Category: Manc of the Month

With so many exhibitions and awards under his belt, not to mention his amazing paintings full of texture and depth, it is no wonder artist Karol Kochanowski is this October’s Manc of the Month! It has been a pleasure to find out more about Karol, why and how he paints, and find out who his favourite artists are.

This months Manc of the Month artist is Chara Kontopoulou, an artist who brings a lot of extra ‘something’ to her work, an array of marks and colours trapped in resin… Read the interview with the artist now.

As pubs and bars continue to reopen, we begin to notice that what we’ve really been missing in Manchester is not the booze, but the art! Luckily, we’ve managed to get our much-needed dose of art this month by interviewing local multi-media artist Jeffrey Knopf.

Some days, you just really need some sort of escapism, and in the times we’re in at the minute, this escapism is probably needed much, much more. Someone that can help you with this, is ceramic artist Anastassia Zamaraeva.

Her work seems youthful and bright, but then, when you read about her inspirations and the meaning behind each piece, you realise the work carries a heavy heart…

This May’s Manc of the Month is the talented and driven Katherine Long, the Artistic Manager at Venture Arts.

You know when you get a little bit too excited about things and you need to remind yourself to stay cool and be professional – that’s how I feel right now. I am absolutely buzzing to announce that April’s Manc of the Month is ceramicist Matt Cronshaw!

We met the lovely Kat Preston recently and loved chatting with her. Not only is she friendly and welcoming and a pleasure to talk to, she also complimented Cotton On MCR and what we are doing – instant win!

We love an artist that can find beauty in areas that may be overlooked, or seem a bit dark and dingy. That is exactly what this months Manc of the Month artist does! Tom Quigley, a painter who manages to find the beauty in the backstreet bins.

Gerry Halpin has done what many aspiring artists wish they had the guts to do – quit the day-job and went all-in to become a professional artist. For that, we applaud you Gerry! This plus his incredible work, means that the title of the first Manc of the Month 2020 goes to Gerry Halpin!

Here at Cotton On MCR we are big fans of our new Manc of the Month, himHallows! He’s a super talented illustrator, print-maker, animator and all-round lovely guy. We got to ask him all about his summer exhibition at The Modernist and the inspiration behind his work. And naturally, we got to the bottom of why he’s currently “obsessed” with beetroot…

Adam is a lovely man, very friendly and welcoming and always there to help! We first met Adam when we attended a Drink and Pour workshop a year or so ago. Since then, we have bumped into him at every exhibition launch and art event in town!

Honestly right, I know I say this for every artist but we have loved A Typical Stitch’s work forever, and I actually don’t know why Sarah-Jayne Leonard hasn’t been our Manc of the Month sooner! Completely different to any other cross stitch pieces, it’s slightly whacky, beautifully imaginative and kinda raunchy!

We asked artist Ella Fradgley to be our Manc of the Month because we loved her work, then when we got chatting, we found out so much more her, how talented and driven she is, and how much she has accomplished already.

We love a good art event here in Manchester, and John Macauley (alongside his with Sophie) are doing these events a little differently! That is why Art Battle Manchester’s founder, John Macauley, is August’s Manc of the Month!

Driven, creative, and with a lot to say about the student life and making things happen, we are super happy to have Get It Done as our July’s Manc of the Month!

We’ve been chatting with Matt Retallick since the launch of Cotton On MCR. He has curated some amazing exhibitions and we are constantly following his Instagram account to see what new projects he has coming up. So, for our first Manc of the Month that isn’t an artist, we happily give the crown to Matt Retallick!

With other-worldly collages, crammed full of detail, the work of artist sØlar (aka Stu Richards) creates new stories and new dimensions. And with a new exhibition this month in Chorlton, we knew that we had the right artist for our May Manc of the Month.

We love a good documentary photographer here at Cotton On MCR, and Stefan Byron (aka Es.Bee) is no exception. His photo’s tell it like it is. They don’t hide anything, they are an upfront, honest description of life and struggles of people.

The unusual shapes and forms of her work, the space-like texture, the delicate elements, all make for unique and intriguing pieces. That is why we choose artist Vic Wright as our next Manc of the Month.

I pass this artist’s work on my daily commute. Peering over the ledge whilst the tram stops at Cornbrook, within the grubby, dirty, rough surroundings of the scrap heap, I spot these brightly painted, disused doors.

Whilst visiting ‘Metanoia’ at Waterside Arts, we picked up the price list and hoped we could afford to buy one of the paintings. With our fingers crossed, breaths held, we looked at the price. Ah well…. We will save a few pennies and buy one of the prints instead!

We were pretty chufted when we saw our fellow Mancunian Jen Orpin on Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, and we knew we had found our next Manc of the Month.

We are extremely excited for Darren Nixon’s new exhibition at HOME mcr, cleverly titled ‘Coming soon to your screen’, so when he agreed to be our November Manc of the Month, we were pretty chuffed. His work forces you to look at paintings and spaces in a whole new way. He doesn’t restrict his work Read More

In this Manc of the Month’s interview we ask Joey about Print UnLtd exhibition, and find out more about his interests which include being a dog owner and a chocolatier!