THE Down Stairs gallery at Great Brampton House in Madley is proud to present new semi-permanent works located in the grounds, with an opening event at the venue on Saturday, August 10, from noon to 6pm.

These pieces mark a turning point for Down Stairs and a new direction for the artistrun project and its associated residency programme.

Social Sculpture by Kieren Reed explores the nature of functionality, and visually embodies the vernacular architecture of Whitstable Harbour, the grade II-listed site where the work was first exhibited for the 2012 Biennale. In this incarnation it will be adapted to serve as residential accommodation for visiting artists on part of Down Stairs’ residency programme.

Sparrow and Castice have created two new works for Down Stairs. The first of these, Billboard Structure 2, is simply that: the second a collapsible, interchangeable billboard structure created specifically for exhibition outdoors. A Symbol and an Object is the first message to be shown on the structure. While the billboard will remain in situ for an indefinite period of time, the message which it supports will be changed at irregular intervals by Sparrow and Castice and by Down Stairs.

Down Stairs was established in 2011 by artists Craig Barnes and Dmitri Galitzine, when they took residency at Great Brampton House in Herefordshire at the behest of entrepreneur Martin Miller.

Over two years Barnes and Galtizine have mounted an ambitious programme of exhibitions and events in the ten rooms of gallery space at Great Brampton House, as well as developing a studio and workshop complex in an old stable block for their own use and that of visiting resident or exhibiting artists.

At the start of 2013, finding themselves at both a personal and funding crossroads, Barnes and Galitzine decided not to continue to run Down Stairs in the manner they had to date, instead opting to remodel Down Stairs as a more reflexive organisation not aligned to any funding model, be it private or public.

With the blessing of Martin Miller to remain on site at Great Brampton House, Down Stairs is now interested in focusing its work around its residency programme and broader ways to engage with an audience.

For further information, visit downstairsgallery.co.uk.