Gayle Meikle is a Curator and Lecturer in Contemporary Art Curation.
She teaches across the Fine Art and Media Culture and Heritage departments in the School of Arts and Culture at Newcastle University.
Her research focuses on curating as a creative practice, creating discursive and experimental platforms to present contemporary art. Previous projects have included exhibition-making, sound and aural interventions, audio interviews, cooking, performance, event-organising, and publication-making. At the root of her practice are two questions: ‘What happens when we make art public?’ and ‘What is the role of the curatorial in this encounter?’
She has an ongoing collaborative practice with Alexandra Ross titled ‘A Polyphonic Essay on…’ and Harriet Sutcliffe titled ‘Undutiful Spirit’. In 2021, she co-edited the book ‘The Commonplace Book of ATLAS’, with Emma Nicolson. This anthology discusses the activity of ATLAS Arts (2010 – 2018), a rural arts organisation based on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, within a global conversation about climate change, indigenous cultures and spatial politics.
Recent exhibitions include ‘Undutiful Spirit: Meeting Point’ at BALTIC Centre of Contemporary Art, Gateshead (2022) and ‘Companion’ with artists Tayo Adekunle, Catherine Bertola and Claire Dorsett at Workplace Foundation, Newcastle (2023). Gayle is currently working towards an international visual arts programme for Logan Botanic Garden, Scotland, exploring climate adaptation and plants due to launch 2025/2026.
Installation view of Companion featuring artworks by Tayo Adekunle, Catherine Bertola and Claire Dorsett (2023)
Exhibition at Workplace Foundation 2022- 2023Companion explores ways of capturing how artists describe their work and the connections made when works sit in companionship with one another. An integral component of the exhibition is the Audio Guide, an aural companion to the artworks created as a companion to the artworks on display.
Photo: Matt Denham
Courtesy of Workplace Foundation
A commonplace book of ATLAS (2021)
Frontispiece of the book with illustration by artist Catherine Weir.
A commonplace book of ATLAS (2021) is a curated object conceived with Emma Nicolson, the inaugural director of the rural arts organisation ATLAS Arts based on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The book charts the organisation’s practice from 2010 to 2018. The curated form mimics a commonplace book, an idiosyncratically organised depository of written extracts, reflective notes, explorative ideas and biographical inserts. Its pages contain diverse material, from academic writing to snippets of conversations interleaved and enriched with project documentation. It positions the rural arts organisation within a global conversation about climate change, indigenous cultures and spatial politics.
Published by ATLAS Arts https://atlasarts.org.uk/