Archive
Group Exhibition
Somewhere Means Something to Somebody
03.02.2024 – 04.03.2024
Ellie Briffitt, Thomas Fennell, Ethan Kirby, Alfie Lucas,
Courtney Snow, Benjamin Stezaker & The Blueprint Collective
Flatland is pleased to present Somewhere Means Something to Somebody, a group exhibition celebrating the end of a six month residency as part of Flatland Futures; the arm of the arts organisation which focuses on artist development. Over this period Flatland Futures has housed six artist residents, and the De La Warr Pavilion’s Blueprint Collective, artists all aged 25 and under who are either from or based in East Sussex.
The residency has taken place during the run of the 2023 Turner Prize exhibition at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, using this moment in East Sussex to give each resident an insight into the wider regional artistic ecology in which Flatland operates, through field trips, collective thinking, workshops, and communal studio practice.
Flatland, in its earliest inception, was founded to open doors, and navigate barriers that exist to the development of artistic careers. This exhibition is a manifestation of the organisation’s founding principles—a platform and contributor to the ecosystem of contemporary art in East Sussex. It serves as an incubator for artists, providing a space for them to gather and ponder the complexities of art making within the coastal landscape.
This exhibition considers locale, sentimentality and connection as its central themes. The culmination of time spent together, sharing, pondering and meandering. If you glance across from the gallery windows you will see a collective gesture from the residents: a plaque made for the bench which sits on the patch of grass bordered with green industrial fencing opposite the gallery. Not only does this plaque commemorate the time spent together in this location for the residents, but it also extends the invitation to our community who may have not yet made it over the threshold of the gallery doors to join the conversation and question how and why Somewhere Means Something to Somebody.
The delivery of this programme has been lead by Amy Mock, Young Person’s Studio Lead, Flatland and supported by our delivery partners: Kim Byford, Talent Accelerator, The De La Warr Pavilion’s Learning and Participation team Dee Haughney and Miguel Martin, and Eastbourne ALIVE’s team.
This exhibition has been generously supported by funds from Arts Council England, Rother District Council, Talent Accelerator, UK Shared Prosperity Fund, and East Sussex Arts Partnership.