david gilbert

curator | producer | project manager | educator

 

 

  • About:

    I have developed and delivered exhibitions, programmes and projects in the visual arts, working for organisations and freelance in galleries, in public spaces, in a site-responsive manner and within heritage sites and festivals.

     

    I have also led organisations of varying sizes and kinds - some like Creative Partnerships working across sectors, and others like The Art House having buildings and studio space, with artist development at the core of their purpose.

     

    I have raised substantial funding throughout my professional career to support organisations and projects, from ACE through RFO/NPO, Capital and G4A Lottery funding, Trusts and Foundations, and sponsorship from private sector companies. Above all I am passionate about creating opportunities for artists. That is the primary reason why I do what I do, and what has motivated me for the last 20 years.

     

    My recent work includes: currently Director of Bloc Projects in Sheffield; previously Freelance Strategic Programme Producer for Artcore Gallery in Derby; D-LAB, an online commissioning project for Derbyshire; working as Freelance Development Manager with Primary studios in Nottingham; and as Freelance Programme Producer for The Art House in Wakefield. I also frequently work with artists to develop, fund and produce their projects.

  • selected Exhibitions & projects:

    This is a small selection of recent projects. See my CV for full details.

    Artcore Gallery - Delpha Hudson & Natasha Joseph - Home - Nov - Dec 2019

    During their 2-month residency and exhibition Hudson & Joseph explored the notion of 'Home'. They heard and told stories; of migration, of displacement, of loss and belonging, of care, of hearing echoes of home even though we may be far from it, filtered through the consciousness of the artists and retold through artworks which present those stories back to us.

     

    Image: L - Natasha Joseph, Film Still/R - Delpha Hudson, Ceramic Figure

    Artists' Catalogue

    Artcore Gallery - Nisa Khan & Charlotte Cullen - No Matter How Strong - Sept - Oct 2019

    Khan and Cullen both made ambitious new work and extended their respective practices, and collaboratively made experimental work together.

    There are fascinating formal and thematic links between their work – both use elemental and natural materials such as salt, mud, steel, and water, which flows and drips literally and figuratively through the exhibition. Both artists
    use what appears to be a deceptively simple pallete of materials to allude to the complexities and contradictions of identity, emotion and their essential humanity.

     

    Image: Front pages of artists' catalogues

    Charlotte Cullen catalogue

    Nisa Khan catalogue

    Edinburgh Printmakers - A Machine For Making Authenticity

    July - Oct 2019

    Curated group show with artists Alastair Clark, Jessica Crisp, Anupa Gardner, Catherine Hiley, and Jodi Le Bigre, for Edinburgh Printmakers' during Edinburgh Art Fair.

     

    EP Website

    Artcore Gallery - Gareth Bunting & Victoria Sharples - We are Asteroids

    June - July 2019

    Gareth Bunting and Victoria Sharples were selected for ‘We are Asteroids’, a residency and exhibition borrowing from a phrase from eco-philosopher Timothy Morton, who critiques humanities effect on the planet. Gareth and Victoria took part in a two month residency to provoke discussion, bring attention to the climate emergency and develop future scenarios as an urgent response to it.

     

    image: Front pages of artists' catalogues

     

    Victoria Sharples catalogue

    Gareth Bunting catalogue

    Kate Genever - Art History (Do you want me to draw you a diagram?)

    Feb - March 2019

    Kate is an artist and farmer, her work is developed through personal encounters, organised conversations, research and extended residencies.

    This exhibition is a revisiting and re-viewing of a decade’s work, using the gallery as a space for thinking through the work. The selection draws out thematic/formal/spurious links, representing this as a diagram, a form which both have used frequently. The work will be rehung towards the end of the show to create a different set of links, and Kate and David will host a talk exploring the work, the project and its processes.

    www.kategenever.com

    Tony Wade - Boundary No Boundary

    Curator/Producer, May - September 2018

    A walking, painting and participatory exploration of the Wakefield District boundary by Tony Wade

     

    BoundaryNoBoundary website

     

    Photos by David Lindsay: http://photosbydavid.co.uk

    D-Lab - Curator & Producer 2016-18

    Will Hurt's 'Abstract Playground', a screen-based and online interactive co-commissioned with LEVEL and co-created with learning disabled adults, was shortlisted for the Lumen Prize, and was shown in the Lumen Showcase exhibitions in Beijing and at Brighton Digital Festival, at Light Night Leeds, in Norwich as an outdoor projection, and as an interactive at Wirksworth Festival. It also had an exhibition at QUAD in Derby, the artist's first solo show, for which Will was able to make further new work. The original and four further iterations of ‘Abstract Playground’ have reached an estimated 200,000 people. Abstract Playground AP1 was made using Unity.

     

    www.d-lab.org.uk

    D-Lab - Curator & Producer 2016-18

    Richard Birkin and Tom Armitage's 'Twinklr' was one of five D-Lab commissions. It was prototyped with D-Lab commission support, then developed to production through Makerversity after securing Innovate UK funding of £12,000 and the artists joining the MV Works cohort. The project was featured on Radio 3 in an ‘Open Ear’ concert (estimated audience 120,000), profiled at Somerset House (estimated audience 15,000), and is now available as open source software and laser cutter files on Github, so that anyone can now produce their own 'Twinklr' full production model.

     

    www.d-lab.org.uk

    D-Lab - Curator & Producer 2016-18

    'The Interpreter' by Noriko Okaku, has been shown in two Tokyo galleries, as well as at QUAD and Wirksworth Festival. The film was selected for numerous festivals:

     

    Kassel Dokfest, Germany / Underwire Film Festival, UK / Encounter Film Festival, UK /

    Wirksworth Festival, UK / l'Alternativa 2016 - 23nd Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Spain / Split Film Festival, Croatia / International film Festival Oberhausen, Germany / London International Animation Film Festival, UK

     

    www.d-lab.org.uk

    The Art House - Freelance Programme Producer

    Rich White - 'Conspiracy', solo residency, January 2018

     

    Film by Axisweb

    The Art House - Freelance Programme Producer

    Pak-Keung Wan - Solo Residency, July 2017

     

    Film by Axisweb

    The Art House - Freelance Programme Producer

    During May 2017 artists from India, Iran, Mexico, Belize and the UK came to Wakefield for an international residency responding to the theme of Migration and engaging with the city, its people and those passing through it. 


    Juan Cristobel Gracia, Mexico
    Bijan Moosavi, Iran
    Katie Numi Usher, Belize
    Siddhartha Kararwal, India
    Andy Singleton, UK
    Joe Cotgrave, UK
    Kate Genever, UK
    Bijan Amini-Alavijeh, UK
    Ivan Smith, UK
    Led by Ivan Smith in collaboration with The Art House and City of Sanctuary Wakefield. Supported by Arts Council England.

    The Art House - Freelance Programme Producer

    Jamie Shovlin: Widows & Orphans, a month-long solo production residency in January 2017.

     

    Film by Axisweb.

     

    The Art House - Freelance Programme Producer

    Fiona Grady: Solo Residency, a month-long solo production residency in May 2016.

     

    Film by Axisweb.

    The Art House - Freelance Programme Producer

    Lizzie Hughes: 'Museum', a month-long solo production residency in May 2016.

     

    Film by Axisweb.

    The Art House - Interim Artistic Director

    International residency programme. This film by Simon Bolton-Gabrielson documents work produced by artist Jaimini Patel during her one-month SOMETIMES residency

     

    This was one of four annual residencies I established while at The Art House in 2013/2014, alongside graduate residencies, interventions in the public realm, participatory art projects and exhibitions.

    The Art House - Interim Artistic Director

    International Residency Programme. Film made by Polish artist Malgorzata Dawidek Grylicka during her one-month SOMETIMES residency, exploring the experience of migrant women.

     

    This was one of four annual residencies I established while at The Art House in 2013/2014.

    The Art House - Interim Artistic Director

    International Residency Programme. Film by Nick Singleton documenting a one-month SOMETIMES residency by Pakistani artist Ali Kazim.

     

    This was one of four annual residencies I established while at The Art House in 2013/2014.

    The Art House - Interim Artistic Director

    Home & Away, an International Artists' Residency in July 2015 led by Ivan Smith, with

    Chintan Upadhyay - India

    Florian Tuercke - Germany

    Lorena Espitia Torres - Columbia

    Achia Anzi - India/Israel

    Timid Elk (Becca Hoy) - Leeds

    Emily Simpson - Manchester

    Ann Balmforth- Wakefield

    Film by Nick Singleton.

     

    Home and Away Wakefield

    CAFE, Ilkeston - Project Manager

    Developed an Art in Empty Shops scheme during 2014, including a showcase of Derby and NTU Graduates in Fine Art and Photography, and secured £15,000 G4A for 12 month artist residency programme

    Images: Laura Clamp/Pat Gray/Peter Selway

    Abandon Normal Devices 2012 - Creative Producer

    Curated and produced Mobile Republic, five heavily modified caravans which toured the NW of England, pulled together to form a circle, creating a central ‘big-top’ social space designed by Bureau A with an artist’s studio, performance space and an indoor/outdoor cinema. Commissions by London Fieldworks, The Centre for Genomic Gastronomy, Julian Oliver and Hellicar and Lewis.

     

    www.andfestival.org.uk

    re:place - 2009/10 curator/producer - site-specific Derbyshire commissions

    Alec Finlay, white peak | dark peak

    A two year project which I delivered for Arts Derbyshire, delivering 2 major commissions (Alec Finlay and Philippa Lawrence) 4 intermediate commissions (Kate Genever, Matthew Smith, Charles Monkhouse and Flore Gardner) and 8 bursaries for artists and festivals.

     

    re:place - 2009/10 curator/producer - site-specific Derbyshire commissions

    Kate Genever, re:worked

    A two year project which I delivered for Arts Derbyshire, delivering 2 major commissions (Alec Finlay and Philippa Lawrence) 4 intermediate commissions (Kate Genever, Matthew Smith, Charles Monkhouse and Flore Gardner) and 8 bursaries for artists and festivals.

     

    re:place - 2009/10 curator/producer - site-specific Derbyshire commissions

    The Centre of Attention: The Pavilion Of Postcontemporary Curating: A Semi-staged Total Art Work

    A two year project which I delivered for Arts Derbyshire, delivering 2 major commissions (Alec Finlay and Philippa Lawrence) 4 intermediate commissions (Kate Genever, Matthew Smith, Charles Monkhouse and Flore Gardner) and 8 bursaries for artists and festivals.

    re:place - 2009/10 curator/producer - site-specific Derbyshire commissions

    Phillipa Lawrence: Darning the Land - Seam

    A two year project which I delivered for Arts Derbyshire, delivering 2 major commissions (Alec Finlay and Philippa Lawrence) 4 intermediate commissions (Kate Genever, Matthew Smith, Charles Monkhouse and Flore Gardner) and 8 bursaries for artists and festivals.

    Wirksworth Festival - 2009-11

    Curator

    The 2011 curated programme was diverse, with film, sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, found objects and
    other unclassifable, hybrid art forms. It featured Gordon Hogan, Olga Mesmer/Philip Arnold, Tim Shore, Matthew Conduit, Kathryn Nelson, Rachel Eite, Ivan Smith, Paul Collinson, Tony Kemplen, Nisha Duggal, Kyle Hands, Peter Murphy, Nick Hersey, Jennifer Ross, Rose Butler, Miles Halpin, Rupert Clamp, Tim Haynes, Rosalie Monod de Froidville, Inga Winson, Sam Robinson, Eileen Coult, Olivia Punnett and Claire Goddard.

     

    2011 Festival Brochure

     

    Wirksworth Festival - 2009-11

    Curator

    Art intervenes in buildings, public and private spaces throughout Wirksworth: sometimes in a harmonic rapprochement with the space it inhabits and at others in a dynamic tension with it; sometimes demanding your attention and at others concealing itself and asking you to be discover it.

    2010 featured Goh Ideta (Jpn), Caitlin Masley (US), BIBI (Fr), Flore Gardner (Fr) Tony Hill, Phillip Johnson, Ashley Howard, David Booth and Michael Miller, plus an international selected salon of artists’ film and video.

     

    2010 Festival Brochure

    Wirksworth Festival - 2009-11

    Curator

    Wirksworth Festival 2009 - 2011, Situation Critical, interrogated the commonalities, the contrasts and the conflicts in the relationship between Art & Architecture.

    2009 featured Matthew Houlding, Charles Monkhouse, Alec Finlay, Ben Cove, Raphael Daden, Michael Branthwaite, Kate Genever, Ghislaine Howard, Martyn Blundell and Lorenzo Madge.

     

    2009 Festival Brochure

  • Education work:

    Selected education work: three exhibitions developed through a co-curating process with young people

    An Emotional Journey, 2008

    Year 8 pupils from Queen Elizabeth School Mansfield worked with me on an exhibition at Mansfield Museum. The pupils created zones in the gallery which evoke and provoke anger, joy, envy, sadness, and other emotions. Each zone is colour-coded, associated with the emotion it represents, and contains contemporary artworks. The layout of the gallery takes the form of a maze, so that the visitor goes on an emotional journey.

     

    media[tion], 2003/4

    This exhibition was the result of a collaboration between me and a group of pupils from Brinsworth Comprehensive School in Rotherham, who worked as the curatorial team putting the exhibition together at Doncaster Art Gallery. They selected an international mixed show including Jonah Brucker-Cohen, Ligorano & Reese, and borrowed work from the ACE Collection.

     

    Tatton Park Biennial 2012 - Freelance Outreach Curator

    Worked with 'Save the Family', a charity supporting homeless young families, and Knutsford Academy, creating and co-curating exhibitions with them.

    Images: Photoshopped portraits and The Shed Gallery by Save the Family

     

    www.tattonparkbiennial.org

  • testimonials:

    QUAD partnered with D-Lab and Animate Projects for Noriko Okaku's commission 'The Interpreter' , an immensely rich and highly developed project that resulted in an exhibition in QUAD's Extra Gallery Spaces, a beautiful and unique publication in the form of a Tarot pack of cards; and the film has been exhibited widely since, across the UK and overseas. The support and curatorial advice by David Gilbert and D-Lab ensured that the project was a great success and that it delivered on the brief.

    Peter Bonnell, Senior Curator, QUAD

     

    Working with David Gilbert as Curator on 'Boundary No Boundary' was essential to its success. I had the raw idea and the passion to undertake the project but had no idea how to present it or how it fitted within the wider context of my previous work or the art world in general. I engaged David as curator to help realise what it is I wanted to do. David patiently listened whilst I rambled. He then did the following:

    • suggested a reading list
    • suggested a way of presenting the work (which I was unsure about but I trusted David. He was right and the presentation perfectly reflected the project)
    • showed me thematically linked pieces by other artist
    • helped write the (successful) Arts Council Funding application 
    • encouraged my painting practice when, at one point, I felt like abandoning it
    • listened to more ramblings as the project progressed
    • never criticised but always suggested
    • created a piece of writing to accompany the exhibition that so perfectly summed up what the project was about it has since become an essential part of it. 
    • ensured the exhibition was presented in the best possible way by having an eye for both detail and the bigger picture
    • made me raise my game
    • got to the heart of the project and my practice
    • laid the foundations from which I now build new projects
    That’s what a curator does

    Tony Wade, Artist, 'Boundary no Boundary'

     

    The impact of Will Hurt's residency at LEVEL (which David initiated through D-Lab) has been significant. It produced high quality work (Abstract Playground) and a legacy that is still developing and growing. The initial residency provided new material and ideas across several interconnected strands of work that are central to the continuing development of the LEVEL programme and its underlying philosophy.

    Andrew Williams, Director, LEVEL

     

    You have done a most marvellous job making a show that’s about art instead of being about only prints.. And I’m very grateful. There is a job to do shifting the position of the organisation and this show was and is a very important part of helping to make that shift. 'A Machine for Making Authenticity' is proving very popular with all ages and the team are replenishing paper daily.

    Shân Edwards, CEO, Edinburgh Printmakers

     

    The LEVEL/D-Lab co-commission went incredibly well, it was lovely to work with the artists at LEVEL in creating ‘Abstract Playground AP1’ which has now been shown around the world from Buenos Aires to Beijing at both Art Exhibitions and Video Game Conferences. There are now 4 versions of Abstract Playground AP1,2,3 and 4 which have all been commissioned due the strength of Abstract Playground AP1, these further commissions have reached an audience of over 200,000 people in 2017 alone. I have been really well supported by D-Lab over the last 2 years and the projects undertaken alongside D-Lab have had a huge impact in developing my career as an artist, the work produced has been well received and always led on to further commissions. It’s been a pleasure to work with David and hope to work with him in again in the future.

    Will Hurt, Artist

  • cv:

    Galleries and Organisations:​

    Established in 2002, Bloc Projects is a contemporary arts organisation in the centre of Sheffield. We focus on the support and development of artists at pivotal points in their careers. We provide a safe and stimulating environment which is free for the public to explore ideas and creative practices.
    Leading on Programme Development, Artists Residencies and Exhibitions, Capital Development for new Gallery and Residency Space.
    • March - October 2019 | Curator, 'A Machine For Making Authenticity', Edinburgh Printmakers 
    Curated group show with artists Alastair Clark, Jessica Crisp, Anupa Gardner, Catherine Hiley, and Jodi Le Bigre, for Edinburgh Printmakers' during Edinburgh Art Fair

    Planning and delivering:

    four month-long solo artist residencies each year, with Aaron Williamson, Lizzie Hughes, Fiona Grady, Jamie Shovlin, Juan DelGado, Pak Keung Wan, gobscure, Veronica Ryan, Simona Brinkmann and Rich White;

    four month-long collaborative graduate residencies for Fine Art graduates each year from Leeds Arts University, Leeds University, Huddersfield University, Liverpool John Moores University, Lincoln University and Staffordshire University each year;

    and 'Migration', a month-long International Residency for UK and 4 Overseas artists in May 2017, including Juan Cristobel Gracia, Mexico / Bijan Moosavi, Iran / Katie Numi Usher, Belize / Siddhartha Kararwal, India / Andy Singleton, UK / Joe Cotgrave, UK / Kate Genever, UK /Bijan Amini-Alavijeh, UK / Ivan Smith, UK;

    as well as mentoring and supporting artists in Wakefield District.

    Developing partnerships, NPO application, and working on the feasibility stage of a major Capital redevelopment for Primary, an artist-led space that exists to support creative research and to develop new ways of engaging audiences. Offering dedicated artists studios alongside more flexible spaces, both within and outside the building, where artists from around the world can meet and work in the heart of Nottingham, Primary is a place where artists and the public can share, experiment and learn about contemporary visual art through an ambitious programme of events and activities.
    • 2013 - 2014 | Interim Artistic Director | The Art House (Wakefield)

    I established an annual programme of four month-long residencies for emerging and international artists, and five collaborative graduate residencies for 16 recent graduates. I established an income generating artists' residency programme in empty commercial premises, including Poly-Technic, Wood Street Art Club, and secured continuing NPO funding for the organisation.

     

    I was festival Curator & Producer for 3 editions, 2009/10/11, leading on a curated programme of contemporary visual art for an annual festival in Derbyshire Dales, with a focus on new and emerging artists and interventions in the public realm. 2009 featured new work by 12 artists including Alec Finlay, Matthew Houlding, Ben Cove, Raphael Daden, Kate Genever, Charles Monkhouse and Michael Branthwaite. 2010 had new work from 13 artists including BIBI (Fr), Tony Hill, Cailin Masley (USA) and Goh Ideta (Jpn), an outstanding selection of 12 graduates from Fine Art course in the East Midlands, and an international selected video salon. 2011 had an expanded programme of 25 commissioned artists, and again a selected show of the region's best graduates.

    • 2002 - 2004 | Manager | The Art House (Doncaster/Wakefield) 

    Responsible for Project management, Exhibition Curating, Staff management, Fundraising, Financial management for visual arts and crafts membership organisation, I developed a national residency scheme ,'More Than 12', placing 13 artists with a wide range of organisations including Bolton Metro, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Folly and Artsway. Participating artists included Ben Cove, Hetain Patel and Tabitha Moses.

    • 2001 - 2002 | New Media Curator | Pavilion (Leeds) 

    Curated major partnership projects with Leeds West Indian Carnival and The Royal Armouries, and commissioned Encyclopaedia Mundi, a national touring project with Tony Kemplen

    • 1997 - 2001 | Curator | Rotherham Art Gallery

    Developed a contemporary programme and increased the audience by 40% in the first year. Curated major exhibitions with William Stok, Dutton & Peacock, and a nationally touring retrospective of the work of Edwin La Dell.

    • 1994 - 1997 | Arts Centre Manager | NCA (Nottingham)

    Led on building and facilities management and development (including a £250k ACE Lottery Capital programme), gallery programme and commissioning, fundraising, management of staff and freelance artists, creative business development programme, project and budget management.


    Public Realm Commissions and Artists' Projects:

    • May - September 2018 | Producer for artist Tony Wade (https://boundarynoboundary.wixsite.com/home)
    • 2016 - 2018 | D-LAB - a digital arts project for Derbyshire
    • 2012 | Mobile Republic - touring project for Abandon Normal Devices throughout the NW Region
    • 2009 - 2011 | re :place - curating a 2-year programme of site-specific commissions thoughout Derbyshire
    • 2008 - 2011 | Festival Producer and Curator | Wirksworth Festival, Derbyshire
    • August 2007 | Bakewell CON[TEMPORARY] Art Trail
    • June 2003 | Brodsworth Hall, Barnsley Parish Church, Rotherham Museum | Cesar Cornejo/Dierdre Nelson/Benedict Phillips/Alison Unsworth/LEO
    • October - November 2003 | D-Frost Festival, Doncaster | Michael Pinsky/Mark Wallinger/Jonathan Shaw

    Education Work:

    • April - October 2012 | Freelance Community Curator | Tatton Park Biennial
    • February 2012 | Freelance Professional Development Training | SITE Gallery
    • February 2012 | Visiting Lecturer in Professional Practice | Staffordshire University Art & Design
    • 2011 - 2012 | SPARKS Research Project Freelance Event Coordinator | Sheffield University
    • 2006 - 2011 | Freelance Creative Agent | Creative Partnerships (BAM) and The Mighty Creatives
    • July 2008 - March 2009 | Freelance Secondary Programme Project Manager | Renaissance North West (North West Museums Hub)
    • June 2007 – March 2008 | ‘An Emotional Journey’ | Mansfield Museum, contemporary art show co-curated with young people
    • December 2006 - January 2007 | Freelance Education Programme Manager | Helen Storey Foundation 'Wonderland' project
    • June 2006 – March 2007 | Project Manager | East Midlands Creative Lab
    • March 2004 – February 2006 | Creative Director | Creative Partnerships (BDR)
    • September 2003 – April 2004 | ‘media[tion]’ | Doncaster Museum & Art Gallery, contemporary art show co-curated with young people

    Education:

    • BA (Hons) First Class, History of Art, Design & Film, Sheffield Hallam University
    • MA (Distinction), Contemporary Curating, Manchester Metropolitan University

  • Contact details:

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