Artist’s talk and documentary screening at The Dock

The Dock is set to host a guided tour of Andy Persons exhibition followed by a documentary schering on Northern Soul on October 14 at 8pm. 

Andy Persons has shown widely in London, Amsterdam, Dublin and Tokyo. His work includes painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and artist's books. 

His exhibitions have included the Jerwood Drawing Prize and solo shoes at the Castlefield Gallery in Manchester and the Standpoint Gallery in London. 

Andy recently completed a PerCent for Art project in Sligo called Play Spaces, a public art project based on children's engagement with outdoor spaces. 

"I am interested in dance because it is an egalitarian space where people can express themselves freely. My current work, The Dancers, explores the universality of music and dance and the idea of joy. The imagery is based on nightclubbing and the Northern Soul scene", said Andy Persons. 

He added: "Northern Soul is music from the 1960s that didn't enjoy commercial success at the time but became popular with DJs and dancers as part of an underground scene in the 1970s and 80s and has subsequently become a worldwide phenomenon. 

"Music and dance are often central to the stories people tell about their lives and are recounted as moments of pure joy. The sense that music and dancing will change in their specifics but retain their universal importance as part of our emotional lives and identity is an area I am researching and exploring in my work".

Andy Parsons practice combines working in community contexts with drawing, sculpture, and painting. Projects have focused on people, places, and activities where people work together and help each other. 

Andy has worked in many community settings, including youth projects, care settings for older people, mental health settings, and a community boat-building project in the Sligo docks. 

The event is supported through the Night-Time Economy After Hours at the Museum scheme. Admission is free, and more information at www.thedock.ie.