Testing Ground is our residency programme at Exchange Place Studios, intended to provide an intensive period of creative experimentation for an artist based in Sheffield. Our artist-in-residence for September/October 2024 is Simon Le Ruez, an artist with making at the heart of his practice.

Simon works mostly with sculpture and multimedia installations, often combining conflicting materials and colours to create friction. He finds inspiration in architecture and biological forms, imagining new relationships between the built and natural world. The resulting work bends the concept of the norm and pushes against mainstream ideas of beauty.

For Testing Ground, Simon will create a series of installations that change and evolve throughout the residency. He will treat the studio as a stage to publicly experiment with new visual compositions that fill the whole space, playing freely with materials, colour, light and transparency. Simon is interested in conjuring new landscapes and provoking playful ideas about what our spatial environment could be.

Through a series of public open days, visitors are welcome to visit Simon in the studio for a glimpse of his developing work and the chance to ask questions.

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STUDIO OPEN DAYS

Drop in during an open day for an opportunity to meet Simon and engage with his developing works-in-progress.

Week 1
Wednesday 25 September, 12-4pm
Saturday 28 September, 12-4pm

Week 2
Wednesday 16 October, 12-4pm
Saturday 19 October, 12-4pm

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CRIT GROUP

Come along for our monthly crit group for the chance to critically engage as a group with works by Gillian Brent and Simon Le Ruez. Free, but booking essential: contact tyler@artspace.org.uk to reserve a space.

Thursday 26 September, 4 - 5.30pm

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CLOSING EVENT

Join us for a celebratory closing event to meet Simon and see an informal presentation of work developed during his residency. No need to book, just drop by.

Friday 25 October, 6-8pm