Artist Statement
Drawing on varied interests including history, philosophy and storytelling; I create allegorical, dystopian and fantastical sculptural works chiefly in miniature. These reflect my interest in the power of art as a cultural and political critique, presenting intricately sculpted worlds imbued with meaning.
In 2019’s Plato’s Lair (redux) I drew on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and constructed a wooden potting shed at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art within which resided a society of miniature bird like figures; their only reality. The otherness of the miniatures provides a distance for the viewer who observes a different yet identifiable character; an allegory for themselves.
Plato, Descartes and todays builders of computer simulations generate forms of scepticism about the credibility of our ordinary experience. They raise doubts about how we can distinguish reality from substitutes made of shadows, dreams or virtual realities. My work proposes that our reality is essentially a political reality made of images, slogans and fantasies.
Biography
Based in North East England, sculptor and installation artist Peter Hanmer studied at the University for the Creative Arts and Newcastle University, where he received a BA (Hons) (2014) and Masters of Fine Art with Distinction (2018) respectively. Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors, winner of the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of The Year award 2017 & the Air Gallery Award 2023, he has been shortlist for multiple awards and has exhibited his work worldwide. Selected exhibitions include; Seeking Armageddon (SOLO), Newcastle Art Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne (2022): Plato’s Lair and These are the Voyages (SOLO), Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden (2018, 2021 respectively); Digital Citizen – The Precarious Subject, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2019) and The Discerning eye, Mall Galleries, London (2014).
Education
Master of Fine Art (Distinction) - Newcastle University 2016 - 2018
BA with honours in Fine Art (2:1) - UCA Farnham 2011-2014
Memberships
Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors (MRSS)
Awards
Winner of the Air Gallery Award, 2023.
Winner of the Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award, 2017.
Shortlisted for the Jerwood Makers Open 2019.
Axisweb Artist of the Month March 2019.
Shortlisted for the Foci magazine competition 2016.
Long listed for the Signature Art Prize, 2015.
Long listed for the Ranger House Summer exhibition and Competition, 2014.
Residencies
Whistle Art Stop, Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Culminating in the group exhibition 'On Site'. April 2015 – November 2015
Exhibitions
2024
Roy's Art Fair, Oxo Tower Wharf, London. 27 - 29 September.
ROLODEX Imaginaries, The Wall North Contemporary, Hexham. 10,11,12, 18 & 19 of May 2024.
MATERIAL TRUTHS, The Old Parcels Office, Scarborough. 23 March - 21 April 2024.
2023
Manchester Contemporary, Manchester Central Convention Complex, Manchester. 17 November - 19 November 2023.
AIR Open 2023, Air Gallery, Altrincham, Greater Manchester. 18 August - 30 September 2023.
RSA Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. 6 of May - 11 of June 2023.
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL ART 2, Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 6 of April - 29 of April 2023.
2022
Seeking Armageddon, Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 15 of October - 12 of November 2022. (SOLO).
NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL ART, Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 11 of December 2021 - 14 of January 2022.
2021
Macabre, Air Gallery, Altrincham, Greater Manchester. 14 of October - 13 of November 2021.
North East Open Call, The Auxiliary, Middlesbrough Art Weekender, Middlesbrough. 30 of September - 3 of October 2021.
Aura 100 Days a Numinous Line, the Wall North Contemporary, Hexham. 23 of July - 1 of August 2021.
These Are the Voyages, Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, Newcastle Upon Tyne. May 22 - 23, 29 - 31 and June 5 - 6, 2021. (SOLO).
1:4 - WetDoveTail Online Exhibition - https://www.wetdovetail.com/current-exhibition - April 2021.
Southwark Park Galleries 36th Annual Open Exhibition - https://southwarkparkgalleries.org/ - 2 December 2020 - 31 of January 2021.
2020
Keep your distance, Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, Newcastle Upon Tyne. August 2020.
Northern Lights: An Online Exhibition in Aid of NHS Charities Together - www.wallnorthgallery.com - 1 July - 31 August 2020.
2019
Thoughtful planet 3, Thought Foundation, Birtley. September 5 - November 13 2019.
AUTONOMY, The Auxiliary, Middlesbrough Art Weekender, Middlesbrough. 26 – 29 September 2019.
Enlightenment, Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 19 of May - 2 of September 2019.
Digital Citizen - The Precarious Subject, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 25 January – 16 June 2019.
2018
Degree Show, Master of Fine Art, Newcastle University, 24 August - 6 September 2018.
Plato's Lair, winning piece, Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award 2017, Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 19 of May - 2 of September 2018. (SOLO).
MFA Connect, Victoria University, Victoria, Canada, May 2018.
Your Space, Ex-Libris Gallery, Newcastle, 2018.
2017
Interim Show, Master of Fine Art, Newcastle University, 18 August – 1 September 2017.
Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award, Proposal Exhibition, Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 20 – 29 of May 2017.
In The Company Of Others, Hoults Yard, Newcastle Upon Tyne. 23 February 2017.
Who are you and where are you bound?, Old Low Light Gallery, North Shields. 2 February - 21 May 2017.
2016
FLUX Exhibition, The Old Truman Brewery, London. 2 - 6 November 2016.
utopia:dystopia, 94 Walcot Street, Fringe Arts Bath Festival 2016, Bath. 27 May - 12 June 2016.
Sacred Art, Aberglasney Gardens, South Wales, 29 of April- 5 May 2016.
Hilton Docklands Hotel, London. 4 July 2015 - April 2016.
2015
FLUX Exhibition, The Royal College of Art, London. 11 - 14 December 2015.
Modern Panic VI, Apiary Studios, Hackney Road, London. 13 - 22 of November 2015.
On Site, The Shed, Haltwhistle. 18 October - 22 November 2015.
Friends of the Hatton Summer Exhibition, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne. 26 June - 8 August 2015.
Exhibit Here's Summer Exhibition, Menier Gallery, London. 28 July - 1 August 2015.
Regressive Flight, Blackwell's art and bookshop, Newcastle upon Tyne, June 2015 (SOLO).
Unnatural Curiosities, The Last Tuesday Society & The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, London. 1 - 23 April 2015.
Rare Art, Menier Gallery, London. 14 - 18 April 2015.
2014
The Discerning eye 23rd exhibition, Mall Galleries - The Mall, London, 13 - 23 November 2014.
Make/Believe: New Graduates in Art & Design, James Hockey and Foyer Galleries University For The Creative Arts Farnham, 15 September - 17 October 2014
Liquid Brick, Beyond Limit Speed ii, The Strand Gallery - John Adam St, London 21 – 27 July 2014.
Liquid Brick, Beyond Limit Speed i, A + D Gallery, Chiltern St, London 24 June – 28 June 2014.
Degree Show, University For The Creative Arts Farnham, May 22 - 6 June 2014.
Help! Savages Oxford House Gallery, Bethnal Green, London 2 – 7 April 2014.
Facing Extinction, Foyer Gallery, University For The Creative Arts Farnham, 7 March - 5 April 2014.
2013/12
Liquid Brick (The Perfect System), The Arch Gallery, London, 3 - 9 June 2013.
Liquid Brick, Menier Gallery, London, 29 May - 2 June 2012.
Interviews
The Empty Gallery podcast, 2020 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf1xn0ad2pI&list=WL&index=77
Axisweb Artist of the Month, March 2019 - https://www.axisweb.org/artist-of-the-month/2019/peter-hanmer/
Narc Magazine, 2018 - http://narcmagazine.com/feature-peter-hanmer-my-inspiration/
Contemporary Visual Arts in the North East, 2018 - http://www.northeastartmap.com/2018/07/31/1180/
PRESS
‘Keep your distance’ installation – Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, 2020
‘Hey Art, What's Good?’ Episode 83 - https://heyartwhatsgood.com/posts/episode-83
Digital Citizen - The Precarious Subject - group exhibition at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, 2019
http://balticplus.uk/digital-citizen-the-precarious-subject-e768/
http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/digital-citizen-the-precarious-subject
https://corridor8.co.uk/article/digital-citizen/
Thoughtful Planet 3 - group exhibition, 2019
https://corridor8.co.uk/article/thoughtful-planet-3/
Gillian Dickinson North East Young Sculptor of Year 2017 - Plato’s Lair - Cheeseburn Sculpture Garden, 2018
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/northumberland-sculpture-gardens-open-season-14672630
http://neconnected.co.uk/young-sculptor-from-northumberland-unveils-immersive-installation-in-the-grounds-of-cheeseburn-sculpture/
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2018/05/peterhamnercheeseburn/