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"Boatseat
Drawing" Charcoal / Collage on paper A2 1999
by Brenda Oakes
Artists
Statement:
"My desire
is to challenge, to push my own thinking and that of my audience,
whilst expanding the capabilities of my work materials. I
try to avoid preconceptions when choosing methods and media;
these will be dictated by the requirements of each project,
whether it be a small drawing or a new promenade.
Having trained as a sculptor, my art practice has expanded
in several directions to include architecture, landscape,
urban and graphic design, as well as many community and public
art projects. In my public role my aim is to empower the users
of communal spaces by giving them the confidence, through
consultation and participation, to take responsibility for
their own environment. I am particularly interested in using
renewable energy and recycled materials.
My private practice, manifested through sculpture, digital
and 2D media, allows me to investigate meaning via both formal
concerns and experimentation."
Brenda
Oakes (January
2002)
Brenda
was artist-in-residence from 1999-2000 in Barrow-in-Furness
working on the design and implementation of a number of new
public spaces in collaboration with residents, the community
development team and landscape architects. This project was
funded by the Arts Lottery.
Brenda
has been a visiting lecturer to the art and design degree
courses at Swansea Institute. She was recently invited to
design a solar-powered street light for one of Britain's leading
photovoltaic research companies and in addition, she has collaborated
with a remote power specialist on designs for a new sculptural
wind turbine. An arts lottery funded commission to create
a gable-end artwork for Swansea Environment Centre is underway
in collaboration with the architect of the building's new
extension, Robin Campbell.
"Short
Round Hull" Percent for Art Feature for Housing Development,
Hopkins Lane, Newton Abbot by Brenda Oakes and Peter Osborne.
Mild steel / mirror polished stainless steel / paint. 2m high
- 2001.
Working
with travellers and residents on a Sure Start scheme early
this year produced graphic designs for the exterior of a double-decker
play/resource bus in Pontypool. Brenda recently initiated
a design project on the Sandfields Estate in Port Talbot,
working with young people from the area. Two sculptures incorporating
work by children with special needs for the entrance to the
new Sure Start building in Llandarcy, Neath were opened in
December 2001.
Teignbridge
District Council has appointed Brenda to work as lead artist
for the redevelopment of Newton Abbot, Devon. Similarly, New
Sandfields Sustainable Regeneration Company will be hosting
an artist's residency where Brenda will be focussing on the
regeneration of Aberafan Seafront. This project is funded
by the Arts Council of Wales as a development pilot for its
"Arts in Targeted Communities" scheme.
"Odin's
Eye and the Hammer of Thor"
Mixed
Media and collage - A1 1995.
Aarhus International Art and Craft Symposium, Denmark.
Brenda
continues to exhibit and has just participated in a major
international sculpture exhibition in Seoul Art Centre, South
Korea in December 2001. She is represented by Si-Art, Spilling
Art International, Windsor, England.
SELECTED
C.V.
Brenda Oakes has exhibited extensively and it would take many
pages to cover her career to date. Here we have selected a
small number of examples in each category. A full C.V. is
available (6 pages) directly from the artist or by accessing
her personal website (currently
under construction).
"Shrine"
2m high Oak and Copper 1997
5th International Wood Sculpture Symposium, Hojer, Denmark.
AWARDS:
1984 Welsh Arts Council Setting-up Grant.
1988 Welsh Arts Council Masterclass Grant.
1997 Arts Council of Wales Travel Grant - "Street Design
1997 Pedestrian Environment Category Winner" awarded
to Castle Square, Swansea.
1998 Kyeng-Gi Do Governor's Award, Republic of Korea.
2000 Honorary Citizenship of City of Pusan, South Korea.
CONSULTANCIES:
1998 - 2000 Art and design consultant to AIR Architecture.
DESIGN
PARTNERSHIP:
1997 - 2000 apART Design Partnership with Robin Campbell architect.
GROUP
EXHIBITIONS: small
selection of 31 entries...
1981 Northern Young Contemporaries.
1982 Manchester Academy.
1984
Manchester Artist's Studio Association.
Wrexham Open (prizewinner).
1985 - 1986 Tyne Tees Northern Open (touring).
1987 - 1988 Working Women 1 (touring).
1989
& 1990 A.A.D.W. Wrexham Festival.
John
Holden Gallery, Salford.
1991
Slaughterhouse Gallery, London Amnesty International, Coventry
(touring) Wilson Stephens Fine Art at Stephen Bartley Gallery,
London Sites, Cywaith Cymru, Cardiff Old Library.
1992 National Eisteddfod, Aberystwyth.
1996 Cheltenham Open Drawing Exhibition.
2000 Symposium Exhibition, San-Chung, South Korea.
PUBLIC
COLLECTIONS:
1982
Leicestershire Schools Collection.
1983 Town of Cervenykostlec, Czechoslovakia.
1985 Margam Park, West Glamorgan.
1987 Buckley Royal Town Band.
1990 Huddersfield City Art Gallery.
1995 & 1999 County of Aarhus, Denmark.
1998 City of Ichon, Republic of Korea Cultural Institute of
Peru and North America, Lima, Peru.
1999 Lysbo Tileworks, Silkeborg, Denmark.
2000 Remise Akademi, Brande, Denmark. Saeng-Cho Sculpture
Park, Sang-Chu, South Korea.
2001 United Nations Memorial Park, UN Cemetery (Korean War),
Pusan, South Korea.Sagadi Manor, Estonia.
You
can contact the artist directly by sending an E-mail to: brenda.oakes@btopenworld.com
Website: www.brendaoakes.com
(under construction)
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Brenda
Oakes received her M.A.degree in Fine Art from Manchester
Polytechnic in 1990. She was appointed as Artist/Designer
in the Planning Department of Swansea City Council during
the same year. In the eight years she spent in Swansea she
created works of public, environmental and community art,
in addition to designing urban landscape schemes and street
furniture for the city centre. Projects included the layout
for a major city centre space in front of Swansea Castle,
the design of which has been acclaimed as "a highly
effective piece of urban design" (Western Mail). In
1997 Castle Square was judged to be the best public space
in Britain, winning the Street Design Pedestrian Environment
Award.
During
the nineteen years since Brenda first graduated, she has
exhibited widely throughout Britain and abroad. Her work
is to be found in collections as far afield as Czechoslovakia,
South Korea, Denmark, Estonia and Peru, as well as the Leicestershire
Schools Collection and Margam Park, amongst others in the
U.K. Aside from her public art role, Brenda continues with
her studio work and since 1995 she has represented the United
Kingdom in symposiums and workshops in many countries around
the world. In 2000 she was invited to create a large granite
memorial to commemorate the British soldiers who died in
the Korean War. This sculpture was inaugurated in the United
Nations Cemetery in Pusan, South Korea in October last year.
"Column of Hope" 3.2m Sculpture
of white granite 2000 by Brenda Oakes.
United Nations Memorial Cemetery, Pusan, South Korea.
Brenda has chaired
the Council of Cywaith Cymru - Artworks Wales, the public
art commissioning body for Wales and is a founder member
of the Welsh Academy of Design, set up in 1998.
Close up of Hopkins Lane Installation
- entitled "Short Round Hull" 2001.
ApART (appropriate
art), the design partnership which Brenda established in
1997 with architect Robin Campbell, was shortlisted in the
1997 'Construction Tower Competition' launched by Emap Construct
Magazine and 'A Projection Tower for Batley', part of the
1998 Year of Photography and the Electronic Image. In 1998
their proposal for two foreshore buildings at Saltburn-by-the-Sea
was one of three finalists in a national architectural competition.
Their work has been illustrated in the Architect's Journal,
New Civil Engineers, Construction News and Building Design
Magazine as well as several books on public art and urban
design. ApART is currently lead artist for the Durngate
Triangle, Dorchester, an innovative public art and urban
design scheme for the centre of the town. ApART was invited
to submit a public art strategy for the new National Botanic
Garden for Wales and has recently been commissioned to draw
up a public art strategy for the new Baglan Energy Park,
Port Talbot.
EDUCATION:
1958
- 1964
Notre Dame High
School, Liverpool.
1964 - 1965 Millbank College, Liverpool.
1972 - 1973 Open University Humanities Foundation
Course.
1978 - 1979 Wrexham College of Art Foundation Course.
1979 - 1982 Manchester Polytechnic - B.A. (Hons)
Fine Art (First Class with commendations in Art History
and Complementary Studies).
1984 - 1985 Newcastle Polytechnic - M.A. Fine Art
(first year).
1989 - 1990 Manchester Polytechnic - transfer and
completion of MA
Solo and Two-person
Exhibitions:
1984
- 1985 The Brick Studio,
Manchester
1986 - 1987 Cefn Saeson School, Neath
1987 Oriel Theatr Clwyd,
Mold
1990 - 1991 Architectural Ceramics,
Cywaith Cymru Gallery, Cardiff
1993 City Centre Public Art,
Guildhall, Swansea
2001 Digital Prints at Verdi's,
Mumbles.
COMMISSIONS:
1982 Painting
for Midland Bank Plc.
1983 Painting for Alyn & Deeside District Council.
1985 Sculptures for Walker Art Gallery exhibition,
Liverpool.
1986 Brick murals for Delyn Borough Council.
1987 Sculpture for Clwyd Arts and Exhibitions Service.
1988 Brick murals for Carlisle City Council.
1996 Trophy for Woman Composer of the Year, Liverpool
Festival of Music, Speech and Drama for Liverpool City Council.
1998 Sand sculptures for cover of annual report for
Hyder Plc.
2000 Gable end artwork for Swansea Environment Centre.
"Sposon Panel" - Swansea Maritime
Quarter. Steel / glass fibre 3.5m wide 1992-5
A
FULL C.V. IS AVAILABLE FROM BRENDA OAKES:
Tel:
+44 01639 710850
Fax:
+44 01639 711290
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BRENDA OAKES
