Aesthetica exhibition at St Mary's, York

St Mary's is an ancient church in York's city centre, a stones throw from Clifford's Tower and next to the Jorvik Viking Centre, Fenwicks and Topshop/ Topman etc. It opens for the main visitor season as an exhibition venue, largely showing installations. Every year, York Art Gallery either commissions an artist to create a site-specific installation that is then housed within the unique space of York St Mary's, or an artist is invited to exhibit their existing work there.

I went for my maiden visit on April 14th to see an exhibition of shortlisted works from those artists who entered the Aesthetica Art Prize competition.

Exterior shots of the lovely St Mary's.

To give you a bit of background-

The Aesthetica Art Prize is an annual award given by the international art and culture publication Aesthetica Magazine. Distinguished by its dynamic content, merging compelling critical debate and stunning images, the magazine engages with all aspects of visual art and culture, attracting an audience of over 140,000 worldwide.
The Aesthetica Art Prize is a celebration of excellence in art from across the world and offers artists the opportunity to showcase their work to wider audiences and further their involvement in the international art world.

A bit of useless of information for you- I had a poem published in Aesthetica magazine, Issue 3 in September 2003, woo, get me!

Anyway, this exhibition has now finished, but my highlights are below.

These photos were my favorites in the exhibition, by Damien O'Mara, particularly the top one.

I'm sorry but I can't remember the artist of this lovely sculpture. If anyone knows please get in touch and share the knowledge!

A view across the church taking in some of the works on display.

Kyunghee Park's installation, in the foreground, Poppy Whatmore's in the background. 

 

A shot of Poppy Whatmore's piece. I wasn't surprised to learn this was a students work! But it certainly looked like a labour of love.

To be honest, I enjoyed looking round the interior of this beautiful church more than looking at the art work (shame on me, but its true). Below are some of the lovely curiosities from inside the church building.

If you'd like to find out more about St Mary's or Aesthetica magazine here's where to look-

www.aestheticamagazine.com
www.yorkstmarys.org.uk

Currently on now at St Mary's is the pottery or Julian Stair until 07.07.13.