Here I am is an exhibition of new work by Sheffield-based artists Neil Conroy and Lesley Sanderson marking twenty years of their collaboration as Conroy/Sanderson.
Through a series of video, drawing, neon and large-scale sculptural works, Here I am presents a timely exploration of ideas of place and displacement.
Neil Conroy and Lesley Sanderson were born in England and Malaysia respectively. Their work questions ideas of fixed cultural identity and explores the relationship between our sense of place and the subjective context we bring to it.
Framed around a new neon text work, “here I am, am I here”, the exhibition features two new video works set within an expansive, empty landscape, where stillness becomes an almost tangible presence. With the artist’s faces covered by oversized origami structures, the works simultaneously evoke the playful and the strange.
Here I am also presents elements from the videos translated into physical, sculptural structures, alongside a large-scale 8 x 10 ft pencil drawing which is displayed on the gallery’s back wall.
The exhibition forms part of Making Ways, a new programme supported by Sheffield Culture Consortium through Arts Council England to showcase, celebrate and develop the exceptional contemporary visual art produced in the city. Over three years the project will champion and cultivate artists practicing in Sheffield through a series of exhibitions, commissions, events and professional development opportunities.