Curriculum Vitae

Pete Clarke studied at Burnley Municipal College, Bristol Polytechnic and M. A. in Fine Art Chelsea School of Art. He is Senior Lecturer in Fine Art and MA Course Leader at University of Central Lancashire, Preston.

Projects:

‘Environs - The City as a Site and Sign of Modernity’

‘Eight Days A Week’, Liverpool with Köln, the artists’ initiative reciprocal exchange project, Lead Artist/Curator since 1998, European City of Culture Project 2008.

‘Collaborations’ a European painting project with Georg Gartz, Köln since 1998- 2010.

‘Turner’s Travels’, Research Drawing, Retracing History.

‘Global Studio’ Bluecoat, Liverpool 2010

Featured Websites:
www.peteclarke.org.uk
www.eightdaysaweek.org.uk
www.chatting-with-colours.de
www.uclan.ac.uk/centrecontemporaryart
www.coastinternationalartists.com

Solo Exhibitions:

'Prints & Drawings', Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, 1981.
'Social Studies', Pentonville Gallery, London, 1982.
'City Observations', Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, 1983.
'Constructed Views', Rochdale Art Gallery, 1984.
'Artist in Residence: Kelvin Flats', Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 1985.
'Streets & Institutions', Scott Gallery, Lancaster University, 1986.
'Colonial Buildings: The Architecture of Power', Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, 1989.
'Environs: Structure: Gestures', The Arts Centre, Darlington, 1991
'Letters to Language', Cornerhouse, Manchester, 1996
‘Capital’, New End Gallery, Hampstead, London, 1996.
‘Paintings and Moments’, University of Liverpool Gallery, 1998.
‘flowers and follies’, C/o Galerie Thomas Zander, Köln, Germany, 1999.
‘City of ships and stores’, No 37, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, 1999.
‘numberless islands’, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight,2002.
‘Scars from Falls’ Kyotobar, Architecture Gallery, Köln 2008.
‘Looking Back, Facing Forward:
Mistakes and Metaphors’, Victoria Gallery & Museum, Liverpool University, 2009.

Pete Clarke and Georg Gartz Collaborations

Collaborations with Köln Artist Georg Gartz 1998 - 2009:
‘Collaborations’, Galerie Lichthof, Köln & Huyton Gallery, Merseyside.
‘Die Brücke’, Atelier, Nippes, Köln.
‘Chatting with colours’ Kunstwerk Kunstschalter E.V., Köln.
‘Collaborators’, Residency project in Graphic Arts, Liverpool Art School.
‘Interface’, ‘Kooperative K’, Hagen, Germany.
‘Crash 1’, VHS Köln, Germany
‘Zwischenraum: wir’, Gummersbach, Germany.
‘Art Genossen’, Lindlar, Köln
‘Rheinlust’ ‘Lange Nacht der Kölner Museen’ 2007
‘Rheinwarts’ Museum Zundorfer Wehrturm, Köln 2008.

Works in Major British and German Public and Private Collections:
including Liverpool University, Leicester Education Authority, Sheffield City Art Galleries, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead, National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside and Arts Council of England.

Selected Group Exhibitions 1985 -1990:

'Summer in the City' Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
'Human Interest',   Cornerhouse, Manchester.
'Print 86' Printmaker's Council’,  The Barbican Centre, London.
‘Connections',  Cornerhouse,Manchester & Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.
City Life',   Cornerhouse, Manchester.
'Urban Views', Turnpike Gallery, Leigh.
‘BBK - Bundesverband Bildender Kunstler’ Cologne, Germany.
'State of the Nation' Herbert Gallery, Coventry.
‘Facades: Faces of the City', Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
'Depicting History for Today', Mappin Sheffield: Leeds City and Rochdale Art Galleries.
Current Work -A Reputation Amongst Artists', Selected with Peter de Francia and Sonia Lawson, Graves ,Art Gallery, Sheffield.
'Work from the Permanent Collection.  Sheffield City Art Galleries.

Selected Group Exhibitions 1990 - 2000:
'A Story to Tell - Narrative in British Art', Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield.
'A Pool of Signs',  Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.
'Artists at Work', Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
'Codenames', 3-Month Gallery, Liverpool.
‘Provocative Prints’, New End Gallery, London.
‘Engagement - Eight Days a Week’, Lichthof Gallery, Cologne.
‘Glitter’, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool.`

Selected Group Exhibitions 2000 - 2011:
‘AnOther Place’, Storey Institute, Lancaster.
‘Unheimlich’ Die Halle, Wiesbaden
‘nothing but the facts’ Lavatoio Contumaciale, Rome.
‘Remembering Utopia’, Salerno, Italy.
‘Kultur & Natur, Höhen Art’, Site Sculpture, Simonskall, Germany
‘Crash 2, New Painting’ VHS, Köln.
‘In exposed areas’ Kulturbunker, Mülheim, Cologne 2006.
Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport 2006.
‘Injured Text’ Printmaking Exhibition & Residency Graphikwerkstatt, Cologne 2006.
‘Coast’, Triangle International Workshop AFoundation Liverpool 2007.
‘Ex Libris’ Printmaking Biennial, Pancevo, Serbia 2008.
‘Next Up, Liverpool Art Now’, The Bluecoat, Liverpool 2008/09
‘Tiefschwarz [Deep Black] The Print Connection’ Galerie VHS, Köln 2009.
‘Triple Echo’ Impact International Print Exhibition, Bristol 2009.
‘In their own words’ Bank Street Arts, Sheffield
‘Five Contemporary Printmakers’ Cornerstones Gallery, Liverpool Hope University 2010.
‘Tiefschwarz [Deep Black] The Print Connection’ Galerie,Pancevo, Belgrade, Serbia 2010
‘Global Studio’ The Bluecoat, Liverpool 2010.
‘FRINGEMK – Painting’ Milton Keynes 2010
‘EX LIBRIS’ 3rd International engraving Grand Prize Pancevo, Serbia 2010
‘Werkart’ bei manufact, Cologne 2010
'Quartered, Drawn and Hung’ The Cornerstone Gallery Liverpool hope University 2010- 2011

‘EIGHT DAYS A WEEK’

‘Eight days a week’ is a Project co curated by Pete Clarke from Liverpool and Bryan Biggs, Director Bluecoat Arts Centre with Jürgen Kisters, Journalist and Art Critic Kölner Stadt Enzeiger and artist Georg Gartz from Köln. This Project facilitates artists from Liverpool and Cologne taking part in a unique cultural exchange through an ongoing programme of exhibitions, residencies, films, performances, discussions and publications.

Clarke is Lead Artist, Manager and Chair the Steering Group for the International Artists’ Initiative and Cultural Exchange Project ‘Eight Days A Week’. This is funded by Liverpool Culture Company, British Council, Goethe Institute and Arts Council of England. Eight Days explores strategies for creative dialogue between the cities and regions of Liverpool and Cologne, through an ongoing cultural exchange programme that promotes the new understanding of ‘International Practice in the Regional’.

Eight Days A Week took out a 3 month lease on the ‘Artist in Residence Space at the Bluecoat’, as a contribution to ‘Liverpool European Capital of Culture’, to function as an activity and resource space for artists from October 1st – December 31st 2008. This provided a base for a range of creative activities where artists from Liverpool and Cologne could continue the unique cultural exchange programme to develop links with educational and cultural institutions in the city.

www.eightdaysaweek.org.uk

Injured Text - Printmaking Residency.
The Printmaking Residency & Exchange programme between Pete Clarke, Neil Morris, Reader in Contemporary Printmaking at Liverpool Art School, JMU, Georg Gartz, Andreas Vietz and Jutta Vollmer at The Graphikwerkstatt in Köln.

Pete Clarke was also been invited with Neil Morris in September 2005 by ‘Impact/Kontakt’ the International Printmaking Conference in Berlin and Poznan, Poland to make a presentation at Session 3, 'Kultur Kontakt’, ‘Diverse, unequal, different…interconnected’, exploring concepts of cultural exchange: Paper: ‘Developments in contemporary printmaking, Liverpool/Köln cultural exchange Project’, Academy of Fine Arts, Poznan, Poland.

Bluecoat Design Team Artist
Pete Clarke was appointed the Design Team Artist in January 2003 for the redevelopment of the Bluecoat Arts Centre, Liverpool from a competition of invited artists. The research project developed the artists’ creative input into the Design Team working with the Architectural team of Biq Architecten from Rotterdam who won the architectural commission from an international competition. 

‘C O A S T ‘ LIVERPOOL ARTISTS INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP
18th August to 2nd September 2007
The Blade Factory, AFoundation, Greenland Street, Liverpool

In Collaboration With: Triangle Arts Trust, The AFoundation & Liverpool Hope University

COAST is an artist-led initiative, previously registered as Cyfuniad International Artists Limited and maintains the same company number, objects and articles of association as Cyfuniad.
The Workshop Model: COAST is based on The Triangle workshop model which brings together a group of 20-25 artists to work together and share ideas and methods for a period of two weeks. Workshops are typically initiated by a local working group of independent artists and are separate from museums or academic environments as workshops are peer-to-peer projects that promote “learning by exchange” with one another.  For this reason, workshops focus on process instead of the final product and don’t have a specific theme leading the production of work.
 
At the end of the two weeks, the workshop hosts an Open Day, which is both a celebration of the project as well as a way of involving the local public in the developments and results of the workshops. Open Days have a strong local impact as the unusual nature of the workshops generates expectation and curiosity amongst local communities who have a chance of seeing firsthand the process of making work and talking to local and international artists about their work and experiences.
This emphasis on experimentation, process, dialogue and exchange makes the workshop fundamentally different from most other international platforms such as biennials or exhibitions. Cyfuniad and COAST are part of the global network of workshops based on the Triangle model first established by Sir Anthony Caro and Sir Robert Loder in New York in 1982.  (Visit the Triangle Arts Trust Website at: ww.trianglearts.org)  Over the past 24 years the network has extended to more than 30 countries worldwide, with more than 3,500 artists participating. 
COAST 2007 worked with a major new partner, the A Foundation, who generously agreed to the Blade and Furnace spaces of the Greenland Street complex (a major venue in the Liverpool Biennials) being exclusively available to COAST.
Twelve international artists, and a further 4 from the UK (outside of Liverpool), were invited to participate in the Workshop with a broad geographical and disciplinary spread.  Those invited ranged from emergent, established and mid-career artists, creating a dynamic exchange across age, experience, gender, social and cultural backgrounds. 
Coast Artists Liverpool 2007 www.coastinternationalartists.com

Roohi Ahmed [Pakistan], Donna Berry [UK], Gayle Chong Kwan [UK],Pete Clarke [UK], Humberto Diaz [Cuba], Lin Holland [UK], Diala Khasawnih [Jordan], David Lewis [UK], Adnan Meatek [UK], Juan David Medina [Columbia], Mriganka Madhukailya [Assam/India], Satomi Matoba [Japan], Geoff Molyneux [UK], Hilario Gemuce Pompilio [Mozambique], Juan Javier Salazar [Peru], Dagmar Schmidt [Germany], Margaretha Schoening [UK/Germany], Nicolas Simarik [France], Tony Smith [UK], Ben Washington [UK]

Coast Walking: Different routes, Different turnings 14 days: 14 works   Pete Clarke 2007



Deep Black Tief Schwarz The Print Connection
VHS Galerie Bezirksrathaus Lindenthal
Aachenerstr. 220 Köln
Exhibition 7.03.09 – 30.04.09

‘The exhibition presents the work of artists from Tunisia, Serbia, England and Germany who work with the possibilities of picturing and expression through print methods. The attraction of the handcraft which has been established for centuries is unbroken and inspires contemporary artists to give their ideas a shape through the creative medium of line, surface and colour. Different techniques of printing and individual compositions representing the cultural characteristics of the exhibiting artists show an interesting spectrum of current graphic works of four nations’, Georg Gartz 2009

Artists from Liverpool, Köln, Tunis and Pancèvo, present TiefSchwarz [Deep Black] a
Printmaking exhibition in Köln, Pancèvo, Serbia and Liverpool. The exhibition will include
graphic works from eleven artists’ exploring different attitudes and practices in
contemporary intaglio printmaking.

Black Tief Schwarz, Pete Clarke new group show.

‘SCARS FROM FALLS’ ‘NEW PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS’ by PETE CLARKE
Kyotobar, Architectural Gallery, Gereonswall 75, 50670 Köln
Exhibition: October 25 – November 28 2008

Dr Martin Turke, art historian and curator invited Pete Clarke to exhibit new work at Kyotobar, the award winning architectural space designed by Johannes Schilling. This interesting and uncompromising ‘modernist’ concrete gallery produces a fascinating context and contrast to the works on display. ‘Scars from Falls’ is new work derived from a range of social and cultural references including the metaphoric images of the ruins of Rome by Piranesi, images of coastal erosion and drawings of ‘Gordale Scar’, the 150 metre limestone gorge in Malham, Yorkshire. This spectacular feature of the Craven fault is believed by many geologists to be the remains of a huge underground cavern whose roof collapsed around the time of the last ice age. It is also the subject of a famous painting by Turner [circa 1816] Tate Britain.
Collaboration: a Painting and Exhibitions Project with Köln Artist Georg Gartz 1998 - date:
The Collaborative Project with Georg Gartz explores collaborative strategies within contemporary debates in painting questioning individuality authorship and authenticity. This project has produced work in England and Germany since 1998 and has made reciprocal exhibitions in Köln and Liverpool. ‘Rheinwarts’ - Ten Years Work 1998 – 2008, at the Museum Zündorfer Wehrturm, Köln.

‘Rheinwarts’: The collaborative paintings by
Pete Clarke, Liverpool and George Gartz, Cologne

The Collaboration Project was invited to have a Retrospective of Ten Years of Work at Museum Zündorfer Wehrturm, Cologne, May 2008. The project included publicity material and illustrated catalogue written by Anke von Heyl, Art Historian who also gave an introductory talk at the exhibition opening.‘Through this dialogic process a body of painting has emerged which offers us, not a series of composite impressions of the urban landscape, but a kind of visual meditation on the city, an amalgam of differing perspectives.

The paintings raise questions about how we picture the world, challenging the notion of a single fixed authorial point of view. They also interrogate the practice of painting itself through the methodology of the collaborative approach – the process of applying paint to canvas becoming a discursive act.’ From ‘Collaboration’ catalogue essay by Bryan Biggs, Artistic Director, Bluecoat, Liverpool 2000.

Rheinwärts
Exhibition: 5th -25th May 2008
Pete Clarke, Liverpool and George Gartz, Cologne
Guest speakers of Anke Heyl, Art historian, Cologne

Museum Zündorfer tower Hauptstr. 181, 51143 Cologne (Porz-Zündorf) Tel: 02203-5757609 Opening times: Wed + Sa 15-18 pm, Sun 14 - 18 hours www.zuendorfer-wehrturm.de

Next Up: Liverpool Art Now the Bluecoat School Lane Liverpool L1 3BX
12 December - 22 February 2009

2008 comes to an end, but the cultural life in Liverpool continues. Why wouldn’t it?
The city’s artistic community is incredibly vibrant and to celebrate this the Bluecoat shows off the depth of creative talent to be found locally in Next Up: Liverpool Art Now, a group exhibition showcasing over 35 artists currently living and working in Liverpool. Featuring painting, drawing, video, photography, sculpture, installation and animation, Next Up presents a diverse range of works by artists with established national and international careers alongside emerging artists who are developing their professional practice. Significantly Next Up does not propose to be an exhaustive survey of the local art scene, nor is it dictated by prize money or a curatorial theme. Rather the exhibition simply presents a timely selection of artists’ work that is engaging and accomplished, and maintain’s the Bluecoat’s strong tradition of commitment and support for local artists.

Artists exhibiting in Next Up: Liverpool Art Now
Oliver Braid, Paul Bratt, Pete Clarke, Paul Clarkson, John Davies, Gina Czarnecki, Alan Dunn, Nina Edge, Jemma Egan, Leo Fitzmaurice, Stephen Forge, Emma Gregory, Sean Hawkridge, Lin Holland, Neil Keating, David Jacques, Alison Jones, Brigitte Jurack, Gareth Kemp, Harry Lawson, James Loftus, Brendan Lyons, Nicki McCubbing, Geoff Molyneux, Tabitha Kyoko Moses, Bernadette O'Toole, Richard Proffitt, James Quin, Paul Rooney, The Singh Twins, Tony Smith, Markus Soukup, Imogen Stidworthy, Nick Sykes, Chiz Turnross, Claire Weetman, Barry Worrall, Kai-Oi Jay Yung.

Unrealise [Diptych] each 140 x 100m, Oil, Acrylic and text on canvas 2008

  Edge Hill Prize 2009: Commission from a North West Artist

The Edge Hill Prize is a prestigious literary award, bestowed annually on the author of a published short story collection from the UK or Ireland. In addition to the £5000 first prize, the winning author receives a specially commissioned artwork, sponsored by Blackwell bookshops. Pete Clarke was selected from proposals from North West artists for this year’s prize, which was awarded at The Bluecoat, Liverpool on July 4th 2009.

Invisible Cities: Commissioned Painting by Pete Clarke. Pete Clarke’s work explores visual narratives influenced as much by contemporary literature as by contemporary art which makes this an appropriate artist for the commissioned prize for a short story writer. He has selected composite images of an imagined city, a building that represents metaphorically the idea of a shell, an empty container of possible associations. The constructed framed painting juxtaposes images and related poetic text from ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italio Calvino. Calvino’s narrative explores imagination and the imaginable through the descriptions of cities by the explorer Marco Polo in a conversation with the aging emperor Kublai Khan. The majority of the book consists of brief prose poems describing cities and short dialogues between the two characters to discuss various ideas presented by the cities on a wide range of topics including linguistics and human nature.

An Exhibition of Five Contemporary Printmakers

The Cornerstone Gallery . Liverpool Hope University Friday 22 January – Friday 19 February 2010

Artists: Pete Clarke, Tim Dolphin, Peter Dover, Emma Gregory & Emily Johns
Pete Clarke is a Liverpool based artist who explores concepts of the city, modernity and history utilising painting, drawing, printmaking, objects and poetic text. His work explores the ‘city’ as an ‘imagined environment’, ‘the politics of its representation, language and text’, a metaphor for construction and change. Lately he has explored questions of history as a social and political landscape, an exploration of geography as a metaphoric surface.

LOOKING BACK: FACING FORWARD MISTAKES AND METAPHORS
An exhibition of Paintings, Prints and Drawings of Pete Clarke
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool, L69 3DR.

To view catalogue Click on images

GLOBAL STUDIO
The Bluecoat - Global Studio Exhibition
9 April – 20 June 2010

Aspects of contemporary printmaking, graphic processes of communication
Global as a concept is not necessarily about nationality, geography or place but more a question of attitude, a political commitment, a strategy and ambition to explore significant social and cultural questions through creative practice, dialogue and forms of communication. Over the last ten years the landscape for the creative practice of Printmaking has changed, the advent of global communication has enabled much greater international collaboration and for a wider community of Printmakers across the world to be connected. Printmaking, both in its message and its production, has always been primarily a democratic and collaborative process. These factors have allowed printmaking to quietly gain a more pivotal role in mainstream contemporary art practice.

Pete Clarke has selected Roohi Ahmed, Wuon-Gean Ho, Georg Gartz and Carl Rowe, artists from various international networks for this Printmaking Project as part of ‘Global Studio’ - IMPACT 6 Print Conference and exhibition, Bristol, UK 2009, Coast- the Liverpool International Artists Workshop 2007 and the on-going ‘Eight Days A Week’ artists from Liverpool and Cologne taking part in unique cultural exchanges.