About The Artist

Jo Derbyshire was born in Liverpool UK. Jo is an activist in contemporary art practice - a visual artist, writer and performer - who works in a range of media and who has exhibited nationally and internationally. Jo was due to study Art and History at University but dropped out and got involved in the performance and poetry scene in Liverpool in the early 1990s. In 1996 Jo had a play performed at the Unity theatre Liverpool before going back to study performance, literature and media, politics and history and art at Liverpool's three universities. Jo was previously the Curator of the Egg Space Gallery in Liverpool, UK, was associate Curator to the South Bohemian Gallery and was involved with projects at Madelainartz Gallery, in Liverpool (UK). Currently Jo is part of the The Creative Network Association (TCNA) an organisation which is a creative platform that provides workshops to various organisations around the UK. Jo was part of the International Arts Group Transvoyeur, Red Dot Exhibitions and has had various other associations and collaborations nationally and internationally. It was through working through the Transvoyeur platform that Jo became involved in a Liverpool and New York Exhibition 2006 and 2008, projects in Liverpool, Venice and Germany. Two pieces of Jo’s work are in the permanent collection at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospital NHS trusts. In 2007 Jo presented a new series of live art interventions and combined arts initiatives titled ‘When the City Speaks' and the ‘Loft Space’ providing a platform for other artists. Artist who participated included Kofi Forson (NYC, USA), Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney (London, UK) and George Lund (Liverpool, UK) amongst other artists, writers and performers. A book by the Poet Andrew Taylor called ‘Temporary Residence’ (Erbacce Press 2007, ISBN 978-0-9555754-3-3), was written whilst Jo hosted the Loft Space project. Jo’s work reflects the social and political changes affecting the artist immediate landscape, the work highlights the regeneration of our cities and lives. Samples of Jo’s work can be found at: www.joderbyshire.com