Sheffield artist Pete McKee today announces the nine artists he has invited to share their work alongside his own in the upcoming exhibition This Class Works.
Fellow artists, musicians, actors, designers, photographers and poets each contribute their own unique interpretation of the exhibition’s themes, which aim to explore and celebrate the lives of the working class.
The featured artists include: Anthony Bennett, JB Barrington, Jo Peel, Jon McClure, Martyn Ware, Maxine Peake, Natasha Bright, Sarah Jane Palmer and Tish Murtha, whose work will be shown alongside Pete’s.
In addition to these artists Pete has invited several designers and illustrators to complete a special brief for the exhibition. Those included in this special project are: Cafeteria, Dust, Field, Nick Bax, Jon Cannon, Kid Acne, Patrick Murphy, Nick Deakin and Peter & Paul.
Although most of the work will be kept secret until the exhibition opens, we can reveal that the following will be included:
- live sculpting by Anthony Bennett
- poetry inspired by Pete’s paintings (& vice versa) by JB Barrington
- a visual history of Sheffield’s industry pubs by Jo Peel
- soundscapes that reflect the atmosphere of industrial sites and other places of work by Martyn Ware
- written accounts of what it means to be working class from Maxine Peak
- photography exploring both social clubs which still exist to this day by Natasha Bright
- unemployed youth – an insight into a day in the life on a typical council estate by Tish Murtha
- Sarah Jane Palmer’s secret hidden messages in everyday items
- and a special selection of long-lost government propaganda.
Pete McKee said, “I’ve always enjoyed working with other artists to achieve the realisation of some of my ideas and for this exhibition I’ve taken that one step further by asking some incredible artists to produce their own work for this show.
I originally came up with the concept for the show as I was recuperating from my transplant last year. I wanted other artists to be a part of the show and make sure there was plenty of incredible work to see”.
All of this work in addition to Pete’s new series of paintings will be on display at This Class Works, 92 Burton Road, Sheffield, S3 8BX, from the 14th to the 29th of July.
Tickets are available now and are priced at £5 per person; the ticket also includes a copy of the exhibition programme. Children under 12 can attend for free as long as they are accompanied by an adult.