MEET THE MANCHESTER ARTISTS RAISING CLIMATE CONSCIOUSNESS

The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing the world and artists across the globe are using creativity to highlight this problem. We’ve collated some of the most prominent Manchester-based artists who are foregrounding environmental issues in their work.

By Elena John

Author-illustrator Emma Reynolds is passionate about environmental activism and storytelling and is the founder of the #KidLit4Climate campaign. The campaign encourages children to draw in protest against the climate crisis. Her 2021 debut story Amara and the Bats brings the campaign into practice. Written and illustrated by Reynolds, it is a stunning story with the important message that we must save our wildlife. Her work is set to feature in another illustrated book later in 2023, a graphic novel called Drawn to Change the World emmareynoldsillustration.com brigittejurack.de hilaryjack.com

Sculpturist Brigitte Jurack focuses on appreciating the natural world and shifting towards sustainable futures. Originally studying in Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Jurack now works in the UK and is currently Head of Sculpture and Time-Based Arts and Programme Leader at Manchester School of Art. Her first solo exhibition Fieldnotes featured at the Manchester venue HOME and ran until January 2023, exploring issues of environmental sustainability, craft and labour.

Working across a range of media to face the realities of the climate crisis, Hilary Jack’s work has been exhibited across the UK and internationally. Her recent climate-focussed projects include Microplastics (2020), dynamically depicting the presence of climate change on our environment. The outdoor art installation Unsettled Ground at Salford Art Gallery and other venues across Manchester explores the effect of policymaking and the cycle of degeneration and regeneration on human and animal communities. She particularly emphasises the use of ‘found’ objects in her work.

Illustration Georgia Harmey nomadclan.co.uk

Queer fine art muralists CBLOXX (Jay Gilleard) and Aylo (Hayley Garner) come together to form the Manchester-based duo Nomad Clan. Named ‘one of street art’s finest female duos’ by Widewalls magazine, their giant dynamic street murals tackle pressing topics including socio-economic inequality, local history and environmental issues. Spanning the globe their murals channel climate issues from their 2018 ‘British Sea Power’ mural in Hull to ‘Pray for Rain’ in Mexico.