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Public Art Space, Wangsiying, Beijing - Setting up exhibition (2010)
BIGsmall Artists was set up in 2009 by Fion Gunn and Ray Murphy as an informal partnership committed to cross-cultural collaboration.
Many BIGsmall projects involve Irish and Chinese artists collaborating on exhibitions however an increasing number of projects also involve African and European artists as well as community projects with Somali & other refugee women.
BIGsmall Coordinators
Fion Gunn is Irish and lives in London. She exhibits in and curates exhibitions in Ireland, China and the UK and is currently preparing a number of projects for Italy and France. Fion is also a coordinator and member of the board of the Streatham Women’s Sewing Group which she established with Ifrah Odawa in 2009. She is represented by the Barbara Stanley Gallery in London and by the Yan Chao Collection and the Beijing Studio Center Gallery in Beijing. She is the recipient of a significant number of awards from Culture Ireland, Arts Council of Ireland and Arts Council England. Her personal website is:
Zheng Xuewu is from Harbin city and lives in Beijing in Sonzhuang the famous artists’ village. He is the Director of the Beijing Studio Center Gallery and the BSC Residency Program. He is also a director of the China-Korea Artists’ Association. He has worked extensively in the US and has exhibited all over the world and is represented by the Redgate Gallery as well as the BSC in Beijing and Koru Contemporary Art Gallery, Hong Kong. Xuewu & Fion have collaborated since 2009 and have many future plans to expand their collaborations. His personal website is http://www.zhengxuewu.com/
Jane Clegg has been filming BIGsmall Artists’ projects since 2009 and has made 3 films so far which have been screened to a number of audiences in Ireland and China and which can be viewed on Youtube. Jane who is from an Irish and English background lives in London and has had a distinguished career as an independent filmmaker and editor. She has won a number of prestigious awards including a Gold Camera Award,( History category, US Film, TV and Video Festival) and an IVCA award. Jane runs her own production company- Q&A Productions and is a member of the International Visual Communications Association.
Her website is:http://qandaproduction.co.uk/
Liao Yuwen (Ivan) started working with Fion in 2007 when he was a post graduate student at the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communications. Ivan now works as a Marketing executive with China Central television and has worked on all of the IRISH WAVE projects where his logistical and managerial skills have made him indispensable!
In 2010 Ivan brought Wang Zijia into the Beijing team and we are all hugely grateful to both of them for the work they do to organise and support IRISH WAVE.
LINKS TO BIGsmall FILMS on YOUTUBE
The 2011 IRISH WAVE 2 film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoojkUgHTlM (duration 11 minutes)
The 2010 IRISH WAVE 1 film (duration 30 minutes – in 3 parts)
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa–oPOtqX8
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWfXmBZ0BJM
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4GZoB9e0-Q
New Members for the BIGsmall Team
We’re delighted to welcome the following artists who are working with us on projects in China, Ireland and the UK:
Fouzia Miah, Holly Robinson. Niamh Cunningham, Alberto Fiori, Zhen Lin
Niamh Cunningham is an Irish artist currenly working in Beijing . She is currently exploring concepts and imagery in knitted textiles and continues to paint landscapes and portraiture.
Alberto Fiori is an Italian artist living in London who is collaborating with Fion Gunn on 2 exhibition projects – ‘Altered Landscapes’ (also with Luxembourgeois artist Justine Blau) for London and Venice in 2012/13 and ‘Cultural Compass’ an Italian, Irish & Chinese exhibition in London, Rome & Beijing 2012/13.
Zhen Lin is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and in the future plans to become a museum curator both in China and internationally. She is interested in investigating different curatorial approaches and is collaborating with Fion Gunn and Holly Robinson on ‘The City and the City’ project in London 2012. The three collaborators will use an interactive curatorial approach within the context of practitioner curation.
Fouzia Miah has been working with Fion Gunn planning the next Africa Art & Design Fair in South London – this is project is beig organises under the aegis of the Streatham Womens’ Sewing Group. In addition Fouzia is collaborating with Fion on a Book Art project which is being planned for London in 2012.
Holly Robinson is a recent fine art graduate with a specific interest in urban architecture, she is collaborating with Fion Gunn on an exhibition entitled ‘The City and the City’ which will take place in London (May-June 2012) in the run up to the London Olympics.