As part of the Manchester Histories Festival 2016, PAPER will present Codeword, a solo exhibition by Newcastle-based artist, Narbi Price. Responding to the 20th Anniversary of IRA Bombing of Manchester, Narbi has created a series of new paintings on paper. These paintings portray details of the city as it is now: locations chosen to mark this specific moment in Manchester’s history.
Though he was brought up in the North-East, Narbi started visiting Manchester as a teenager to see gigs with friends. He gained a real affection for the city. The bombing in 1996 by the Provisional IRA was the first time such an event had had an effect on streets that he knew. That huge explosion and its mushroom cloud replayed and replayed; those familiar streets devastated on TV news reports. Narbi was particularly struck by the mysterious ‘codeword’ in the telephoned warning that signified a legitimate threat, and in the aftermath, the defiant post box standing virtually unaffected amid the carnage. What was also amazing was the fact that no one died.
Having married a girl from Bolton, Narbi regularly returns to Manchester and he often walks down Corporation Street, the site where the bomb was detonated twenty years ago. The spectre of the violence of that day in June 1996 remains in the collective consciousness and in the (psycho)geography of the street, which is still the heart of the shopping district and a new Metrolink line.
The act of making these images on the twentieth anniversary is not to glorify the bombing but to offer a space for contemplation on the legacy of that day in June 1996 - what it was and what it could have been.
Though he was brought up in the North-East, Narbi started visiting Manchester as a teenager to see gigs with friends. He gained a real affection for the city. The bombing in 1996 by the Provisional IRA was the first time such an event had had an effect on streets that he knew. That huge explosion and its mushroom cloud replayed and replayed; those familiar streets devastated on TV news reports. Narbi was particularly struck by the mysterious ‘codeword’ in the telephoned warning that signified a legitimate threat, and in the aftermath, the defiant post box standing virtually unaffected amid the carnage. What was also amazing was the fact that no one died.
Having married a girl from Bolton, Narbi regularly returns to Manchester and he often walks down Corporation Street, the site where the bomb was detonated twenty years ago. The spectre of the violence of that day in June 1996 remains in the collective consciousness and in the (psycho)geography of the street, which is still the heart of the shopping district and a new Metrolink line.
The act of making these images on the twentieth anniversary is not to glorify the bombing but to offer a space for contemplation on the legacy of that day in June 1996 - what it was and what it could have been.
About Narbi Price
Narbi Price was born in Hartlepool. He currently lives and works in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He completed his Fine Art Masters at Newcastle University in 2010. He has been selected for the John Moores Painting Prize on two occasions. In 2012, he was a prizewinner for the work Untitled (MJK). He is currently undertaking a PhD at Newcastle University. Narbi also shows with Vane in Newcastle.
Narbi Price was born in Hartlepool. He currently lives and works in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He completed his Fine Art Masters at Newcastle University in 2010. He has been selected for the John Moores Painting Prize on two occasions. In 2012, he was a prizewinner for the work Untitled (MJK). He is currently undertaking a PhD at Newcastle University. Narbi also shows with Vane in Newcastle.
Untitled Postbox Painting (15/06/96)
Acrylic on Paper
56 x 76cm
2016
SOLD
Acrylic on Paper
56 x 76cm
2016
SOLD
Untitled Bench Painting (15/06/96)
Acrylic on Paper
56 x 76cm
2016
SOLD
Acrylic on Paper
56 x 76cm
2016
SOLD
Prints
Untitled (MAN)
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Untitled (ES)
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Untitled (AC)
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Untitled (CE)
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Untitled (MJK)
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal
Lithograph on Arches Cover White,
Edition of 20,
33.5 x 42cm
2012
£200
Click to purchase this work via Paypal