Brigitte Jurack

Reader and Head of Sculpture/Time Based Arts

Brigitte Jurack’s research has two parallel strands; each informs the development of the other. The first explores new ways of creating autonomous sculptures and installations using hand modelling and digital modelling linked to the aesthetic capacity of clay, plaster and composite materials. Currently engaged in developing sculptures, that seek to re-present young people in flux, the work uses allegorical devices and objects that are completed through participation of the user/viewer. The second strand of her research involves medium to large-scale performance projects by the artists’ collective Foreign Investment, that focus on exchange processes, making tangible processes of communication in regards to trade, markets and value, that underpin the post-industrial society.

Both aspects of Jurack’s research involve collaboration, either with specific audiences and sites or with other artists and researchers. Henry Moore Fellow at Winchester School of Art (1993), ICI research fellow at Redcar (1998) and more recently Prince of Wales Artist Fellow at the British School in Athens (2011) Jurack has exhibited in museums and galleries in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Ukraine and Australia. Exhibitions include: Trajectoria, Telemar Museum, Rio de Janeiro (2001). Die Tangente beruhrt den Kreis in genau einem Punkt, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2010), Gold for Oslo, Mesen (Oslo), 2010; Democratic Promenade, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool (2011); Fresh, British Ceramic Biennial, Stoke on Trent (2011); Everything must go, Chinese Art Centre, Manchester (2011); Pink Parachute, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool (2012) and One square foot of sky, Hong Kong (2014).

She is short-listed for the 2014 Liverpool Art Prize.

Brigitte Jurack studied Fine Art at Düsseldorf Kunstakademie and Protestant Theology at the Universities of Göttingen, Münster and Bonn. Receiving a British Council Studentship, she studied at Glasgow School of Art (Post-Graduate Diploma in Environmental Art) and Chelsea College of Art and Design (MA).

She joined MMU in 2008, following previous posts at Newcastle University, Liverpool John Moores University and Derby University.

Brigitte Jurack is Head of Sculpture/Time based arts and External Examiner at Kingston University. She recently completed a research project on Wirral into the development of contemporary sculpture as focal point for young people, and is currently engaged in the PhD thesis 'Representation of youth in public sculpture.'

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Projects

Global trade and identity, as part of Foreign Investment (2011)

Performance and other types of live presentation ( iv.) Kulturbyrået Mesén and Gallery Format, Oslo, Norway and Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester Artists’ group Foreign Investment were invited by Kulturbyrået Mesén in Oslo and the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester to develop performances and exhibitions that engaged new multicultural audiences. Details…

Moonshine Walk, as part of Foreign Investment (2008)

Performance, Sutton Manor, St. Helens In 2008, artists’ group Foreign Investment that I co-founded in 1996, was commissioned by Arts Council England to deliver an £8,000 project to celebrate Jaume Plensa’s new public artwork Dream, funded by Channel 4’s Big Art Programme. Details…

One Square foot of sky (2014)

One square foot of sky was a site-specific performance and installation of video and drawings by the artists’ collective Foreign Investment, of which I am a co-founding member. The project was developed for Hong Kong and focussed on natural assets as commodities, especially the value of sky in relation to the value of property, culture and art. Details…

Rostrum (2011)

Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool In 2011 I was commissioned by the Bluecoat Gallery to create a new sculptural work for the group exhibition Democratic Promenade, curated by Artistic Director Bryan Biggs and curator Sara-Jayne Parsons. I took the exhibition’s theme of radicalism in Merseyside to create a new work entitled Rostrum that re-evaluated a lost artefact from the area’s history of protest. Details…

Souvenir Sculptures (2006)

Souvenir Sculptures The principal aim of Jurack’s research was to develop sculptural representations of photographic documentation of built urban environments that are undergoing significant aesthetic remodelling due to tourism and redevelopment, in order to enhance the visibility and appreciation of unspectacular and un-canonised utilitarian environments. Primarily concerned with the function of the souvenir as a portable keepsake and trophy of a place of personal pilgrimage and its significance as an epistemological tool affecting our knowledge of places, the research focussed on buildings that are in the periphery of Newcastle, Glasgow and Liverpool – all cities that have participated in the ‘European City of Culture’ programme. Details…

Still Waters Run Deep (2004)

“Art can deal analogously with the state of things ‘beyond physics’” (J. Kosuth, Art after Philosophy, new York, 1970) Still Waters Run Deep, an AHRC-funded project with interdisciplinary and regional impact, developed new means of visualising and communicating complex factual, scientific data relating to nature and the environment through sculpture, using new technology and traditional modelling techniques. Details…

Supermen, as part of Foreign Investment (co-authors: Alma Tischler-Wood, Dr. Claudia Wegener) (2004)

The aim of 'Supermen' was to develop a new performative artwork for a group exhibition dealing with art and expression after '9/11'. The work addressed issues of power and communication. Details…

The Greater Manchester House of inter-national Cultures (2016)

The Greater Manchester House of Cultures is part of the collaborative research project "Healthier Together-Exploring public perceptions of Greater Manchester Devolution" co-authored by Gina Cavan (Faculty of Science and Engineering)Claire Hamshire (Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care)and Brigitte Jurack (Faculty of Arts and Humanities. During summer 2016 we worked together with residents, local community groups and art gallery staff from Greater Manchester Museum and Gallery sector to explore their perceptions and experiences of Greater Manchester Devolution. Details…

The tangent touches the circle at only one point (2010)

The tangent touches the circle at only one point Exhibition (iii.; iv. Details…

Translating the street (2015-16)

Translating the street is a research and development pilot project funded by Arts Council England and initiated, commissioned and curated by Brigitte Jurack. It seeks to create micro-residencies for international artists to work with local independent and often multi-cultural businesses in Birkenhead, Merseyside in an area of high levels of social deprivation and low art participation. Details…

Wait and Play (2012-3)

Artefacts (completed and ongoing), solo exhibitions at Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool (January- March 2012), further solo exhibitions planned for 2012/13, some artefacts of the research exhibited prior to solo exhibition My main research questions are ‘How may young people be portrayed in sculpture?’ and ‘How can sculpture function as a focal point for young people in urban settings?’ To generate new insights into these questions I undertook a period of international research that informed a permanent £35,000 outdoor sculpture entitled Just Wait For Me, supported by Arts Council England, MIRIAD and Wirral Council. My research builds upon the socio-geographical investigations into uses of urban spaces by young people undertaken by Studio Urbane Landschaften, University of Hannover, and the contemporary allegorical sculptures of Stephan Balkenhol and Laura Ford. Details…

What is left (2010-11)

Object Gallery, Sydney, Australia; Righton Gallery, Manchester; DMU Cube Gallery, Leicester; The Poly, Falmouth; The aim of this research was to develop an artwork that embodied and communicated the fluidity of a fixed form while employing 3D computer modelling software and rapid prototyping. The curators of the group exhibition Inside Out offered “the opportunity to experience and explore emerging digital design techniques and rapid prototyping tools and methods and to venture outside their usual medium. Details…

Research

Brigitte Jurack is a member of the Art and Performance Research Hub.

Exhibitions

Jurack, B., 2019. Scavengers 2, Cheeseburn Sculpture Park, 6/5/2019 - 1/9/2019.

Jurack, B., Dunn, A., 2019. Translating the street (2019), Alternator Studio and Project Space, 13/4/2019 - 13/4/2019.

Jurack, B., 2018. Oxton Rock, Williamson Art Gallery , Birkenhead, 12/7/2018 - 15/10/2018.

Jurack, B., 2018. Scavenger (Part1), Liverpool Independent Biennial, 12/7/2018 - 4/10/2018.

Jurack, B., Tierney, L., Woods, E., Kalungi, I., 2018. Scavengers, Independent Biennial Liverpool, 26/7/2018.

Jurack, B., Buechler, P., Weiner, L., Lemke, H., Koppany, M., Beaulieu, D., Eigenheer, M., 2017. Foreigners, Bury Art Museum, 26/8/2017 - 18/11/2017.

Jurack, B., Osbaldeston, D., Rooney, P., 2017. Public View, Bluecoat Contemporary Art Centre, Liverpool, 4/2/2017 - 23/4/2017.

Jurack, B., 2016. Doppelgänger, Lewisham Arthouse, London, 17/8/2016 - 28/8/2016.

Jurack, B., 2016. FOUR WORDS, Media Wall, Liverpool, 20/1/2016 - 20/1/2016.

Jurack, J., Hamshire,C., Cavan, G., 2016. Healthier Together, public billboard in Manchester and Bury and exhibition in Grosvenor Gallery, MMU, 1.11.-11.11.2016.

Jurack, B., 2016. Healthier Together-Exploring public perceptions of Greater Manchester Devolution, Grosvenor Gallery, Manchester, 3/11/2016 - 11/11/2016.

Dunn, A. ; Jeck, P., Brunsden,T, Young&Heslop, Jurack, J., 2016. London Road: The Ballad of Ray and Julie, Arthouse Lewisham, 23.11. - 4.12.2016.

Jurack, B., Dunn, A., Jeck, P., Young, J., 2016. The ballad of RAY + JULIE, Lewisham Arthouse, London, 23/11/2016 - 4/12/2016.

Jurack, B., Young, J., Offeh, H., 2016. Translating the street (2016), Alternator Studio, 5/3/2016 - 5/3/2016.

Jurack, B., Tischler-Wood, A., 2016. Wild New Territories: LOST by Foreign Investment, The Linnean Society Burlington House Piccadilly, London W1J 0BF, 29/9/2016 - 29/9/2016.

Jurack, B., 2015. Localism, MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute for Modern Art), 10/10/2015 - 7/2/2016.

Sobell, H.R., Jefferies, T., Huneck, K., Kaushal, V., Macbeth, P., Jurack, B., 2015. Manchester Urban Pioneers, ELBERSHALLEN, DÖDTKOMM DÖDTERSTR. 10 HAGEN, 10/10/2015.

Jurack, B., 2015. Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus, Denmark, 5/6/2015 - 5/7/2015.

Jurack, B., 2015. Soapboxes, The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA), China, 5/3/2015 - 19/5/2015.

Moloney, D., Quaife, M., O' Reilly, O., Benson, S., Brown, K., Hartshorne, I., Jurack, B., Lansley, J., Lewis, C., Osbaldeston, D., 2015. Under the Shadow of Natural Things, Benzie Building, Manchester School of Art, 2/2/2015.

Jurack, B., 2014. Collector Club, Oi! Gallery, Hong Kong, 23.1 - 21.4.2014.

Jurack, B., 2014. Figuring, Royal British Society of Sculptors, 27/2/2014 - 9/5/2014.

Jurack, B., 2014. Liverpool Art Prize, Metal, Liverpool, 8/5/2014 - 21/6/2014.

Jurack, B., Tischler-Wood, A., 2014. One Square foot of sky, Oi! Contemporary Art Centre, 23/1/2014 - 21/4/2014.

Jurack, B., 2013. Wild New Territories, Freie Universität Berlin, Botanical Garden Museum, Berlin, 14.9 - 17.11.2013.

Jurack, B., 2012. Glizzit, Interesting Times, Leicester University: Botanical Garden, 24.06.- 28.10. 2012.

Jurack, B., 2012. Just Wait For Me, Central Park, Wirral, 19 Nov 2012.

Jurack, B., 2012. Pink Parachute, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, 28.01.-3.03.2012.

Jurack, B. Tischler, A. Lundebye, A. (Foreign Investment), 2012. PRIVATE, Radio City Tower, Liverpool, 16 September 2012.

Jurack, B. Tischler, A. Lundebye, A (Foreign Investment), 2012. SOUNDWORKS, ICA, London, 19 June - 16 September.

Jurack, B. Tischler, A. Lundebye, A. (Foreign Investment), 2012. Wild New Territories, Camley Street Natural Park, London, 18 Sept - 31 October.

Jurack, B., 2011. Democratic Promenade, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, 30.09.- 28.11.2011.

Jurack, B., 2011. Die Se(e)(h)kuh, Kiosk24, Herford, Germany, 14.06. - 22.07.2011.

Jurack, B. Tischler, A. Lundebye, A. (Foreign Investment), 2011. Everything must Go, Chinese Arts Centre Manchester, 5.08.- 17.09.2011.

Jurack, B., 2011. Fresh, British Ceramic Biennial, Spode Factory, Stoke on Trent, 30.10.2011- 13.11.2011.

Jurack, B., 2010. Die Tangente beruehrt den Kreis in genau einem Punkt, IMMA, Irish Museum of Modern Art, 23.08.- 04.09.2010.

Jurack, B., 2010. Inside Out, Object Gallery, Sydney, Australia and touring, 2010-11.

Jurack, B., 2009. Artists' uses of the term 'revolution', Leeds City Art Gallery, June 2009.

Jurack, B., 2009. Next Up, Bluecoat Gallery, December 2008 - February 2009.

Jurack, B., 2009. Ready Mix, Structure Gallery, Soho, London, 21 November 2009 - 21 January 2010.

Jurack, B., 2009. Residency, European Ceramic Work Centre, 2009.

Jurack, B., 2009. What Matters, Old Boys' Hall, Dalston, London, 2 -4 October 2009.

Jurack, B., 2008. Irfaran (Travel and Work), Globe Gallery, Newcastle, 14.06.-5.07.2008.

The pursuit of perfection (work in progress)

Jurack, B., 2008. Residency, European Ceramic Work Centre, 2008.

Jurack, B., 2007. 18@108, Royal British Society of Sculptors, 05.09-23.11.2007.

Jurack, B., 2007. Braziers 13th international artists' workshop open day, Braziers Park, Wallingford, 19.08.2007.

Jurack, B., 2006. Ich sehe scharz weiss, Arena Gallery, Liverpool, September 2006- November 2006.

Jurack, B., 2006. Klasse Kamp, Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, 24.06.-27.08.2006.

Jurack, Brigitte, 2006. Souvenir Sculptures, Kunsthalle Dusseldorf.

Jurack, B., 2004. basement XI, basement, Liverpool, 18.09- 17.10.2004.

Jurack, B., 2004. Infallible - In search of the real George Eliot, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; APT, London; Mead Gallery, Warwick Art Centre, 17.01.-12.03.2005.

Jurack, B., 2004. Let me take you to the land phantastic, Starboard Home, Newcastle, August 2004.

Jurack, B., 2004. Still waters run deep, Long gallery, University of Newcastle, September 2004.

Jurack, B., 2003. Crossovers: Water, Culture, Community, Hone-in Temple and Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, 16.03.-23.03. 2003; 01.04 - 06.04.2003.

Jurack, B.; Tischler, Alma; Wegener, Claudia, 2003. Intervention, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, 30.09.-15.11.2003.

Jurack, B., 2003. The space between us, Vane, Newcastle, Sept- October 2003.

Jurack, B., 2002. Crossovers, Ecology and Art Pavilion, London, 28.09.02-27.10.02.

Jurack, B., 2002. Im Nordlicht, Foyer fur Junge Kunst, Vereins und Westbank, Schwerin, Germany, 30.04.-5.07.2002.

Jurack, B., 2002. Locws 2, Swansea, 7.09-29.09.2002.

Jurack, B., 2002. Ptssschuuuuuu!!!!, Waygood Gallery, Newcastle, 31.01-23.02.2002.

Jurack, B., 2002. Sea, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 07.02-13.04.02.

Jurack, B., 2001. Grass-over, Kunsthaus, Essen, Germany, 25.08.-23.09.2001.

Jurack, B., 2001. Odyssee 2000+1, Flensburg, Germany, August 2001.

Jurack, B., 2000. DeptfordX, Deptford , London, September 2000.

Jurack, B., 2000. Vane, Newcastle, throughout the city, September-October 2002.

Jurack, B. in collaboration with Foreign Investment, 1999. Duty-free, Gasworks Gallery, London, 8.10.-31.10.1999.

Jurack, B., 1999. So near and yet so far, Middlesborough Art Gallery ; Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport, 12.03.- 24.04.1999.

Jurack, B., 1999. The possibility of a potatoe, Righton Gallery, Manchester Metropolitan University, 1999.

Jurack, B.; Tischler, Alma; Wegener, Claudia (Foreign Investment), 1997. Breeding- Civilisation and Discontents, Gellerie Im Taxis Palais, Insbruck ; Butler's Wharf, London; London Institute Gallery; The Cornerhouse, Manchester, 30.07-18.10.2005 (Cornerhouse).

Jurack, B., 1995. Groene aardapples and other sculptures, EKWC, Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, September 1995.

Artefacts

Jurack, B., 2018. 'Monkey Business', FILET , A space for experimental art production, London.

Jurack, B., 2014. 'The explorers are gone for tea', Liverpool.

Performances

Jurack, B., Tischler-Wood, A., Foreign, I., 2019. 'Happy Hour', Holden Gallery, Manchester School of Art, 10/10/2019.

Jurack, J., Tischler-Wood, A. and Lundeby, A., 2016. 'LOST', Linnean Society London, 29.09.2016.

Jurack, B., Tischler, A.; Lundebye, A. ( Foreign Investment), 2010. 'Oslo Gold-Exchange', Galleri Format, 30.10.2010.

Jurack, B. Tischler, A. Lundebye, A (Foreign Investment), 2010. 'topping out ( part 1-3)', Arts Council England, The Hub Manchester, December 2009, May/ June 2010.

Jurack, B., 2009. 'A SPIRES EMBERS', Eidos Foundation, Kiev, Ukraine, 11 – 27 September 2009.

Foreign Investment, Immaculate Conception, Tate Liverpool

Jurack, B with Foreign Investment, 2009. 'Immaculate Conception Dinner', TATE, Liverpool ( The 5th floor exhibition), January 2009.

Jurack, B., 2009. 'Topping Out (Part 1)', Arts Council of England, Manchester, 10 December 2009.

Jurack, B. with Foreign Investment, 2008. 'Gold Exchange', DeptfordX, London, September 2008.

Jurack, B. with Foreign Investment, 2008. 'Immaculate Conception Dinner', Wharf Project, London, October 2008.

Jurack, B. with Foreign Investment, 2008. 'Moonshine Walk', Sutton Manor, St. Helens as part of the Channel 4 Big Art projects, 21.03.2008.

Jurack, B., 2007. 'Connecting Principle: Process', Culture Lab, Newcastle University, 3.05.2007.

Jurack, B. with Foreign Investment, 2006. 'Tuning-In Op 3', Good Diversion, Liverpool Culture Company in partnership with Bluecoat Art Centre, 5.+6. 07.2006.

Jurack, B. with Foreign Investment, 2005. 'Sunday Matinee', Housework, FACT Collaborative Programme: Off-Site Commissions, Liverpool, 03.04.2005.

Jurack, B. in collaboration with Foreign Investment, 2004. 'Yesvember', Chunky Arts , Camberwell in collaboration with the University of the Arts, London, 29.11.2004.

Jurack, B. in collaboration with Foreign Investment, 2002. 'The morning after the the revolution', Connecting principle, University of Newcastle, 18.10.2002.

Jurack, B. in collaboration with Foreign Investment, 2001. 'Rio-Trajetorias', Museo do Telephone, Telemar and various locations in Rio de Janeiro, 5.11.-10.11.2001.

Books

Jurack, B., 2023. 'Pull Clay', Bluecoat Centre for Contemporary Art, Liverpool.

Jurack, B., 2021. 'What's left behind', Williamson Art Gallery and Museum.

Foreign Investment, , Kenny, K., den Daas, R., 2017. 'Wild New Territories', Black Dog.

Jurack, B., 2007. 'Irfaran (Travel and Work)', RGAP, Cromford, Derbyshire.

Jurack, B. , Newson, M. and Wegener, C, 2004. 'still waters run deep', Art and Democracy Research Group, Manchester.

Jurack, B., 2002. 'Ptssschuuuuuu!!!!', Northumbria University Fine Art Press.

Jurack, B., Tischler, A, and Foreign Investment, 1999. 'Operational Review', Foreign Investment, London.

Jurack, B., Craddock, S. and Sinclair, B., 1999. 'So near and yet so far', The Middlesbrough Art Gallery.

Book Chapters

Wood, J., Hampton, M., Jeffries, B., Foreign Investment and Others, 2016. 'From the unthinkable to the possible'. In Ron Den Daas and Kathy Kenny (eds.) Wild New Territories Portraits of the Urban and the Wild London, Vancouver, Berlin, 36,66, Black Dog Publsihing, London.

Jurack, B., Rowles, S., 2016. 'Interview on Professional Practice: 20 Questions'. In PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 20 Questions.

Flemingham, S., Butler, D., Webster, C., Rodriguez, S., Hayes, S., Watson,A. , Jurack, B. and Others and Jurack, J., 2016. 'Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University'. In Jo Allan and Sarah Rowles (eds.) Professional Practice: 20 Questions, 25, 413-420, Q-Art publishing.

Journal Articles

Jurack, B., 2023. 'You Look at Me Looking at You Looking at Me', Arts, 12 (2), pp. 73-73.

Non-Peer Reviewed Articles

Biggs, B., 2017. 'A brief overview of Public View', http://www.thebluecoat.org.uk/blog/view/retailers/285.

adm, , 2017. 'Bluecoat: Public View', http://www.artinliverpool.com/events/bluecoat-public-view/.

Pinnington, M., 2017. 'Public View', Art Monthly England, 405 (April 17), pp. 30-31.

Conference Papers

Jurack, B., 2019. 'Living Heritage - Translating the street - the sewing awl and cobblers anvil', Mapping Contemporary Art in the Heritage Experience, Newcastle University, UK, 29/7/2019 - 30/7/2019.

Presentations

Jurack, B., 2011. '2 square meters', International Sculpture Conference, London, Kings Place, 7.-9.04.2010.

Jurack, B., 2011. 'IthinkIdoithinkididoithink', Practice based research in Art and Design, Bauhaus University, Weimar, Germany, 1.12-3.12.2011.

Jurack, B., 2003. 'Sculpture and the Environment', Crossovers, Water, Culture, Community, Hone-in Temple and Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, 21.03.2003 and 30.03.2003.