MFA Newcastle University

18/05/2024

Some of our 2nd year MFA students exhibited as Brink collective this evening as part of The Late Shows at The Hatton Gallery

Lost Signal
Lost Signal is a collaborated installation by Brink Collective, an exhibition group
of emerging Newcastle-based artists, which was first displayed in the Ex-Libris
Gallery earlier in the year. Spurred by a rift in transmission, this piece presents
the artists’ work as a one-way exchange, reminding us of the remoteness and
isolation that can so easily accompany digital communication.

With overlapped film and projections, the artists uphold their work as separate,
unheard voices. Each artist explores diversifying concepts, but they are united
by the nonphysical and digital nature of the exhibition. Through Lost Signal, the
artists’ works are redefined as a mutual comment on unrequited relationships
and abandoned connections in the digital age.

Artists showcased: Bex Etheridge, Alia Gargum, Sarah March, Eleanor Neason,
Jacques Verkade

28/04/2024

Coming soon: 'Lost Signal' Exhibition hosted by Brink Collective
Ex-Libris, Newcastle University
30/04/2024 - 03/05/2024
PV - 30/04/2024 5PM

Brink Collective, an exhibition group of emerging Newcastle-based artists, will be presenting their third exhibition, Lost Signal, between the 30th of April to the 3rd of May 2024. Hosted in the Ex-Libris Gallery within Newcastle University, this exhibition displays works by Brink artists Bex Etheridge, Alia Gargum, Sarah March, Eleanor Neason, and Jacques Verkade with a collaborative installation. Spurred by a rift in transmission, this exhibition presents the artists’ work as a one-way exchange, reminding us of the remoteness and isolation that can so easily accompany digital communication.



With sound and ghostly projections, the artists uphold their work as separate, unheard voices, displayed together on a collaborative structure in the middle of the gallery. All five artists explore diversifying concepts, but they are united by the nonphysical and digital nature of the exhibition. Through Lost Signal, the artists’ works are redefined as a mutual comment on unrequited relationships and abandoned connections in the digital age.





Artists showcased: Bex Etheridge, Alia Gargum, Sarah March, Eleanor Neason, Jacques Verkade

22/04/2024

… coming soon.

22/04/2024

Something is cooking at SlugTown…

18/04/2024

⚠️ Some Assembly Required opening soon at ! ⚠️

Archie Ogus | Ardra Nair | Brandon Pearce | Elizabeth Oughton | Frank Pretorius | Kitty McKay

Preview: Thursday 24 April, 6 – 9pm
25 March – 4 May 2024

Some Assembly Required brings together the work of six Newcastle University MFA students at Slugtown, Newcastle upon Tyne. Featuring new works by Ardra Nair, Frank Pretorius, Elizabeth Oughton, Brandon Pearce, Archie Ogus and Kitty McKay the show makes visible the collaborative nature of group exhibitions, and considers what might be achieved when artists embrace their differences and produce work in divergence.

Looking forward to seeing you there! ✨

30/03/2024

Newcastle University 2nd year MFA students are presenting a collective exhibition in April, curating the works themselves as at the iconic Ex-Libris gallery. Lost Signal examines a missed connection, a suspended thread of a previous exhibition that now highlights those moments of disconnect in a new form.

21/03/2024

Back in the studio 😊

20/03/2024

2nd year MFA student Alia Gargum will be showcasing their work as part of this exciting exhibition, opening tomorrow.

Artist in Focus, Belonging Exhibition: Alia Gargum

Tripoli, Libya. Under the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, the national flag was replaced to an all-green flag from 1977 to 2011. During this time, it was the only flag in the world to have one colour and no design. In Islam, Green is considered a sacred colour, used in Muslim art and architecture.
In moments of forced migration, people, places and the items they hold are taken from us, and we do not have time for the dignity of a goodbye. The places may still exist and change in the physical world but live in our memories just as we left them.
This space represents the memory of a house in Libya, recreated for anyone to visit it and explore the way we navigate personal spaces. The materials within this sculpture carry the weight of these memories, but also the marks of my studio space from the floor they were imprinted on. This sculpture represents the ability to fold up a space and conceal it from authorities on the person, worn and rusted from the salt and sweat created when items are carried close to the body.

~
Alia Gargum is one of the six artists participating in Belonging.

Join us for the opening on 21 March, 18:00- 21:00 and running from 22 - 24 March, 2024, the Goethe-Institut.

An exhibition tour and artists in conversation is happening on 23 March, 11:00 - 12:30.

~
Background image: sculpture detail courtesy of Alia Gargum

11/03/2024

One of our 2nd year MFA students, Alia Gargum will be exhibiting work this month locally and overseas. Gargum primarily uses steel and manipulated paper, all treated by hand, to depict signifiers of her past through a contemporary lens. Her work explores power dynamics that echo into personal relationships, with a focus on the history of Middle Eastern and North African region power structures. Themes of forced migration, exile and identity also converge her works.

07/03/2024

Students from both the MFA and BA course have been involved in a Printmaking exchange with the National School of Painting, Sculpture and Print 'La Esmeralda' also
known as enpeg in Mexico. Prints will be shown from both the students here and in Mexico so be sure to have a look at this international exhibition of print!

Exhibition in the Long Gallery, next to the Hatton Gallery in the King Edward VII Building, Newcastle University from the 1st of April until the 12th of April.

02/02/2024

Second year MFA student Alia Gargum has been selected to exhibit their sculptural work in the upcoming Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Open Submission, opening 16th March. A little about Alia’s work:

This Flag is Haram / Forbidden / حرام
“My work explores power dynamics that echo into personal relationships, with a focus on the history of Middle Eastern and North African region power structures. Themes of forced migration, exile and identity also converge in my sculptures through steel, rust, paint pigment and salt. Originally as part of a wider installation, this piece is being redefined by permeating new spaces.”

21/01/2024

“Nature’s Embrace: A Dialogue between Human and Nature”

19 Jan 2024 – 21 Jan 2024 @ XL Gallery, Newcastle University

This weekend MFA Artists Bex Etheridge, Frank Pretorius and Sarah March collaborated with Curating students Yining Ma, Xueyingzi Chen, Lin Xie and Jialin Liu.

18/12/2023

2nd year student Alia Gargum is part of this excellent online exhibition, opening today on

21/09/2023

Hi this is Jacques,

Hopefully some of you got to spend some time with my creation 'Sara', a personal assistant designed to provide social and emotional stimulation.

'Sara' sings and moves based on the users movements creating a machine-human collaborative performance.

31/08/2023

'An Unlimited game' made by .chen.90038 recently showing in MFA exhibition 'counterpart'.
Open 10-5pm Monday to Saturday until 2nd September at Newcastle university.

30/08/2023

Luo-Han Chen (.chen .studio ) invites you to experience a 10-minute film set in a space resonating with narrative voices.
The imagery of jellyfish serves as the overarching motif of this exhibition space—vulnerable yet capable of swift self-restoration , seemingly delicate yet remarkably resilient.
This same imagery is interwoven within sculptures crafted from organic materials such as fibre and latex. Amidst the wounds and cavities left behind after destruction, I mend and cherish these scars.

The Newcastle Fine Art MFA degree show will be on display until September 2nd, welcoming you to explore this exhibition featuring MFA and PhD students.

28/08/2023

Gooooodmorning!!!! This is Katie here ( ). Happy to share a few more photos from the show today. The first is a lovely photo taken by and the second is an example of how the knot is first seen by the viewer-through a window.

For this project the architecture around the sculpture was just as important to me as the sculpture itself. I applied for this room because of the many contradictions between the two. Dualities like “good and evil” or “beautiful and ugly” often compete for our attention and that’s exactly what I hope the knot will do for you. Please come see it this week ! We are open today (bank holiday Monday) and until Sept 2.

26/08/2023

Part two and final post of - ‘What Resides Beyond’ a work by currently being exhibited as part of our MFA exhibition ‘counterpart’
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Sculptural painting, with MDF, steel, emulsion, ink and salt
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2.5 x 3 meters.
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2023
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To experience Tia’s work in its entirety as well as the work by over 20 other artists visit out Exhibition ‘Counterpart’
Open 10 - 5pm Monday to Saturday until the 2nd September
At Newcastle university and the Hatton gallery
Find ‘What resides beyond’ on level five, room 5.08
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📷 -
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25/08/2023

Details of ‘What Resides Beyond’ a work by currently being exhibited as part of our MFA exhibition ‘counterpart’
-
Sculptural painting, with MDF, steel, emulsion, ink and salt
-
2.5 x 3 meters.
-
2023
-
To experience Tia’s work in its entirety as well as the work by over 20 other artists visit out Exhibition ‘Counterpart’
Open 10 - 5pm Monday to Saturday until the 2nd September
At Newcastle university and the Hatton gallery
Find ‘What resides beyond’ on level five, room 5.08
-
📷 -
-

17/08/2023

Hi it’s Katie here for my last post before the preview!

Hope to see you there :)

15/08/2023

Raphaella Davies

Salt and Spray

Multimedia Installation

Find me in room 1.17 on opening night 18th August 6pm-9pm!

13/08/2023

Sabah al-khair / صباح الخير

Good morning from with my second day of Instagram takeover and a preview of my works to be exhibited next week as part of the summer show ‘Counterpart’.

My work also exists as sculptural forms, with steel and paper hand-treated to represent memories, places and objects. Steel structures define the space, laden with the same salt, paint and rust as the paper works. Paper is painted, stained, and made within the space, then folded to carry the imprint of the space easily; at a moment’s notice and concealed if needed.

12/08/2023

As-salamu alaykum / ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ
here for my Instagram takeover with some sections of my works which will be exhibited as part of the MFA show ‘Counterpart’, opening on the 18th August.

My work is in part an exploration of the colour green, as well as a glimpse into memory through a diasporic lens. Forced migration, cultural norms and identities converge in my works. Sculptures and paintings exist and are created together, forming a dialogue that explores the definition of these processes.

27/02/2023

Maquette Knot exhibited

By: MFA Y2

27/02/2023

Ethereal Realm
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A show of geometric coloured pencil drawing by second year MFA student
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If your around please do come and visit Tia’s exhibition in The Atrium and the university (the large glass room and the bottom of the Hatton gallery’s entrance/stairs…)
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25/02/2023

Please Follow mfa year one student .march.art! Sarah just exhibited her work in this past Friday :) we are so excited to have her in the cohort ❤️

22/02/2023

Please come out to see the very first . This brilliant idea to create a space for artist to test out ideas and get their art out of the studio in the form of, you guessed it, a “rough draft,” comes from our year 2 MFA students and . We are absolutely buzzing that Cody and Tia have organized and curated this show. A good portion of the cohort will be testing out their ideas for their final degree show.
As many of you who are artists know, collaboration and discussions amongst artists are so essential to a healthy artistic practice. Please come and give us feedback to what you think about our work! Drinks and nibbles will be provided