A NEW exhibition will both celebrate and poke fun at Bolton.

Entitled 'LOCAL' it has been put together by three artists, who are also members of the town’s neo:artists organisation, and two guest exhibitors.

The artwork – which includes photography, sculptures and paintings - will be displayed over three days in an empty shop at 46 Newport Street, next to Subway.

It was acquired for the artists by Castlefield Gallery, in Manchester, as part of its New Art Spaces project, which finds ‘pop up spaces’ for emerging talent in the region.

One of the artists, Jasmine Renold, has made sculptures from items she has found while volunteering with conservation group Bolton North East Wildlife Trail.

A piece she calls ‘Bolt City’, assembled from a stash of nuts and bolts, will be lit so it casts large shadows behind it, while another features a car axle pulled out of Bradshaw Brook.

Ms Renold says the exhibition focuses on the Bolton area and has a humorous element to it.

She said: “Some of it is taking the mickey a little bit, we hope people are going to find it a bit of fun.

“We are going to have a mock gift shop. I’ve made key rings of eight empty shops. It’s like saying ‘give us an empty shop and we can do something with it’.”

The artists will be there for much of duration of the three-day exhibition to chat to visitors about their work and inspirations.

Ms Renold added: “I’m definitely looking forward to it, I love that, it’s my favourite bit of it.

“I always think it’s nice when people come up to you. Often when people go to galleries they don’t know what something is about, or they try to guess or just don’t go in.

“But if the artists are there they can ask ‘why did you do that’, that’s the really enjoyable bit.”

But she added that not all her work has a hidden deep meaning.

“I’m quite honest, I can’t explain it, sometimes, for me it’s the making of it and that it looks good. I don’t always have a philosophical reason behind it,” she said.

Among the other pieces to be exhibited are a futuristic vision of Bolton based on Google Earth photograph of the Croal Valley.

Created by Andy Smith the work depicts a utopian, green Bolton with no car parks and has the title ‘Borough of Bolton Proposed Improvement Scheme. Phase One Public Park and Environment Learning Zone’.

And the photographer Simon Gilkes has captured a number of beautiful wildlife images from around Bolton, including Leverhulme Park, Darcy Lever Gravel Pits, Moses Gate Country Park and Crompton Lodge.

Also exhibiting is Paul Turnock, who takes a multi-media focused approach, incorporating light, sound and motion detection technology into his paintings.

The free exhibition has a preview evening on Friday, between 6pm and 9pm. And it will also be open on Saturday and Sunday, between 11am and 5pm.