Bluecoat commissions new artworks to welcome visitors

Site specific works are being created for the new Bluecoat Hub which is being redesigned to give visitors a fresh welcome to the city centre arts venue.

Harold Offeh, Babak Ganjei and Sumuyya Khader are among those selected to create the new artworks.

The commissions are part of a scheme to redevelop the Grade I listed building’s entrance space in a project developed by Liverpool-based Architectural Emporium in partnership with the Bluecoat team.

Cambridge-based Harold Offeh, who works with a range of media including video, photography and performance, has been commissioned to create an area specifically for children and families in the Hub space.

He uses humour to explore histories and themes of gender, politics, race and class.

Babak Ganjei. Photo by Jonny L Davies.

Londoner Babak Ganjei has produced three artworks, printed on tiles which wrap around the Hub’s new Information desk.

He uses comedy as a way of reflecting on art, his ambitions and the absurdity of daily life.

And Liverpool-based artist and illustrator Sumuyya Khader has created a bespoke tile design linking the building and the popular Bluecoat garden.

Khader recently set up Granby Press, a community-based organisation with a focus on printed material and design.

Bluecoat senior curator Adam Lewis-Smythe said: “We really want visitors to experience artworks the minute they step into Bluecoat. The commissions offer an encounter with art beyond the gallery, in places that we might not normally expect to see it.

“Each artist brings something unique to our new interior, but each share our ambition to bring people closer to art and artists.

In a building full of artists working in their studios, in workshops and in our galleries, it feels entirely fitting to embed the work of artists into the fabric of our building.”