Brass Art: Gestured

An exhibition catalogue to accompany Brass Art's solo exhibition Gestured. The installation of more than twenty new artworks was made in response to Chetham’s Library, Manchester and was commissioned by Arts & Heritage. The installation ran from 16 October – 8 December 2017. The commissioned constellation of artworks were made in response to artefacts discovered within the archive including the forms of gesture found in William Cowper’s anatomical reference books, the prints of William Hogarth, the books of Renaissance polymath Athanasius Kircher and the notations of John Dee. The essay Ways of Reading Gestured (Rowan Bailey, 2017) offered its own way of reading the installation, drawing upon these sources of influence and the underlying sculptural motivations informing the work on display. The folding limited edition book was designed by Jack Hodgson.

_{The publication charts Brass Art’s investigative approach to the archive and documents an engagement with gesture, embodiment and material transformation, to evidence novel approaches to material transformation in the creation of new artworks in a heritage setting.}

_{How might artists chart their investigative approach to an archive, and document their engagement with gesture, embodiment and material transformation, to evidence a novel approach to material transformation in their creation of new artworks? How might artists chart their investigative approach to an archive, and document their engagement with gesture, embodiment and material transformation, to evidence a novel approach to material transformation in their creation of new artworks?}