Happy Holidays!

The OHOS office will be closed from Wed 25 Dec to Thur 2 January.  Normal service will be resumed on Fri 3 Jan. (ie Wednesdays and Fridays from 11am - 2pm)
Very best wishes to all OHOS's friends for a happy and restful Christmas, and a successful 2020.  A big thank you to our many supporters and volunteers.

Autumn Drawing

Drawing Classes  
Wednesday evenings 13, 20, 27 November and 4 December 2019, 7.30 - 9.30pm.


Brock Keep, 571 Oxford Road, Reading RG30 1HL.  Ground Floor (blue door).
£15 per two hour session, or £55 for all four dates. 

Enjoy a range of drawing activities, gain new skills, expand the way you think about drawing, and have fun.  Relaxed mixed-ability class with tutor Ingrid Jensen.  Basic art materials provided, but feel free to bring your own favourites.  Free parking behind the Keep.  Brock Gardens stop on Bus routes 15, 16 and 17.

Booking essential:  select dates on the Doodle poll at https://doodle.com/poll/9fe4irb2pyfiszmk or email info@imjensen.co.uk

The Estate

Lisa-Marie Gibbs and Philip Newcombe

18 - 20 October 2019, 11am - 5pm

Preview 17 October 6pm - 9pm

www.lisamariegibbs.com
www.philipnewcombe.com

Supported by Arts Council England

The Nature of Randomness

Exhibition by Virginia Tozzi

5th and 6th of October
Open 10am - 5pm
What if the shape of a rock, the flexibility of grass, a mosquito fly, a breath, every single meaningless moment you experience, were “random”. Consequently, everything would be “random”. “The Nature of Randomness” aims to explore and discredit the idea of “randomness”. In order to do so, the canvas directly and intermittently interacts with nature itself and colours. During this nature-canvas interaction, all parts and colours added to the composition appear as a result of randomness, but in reality they are not accidental. This exhibition also intends to explore the concept of constant alteration of reality as we know it. Similar to “randomness”, the constant transformation of reality is due to natural laws. Everything changes overtime, including the components incorporated on the canvas. Therefore, all the canvas will change colours, shape and consistency overtime. This process depicts our powerlessness against natural laws. The artist is charmed and obsessed by the topic of constant alteration of reality.

Heritage Open Days: Brock Keep

Guided tours of three floors of Brock Keep, former armoury and gatehouse to Brock Barracks, now studios and art gallery.

Colourful ground floor exhibition of the role of materials in military clothing.
Meet current artists in working studios.
Join in family activities.

Friday 20 September: 11am - 5pm

Saturday 21 September: 11am - 5pm
Sunday 22 September: 11am - 5pm

Tours of Brock Keep: Max 8 people per tour/session. 30 minutes, no booking required.

No lift to upper floors. Access for wheelchairs and pushchairs to ground floor only

Brock Keep, completed in 1877, is a beautiful example of the Victorian keeps built to aid recruitment and to increase pride in local regiments. They provided a ceremonial gatehouse, guardroom, fire engine house, and secure storage for arms, ammunition and all the kit needed by soldiers. They were designed at the War Office by distinguished architect Major H C Seddon of the Royal Engineers.

Reading’s Keep is one of the surviving few that have not been demolished or converted. It is grade II listed and is particularly special because of its setting next door to the Lutyens War Memorial and its original Army Depot that is still occupied by 7th Battalion the Rifles. Its original features are well preserved. The Keep is now owned by Reading Borough Council and since 1980 has provided artists' studios for OpenHand OpenSpace and Reading Space Studios, and exhibition space for many artists. In the early 1980s it was used as a shelter for homeless people.

To Set The Darkness Echoing

Solo exhibition by Heather McAteer

Tuesday 24 - Sunday 29 September 2019

Tuesday & Wednesday 10am-2pm Thursday - Sunday 11am - 5pm

Meet the artist Saturday 29 September 3-5pm

Reflecting on the artist’s formative years growing up in Northern Ireland, the exhibition features a collection of work which draws directly from personal experience. It focuses on themes of history, memory and identity to consider how the narratives of the past are constructed and presented.
The title of the exhibition is taken from the poem ‘Personal Helicon’ by Seamus Heaney.
Image: ‘Louder than bombs’ (detail) by Heather McAteer

Works from the Drawing Classes - exhibition

An exhibition of artworks created by those that attended the drawing classes at OpenHand OpenSpace this year.

Saturday 31st August - Sunday 1st September 2019
OHOS Gallery: Open 11am - 5pm
Family friendly / Children's activities / Refreshments

Play Original Board and Card Games

Original games created by artists 

Elisabetta Balasso and Cally Trench

from Venezuela and England

Saturday 7 September / 3pm - 6pm

Come and play original board and card games by Venezuelan artist Elisabetta Balasso and by English artist Cally Trench, including Elisabetta's Hyperinflation Soup and 

Dinner is Served, and Cally's Trees versus Axemen and Gravestones and Dry Bones.

At Openhand Openspace Gallery 

Free entry, no need to book.

Accessible rules. Suitable for all ages. Tea and cake! 

New Summer Drawing Classes

Wednesdays 7 August - 4 September

7.30pm - 9.30pm

Tutor Ingrid Jensen

No previous experience needed, basic materials provided.

Enjoy drawing while building skills and confidence and exploring a

range of techniques and materials. These will include line, tone,

spatial relationships, pencil, ink and charcoal. Drawing big and small.

Observation and imagination will both be valued, as will realistic and

abstract drawing. Specific activities will help develop drawing capability.

A curious range of natural and human-made objects will be available for study.

£15 per person or £70 for all five sessions.

Advanced booking essential.

info@ohos.org.uk

(0118) 959 7752

Takes place in OpenHand OpenSpace ground floor gallery. 

Heritage Open Days: Brock Keep

Guided tours of three floors of Brock Keep, former armoury and gatehouse to Brock Barracks, now studios and art gallery. Colourful ground floor exhibition of the role of materials in military clothing. Meet current artists in working studios. Join in family activities.

Friday 20 September: 11am - 5pm

Saturday 21 September: 11am - 5pm
Sunday 22 September: 11am - 5pm

Tours of Brock Keep: Max 8 people per tour/session. 30 minutes, no booking required.

No lift to upper floors. Access for wheelchairs and pushchairs to ground floor only

Post Degree Art Show Show and Sale

University of Reading’s 2019 painting finalists present the

Post Degree-Show Show and Sale!

This show represents the culmination of our university careers and the start of our careers as professional artists.

Please come along to see a diverse range of paintings from figurative to abstract, and perhaps take something special home with you.

Friday 19th July 19:00 - 21:00
Saturday 20th July 10:00 - 18:00
Sunday 21st July 10:00 - 18:00 Openhand Openspace, Brock Keep, 571 Oxford Road Reading RG30 1HL

Process exhibition

An exhibition by a loose collective of artists including:

Sam Stead, Tim Wilson, Tyka Epik, George Field, Aileen Creegan, Robert Fitzmaurice, Lisa Barnard, Chris Mercier and Steve Perfect.

With some work being made in situ and even during the exhibition itself, this exhibition attempts to explore the ways which art is made, how it is shown and how it is seen.

Open: Tuesday 2nd July - Sunday 7th July 2019

Tuesday to Friday 10am-2pm
Sat & Sun 10am - 4pm

Not-So-Private-View on Thursday 4th July 4-7pm Openhand Openspace, Brock Keep, 571 Oxford Road Reading RG30 1HL
Part of Open for Art 2019

OHOS is a Finalist in the Reading Cultural Awards 2019

Very exciting news! OHOS is a finalist in the Reading Cultural Awards 2019, in two categories: Cultural Organisation of the Year and Cultural Space of the Year.  A big thank you to all OHOS's friends, volunteers and supporters. http://readingplaceofculture.org/awards/

Last chance to see latest exhibitions at OHOS

Undecided Exhibition - OHOS Open Studios

Undecided An exhibition of contemporary art by OpenHand OpenSpace artists reflecting the dilemmas facing artists as they persevere in their own practices. Guided tours of the studios and the Keep.

Meet the artists Tuesday 21 May 7pm - 9pm

Exhibition open:
Monday 20 - Sunday 26 May
Mon - Fri 3pm - 7pm
Sat & Sun 11am - 5pm

An Open Studios West Berkshire and North Hampshire event.