The programme
Writers will participate in three writing workshops with established critics JJ Charlesworth, Cherry Smyth and Chris Sharratt running between February – July 2012.
Additionally, they will receive feedback on work proposed for publication from these critics and have the opportunity to submit work to Axis and partnering publications.
It is anticipated that participating writers will aim to write not only about work in Wales but also about work showing in other areas of the UK and potentially Europe.
The Participants
Selection for the programme took place in December 2011 and the three writers participating in this year's programme are:
Biographies of workshop leaders and mentors
JJ Charlesworth
JJ Charlesworth has been writing about contemporary art since he left Goldsmiths College London in 1996, where he did a degree in art. He is associate editor at the leading contemporary art magazine ArtReview and writes regularly on contemporary art for magazines such as Art Monthly, Time Out London and the US website Art Agenda. He is a visiting tutor in painting at the Royal College of Art, and is currently researching a doctoral thesis on British art criticism in the 1970s.
Cherry Smyth
Cherry Smyth is a critic, curator and poet. She writes regularly for Modern Painters, Art Monthly, Kaleidoscope, Art Review and Circa and contributed catalogue essays on Jane and Louise Wilson (Chisenhale Gallery), Salla Tykka (Chapter Arts), Hanna Maybank (Artsway) and Sarah Pucill (The Lux) among others. She has been the visiting critic at Braziers International Art Workshop and at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Castello, Spain and has spoken widely about the contemporary visual arts at Tate Modern, Serpentine Gallery, Camden Arts Centre and others. She was also a curatorial adviser for Axis’ online showcase, Open Frequency, 2006 -7.
Chris Sharratt
Chris Sharratt is a writer, editor and editorial consultant. He has written on arts and culture for, amongst others, The Guardian, The Sunday Times and Manchester Evening News. He was executive arts editor of Metro newspaper and before that editor of the Manchester magazine City Life. Chris currently edits the creative industries site www.creativetimes.co.uk and is a contributor to Axis. He is based in Glasgow.
This programme is supported by Arts Council of Wales
