Pop-up exhibition at Manchester space
An upcoming pop-up art event at Factory on Willow in Manchester will feature the work of two distinctive artists. At “Art in Motion: A Photo & Sculpture Showcase,” attendees can experience their creations and ask them questions. The exhibit will be held in the Factory’s 5,000-square-foot event space on the south end of the restored mill building.
Adeyemi Adebayo is a photographer who chronicles the lives of people in the city, often bringing them out of the shadows to be seen, for what may be the first time. Ray Chang makes kinetic art, motorized sculptures and animated designs that employ shadow and light that cause observers to see them anew multiple times.
Therein lies the divergence. Adebayo’s photography is a moment of a life captured and cataloged. The image is static, unlike the impression it leaves, which may evolve with reflection. Chang’s creations, though, are ever changing. Each second spent with them can be different. One term he uses in his biography to describe his work is “proto-cinematic.”
Adebayo and Chang are part of their Artists in Residence (AIR) program. Liz Hitchcock, who owns The Factory, along with Bookery Manchester and Manchester Distillery, explained the program’s origins in a recent phone interview. “Three times a year for three months, we have two artists on site that are charged with working on their art form, whatever it is,” she said.
They’ve hosted podcasters, light sculptors, painters, and artists who work with recycled materials. “It’s kind of all across the board. The only real requirement for the program is that you’re an emerging artist. You’re not trying to go into the MacDowell Colony for a couple of weeks and really hone your current craft. You’re actually figuring out what your craft will be in the future,” Hitchcock said.
David Hady, a Factory artist who works with Hitchcock on AIR, sent a press release explaining that the upcoming show “offers a rare opportunity for the community to engage with the traveling artists and explore the full body of work and areas of study they have developed during their residency in Manchester. Adeyemi’s evocative photography and Ray’s dynamic kinetic sculptures come together to create an immersive experience that celebrates both art forms.”
Engagement is vital, Hitchcock stressed. “Ray and Adeyemi will be having some conversations about their artwork, which I think is really important for everybody to hear,” she said. “Adeyemi has a very special perspective on what he’s seen in Manchester because everyone’s been so open to him coming into their community. I hope he speaks a little bit about his experiences.”
The event will be Adebayo’s first public showing of his work. Some insight into how he goes about getting his photos can be gleaned from his online work log at paakanni.com. In what sounds like a credo, a photo of two people on a motorcycle turning from Pine Street onto Hanover includes this question:
“What is it that really makes a city?
Is it what or who you find in its corners?
He’s disarming and fearless in engaging his subjects, like a 55-year-old GED instructor who cautions him to “be careful” after he takes her picture. “She tells me this just the way my mother would,” he writes.
Chang has done multiple shows. The work he’ll display at this event will explore an industrial past through renderings of factories that use movement, light and shadow to evoke how they used to work, Hitchcock said. “He is in his own right a magical creator of things.”
Asked if there was anything to ponder before coming to the show, Hitchcock responded that some might feel challenged. “It might rub people the wrong way, some of it. It might say that Manchester can be a little gritty sometimes, but you know what? I love it when people talk about art, even if they don’t like it, even if they disagree with it, because they’re talking about art. I hope that people come and talk about the art.”
Art in Motion: A Photo & Sculpture Showcase
When: Thursday, Sept. 5, 5 p.m.
Where: The Factory, 252 Willow St., Manchester
Tickets: Free; reserve at eventbrite.com
Featured image: Sculpture by artist Ray Chang. Courtesy photo.
