Exhibitions

The Parsonage is open 7 days a week: Monday to Saturday 9.30 - 16.00 | Sundays 9.00 - 16.00.

On Sundays, all galleries will be free for you to see the exhibitions, but on other days the rooms may not be accessible. If you want to check ahead of your visit, please ring us on 0161 445 7661.

Jonathan Kennedy

The pictures in this exhibition show my continuing development as an artist and reflect a number of interests which range from the mundane to the bizarre. I am as excited by the ordinariness of a plant or a piece of fruit, as by the amazing spectacle of a stick insect struggling to shed its old skin. The subjects and themes of my work were first explored almost 50yrs ago. Eg. The still life, the inanimate object, the metamorphosis of the organic, the entomologic, the microscopic organism all continue to fascinate and motivate my desire to draw. Knowledge never succeeds in completely exposing a subject, for it is always possible to take up again some detail in order to follow through its implications and refine its pictorial quality.

ARTIST 1

Lawrie Quigley

My work is rooted within the figurative tradition of British and European Painting dealing primarily with landscape as well as figurative elements and subjects - usually stimulated by my interests in light, mood and atmosphere as well as spatial and structural concerns. They are engaged with the manipulation and enjoyment of paint, endeavouring to capture the ‘spirit of place’ - evoked by particular times of day and weather conditions within our environment. The romantic fervour of Turner and Constable in their immediacy and direct response to the landscape is prominent in the depiction of fleeting atmospheric changes - and are nearly always painted in situation in order to be both alert and sensitive in my visual response and interpretation. They are as much about the painterly abstract qualities conveyed in the mark making as well as the expressive translation of perceptual experience - so that the process itself becomes the subject of the work.

ARTIST 2

Mark Davey

For more images and how to contact me please visit: https://www.markcamerondavey.com

I graduated in 1979 and spent the next couple of years working in the Caribbean on a small island. The imagery of being on an island surrounded by the sea is often seen in my work. The selection presented here is a small part of the pictures produced over the last 50 years. It has never been displayed in public before, it is a personal, often private record of thoughts, events and people who have been and still are important to me. Over the last 50 years as a visual thinker I have produced images to help me to sort out problems and to put things into perspective.

ARTIST 3

Tony Lyth

In 1978 I had my degree show at Loughborough College of Art & Design. In 1980 I studied for my PGCE in Art and Design Education at MMU (- just over the road from here!) and then worked as an Art and Design Teacher in secondary schools. Over the years I have worked sporadically at my artwork (each time doing something ‘new’) and have produced a fairly diverse collection of artwork. Landscape, still-life or figure, conceptual or observational, figurative or abstract, I have used different techniques, processes and materials to shape my ideas - or to create visual aids for my classes! Still! - even after all these years - part of their purpose is to please my inspirational Art Teacher (Mr Hildon) and to show my love for my father. - Both sadly deceased. Working for this exhibition seems to have lit a dormant flame within me. - I’m back doing Art work. Learning and improving. Trying to be creative. - Even at this old age I feel optimistic that the best maybe yet to come!