Mechanisms For Artistic Development

Mechanisms For Artistic Development

Artist, curator and founder of Abingdon Studios Garth Gratrix leads a conversation with artist and gallery director Matt Antoniak & gallery director Max Lee of Slugtown, artist and curator Penny Payne and artist & co-founder of SAWDUST Will Hughes.

The conversation will discuss building structures of support for artists and how through collaboration, seeking out opportunities and building networks it is possible to build a thriving career in the North East and reach out nationally and internationally.

This is a free event as part of the Turner on Tees wrap around activities which are taking place across the Tees Valley, commissioned in collaboration with MIMA and programmed by Penny Payne & Will Hughes.

Matt Antoniak

Matt Antoniak (b.1991, Nottingham) is an artist and curator based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

He has exhibited widely in group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. His practice is based in painting, and wall drawing, and his interests are in ideas of artistic hierarchy, value and of art making itself.

He is the co-director of Slugtown – a not-for-profit art gallery working with artists in ambitious solo and group exhibitions. He runs workshops with local youth programmes and after school clubs as part of the public programme SlugClub, designed to increase engagement with contemporary art.

@matt_antoniak

mattantoniak.com

Max Lee

Max Lee (b.1993, London) is a curator based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

He is co-director of Slugtown, a not-for-profit art gallery that supports emerging and early-career artists to produce ambitious and critically engaged exhibitions, enabling them to make step-changes in their careers. Alongside this it runs SlugClub, a free arts club for local young people aimed at introducing new audiences to contemporary art.

He is currently General Manager at Workplace, a contemporary art gallery in London representing British and international artists working across painting, sculpture, moving image, and installation. Previously he was General Manager at Workplace Foundation, a charity based in Newcastle Upon Tyne which supported emerging and under-represented artists with a specific commitment to UK art scenes outside of London. Max was a member of North East CVAN Advisory Group between 2017 - 2022.

@maxnlee

SLUGTOWN

Slugtown is a non-profit art gallery based in Shieldfield, Newcastle upon Tyne.

We aim to support pioneering, experimental, and challenging contemporary art, making it accessible and engaging to all audiences. We work with early-career artists, commissioning new work and providing a platform for ambitious exhibitions, workshops and events. Alongside this we run SlugClub – a free arts club for local young people aimed at introducing new audiences to contemporary art through making it fun and collaborative in monthly artist-designed workshops and regular exhibitions.

We want to support artists in the North East, alongside working with partners from outside of the region – with the aim of growing and developing the wider arts ecology of North East.

Since 2022, Slugtown has been located on Wretham Place in Shieldfield. Prior to this, from 2017-18 the gallery was run from a residential property in Heaton.

@slugtown_

Garth Gratrix

Gratrix moves along the line of formal structure, architectures, systems and materials and ‘frolic’ as a necessary counterpart, embracing queerness, joy, mischief, and care. The tension or oscillation between these states is a reminder that serious work can still hold play, and that play can still hold purpose. The works make room for multiple readings simultaneously, and trust the viewer to find their own way in.

@garthgratrix

garthgratrix.com

Will Hughes

Will Hughes is a visual artist and co-founder of SAWDUST. A graduate of Bath Spa University and the BxNU Institute, concepts of aspiration, queerness and glamour are central themes within their practice. Which often takes form in sculpture, print and installation. Curatorially they are interested in ways of supporting early and mid career artistic voices and building strong networks.

In 2025 they were named Tees valley Artist of the year which represented a significant investment in their practice, and also co-founded SAWDUST WORKSHOP CIC A workshop for artists, a lab for reimagining our streets and a place where ideas get built.

@will_hughes_art_

Penny Payne

Penny Payne is an independent curator who has worked for Middlesbrough Art Week to deliver the North East Open Call since 2023.

Payne has her own artistic practice rooted in the exploration of social record. She primarily explores female narratives, particularly overlooked and unrecorded histories. From her studio in Cullercoats, North Tyneside Payne creates sculptural pieces, site specific installations and performative moments that draw on archival research.

Her work Canon produced as part of her Art In Manufacturing Residency had its debut at The Festival of Making, Blackburn and Haworth Art Gallery in July/ August 2026

@payne.penelope

www.penelopepayne.co.uk