Terry Duffy said: “My ambition with this show is to raise the awareness and profile of talented artists associated with Liverpool who are producing work of international quality. Its time we realised the quality of work on our doorstep especially during this year as European Capital of Culture.” Among the 20 artists showing is Simon Yorke, who creates large-scale iconic monochrome portraits of the homeless in a series of paintings of Big Issue vendors. Joe Bampton deals with illusion and the built environment, using the notion of interiors as vessels for memory and imagination. Jennie Cunningham’s enigmatic, ethereal and spiritual installation weaves together film-making, sound–recording and print-making to examine issues surrounding personal identity. Mark Willcox produces huge colour saturated, semi-abstract images, commemorating the fatal 1987 Kings Cross London Underground fire, which, in a ‘coming-of-age’, passes its 21st anniversary during the Independents 08 programme. “I hope this show will become an annual event and begin to foster a progressive realisation of Liverpool creative talent”, Terry Duffy 2008. | 
