, they all have in common a love of Manchester and living there; plus a sense of fun which shows itself in their work and blogs - down to the illustrated headers to web pages, such as The Skyliners', above, and Stanley Chow's, which suggest a city far from the rainy, Victorian gloomhive of past legend. Note on Chow's Toytown strip of brightly-coloured Bauhaus-style building bricks, the presence of buses number 43, 86, 168, 192, 201 and 250. You can track him around the city.
There'll also be work by Mancunians based elsewhere, including Luke Mcgarry who is making a name in Los Angeles with his illustrations and cartoons.
Flynn launched a competition for a place in the exhibition with this clarion call:
Doodlers, cartographers, artists, lovers of the city: Skyliner wants you! We are looking for your take on a Google Street View of Manchester and Salford.
Hand-drawn, painted, embroidered - it can be anything you like, any size, any medium. Our favourites will be published on Skyliner and as thanks everyone whose work we publish will receive a voucher for a free tour, and any other goodies we can rustle up.
There'll be an exhibition of our favourite pieces at 2022NQ in January and February 2013. And we're going to turn the launch night into a party right up until 2am.
There are still a few days to go until the deadline of 1 December for submitting entries, so think on. I'm pondering a William Mitchell-size take on Street View's little yellow man; provided I can get enough Plasticine in time.
The exhibition will be at 2022 Northern Quarter gallery in Dale Street from 25 January to 18 February.
