ROUNDABOUT
[LUKE PERRY]
The second artist, who’s two-month residency at The Asylum Art Gallery followed David Checkley's in our ROUNDABOUT project, is Luke Perry. Find out more about the artist and their proposal below.
15th January - 17th March 2024| Public event and unveiling 19th May 2024.
[ ABOUT THE ARTIST ]
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Luke Perry is a sculptor from the Black Country who specialises in Public Artworks that shine light on less represented people and subjects in communities.
He works in stone and bronze but is most known for his large-scale steel artworks which include the Lions of the Great War memorial in Smethwick and the SS Journey Monument to Immigrants in Birmingham.
As a proud environmentalist, activist, and artist with an award-winning 16 years of experience creating public artworks in the Industrial Midlands, Perry has cultivated a knowledge and passion for local history, cultural identities and communities in the area.
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[ ROUNDABOUT PROPOSAL ]
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For the ROUNDABOUT project, Perry proposed to make hand-made four stand-alone, galvanised steel sculptures that stand up to 2.5 metres tall in the Chapel Ash underpass and represent four different subjects chosen in collaboration with the local community.
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Through a series of hands-on engagement sessions and workshops, Perry planned to work closely with the local groups, our community board, and hyper-local resident artists to investigate and develop ideas for sculptures so that celebrate the area's history, culture, industry and present.
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The final sculptures were to be made in the artists' workshop in Cradley Heath using a selection of traditional methods, like plasma cutting, welding and finishing, which will ensure the works are vandal-proof, robust and zero-maintenance with a lifespan exceeding 25 years.
[ DURING THE RESIDENCY ]
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During his two-month residency, Luke Perry was in discussion with many members of the local community including Black History specialists, gallery curators, South Asian Studies specialists, and more to develop ideas for his steel sculptures.
He also ran workshops for the public to help expand his research and in one workshop that he ran with Suit Services, Perry said he “didn’t have a minute when there wasn't a queue of people waiting to talk to me about their story [..] I gained a huge amount of insight. Not only have I been meeting with many people who are directly adding content to the research but I'm also getting dozens of new people to work with.”
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Once the sculpture ideas were finalised, the Perry invited hyper-local resident artists of Wolverhampton, Giovanni Uche and Matt Lloyd from the ROUNDABOUT Community Board, to be co-designers for two of the sculptures. They continued to work on the sculptures throughout their production.
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Read more about this in an article by the Express and Star.
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[MONUMENTS] 19 May 2024, 5-7pm
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The second event in the Chapel Ash underpass was MONUMENTS and took place in May 2024. It saw us unveil the four monumental steel sculptures by Luke Perry as well as showcase the work of first residency artist David Checkley and micro-commissioned artists Luke Reader and Billy Haynes. After talks by Perry, Checkley, Haynes and Project Manager Hannah Taylor, each sculpture was unveiled with performances by local artists who referenced themes within the works.
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'Bhangra!' was unveiled by prominent Bhangra dancer Sohan Kailey and the unveiling of 'The Black Arts Movement' was accompanied by a performance of local street dance academy Outset. 'Indian Workers Association' was unveiled by poets Priyanka Joshi and Anisha Sahota, and 'Recovery' was unveiled with moving performances by volunteers and clients of Suit Services plus Sterran Dance Company.
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It was a bustling event which saw so many members of the local community come out in support of the ROUNDABOUT project.
[ VIEW GALLERY ]
Luke Perry's sculptures now stand in the Chapel Ash island underpass, joining the work of artists David Checkley, Luke Reader and Billy Haynes. Perry's work has garnered significant regional attention, with features on BBC Midlands, What's On Wolverhampton, The Express and Star, and more. Working closely with local communities has allowed the project to authentically reflect the diverse cultural ecology of the area, transform the space and succeed in allowing pedestrians to encounter aspects of Wolverhampton's history they might have otherwise missed.