Degree Shows Guide 2016

Q&A 2
Rachel Bradley, curator, New Art
West Midlands
What are you looking for in a degree show?
Work that is making a contribution to current
thinking and debates in contemporary art
and the wider world. I go to a number of
degree shows every year – not just in the West
Midlands – to gauge which graduates I hope
will apply for the New Art West Midlands
exhibitions (which I’ve organised since 2013)
but also to see what’s coming through.
How important are degree shows to
the selection process for New Art West
Midlands?
They’re vital in that the majority of applications
received in the competition profile the degree
show works as the most recent produced.
When the selection process takes place – this
year the selectors were Sonia Boyce, John
Stezaker and Katharine Stout – I’m able to
advise more fully on what the work is like if I’ve
seen it ‘in the flesh’.
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“[It’s the same] if you look at Black Mountain College or
Dartington or the settlement movement. What was
interesting about the post-war British art school, for
example, was that it was a place where those people who
didn’t go down the normal routes would end up. And the
irreverence and post-avant-gardism of the art school
system created a whole generation of people who had a
huge impact on society in very broad ways.”
Of course Hudson isn’t the only person in the visual arts
who has misgivings about the shifting sands of art school
education in the UK. From student protests about the
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Assemble at
Turner Prize
2015 exhibition,
Tramway,
Glasgow. Photo:
Keith Hunter
Photography
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Visitors viewing
works at mima
What do you think students get out of
degree shows?
In the organisation of degree shows there is a
real opportunity for graduates to get experience
of tackling challenges of display and engaging
in the negotiations that are involved in grouptype
exhibitions. The shows provide an
opportunity to think about audience and who’ll
be seeing the work.
What makes a good degree show?
In my opinion the best degree shows have
work in them that demonstrates an awareness
of art history and developments in the field of
contemporary art.
What do you like most about degree shows?
I really enjoy seeing what’s coming through
and talking to the graduating students about
their work if they are around. I also buy work
sometimes, but I’m running out of wall space!
It would be good if shows were displayed for
a little longer though – so I could get around
more of them.
This year’s New Art West Midlands
exhibition continues until 15 May.
www.newartwm.org
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