Reader in Fine Art Penny McCarthy
Reader in Fine Art
Summary
I am an artist and academic with a particular interest in the materiality and experience of drawing. Central to my work is an interest in understanding phenomena through detail, exacting slowness and concentrated observation.
My research is presented internationally in a variety of contexts: in exhibitions, conferences, and as live projects and publications. I have had awards from the Evelyn Williams Drawing Prize, Henry Moore Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Arts Council England and AHRC. Recent projects include Liquid Crystal Display (Site Gallery & MIMA), Picture Room (NY). Beware the Cat, a research collaboration toured theatres including RSC Stratford (2019).
About
I am an artist and academic with a particular interest in the materiality and experience of drawing.
My research is presented internationally in a variety of contexts: in museums and galleries, at conferences, and as live projects and publications. My work has been supported by the Henry Moore Foundation, Wellcome Trust, Arts Council England and Arts and Humanities 香蕉视频 Council. Recent projects have been for Liquid Crystal Display at Site Gallery, Sheffield and MIMA, Middlesborough, Picture Room in New York, and Beware the Cat, a research collaboration touring theatres including RSC Stratford in 2019.
I received the Evelyn Williams Drawing Prize at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize in 2019, and I am currently working towards a solo exhibition at Hastings Contemporary opening in 2022.
As Reader in Fine Art and Course Leader for Postgraduate Fine Art, I teach across PG Fine Art and lead studio modules alongside Drawing from the Archive, an elective module that explores drawing as fieldwork, as a form to witness history and examine the archive. I also contribute to BA Fine Art though lectures on visual thinking and artist鈥檚 archival practices.
My teaching evolves constantly through the impetus and energy of the students. Supporting artists at all stages to build their work is at the core of my practice. This aspect of my work focuses on connecting people through platforms that create empathy, community, discourse and communication.
I convene the Gravity Lecture series with Gary Simmonds and Andrew Sneddon. Gravity invites guest artists to present their own work in response to changing themes that reflect current debates. We work in partnership with Museums Sheffield and also regularly extend invitations to collaborators from other universities. Our guests have included: Lubaina Himid, Ian Kiaer, Jamie Crewe, Rebecca Fortnum and Jeremy Deller.
In 2021, I initiated oHPo (Old Head Post Office) a radio station for the art school that grew from conversations about how to be together during the pandemic. oHPo is a collaboration across the PhD and MFA Fine Art communities.
I am a member of Sheffield鈥檚 Making Ways Visual Arts Panel, working on projects that raise the visibility of visual art through a collective vision for arts in the city. I am currently collaborating on plans for the next Art Sheffield exhibition, as well as a research project with Sheffield University mapping visual art activity in the region.
Specialist areas of interest
Drawing, writing, archives, literature, history, time, memory, the image, material processes, visual thinking
Teaching
College of Social Sciences and Arts
Subject area
Fine Art
Courses
- MFA Fine Art
- Postgraduate 香蕉视频
Modules
- Art (MFA Fine Art)
- Drawing from the Archive (Art Contexts)
- Art Practice
香蕉视频
- Art and Design 香蕉视频 Centre
- Culture and Creativity 香蕉视频 Institute
Throughout my career my research and my practice have been guided by an interest in the visceral experience of drawing. Reading and writing are incredibly important to me, but I need a sense of the tangible and the framework of my practice is an entwining of drawing and making, reading and writing. Works have been made from book pages and from digital sources that acknowledge the potent identification with certain texts that you experience as a reader. An on-going series has been a form of mimetic interpretation that re-makes and re-thinks the original text through pencil drawings that copy the originary work with exactitude to produce a simulacra or replica. Central to this project is an interest in understanding phenomena through detail, exacting slowness and concentrated observation. Following Walter Benjamin鈥檚 observation that his notebooks 鈥榞ive depth to time鈥, I have used drawing and notation to explore archival material including Walter Benjamin鈥檚 own ephemera, held in the Walter Benjamin Archive at the Akademie der K眉nste in Berlin. This body of work starts with drawings made in the archive as a form of the 鈥榝ieldwork鈥 described by Michael Taussig then developed as detailed paper replicas using pencil and paint. These small works are forms that mix observation and reverie, analysis and poesis. Hand-made three-dimensional replicas of Benjamin鈥檚 notes and fragments are reproduced as printed multiples from my drawings. I am interested in the gap of reverence and esteem around Benjamin鈥檚 archived fragments, held like jewels due to their archival instability, and the need (or desire) to grasp the object and hold it close in the hands.
My current project, Cloud falls in love with Mortal, focusses on picture-making.
In 2019 I received an award from the Evelyn Williams Trust leading to a solo exhibition at Hastings Contemporary. As part of this, I am currently working on a large series of drawings that grow from an initial starting point. The catalyst was a newspaper image that somehow coalesced the everyday and the sublime as a fata morgana mirage that looked as if a portal to another world had opened in the sky above Hastings.
This body of work began during lockdown, and draws on a constellation of images and texts I have collected that seem to embody concepts of apocalyptic knowledge. Alongside images of the ocean and the fata morgana mirage, the works include images from John Ruskin, Greek mythology, the Apollo 13 space mission, and images drawn from an early episode of Star Trek in which a cloud falls in love with a mortal.
Featured Projects
My research is available on the ADMRC website. See ADMRC site
Relevant Projects
Gravity: Buckets and Jewels
Transmission
Shadow Book
Nothing is Forever - Lullaby Constellation
Time will darken
Penelope/Odyssey
Gravity is a collaboration with Becky Shaw and Andrew Sneddon
Render is a collaboration with Becky Shaw, Andrew Sneddon, Gary Simmonds and other staff
Publications
Key Publications
Mccarthy, P. (2018). . [art works for exhibition with accompanying book]. Site Gallery.
Mccarthy, P. (2018). . [art works for exhibition with accompanying book]. Site Gallery.
McCarthy, P. (2019). . [Drawing]. Trinity Buoy Wharf, touring to Salisbury Museum and The Gallery, DeMontort University.
McCarthy, P. (2019). . [Drawing]. Trinity Buoy Wharf, touring to Salisbury Museum and The Gallery, DeMontort University.
Mccarthy, P., & Griffin, J. (2019). . [drawing and printed paper]. Site Gallery, Sheffield and Usher Galler, Lincoln.
Mccarthy, P. (2022). . [mixed / multi media]. Hasting Contemporary, Hastings.
Pope, N., & Dougall, R. (2022). . [1 drawing (100 x 70 cm) and a film]. An Tobar and Mull Theatre Druimfin, Tobermory Isle of Mull.
Journal articles
Mccarthy, P. (2023). . Textual Practice, 37 (7), 1042-1046.
Mccarthy, P. (2015). . FE 365 30 Texts for 30 Years, 26.
Mccarthy, P. (2014). . ESOPUS, 21, 121-136.
Conference papers
Mccarthy, P. (2022). . In Drawing Discussions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX6217-CNU, 23 March 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX6217-CNU: Drawing Projects UK:
Mccarthy, P. (2022). . In Drawing Discussions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX6217-CNU, 23 March 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LX6217-CNU: Drawing Projects UK:
Mccarthy, P. (2017). . In Eighth International Conference on the Image, Venice International University, Venice, Italy, 2017 - 1 November 2017.
Mccarthy, P. (2017). . In Internal Nebular Talks Programme, Wirksworth Festival, 16 September 2017.
Mccarthy, P. (2013). . In Words/Worlds, Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster University, 9 May 2013.
Mccarthy, P., & OConnor, T. (2010). . In Hospitality: Transmission, 香蕉视频, 1 July 2010.
Mccarthy, P. (2014). . M.
Book chapters
Mccarthy, P. (2017). . In Jaffe, D., & Wilson, S. (Eds.) Memories of the Future. (pp. 105-128). Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang:
Mccarthy, P. (2011). . In Brutalist Speculations and Flights of Fancy. (pp. 1-2). Sheffield: Site Gallery:
Mccarthy, P., & Etchells, T. (2010). . In Corris, M., Joseph-Lester, J., & Kivland, S. (Eds.) Hospitality. (pp. 257-272). London: ARTWORDS:
Books
Kivland, S. (Ed.). (2018). . London, UK: Ma Biblioteque.
Theses / Dissertations
Finney, L.H. (2024). . (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Mccarthy, P., Kivland, S., Jones, P., & Shaw, B.
Griffin, J. (2022). . (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Mccarthy, P., Ling, Y.F., & Atherton, M.
Cascella, D. (2022). . (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Kivland, S., Mccarthy, P., & Bell, A.
Eccleshall, B.D. (2016). . (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Mccarthy, P., Kivland, S., & Brown, C.
Harrington, J.J. (2015). . (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Shaw, B., Mccarthy, P., & Sneddon, A.
Internet Publications
Mccarthy, P. (2020). Esopus Magazine: Drawing Invitational. [paint, paper].
Mccarthy, P. (2020). Esopus Magazine: Drawing Invitational. [paint, paper].
Mccarthy, P. (2017). Macchia: working between two materialities. [digital app].
Artefacts
Mccarthy, P. (2021). . [hand blown egg, gesso, pencil]. London [and 1 additional location].
Mccarthy, P. (2021). . [hand blown egg, gesso, pencil]. London [and 1 additional location].
Mccarthy, P. (2021). Moon Egg in A Strange Kind of Knowing, a touring exhibition of new commissions and recent work exploring the land, seasonal cycles, natural phenomena, intuition and nuance. The exhibition presents works that draw on alternative, marginalised and embodied ideas of knowledge intrinsically connected to the natural world. The exhibition is presented at venues in central London and at a new rural gallery at Haarlem Artspace. Penny McCarthy鈥檚 sculpture Moon Egg (2018) is a blown hen鈥檚 egg delicately painted with a map of the moon in its actual elongated form created by the gravitational push and pull of the Earth. Connecting cycles of the astronomical with the embodied, the work relates to early depictions of the moon by John Russell and Galileo, and the role of intuition in depicting individual perspectives and realities. [Hand blown egg, gesso and pencil]. Arusha Gallery, London and Haarlem Artspace, Wirksworthj.
Mccarthy, P. (2021). Moon Egg in A Strange Kind of Knowing, a touring exhibition of new commissions and recent work exploring the land, seasonal cycles, natural phenomena, intuition and nuance. The exhibition presents works that draw on alternative, marginalised and embodied ideas of knowledge intrinsically connected to the natural world. The exhibition is presented at venues in central London and at a new rural gallery at Haarlem Artspace. Penny McCarthy鈥檚 sculpture Moon Egg (2018) is a blown hen鈥檚 egg delicately painted with a map of the moon in its actual elongated form created by the gravitational push and pull of the Earth. Connecting cycles of the astronomical with the embodied, the work relates to early depictions of the moon by John Russell and Galileo, and the role of intuition in depicting individual perspectives and realities. [Hand blown egg, gesso and pencil]. Arusha Gallery, London and Haarlem Artspace, Wirksworthj.
Mccarthy, P. (2019). [Paint, paper, printed media]. ttps://blogs.shu.ac.uk/c3riimpact/penny-mccarthy-researcher-blog-visiting-walter-benjamin-archive/?doing_wp_cron=1595507905.3556380271911621093750
Mccarthy, P. (2017). . [Drawing (pencil on paper)].
Mccarthy, P. (2013). . [graphite on paper].
Exhibitions
Mccarthy, P. (2013). . [artefact]. FRAC Bretagne, Rennes France.
Mccarthy, P. (2013). . [artefact]. FRAC Bretagne, Rennes France.
Mccarthy, P. (2015). . [Artists book]. Redland Museum and Gallery, Cleveland, Queensland, Australia.
Mccarthy, P. (2017). . [Art works - pencil drawings and digital work]. Site Gallery Sheffield.
Mccarthy, P. (2017). . [Art works - pencil drawings and digital work]. Site Gallery Sheffield.
Mccarthy, P. (2016). . [exhibition with catalogue]. Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London SE1 and touring.
Mccarthy, P. (n.d.). . [creative output]. Site Gallery, Sheffield.
Mccarthy, P. (2018). . Attercliffe TM.
Horvat, V. (2024). . [pencil drawing on paper]. Venue: F脿brica 33 (corner of Calle Larga dei Boteri and Calle Ruzzini), Cannaregio 5063, Venezia.
Horvat, V. (2024). . [pencil drawing on paper]. Venue: F脿brica 33 (corner of Calle Larga dei Boteri and Calle Ruzzini), Cannaregio 5063, Venezia.
Performances
Koski, K., & McCarthy, P. (2024). . Green Estates, Sheffield Performance.
Payne, T., Goodall, J., Doncaster, A., Mather, R., McCarthy, P., O'Connor, T., ... Carter-Gordon, A. (2025). Storm-Cloud: Thrown into Form. The G-Mill, SADACCA Site-specfic theatre.
Payne, T., Goodall, J., McCarthy, P., O'Connor, T., Brady, D.J., Gallant, A., ... Doncaster, A. (2024). Storm-Cloud: Observation of the Skies. The Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse Theatre.
Images
Mccarthy, P. (2010). . [Exhibition of Drawing (site specific)].
Media
Mccarthy, P., & Glendinning, H. (2022). . [Film].
Presentations
Mccarthy, P. (2015). . Presented at: Sixth International Conference on The Image : Media Materiality: Towards Critical Economies of 鈥淣ew鈥 Media, Clark Kerr Conference Center, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, USA, 2015
Other publications
Mccarthy, P. (2019). .
Mccarthy, P., Babbage, F., OConnor, T., Stenner, R., & Glendinning, H. (2019). BEWARE THE CAT (film).
Griffin, J., & Mccarthy, P. (2017). Project for an Exhibition, curated by Jeanine Griffin, Bloc Projects, Sheffield, 4th 鈥 5th July 2017.
Griffin, J., & Mccarthy, P. (2017). Project for an Exhibition, curated by Jeanine Griffin, Bloc Projects, Sheffield, 4th 鈥 5th July 2017.
Mccarthy, P. (2014). . New York: The Esopus Foundation:
Other activities
External examiner at the University of the Creative Arts (BA (Hons) Painting, School of Film, Media and Performing Arts, Open College of the Arts)
Postgraduate supervision
I supervise research students whose research enquires explore a range of territories, including the auratic potential of exhibition making, the use of fiction to explore the past, historic textiles using digital making processes and using drawing in response to care pathways in radiotherapy.
Completed
Louise Wilson
Brian Eccleshall
Jerome Harrington