Aroundtown Magazine May June 2023 edition
Read the May/June edition of Aroundtown Magazine, South Yorkshire's free premier lifestyle magazine.
Read the May/June edition of Aroundtown Magazine, South Yorkshire's free premier lifestyle magazine.
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OUT & ABOUT<br />
The argonauts<br />
have arrived<br />
at Wentworth Woodhouse<br />
Artist Jason Wilsher-Mills<br />
Just like his latest exhibition’s<br />
namesake myth, Jason<br />
Wilsher-Mills’ journey to<br />
becoming an acclaimed artist<br />
is a heroic adventure of epic<br />
proportions.<br />
Aged 11, Jason caught chickenpox that<br />
caused his white blood cells to attack his central<br />
nervous system, paralysing him from the neck<br />
down. But his recovery surpassed doctors’<br />
expectations and at 18 he went to university to<br />
study fine art.<br />
He became an art teacher, taught in HM Prison<br />
Leeds, and rose to department head of an FE<br />
college. But aged 30 another infection worsened<br />
his disabilities and ended his teaching career.<br />
Father to two young children and suddenly<br />
unable to earn a living, he decided to paint his<br />
way out of his predicament.<br />
However, his disability meant he could no<br />
longer paint with oils, so he picked up an iPad,<br />
teaching himself how to embrace the pixel and<br />
use digital technology in his work.<br />
His large-scale, humorous and multi-hued<br />
artworks swiftly became sought-after and his<br />
exhibitions have toured the world. And his latest<br />
exhibition, Jason & his Argonauts, is now on at<br />
Wentworth Woodhouse for all to see until Sunday<br />
18th <strong>June</strong>.<br />
Lightbox installations, wall hangings and<br />
intricately decorated fibreglass celebrating<br />
disability and Jason’s Northern working-class<br />
heritage will be displayed on the ground floor<br />
and gardens of the Grade I listed stately home,<br />
making it fully accessible for all.<br />
The exhibition also includes a 3.5-metrelong<br />
inflatable Changing Places Argonaut – a<br />
sculpture created to support the Changing Places<br />
campaign, which calls on all large UK public<br />
venues to install fully-accessible toilets, equipped<br />
with height-adjustable changing benches<br />
and hoists.<br />
Ahead of the exhibition, Jason staged<br />
workshops for members of ArtWorks South<br />
Yorkshire, Rotherham Opportunity College and<br />
Sheffield-based Under The Stars - organisations<br />
which help adults with learning disabilities to<br />
achieve their potential. They were taught by Jason<br />
how to create art with iPads and made striking<br />
digital images of their faces and favourite things.<br />
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