|
|
My Blog
Art
|
Posted on Friday, May 11, 2012 9:04 AM
I was at the Private View of The Other Art Fair last night. This is an exhibition of work from emerging and unrepresented artists in the UK.
The fair is a wonderful collection of work across many mediums and is a great opportunity to buy art directly from the artists and to talk to them about their practice. It is also very exciting to see the wealth of talent and imagination this country is producing in the creative field.
With 100 artists in the show, all of them with works which engage and stimulate, it is probably bad of me to just pick out just a handful, but this is just a snapshot of a few which particularly interested me.
Nicola Anthony is a favourite artist of mine and is showing some of her word based work in the Fabelist Marketplace. I was especially taken with ‘Rubik’s Years, a beautiful glass and resin sculpture through which ambient light plays, making it an ever changing piece.
Ben Gooding produces aluminium pieces with every line scored by hand. This is mark making from the OCD school of art, with hundreds of lines repeated painstakingly, producing an almost machine tooled finish with a human touch. The process is fascinating and the finished panels produce textures dying to be touched.
Still on texture (and painstaking process), Alberto Fusco is showing his paper sculptures reflecting the volatility of human emotions. The flashes of colour from the obsessively folded pages Fusco uses hint at chaotic emotions trapped in the precise, neat and often symmetrical works.
In photography, Charlotte Anderson and Andrew Stewart both travel to far flung places using documentary images to communicate their views of the world, but in very different styles. The common thread is the sense of place and atmosphere which they create.
Atmosphere also plays a strong part in the works of digital painter, Marcel Ceuppens and oil painter Jennifer Hooper, although again, their work is very diverse in style. Ceuppens’ work is very precise and graphic with a recurring solitary figure overwhelmed by architectural verticals, a modern dilemma portrayed in a modern way. Hooper in contrast uses traditional oil painting to evoke unsentimental nature studies in vague backgrounds. Both provoke thoughts of place and time.
The exhibition is on until Sunday 13th May - full details on their website. It is well worth a visit. |
|
|
Posted on Thursday, April 12, 2012 10:04 AM
Tinsel Edwards is a London based artist and co-founder of A-side B-side, a new gallery, artist studios and project space in Hackney Downs.
Her work comments on a wide variety of contemporary social and political issues. Often using text, her paintings are littered with action statements, personal mottos, questions and anecdotes.
She has exhibited widely across the UK and beyond, solo and duo shows include The Pure Evil Gallery in London, Steal from Work in Bristol, and Artport in Berlin. Selected group shows include FLAGSTOP Art Fair and Orange County Centre for Contemporary Art in LA, Banksy’s Santas Ghetto, The Stella Dore Gallery, Multiplied Christie’s Artfair, Printclub London, Momac Gloucester, Jenaer Kunstverein in Gerrmany, The Pursuit of Happiness in Poland, and Light Sentence in Augsberg Germany. Tinsel’s curatorial projects include ‘Punk’, a large scale group show which toured to Hamburg and ‘Here Today’, and ‘Something Borrowed’, exhibitions
co-curated with long time friend and art collaborator Twinkle Troughton.
Tinsel’s art has been featured by Metro Newspaper, Dazed and Confused, Pop, Amelia’s, Zeitgeist magazine, Art Rebels and El Pais in Spain amongst others.
In your professional life, what is the single best thing about what you do?
I love painting. I can’t think of anything I would rather do, than spend a day in my studio working on a piece. I also really enjoy exhibiting my work, the different places you discover and people you meet through doing so. There are many different aspects to my work as an artist, curating shows, running creative workshops, teaching art classes. I really enjoy all of them but the thing I love most is the painting process and creating the work.
Do you have a creative hero / heroine and if so, why?
There are so many, and I often go through phases of being inspired by different artists at different times. Billy Childish for his prolific and unwavering creative soul, Bob and Roberta Smith for his humour, wit and simplicity, and for the fact he’s so straight to the point and honest. Tracey Emin for her brutal honesty, Frida Kahlo for her exquisite and intimate painting style. Grayson Perry for his integrity and depth, Alice Neel because her beautiful paintings have so much emotion and humanity, and because she stuck to her guns as a portrait artist whilst everyone around her became pop artists. There are loads more…at the moment I am really inspired by a handful of painters and fascinated with different painting techniques.
What piece of advice do you wish you had been given at the beginning of your career?
Before I left art school, I was expecting that things would all fall into place: I would start selling work, a gallery would represent me and I would be painting everyday in a lovely studio somewhere. It was quite a shock when things didn’t turn out that way. It is really tough, but over time I’ve learnt to be resourceful, juggling different jobs to pay the bills but always ensuring that I have some time to paint. I learnt quickly that Doing It Yourself is the best attitude to have, if established galleries don’t want to represent your work then create and curate your own exhibitions. Its not about fitting into the established order of things but about making your own way. A piece of advice that would have really helped me would be being told that it wasn’t going to be easy, but be true to yourself and your ideas, find your own way to make things happen and enjoy the process.
If you hit a creative block, what is your top tip for getting through it?
For me it helps to be aware that creative blocks come and go, if I hit one I remind myself that I will come through it. If I really start hating my work I tell myself it means its time for a change. My top tips are to keep working, experiment, don’t be too precious (the bad paintings can go in the bin). Absorb everything, go to exhibitions, read, find new inspiration. Being an artist is like being on a journey, productive periods and creative blocks are all part of a bigger process of discovery.
And finally, for fun, if you were a shoe, what type of shoe would you be and why?
I would always go for the orange suede stiletto with the 6 inch heel…or something similarly glamorous but completely impractical. Not sure if thats the type of shoe I would be, but its definitely the type of shoe that I like!
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, March 16, 2012 8:03 AM
 Elise Liversedge
works alongside Mary
Hooper in
their creative consultancy ONE TWO ONE art and architecture. The collaborative partnership was founded in 2004 by architect/artist Elise and artist/curator Mary Hooper and they have developed a practice
with a focus on the exploration of what is meant by a ‘sense of place’ and what
significance this has to a collective and individual sense of identity and
wellbeing.
They have 20 years
collective experience of delivering public art and projects that help to create
community sustainability through cultural development. As a creative
partnership they have a commitment to innovation and excellence, underpinned by
their collaborative and personal practice and have experience of working with
diverse social and ethnic groups in local communities, and professionals in the
arts, healthcare, museums, galleries, and local government. For a more detailed CV have a look at the "i
" book on the network page on the ONE TWO ONE
website.
Elise also "practises as an architect when I can get the work and
also thinks wistfully about my 'fine art' background". She is
currently working on an idea for a drawing installation - 'silver birch' with
poet Gregory Warren Wilson.
In your professional life, what is the single best thing
about what you do? The best thing about what I do is quite simply that what
is open to us all: the development of something from nothing.
Do you have a creative hero / heroine and if so, why? I admire other peoples abilities especially those who do
the things that I wish I could - anyone who can play
an instrument well or speak another languages fluently -
skills that open up another world of both creativity and
opportunity.
What piece of advice do you wish you had been given at the beginning of your career?
To be more confident with your marketing and aim high
from the start and also to develop a very
thick skin from the start so it's easier to deal
with all the different responses that come our way,
as being very good at doing something is not always good
enough - the creative world is so subjective not everyone will appreciate what you have to
offer.
If you hit a creative block, what is your top tip for getting through it? Allowing a respected colleague or friend who has similar
ideas or priorities to give a constructive critical analysis of
the problem or a sticking point in a piece of work is
a good way of getting through a creative block, but you need to
develop that thick professional skin to allow a critic to be
non personal.
And finally, for fun, if you were a shoe, what type of shoe would you be and
why? If I was a shoe I would definitely be a soft red leather
3in high tango shoe with extra cushioning!!
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, January 13, 2012 9:24 AM
Have
you ever found yourself stumped because you haven’t got the right materials or
piece of equipment? Or is that just a
good excuse? We can all let ourselves
off the hook from doing our work, creative or otherwise, because we don’t have
exact supplies.
Obviously,
there are times when it is essential to have a kiln, a camera, a canvas (or if
you are David Hockney, an iPad).
However, when you hit a block due to no materials, it could be an
opportunity for some creative thinking.
 I have just finished reading “A Backward Glance”, an
excellent autobiography by the 19 century author, Edith Wharton,
who wrote novels including, “The Age of Innocence”, “Ethan Frome” and “The
House of Mirth”. As a child, she wanted
to write, but:
“It was not thought necessary to feed my literary ambitions
with foolscap, and for lack of paper I was driven to begging for the wrappings
of the parcels delivered at the house.
After a while these were regarded as belonging to me, and I always kept
a stack in my room. It never occurred to
me to fold and cut the big brown sheets, and I used to spread them on the floor
and travel over them on my hands and knees, building up long parallel columns
of blank verse headed: ‘Scene: A Venetian palace’, or ‘Dramatis Personae’
(which I never knew how to pronounce).”
Not an auspicious start for a writer, but Wharton went on to
win the Pulitzer Prize.
How could you find a creative solution when faced with a lack
of equipment?
|
|
|
Posted on Friday, July 15, 2011 10:40 AM
Jackie King is an award winning photographer specialising in portrait and fine art photography.
Jackie’s commissions have included Imperial College London, Porsche, Waitrose, and
PetPlan. She has been widely published and her Fine Art images have been
exhibited internationally. Jackie has
been heavily involved with the British Institute of Professional Photography serving
on the Board of Directors, the first woman to do so. She runs her own Photography Workshops, the
next one being on 22 July in Winchester.
In your professional life, what is the single best
thing about what you do? I
absolutely love the variety of meeting so many different people and connecting
with them on a creative and interpersonal level.
Do you have a creative hero / heroine and if so, why?
hmmmmm...I
like Tracey Emin's ballsy approach to her work and without sounding ridiculous
I feel that anyone working creatively should be admired; it takes a lot to
balls to put yourself out there, to produce work you love.
What piece of advice do you wish you had been
given at the beginning of your career?
Make sure you've got balls of steel! Learn patience, never give up. You might need to adjust your plan but keep
going. You're not alone; if you hit a
tough bit and think, "Oh what's the point", ask someone to give you
an honest opinion of where you're at. Don't
over estimate or underestimate your own worth or your ability. Sorry that was 5 pieces, lol !
If you hit a creative block, what is your top tip for
getting through it?
I move
away from the area, lol! It's not
something you can work through or stare at and find a solution so I go for a
walk or a run. A run's really my
favourite thing and I find it's good to focus the mind and clear the blockages. Running through the countryside I get some
air in the lungs and feel invigorated. Switching
my mind off or over to a totally different channel allows my head to actually
breathe and relax and usually when I least expect it the block disappears
(failing that Tea & Cake always help!)
And
finally, for fun, if you were a shoe, what type of shoe would you be and why?
I love glamour and sparkle and delicate ladylike shoes
but for this I would be a dark green wellie.
I live in them when I run my photo workshops even if it's hot, they are
sturdy and protective and they don't rub or give me blisters :-)
|
|
|
|
|
