ST MARGARET

ARTISTS: Laura Porter, Lorna Johnson, Alice Smith, Ian Kirkpatrick and Mike Winnard
CURATOR: Court Spencer
DATE: September 2018
VENUE: Left Bank Leeds

St. Margaret of Antioch was a popular saint in England during the medieval period and the patron saint of expectant mothers. Her emblem, a dragon, is based upon a story in which she escaped from a dragon that tried to swallow her. Five artists were commissioned to make new work in response to her story and exhibited the results inside the Grade II* listed former church building, which used to bear her name.

Laura Porter, based in Devon, is creating a sculptural, womb-like textile piece, accompanied by a soundscape, which visitors will be able to lay on and interact with.

Lorna Johnson is a Leeds-based artist and PhD student. She is making an installation based on table settings and feasts, and will also host our panel discussion, Artists Reinterpreting Heritage, on 19 September.

Alice Smith is a Lancashire-based artist and freelance designer. She will use 10 cloth banners to convey the story of St. Margaret through large-scale black line drawing in a medieval woodcut style. The drawings will be juxtaposed with a modern graphic composition.

Ian Kirkpatrick is a Canadian artist who has a studio in Leeds. His sculptural dragon was decorated with bright, graphic iconography referencing the past. Visitors were able to create their own miniature dragon.

Mike Winnard is a Co-Director of Assembly House and LadyBeck Artist Studios and Project Space. He is creating large-scale, hand-rendered images using charcoal and ink, borrowing conventions from traditional catholic and baroque altarpieces and religious iconography.

This exhibition was supported by Heritage Lottery Fund and Left Bank Leeds.