Injecting life into the Old Quarter

Art for Guernsey Gallery 4-6 Mansell Street, St Peter Port

Private view Thursday 26 June at 6pm

Open exhibition Friday 27 June - Saturday 30 August

Diversion is a show in two parts. The first is a curation of international and locally based artists revisiting the street art theme that featured in Transformation, the hugely successful first exhibition held at the Art for Guernsey Gallery. The second is a project that will take place throughout the summer, and will see Mansell Street be turned into a vibrant street art canvas by visiting artists, locally based artists and children attending the charity’s Summer Holiday Art Club.

Drawing on the help of renowned British street artists Leo Boyd, Teddy Baden and Charlie Mcfarley, Art for Guernsey has pulled together an international response, which the team has blended with a strong local response.

The brief for the contemporary art show in the Art for Guernsey Gallery is an open one: diversion is a disruptor, a way of looking at something differently or reconsidering your routine. For the transformation of Mansell Street, the brief is to reimagine the Old Quarter, injecting it with energy and enthusiasm, creating footfall and bringing the community together.

Art for Guernsey’s reason for choosing its Mansell Street location was always to use art to bring life into the Old Quarter and to revitalise the part of town that needed it most.

David Ummels, Chairman and Founder of Art For Guernsey, said: “Almost four years ago, we had this amazing opportunity to find a home in the Old Quarter and renovate the Art for Guernsey Gallery. It was considered the ‘wrong’ place to be, and that’s exactly why we came because we felt that art and cultural activities can bring footfall and bring more customers to all our neighbours for the common good. It has been a long-standing effort for us to rally all the landlords of the derelict part of Mansell Street and ask them to sign off on a project that will transform the narrative of the Old Quarter forever. We very much look forward to seeing the public come and witness the result. And we are delighted that, a few weeks from now, the eyesore view that everybody knows will disappear and will be replaced by a street art extravaganza that will be an attraction for visitors and for the community.”

Jock Pettitt, Curation Director of Art for Guernsey, added: “Through pulling together a local response for this project, we’ve learnt so much about the contemporary and street artists on the island and we’ve been blown away by the response we’ve had. As well as the 12 international artists represented, we have 14 local artists involved, and they are all producing work of a really high standard. We see this as a festival of art, expanding into the street over the summer, and it’s an amazing opportunity to bring the community together.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

Art for Guernsey is a charitable initiative managed by a team of passionate professionals who share a belief in the transformative power of art to bring communities together, provide educational opportunities, promote cultural diplomacy and create an artistic legacy for Guernsey. The team has a strong remit to bring art where it is most needed, to inspire people and try to make them happy. Art for Guernsey is driven by a strong desire to create opportunities for the community to discover high quality art for free, and to create catalysts within the art, educational and charitable sectors.

The International artists involved in this show are: Teddy Baden, Leo Boyd, Patrick Bremer, Anthony Burrill, Léo Dieleman, Itsonly Arthur, Kev Largey, Charlie Mcfarley, Oleg Mikhailov, Laura Nelson, Wilhelmina Peace, Carl Stimpson and Subvertiser.

The locally based artists are: Dad Makes Stuff, Jared Fox, Luke Gallie, Tim Gaudion, Adam Gillson, Sammy Giovinazzi, Sian Jones, Matthew Mollett, John Ross Hainey, Nic Roussel, Thomas Rowe, Luke Webb and Woodie.