'God's in the Living Room'
 13th - 20th September 2019
Artist: Arizona Smith
Private View: 13th September 7 - 9pm

'God's in the Living Room' is a show born from dreams, an exploration of the subconscious through symbols, archetypes and magic. Using drawing and painting Arizona Smith creates snapshots of the psyche, the everyday connection to the divine and the pain and joy of being alive. 'Rooms and furniture are important in my work as they are in my life, they are filled with meaning, they are energy just like everything else - on a physics level. I have played with giving ordinary things emotional qualities which has reminded me of my childhood, where everything was magical and simple patterns in rugs or fabric could be totally transporting.' 

Arizona Smith is a self taught artist also training to be a transpersonal psychotherapist,
 www.arizonasmithart.com 
 instagram.com/arizonathecat

Summer Salon 2019
21st June - 12th July
Private View 21st June 2019
Curator; Eleanor Pearce
​Now in Its 12th year, the Summer Salon at Islington Arts Factory is inspired by the 18th Century French Salons, with floor to ceiling hanging, the Salon seeks to represent the broad variety of work happening today in Islington and beyond.
The submissions process is completely open, anyone can apply, whether you are a professional, or an emerging artist. We aim to represent artists from all backgrounds.

“The Summer Salon embodies Islington Arts Factory’s ethos of creating an atmosphere where everyone feels welcome to participate, providing a launch pad for local and emerging talent,” says Eleanor Pearce, IAF’s Art Director. “The idea for the show grew from French salons where people would meet to discuss the arts and exchange ideas.”.

Islington Pottery Works
Ceramics Showcase
8th - 14th June
Opening 7th June 7 - 9pm
Curator: Kayley Holderness

This June we will be holding an exhibition of ceramic works produced at Islington Arts Factory.
 
The exhibition will present work from adult workshops and professional artists, side by side with work from children and teenage classes, in the place where they were all created. These individual projects will not follow a particular theme but will showcase a diverse range of making and decorating techniques for domestic and sculptural pieces.
 
We invite people to come and celebrate the creative talents of makers of all ages from Islington and the surrounding boroughs.

The Black Image Company Presents: ArtsAdvocate
24th May - 31st May
Opening 24th May 7 - 9pm
Artist: ArtsAdvocate

The Black Image Company Debut exhibition launches on the 24th May with a preview event hosted at Islington Arts Factory from 7pm-9pm. This is a collaboration with British born Nigerian artist ArtsAdvocate.

The Black Image company launched early 2019 with the vision to focus on promoting emerging black and other ethnic minority artists who work with a variety of mediums. From painting, and photography to spoken word artists their work will be showcased throughout exhibitions and events. The aim is to give them access, and to promote their work and to encourage the arts within our community. 
The Black Image Company Presents: ArtsAdvocate is a week long exhibition where guests can not only view, but also purchase his work. It will be kicked off with a ticketed preview event, where guests will be entertained with multiple performances from including poet Lola Oh. They will be soothed by soulful R’nB, and watered with prosecco

This will be his first UK solo exhibition, where a variety of his work and styles will be displayed, where the artists himself will be present to talk about his work, vision and inspiration behind the pieces

Barriers
An exhibition of works by refugees who work with The New Art Studio
Curators: Tania Kaczynski & Jon Martyn
26th April - 12th May
Opening: 26th April 6 - 9pm
The New Art Studio will be showing over 150 paintings made by asylum seekers and refugees.
Come and be inspired by this collection of sublime, soulful art work. Although in this group show the paintings are varied and unique, they all  have a common thread of loss and longing, hope and redemption.
The New Art Studio is housed here at Islington Arts Factory. It is a small therapeutic art studio specifically for asylum seekers and refugees. Many have never made art before, others were established artists in their own countries.
All have suffered untold horrors of war and persecution, and now face new challenges in our “hostile environment”.
New Art Studio provides a place of solace, safety and creativity.
We are an international crew, with members from Iran, Afghanistan, China, Russia Pakistan and more.  The art work produced is unexpected and deeply moving. This collection includes landscapes, figurative work, abstraction and graphic work. When all is lost imagination is the only place of true freedom. The group show celebrates the power of creativity.

​​We will also be hosting an afternoon of debate and learning.
Please come and join us for a Q and A session on Sunday 28th of April 2pm-5pm.
It will be an afternoon of inspiring discussion and talks on The New Art Studio; how we work and why creativity and imagination are such a lifeline for asylum seekers. 
 
 www.newartstudio.org.uk

​Foolish Fire
Friday 22nd - 29th March 
Opening Night 22nd March with Monsterlune Catwalk 7 - 9pm
Artists: Sarah Gilbert and Estelle Riviere 
Two French artists, Sarah Gilbert and Estelle Riviere mixed their creative flame, expressing strong surrealism into a world of magic, mystery and poetry. A week of exhibition showing paintings costumes, dolls, masks, drawing and a large format digital collage backdrop.

​Call That Art! 2019
 1st - 10th March
Opening Friday 1st March 7 - 9pm
Artists: Phil Alcock Olwyn Carroll Tom Coates Nat Faulkner Sally Gorham Ella Husbands Maria Konder Joe Richardson 
Shinuk Suh Mary-Ann Stevens Elliot Stew Camille Smith Helen Waldburger Rupert Whale Cybi Williams Phillip Williams
Curator: Sally Gorham 
Get a glimpse of work by the artists of tomorrow. Sally Gorham brings exciting, cutting edge and contemporary art by a group of more than 16 emerging artists most of whom studied together at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Work on show will include video, sculpture, installations and painting.

​Middlesex Uni Second Years 2019
15th - 22nd February
​Private view 15th February 7 - 9pm

This exhibition will showcase a wide range of innovative contemporary work by emergent artists currently in their second year of the BA (Hons) Fine Art at Middlesex University. The course at Middlesex embraces a wide range of art practice, and has a tradition of encouraging cross over and hybrid forms of art practice. This exhibition will reflect the continuation of that tradition, providing a survey of work by a new generation of artists at a pivotal moment in their development, all of whom have chosen to launch their careers amidst the vibrancy and diversity of cosmopolitan London.

​MakeArt
Exhibition: 7th - 21st December 2018
Private View: 6pm - 8pm 7th December 

You are cordially invited to join the Mayor of Islington, Councillor Dave Poyser for the  opening of this exciting annual showcase of children's artwork, created on the MakeArt Programme by artists aged 4 - 16 years old.

You will encounter a huge painted tableau of dancing figures inspired by the Venice Carnival made by our MakeArt and Move artists during the summer holidays. There will also be mighty group painting of The Reptile House, where by moonlight the inhabitants have escaped! The centrepiece of the main gallery will be The Vegetable Man sculpture, constructed from all the bounty of harvest in our half term workshop 'Ode to Autumn' and it's story time at the foot of the towering Faraway Tree sculpture. As we are approaching Christmas, you are invited to visit the Toy Shop window to pick your favourite Teddy Bear, created collaboratively by our ArtStart artists. Clay Level one students present an array of succulents and cacti ceramics, while Clay Level two have crafted beautiful vessels with slab building techniques, representing each of their personal tastes and interests.
The Tuesday MakeArt class have made wooden pull string puppets making up a menagerie of creatures, both real and imagined. You can explore a paper mache city, constructed by Thursday MakeArt, with vivid colours and quirky detailing. The MakeMoreArt artists will be presenting beautiful prints inspired by flowers and birds, as well as transcriptions of Henry Moore's Sheep Sketchbook in fineline pen and ominous eye drawings.

This year we are delighted to include examples of work from art clubs held at Hugh Myddelton Primary School and Hanover Primary School, these include  a collection of detailed drawings of skeletons inspired by the decorative Mexican Day of the dead parade, and a flock of owls in charcoal!

The MakeArt Programme is devised and delivered by Islington Arts Factory artists Eleanor Pearce (Director of Art), Kayley Holderness, Josephine Sweeney, and Jude Lacey. We are committed to passing on our skills and unlocking the creative potential in every child through imaginatively engaging theme based projects. We respect the artistic merits of young artists  and consider their works on an equal par to adults artists work.