The artist Sam Belinfante has been selected for the Hayward Touring curatorial open 2014. The Open winner was chosen from a submission of more than 130 proposals. This years exhibition is a collaboration with BALTIC’s project space at BALTIC 39, Newcastle upon Tyne; the Bluecoat, Liverpool; Site Gallery and Sheffield Institute of Arts galleries; and the gallery at Norwich University of the Arts, all of whom were represented on the selection panel.
Sam was selected for his proposal, Listening, an international group exhibition that will interrogate the act of listening in contemporary art. Belinfante studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and is completing a PhD in Fine Art at the University of Leeds. He has recently presented performance and video works at arts centres across the UK including Milton Keynes Gallery; the ICA, London; Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; and Tate Britain. Belinfante has also initiated curatorial projects that operate as an extension of his studio practice in a mixture of performance, choreography and collaboration. This May he will première The Changing Room, a new opera with Bruce McLean at Leeds City Art Gallery. Listening will open at BALTIC’s project space at BALTIC 39, Newcastle upon Tyne on 26 September 2014.
Roger Malbert, Senior Curator, Hayward Touring said: “This will be the third in the series of Curatorial Open exhibitions whose aim is to introduce a new avenue of access into the Hayward Touring programme. Sam Belinfante impressed the panel with his ambitious proposal and the depth of his knowledge and commitment. Listening will break new ground in redressing the balance between the aural and the visual in contemporary art.”
Sam Belinfante is an artist living and working in London. Along with filmmaking and photographic work, his practice includes curating, sound and performance. Recent exhibitions include the solo show Many Chambers, Many Mouths at Southard Reid, London (2013) and The Reversing Machine, with Simon Lewandowski at The Tetley, Leeds (2014). He curated and participated in The Voice and The Lens, IKON Gallery, Birmingham, which will tour to Whitechapel Gallery as part of Spitalfields Festival in June 2014. Recent performances include Corpus Sonus at V22, London and Turner Contemporary, Margate; The Blue Bird at Barbican, London, all 2012 with Musarc Choir; and Stimmung as part of Restless Times, Tate Britain, in 2011.
This exhibition is the third in the series of Curatorial Open exhibitions, following Quiet Revolution, curated by Chris Fite-Wassilak, in 2009 (Milton Keynes Gallery, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, the Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham) and Ground Level, curated by Kit Hammonds, in 2010 (John Hansard Gallery, Southampton; Quad, Derby; Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno; Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum). The Curatorial Open aims to support independent UK-based curators in realising innovative contemporary art exhibitions offering professional development for the selected curator.
Hayward Touring organizes exhibitions of contemporary art travelling to galleries and museums throughout the UK. Recent exhibitions include: Mark Leckey’sThe Universal Addressability of Dumb Things; Curiosity: Art and the Pleasures of Knowing, curated by Brian Dillon, UK editor of Cabinet magazine; and Jeremy Deller’s All That is Solid Melts Into Air. For more information on the programme visit southbankcentre.co.uk/venues/hayward-gallery/hayward-touring