The Grateful Web

Jo Clements

Welcome to The Grateful Web—the podcast that connects the rest of the world to our exciting vibrant Northern art scene. Hosted by Manchester-based artist Dr Jo Clements, this series explores the rich ecosystems of artists, curators, and cultural thinkers whose ideas and collaborations shape our cultural landscape. Through candid conversations with artists, scientists, and creative practitioners, The Grateful Web celebrates and acknowledges the generosity, collaborative spirit, support and chance encounters that are essential fuel for artists’ success.  Rooted in the Norths' dynamic art scene, this podcast shines a light on the connections that drive creative communities—from world-renowned institutions to grassroots artist-led spaces. Whether you're an artist, curator, art collector, gallerist or simply someone who loves art and exploring the ideas that bind us, join us as we weave new connections, explore and expand our grateful web.   This podcast has been made possible with generous support from GMCA Inspire Fund (round 3) info here and by an a-n Artists Bursary (2024-25) info here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 24 FEB

    Episode #20 Weaving Connections with Sophy King and John-Paul Brown

    Today I’m delighted to be talking to artists Sophy King and John-Paul Brown about their major new exhibition The Guardians of Living Matter at The Lowry in Salford, currently on show until 29th March 2026.   Sophy King is a multidisciplinary environmental artist whose work interrogates the nature–culture continuum through installation, film, and sound to examine ecological systems under the pressure of climate crisis. Her research across the moors and lowlands surrounding Manchester focuses on moss, fungi, peat, wildfire, and water—both as material and subject—probing our entanglement with damaged landscapes while proposing urban rewilding and sustainable futures.    John-Paul Browns practice spans large-scale installation, documentary photography, expanded drawing, and painting. His work layers personal narrative with geopolitical and environmental realities, combining material sensitivity with environmentally conscious production methods. Like King, his commitment to low-carbon practice is not an add-on but a structural principle—shaping both aesthetics and ethics.   Together they present this fabulous, ambitious multimedia exhibition unfolding across four galleries.   At the centre of the exhibition is a vast, multi-sensory, immersive installation that explores a hope inducing speculative future: a living sculpture where mycelium and AI co-exist, a fictional research lab containing factual research, new ambitious large scale bodies of work and a delicious mixture of entangled logics and imagined possibilities for fungal and artificial systems.    Instagram: @sophykingart  Website: www.sophyking.com Instagram: @johnpaulbrown_  Website: www.johnpaulbrown.com https://thelowry.com/the-guardians-of-living-matter-myvx Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    38 min
  2. 27 JAN

    Episode #18 Weaving Connections with John Powell-Jones

    On this brand new episode I speak to the brilliant multi-disciplinary artist John Powell Jones John Powell-Jones is a UK-based artist whose work spans sculpture, animation, print and installation. Drawing on horror, folklore and the visual language of videogames, he creates speculative worlds populated by mutated beings and unstable technologies. His practice examines how power, ideology and myth shape perceptions of the body, the other and the future. Often working with ceramics and hand-built props, Powell-Jones combines meticulous craft with DIY worlding to produce narratives that are darkly humorous, unsettling and critically charged. He has exhibited widely across the UK and Europe, presenting projects that merge countercultural aesthetics with experimental storytelling.   https://www.johnpowell-jones.co.uk https://johnpowelljones.bigcartel.com @johnpowell_jones     If you enjoyed this episode please follow, share, spread the word and look out for more brilliant conversations coming soon. You can find the grateful web on ACAST, spotify, apple podcasts, Patreon or wherever you get your podcasts.     Thank you so much to those regular listeners who have been supporting me in this endeavour. If you want to support me further, please do check out my Patreon page, for just £2 a month you can help me to keep this podcast going – link in bio/show notes      This podcast has been made possible with generous support from GMCA Inspire Fund and by an a-n Artists Bursary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    52 min
  3. 24/11/2025

    Episode #16 Weaving Connections with Jamie Holman

    Hello and welcome to the grateful web. I’m Dr Jo Clements -  artist, artists coach and your grateful web host    My guest today is the brilliant Jamie Holman       A multidisciplinary artist, Jamie Holman seeks to make visible the exciting connection and propositions that manifest when heritage collides with contemporary practice. His research often proposes the emergence of culture through the celebration of topics & movements including subcultures, trades unions, folklore, activism, mill workers, football, labour & poetry.    Jamie’s work includes deep research particularly into archives, often resulting in the discovery of unknown working class histories and stories of individuals who have impacted the future of our nation, it’s culture and communities.    He often works in collaboration with communities, many of whom are categorised as not engaging in art    Recent commissions include ‘Wonderful Electric’ a four-part commission for the capital development of Blackburn Youth Zone, and his solo exhibition ‘Contagious Acts’ at The Whitaker. https://www.jamieholman.co.uk   @jamie_holman_studio If you enjoyed this episode please follow, share, spread the word and look out for more brilliant conversations coming soon. You can find the grateful web on ACAST, spotify, apple podcasts, Patreon or wherever you get your podcasts.   Thank you so much to those regular listeners who have been supporting me in this endeavour. If you want to support me further, please do check out my Patreon page, for just £2 a month you can help me to keep this podcast going – https://www.patreon.com/cw/JoClementsTheGratefulWeb   This podcast has been made possible with generous support from GMCA Inspire Fund and by an a-n Artists Bursary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 7m
  4. 10/11/2025

    Episode #15 Weaving Connections with Jude Wainwright

    My guest today is the fabulous artist Jude Wainwright    Jude is a figurative and surrealist painter based in Manchester. Her work explores identity, emotion and storytelling through staged, symbolic self-portraits that blur the line between the real and the imagined. Drawing on theatrical gesture, costume and surreal settings, she examines how we construct and conceal the self, reflecting on the boundaries between authenticity, performance and control.  Alongside her practice, Jude is the Studio Manager at AWOL Studios in Ancoats, where she supports a large community of artists and creatives. In 2022, she reached the semi-finals of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, and in 2025 returned to Sky Arts as a guest presenter, leading two Portrait Artist Masterclass episodes on narrative portraiture.  Jude is an Associate Member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Artists, and her work has been exhibited widely across the UK and internationally. @judewainwright_  https://www.judewainwright.com. If you enjoyed this episode please follow, share, spread the word and look out for more brilliant conversations coming soon. You can find the grateful web on ACAST, spotify, apple podcasts, Patreon or wherever you get your podcasts.    Thank you so much to those regular listeners who have been supporting me in this endeavour. If you want to support me further, please do check out my Patreon page, for just £2 a month you can help me to keep this podcast going – link in bio/show notes     This podcast has been made possible with generous support from GMCA Inspire Fund and by an a-n Artists Bursary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 3m
  5. 27/10/2025

    Episode #14 Weaving Connections with Rowland Hill

    A warm welcome to the 14th episode of the Weaving Connections series on The Grateful Web the podcast that weaves connections with some of the fabulous people I’m privileged to call part of my arts community here in Manchester and the North West. I’m Dr Jo Clements -  artist, artists coach and your grateful web host  My guest today is the artist Rowland Hill.   Rowland studied Drama and English and worked as an award-winning artist film curator before graduating in 2018 with a Masters from the Slade School of Fine Art where she received the Clare Winsten Memorial Award. In 2024 she presented her debut institutional solo exhibition Logical Song at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester which she transformed into an ambiguous attraction. In the same year she was shortlisted for the prestigious Jerwood & MAYK Bursary for artists working in radical live performance. Her projects have been supported and commissioned by institutions including the Jerwood Foundation, Raven Row, Hospitalfield, Turner Contemporary, and Flux Factory in New York and she’s performed and directed work at the Southbank Centre, Tate Britain and The Lowry among others. www.rowland-hill.com  @row.land.hill  Thank you so much to those regular listeners who have been supporting me in this endeavour. If you want to support me further, please do check out my Patreon page, for just £2 a month you can help me to keep this podcast going – link https://www.patreon.com/cw/JoClementsTheGratefulWeb If you enjoyed this episode please follow, share, spread the word and look out for more brilliant conversations coming soon. You can find the grateful web on ACAST, spotify, apple podcasts, Patreon or wherever you get your podcasts. This podcast has been made possible with generous support from GMCA Inspire Fund and by an a-n Artists Bursary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 17m

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to The Grateful Web—the podcast that connects the rest of the world to our exciting vibrant Northern art scene. Hosted by Manchester-based artist Dr Jo Clements, this series explores the rich ecosystems of artists, curators, and cultural thinkers whose ideas and collaborations shape our cultural landscape. Through candid conversations with artists, scientists, and creative practitioners, The Grateful Web celebrates and acknowledges the generosity, collaborative spirit, support and chance encounters that are essential fuel for artists’ success.  Rooted in the Norths' dynamic art scene, this podcast shines a light on the connections that drive creative communities—from world-renowned institutions to grassroots artist-led spaces. Whether you're an artist, curator, art collector, gallerist or simply someone who loves art and exploring the ideas that bind us, join us as we weave new connections, explore and expand our grateful web.   This podcast has been made possible with generous support from GMCA Inspire Fund (round 3) info here and by an a-n Artists Bursary (2024-25) info here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.