The Birley - artist studios & project space

Last day to catch Routes of Disconsent by Leonie Bradley RE and Catherine Cartwright

Open 11am - 2pm today (Sunday 26th July)
📍 Birley St, Preston, PR1 2QE

We're open today 11am - 4pm for Leonie Bradley RE and Catherine Cartwright's Routes of Disconsent exhibition

Last day to visit is tomorrow (Sunday 26th July), 11am - 2pm

Bradley and Cartwright have been collaborating since 2015 to support and develop each other's practice. Routes of Disconsent explores issues of protest and surveillance, bringing together overlapping research areas.

At the centre of the exhibition is Bradley and Cartwright's collaborative work FaceScreen: Routes of Disconsent, a playful film at the interface of protest movements and surveillance. Increasing surveillance risks 'chilling' the impact of protest if people fear being identified because the government is criminalising peaceful protest. Their playful response in print and film, centre on countering the digital and often invisible forms of surveillance, such as facial recognition technologies (FRT), with their own communications in semaphore - a performative alphabet.

During their residency at ArtLab Contemporary Print Studios (June 2025), the artists created screen printed wearables that depict the routes taken by protests in various UK cities and the resulting vibrant, diagrammatic imagery overlaid creates a dazzle-type effect. The artists then used their screen printed wearable to conceal their identity while holding semaphore flags in the position of different letters and numbers.

Join us tomorrow evening (Wednesday 22nd July) from 6pm (no need for tickets, just show up!) for an In Conversation with Leonie Bradley RE and Catherine Cartwright, hosted by Charles Quick

This conversation is part of their exhibition, which opens the day after on Thursday 23rd July

Routes of Disconsent, an exhibition by Leonie Bradley RE and Catherine Cartwright

Exhibition open 11am - 4pm Thursday - Saturday (23rd - 25th July)
and 11am - 2pm on the Sunday (26th July)

More information on the exhibition and in conversation can be found on our website (🔗 in bio)

📍 The Birley, Birley Street, Preston, PR1 2QE

Routes of Disconsent, an exhibition by Leonie Bradley and Catherine Cartwright

Exhibition open 11am - 4pm Thursday - Saturday (23rd - 25th July)
and 11am - 2pm on the Sunday (26th July)

We would also love to invite you to attend an In Conversation event with Leonie and Catherine, hosted by Charles Quick at The Birley on Wednesday 22 July, 6pm. Please just turn up to join us for 6pm!

More information on the exhibition and in conversation can be found on our website: https://www.thebirley.com/routesofdisconsentby

📍 The Birley, Birley Street, Preston, PR1 2QE

You're invited...

Our next installed ment of Artist Led will be opening at The Harris this Thursday 18th June, 6-8pm, and you're all invited to come along and celebrate with us!

Artist Led showcases six contemporary artists responding to works by regional artists in The Harris collection. Featuring Jayne Simpson, Julie Maye, Roberta Cialfi, Sarah Grant, Rita Robson and Ellamarie Thornhill from Birley Studios.

All artists were invited to explore The Harris collection and identify an artwork with which they felt a piece of their own work had an affinity.

You're invited to explore the exhibition on the second floor, meet the artists and find out more about the pieces on display.

We're open until 4pm for 'Blackpool: Transmission/Transcience' by

Or come down 6-8pm for the closing event!

We're open 11am - 4pm every day until Friday 12th June for 's Blackpool: Transmission / Transience

📍 Birley St, Preston, PR1 2QE

We will also be holding a private view / closing event on Friday 12th June, 6-8pm (all welcome!)

Interactive Audio-Visual Installation + Short Experimental Documentary

Blackpool: Transmission / Transience is an immersive installation exploring Blackpool across time through the reactivation and re-mixing of digitised archival VHS footage, contemporary VHS-shot material, and field recordings collected throughout the town.

The work embraces the physical qualities of obsolete media tape artefacts, colour warping, and tracking errors as metaphors for memory, erosion, and regeneration. A large projection presents a continuous atmospheric documentary collage, while three CRT monitors display archival footage, contemporary recordings, and an audience-controlled live-mixed feed.

Ambient soundscapes derived from synthesisers, guitar, and Blackpool field recordings bind the images into a drifting, dreamlike environment. Rooted in the lineage of Nam June Paik, Phil Solomon and expanded cinema, the installation invites tactile public participation, allowing visitors to mix between eras and directly shape the experience.

We're open until 4pm today (Saturday 6th June) for 'Blackpool: Transmission / Transience by

Then open Tues 9th - Fri 12th June (11am - 4pm) with a closing Private View (all welcome) on Friday 12th June (6-8pm)