About Us – Pineapple Black

Pineapple Black is a Contemporary Arts Space offering exhibition opportunities for artists of all disciplines based in the centre of Middlesbrough, UK.

The space is run by local artists and curators Bobby Benjamin and Stephen Irving with the aim of showcasing the best local, national and international talent in Teesside.

Pineapple Black is located within an old New Look store, providing us with a very large and very prominent space from which to be able to run our programme of exhibitions.

Alongside our regular series of exhibitions we also offer the opportunity for individuals and arts collectives to ‘take over’ the space in-between shows for one off and pop-up events which have included messy play for children, filming of music videos, a backdrop for student films, comedy and performance nights to name but a few.

OUR SPACES

Our Main Space is a large open plan space with directional lighting that is split into two. The larger area has high ceilings, white walls and a very large tiled floor area. The smaller area has a lower ceiling, some pillars (some of which are tiled) and a lovely bright orange wall!

This space allows for a variety of opportunities to display work and the possibilities for large installations as well as smaller more intricate pieces.

Thanks to our glass frontage and large shutter doors we have a very open space which, unlike many galleries and exhibition spaces, allows people to see in and get an idea of what they are walking in to before entering the space. We have found that this open-ness has encouraged people who through their own admission wouldn’t normally visit an art exhibition to engage with both the artwork and the space.

We have also developed an area for workshops and a small shop area providing opportunities for artists who make clothing to display and sell their work.

As it was once an old New Look store we have an amazing and unique space off the back of the Main space which used to be the changing rooms.

Though the curtains and doors have been removed the cubicles themselves remain, as well as a large floor to ceiling mirror in the centre space.

The Changed Room space provides both a unique opportunity and a challenge to artists and art collectives. As it is separate from the main space, but connected through a large open doorway, it has the possibility to be used either as part of the Main space or for stand alone exhibitions.

It also provides a great space to show video, projections and light based artworks as it can be placed into almost complete darkness.

Our 24/7 Window space does exactly what it says on the tin!

The first thing we did when we took over the space was to build this area to take advantage of the huge glass frontage that it offered.

We offer this space independently of the Main space (though it can, and has on accession, been used as part of the main exhibition) as an opportunity for artists to have a solo exhibition that is literally seen been thousands of people everyday.

Located along one of the main routes into the Hill St shopping centre, directly infant of the centres carpark and placed between Primark, Home Bargains and a Sainsbury’s the daily footfall past this space allows artists the possibility to have their work seen by everyone going in and out of the centre.

It also, as the name suggests, allows the work to be viewed 24/7, so even when we are closed the work is still viewable.