THE next six local artists displaying their works on Bradford’s big screen are helping to carry on the “strong art tradition” of the city.

Part of the Not Just Hockney project set up by Silsden art enthusiast Colin Neville, the artist’s choice exhibition is designed to showcase the work of local artists.

The latest selection, which runs throughout May and June, includes a documentary photographer, a wood artist, a community artist and three painters. Their work will be displayed on the big screen at the edge of City Park.

Mr Neville, who also runs a website dedicated to local artists, said: “The May and June daily ‘Artist’s Choice’ presentations on Bradford Big Screen will again showcase the marvellous range of home-grown professional visual art and crafts in the district.

“On the screen this time is a documentary photographer with an international reputation, a wood artist and craftsman, a community artist and activist, and three painters, all with very different painting styles and techniques.

“These artists keep alive and carry on the strong art tradition we have in the city. And it’s this history, and the awesome diversity of local art talent, that will help us win the bid to become the City of Culture in 2025.

“To gain the City of Culture title would be a marvellous boost to the city, economically, artistically - and socially too, as it will be a much needed pride boost to the whole district. So, Bradford – City of Culture 2025 - bring it on!”

He also took the decision to move away from the usual themed presentations at the end of last year, moving to an artist’s choice format instead.

At the time he said that throughout 2021 Not Just Hockney would be inviting a range of local artists to choose three of their artworks in a series of artist choice presentations on the big screen in Centenary Square.

This was designed to present the work of the selected local talented artists, as well as to support Bradford’s bid to become the City of Culture in 2025. Mr Neville said he hopes the daily big screen presentation can help the city’s chances.

The six artists involved in the May and June presentation are:

Photographer and artist Ian Beesley, who said: “In the late 1970s I would stroll the streets of Bradford taking photographs of who and what I encountered. I strolled. I didn’t have a car. I took black and white photographs, I couldn’t afford colour. I took my time. I strolled the same streets regularly so people got to know me, and I them.”

Stippling artist Caleb Lewis, who said: “My pictures are each created from thousands of individual dots, produced with 0.05 and 0.03 mm nibs. I attempt to distil the subject in to a balance of line and shape, which interprets my own experiences and imagines those I’ve missed. My aim is to produce artwork that tells a story, but in an ethereal and visually pleasing way.”

Wood artist and craftsman Qashif Masud, who said: “I am a seventh generation craftsman. With 11 years of crafting, designing, typesetting and everything else in between, my mission is to design and craft works of art with form, function and simplicity.”

Community artist and activist Mussarat Rahman, who said: “I am an active cultural and social change-maker, a socially responsive artist and activist based in Bradford. I work with diverse communities, including Biasan, on district-wide programmes, such as Our Street Gallery and The Bradford Sketch Book project. I am also the director of Intercultured Festival, which runs during October. My work, shown on the Big Screen, was created during Covid as an artistic response to the Pandemic.”

Mixed media artist Judy Sale, who said: “The three collages exhibited here are from a new series of 17 works I have done called ‘Diary of an Artist in Lockdown at Bronte Square, Haworth’. These works, on paper and of mixed media, are meant to be a whimsical commemoration and portrayal of my year living in isolation with only my neighbours and the TV to watch. I hope these will resonate with the viewer.”

Artist and painter Geraldine Thompson, who said: “Colour and light - as a painter I have a particular interest in observing how colour is transformed by light to create an interconnectedness. I enjoy being out in the countryside in all weather, exploring and researching the natural environment, fully experiencing the light and moods of the changing atmosphere and times of day. I make drawings, watercolour studies or oil paintings often developed further in the studio.”

The Not Just Hockney exhibition runs every day at 12.30pm on the big screen which is run by Bradford UNESCO City of Film.

For more about the Not Just Hockney project itself and details on all the artists involved, visit notjusthockney.info.