Mr. Gresty : A brander in its most innovative interpretation
A brander by nature, an illustrator by heart, a curator by interest; but for everyone else just Mr. Gresty.
A brander by nature, an illustrator by heart, a curator by interest; but for everyone else just Mr. Gresty.
Being a designer for a multitude of companies, what makes you want to work with a brand?
A lot of my design work is branding start-up companies. I especially enjoy this area. Seeing the client’s excitement and enthusiasm towards my ideas and their new brand. I love working together on something like that, something new and fresh.
How would you describe your design identity and how does it show in your work for other companies?
I love to work with vibrant and positive colours and I always use a sense of humour and simple shapes in my work. In most cases my clients have seen other projects of mine and ask me to do my thing for them.
Tell us about the process of becoming the multitasking artist you are today.
I can’t let myself run out of things to do, if I do I feel lost. My system consists of working on all the commissioned projects first and then filling the gaps with all those personal projects. The variety of work keeps me stimulated.
You are a graphic designer, an illustrator, an author, a curator... How did you get involved with such a variety of work?
If I have an idea that in my opinion is worth trying, I’ll give it a go. As I work for myself and don’t have employees, I have the time and space to experiment. All those job titles share a characteristic; they are all creative solutions to a problem.
Many people say this is the future of the creative industry, the more you can do the higher you will get. Do you believe this is true?
I think that in the commercial world this could look good on a CV but on the other hand you can come across as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Some creatives will evolve their style and move on to the thing that they’re passionate about and pick up skills along the way. I believe I am one of those last creatives.
Working with typography a lot, what is your favourite font?
I don’t have one. Helvetica? No I don’t have one.
Is there a creative you are dying to work with?
I’ve never thought about it. To be honest I prefer to work on my own, but I am open to offers!
When did curating become a part of your career? What is it that attracts you to the field and what is the craziest idea you have ever had for an event?
In 2010, I started screen-printing and enjoyed it very much in Uni. I was in a bar in Clapton, Hackney, soon after speaking to the owner about the art on his walls, he said if I was interested I could put my work up! I said yes. At this point I had only created two typographic screen-prints. After a few solid weeks of printing lots of ideas from my sketchbook, I hung my first solo exhibition. Five years later and I’m getting ready to hang my 22nd exhibition. With the mixed exhibitions I enjoy seeing the variety of creative solutions to the same brief and like seeing my name in the line-up with artist who I admire.
The most creative and challenging exhibition was Whisper, based on the old game ‘Chinese Whispers’. I illustrated the first piece and gave it a title, I passed that title to the next artist and told them they could change the title slightly and that new title was their brief, then I passed their title to the next artist and so on!
You have been curating LHR exhibitions for the past two years. In your opinion, what is special about this 15th edition?
The 15th LHR Exhibition – The Things I Think About, When I Think About Thinking, has been the most open brief yet. I had been thinking about the mainstream media and that if something is bland and non-threatening it does well. I have created a small handful of pieces over the last few years that I am happy with and others that I’m personally not keen on; I have noticed that these last ones sell really well and my favourite pieces not so much. So the brief was for the artists to submit their very own favourite personal piece, not following trends or public demand.
The LHR exhibitions have taken place in bars, the entrance doesn’t cost a penny and is open for everyone and the artists are as free as can be in the work they deliver. All these elements make for an experience that is everything but your everyday gallery stroll. What inspired you to create these events?
I wanted to be able to hang a collection of work, where lots of people would see it, hear about the artists and wouldn’t have to pay to see it. At the same time I wanted it to be available to purchase and when a piece sells for that artist to be able to keep 100% of the money. I don’t think a bar is the best environment for art but it helps me achieve the issue of cost. All it takes is some time and life is long, I have lots of free time!
The Things I Think About, When I Think About Thinking
November 6 - January 31, 2016 at The Hanbury
Line-up: Mr Gresty, Claire E Hind, Ian Viggars, Freya Faulkner, Shona Read, Emma Russell, VJ Von Art, Lee Bromfield, James Dawe, Jake Townsend, Wiktor Malinowski, Dan Buckley, Dan Huglife, Jeff Knowles, Dylan White, Simon Fitzmaurice, Steven Quinn, Ricky Byrne, Stina Jones, Silvia Carrus, Julian Kerr, Nathan James Page III, Sean Gall, Josh Bond, James Morley, Craig Keenan and Raiph Vaughan.
This is the 15th LHR exhibition and sadly my last. I will keep you posted.
LHR Exhibition curated by Mr Gresty. 2013 - 2015
gresty@mrgresty.com
POSTmatter Talks – Fashion’s future perspectives in a digital age
From the 20th of November on, creative studio POSTmatter will allow you a sneak peak into their mind-set by hosting three talks treating the evolution and disruption of fashion through technology and digitalization.
Fascinated by the conjunction of the digital and physical world, POSTmatter voices talent that intertwines both realms and pushes boundaries to do so. From the 20th of November on, the creative studio will allow you a sneak peak into their mind-set by hosting three talks treating the evolution and disruption of fashion through technology and digitalization, taken place at London College of Fashion.
1. Reinventing craft and design in the digital age
The first presentation is an introduction to POSTmatter’s means and believes as an online magazine and creative based studio, presenting the link between the talks and their vision. The conversation will continue discussing how new machine-based tools, computer-led software and emergent materials changed traditional craftsmanship and allowed for incredible innovation in the field of fashion.
2. Through the screen: new ways of seeing
The digital age has slipped into every layer in the fashion industry. ‘Through the screen: new ways of seeing, will talk about how digitalism changed fashion within mainstream audience, covering trends from emojis to photoshop and artists that have vowed to disrupt these tendencies.
3. Designing and dressing future identities
The rise of social media has had benefits and equal amount negative influence on society. The last topic of POSTmatter will treat this issue and talk about the rising opportunity to distantiate ourselves from our body and to become a different version of ourselves in the online world.
The talks will take place at the Fashion Space Gallery on the 20th, 23th and 26th of November. If you want to take part and expand your view on the future of fashion you can book your place here:
Reinventing Craft and Design in the Digital Age
HOO HAs - Yankee... The EP Launch
Yes you read that right. There is a new band in the undesiccate puddle that is London and they’ve put their money on the name: HOO HAs. Celebrating their new EP, ‘Yankee’, the band is inviting you all to their launch party.
Yes you read that right. There is a new band in the undesiccate puddle that is London and they’ve put their money on the name: HOO HAs. Celebrating their new EP, ‘Yankee’, the band is inviting you all to their launch party.
As unapologetic their name appears, as equally insolent is their new sound. Yankee’s penetrance causes the song to be stuck with you for weeks, leaving your head spinning from the dynamic guitar sounds and the raw voice welding over them. Mixing up punk rock with an old school blues feel, Yankee echoes innovation in an effortless and straight-out-of-the-heart kind of way. As for the message behind the tune, the band describes it as a battle between the self and society. “Some say we are a product of our society – touching on moral and political frustrations too. Like we haven’t heard enough. Where do you live?”
If the boys blew you away with their music, there is no other option but for you to head over to Dalston tonight, as HOO HAs is hosting their first single launch party at The Victoria. The doors open at 19:30, and you will be welcomed with beats from Mystery Jets, Desert Planes, La Horse, and the band I’ve just been going on and on about (how could you not).
HOO HAs' 'Yankee' Single Launch at The Victoria
+ (Jack) Mystery Jets DJ Set - Support from Desert Planes + La Horse
27 October | Doors - 7.30pm (Live Room)
Ilse Moelands : A touch of heart, a mark on paper
Dutch illustrator Ilse Moelands’ drawings awaken emotions in an utterly beautiful way. Freshly graduated, she’s on the verge of publishing a book and continues to translate her fascination for the Far North into stunning drawings.
Dutch illustrator Ilse Moelands’ drawings awaken emotions in an utterly beautiful way. Freshly graduated, she’s on the verge of publishing a book and continues to translate her fascination for the Far North into stunning drawings.
Ilse Moelands: I’ve always doubted about my future and thus I had a lot of difficulties choosing the right study; would I become a doctor, an artist? I have always loved fashion and it’s influence on our culture and identity. To me fashion is about people and their characteristics and for a while I wanted to continue in that direction, ignoring the fact that I can’t sew at all. I thought I’d give it a go and ended up enjoying the drawing part the most. I wanted to draw all the time, so I decided to change studies and go for Illustration Design at ArtEZ. I like the directness of drawing and printing. Sewing and designing fashion is a much slower process.
Tell me something about your drawing process.
Often my urge to draw awakens when I am fascinated or frustrated. Then my ideas flow out of me on paper. I like to draw when I am alone, because I really have to be focused and concentrated.
You use a lot of older techniques such as thinner press and lino press, this is quite unusual in our digital era. Why these techniques and how did you come in touch with them?
I like to start with something physical, so I can smell the material; I want to have paint and ink on my hands. I just love the imperfection. It’s not that I don’t like digital work. I think there are a lot of possibilities working digital, but it’s not my cup of tea. At the art academy we had a really nice printing workshop. During my last year I spent as much time as possible in the workshop experimenting with all kinds of techniques and became intrigued with the older ones.
Your work instigates deep emotions, from the love for family to shame and loneliness. Are these feelings you experienced yourself when working on your drawings?
Yes. I always start with a very strong emotion, because it’s the only way I can make satisfying images. I think the world is a weird, crazy place and making art is my way to deal with that. It’s like therapy. But I try to make my work for other people as well. Emotions are a good starting point, but I always try to twist it in a way, so a lot of people can relate to my stories and images.
Where do your ideas come from and when is an idea good enough to execute?
People and their stories inspire me a lot. I am pretty hard on myself, so things aren’t good enough for me very easily. But I am still learning to let go of this perfection, and sometimes I overthink things and I stop myself from making art. But I always try to remember that small ideas can lead to big beautiful projects.
Talk to me about your fascination with the Far North, what is it that attracts you to it and inspires you to create illustrations?
I have worked and lived amidst the snow, polar bears, seals, and Inuit, I grew a fascination with the extreme living conditions those people have to deal with and how they remain a balance of sensitivity and strength. The hard, isolated existence and the respectful way these people treat nature provide the basis for the graphic story I’ve created for my graduation. The Inuit are very proud people however I can’t help but feel they are a bit lost, uprooted from their original culture as times have changed so much there. This idea had an immense impact on me and on my work. I went there with a lot of questions, but I came back with even more. I would love to go back there one day and maybe live even more primitively and remotely.
You went to Upernavik, Greenland for half a year. How did you end up there and what is the most important thing you’ve learnt?
A year ago I applied for the Artist in Residency Program in the Upernavik Museum. After waiting impatiently for a very long time, I was so happy when I received a letter saying they had chosen me to go there. The most important thing I learnt during my stay in Greenland is to be more calm and relaxed. Nature dictates the rhythm of life, so you either go with the flow or feel very miserable. I had to let go.
You're currently working on a book with Julia Dobber; tell me something about this project?
Next to the Greenland project, I needed something else so that when I was stuck with one project, I could escape into the other. I met Julia through a mutual friend and I instantly fell in love with her stories. Her work is about people who get through things, but nobody knows exactly what. For my graduation we compile six stories and complimenting drawings. Finishing them we both felt that there needed to be more, so our plan is to make twelve in total. I can’t wait to continue our exciting project and have the finished product in front of me.
Is there a particular artist you would love to work with?
Several. I really like the work of photographer Jeroen Toirkens. He’s a Dutch documentary photographer who followed several Nomadic cultures around the world for years. Also fashion collective ‘Das leben am Haverkamp’, which is founded by some of my old fashion classmates. I really like what they are doing and they inspire me to carry on. Maybe one day we can do a project together.
What is your plan for the future now that you have graduated?
I always hate this question... It feels very definite to talk about the future. I can only dream about it. I would love to have a little workshop with all kinds of presses so I can make special prints and books. I hope I can do more residencies and visit other countries. I went to Myanmar a few years ago and I really want to go there again to start a new project. But there are a lot of other things I dream about, for instance more collaborations like the one with Julia Dobber. I really like dreaming..
Ten years of tales from foreign lands from Paul Solberg
Ten Years in Pictures, Paul Solberg’s fifth photographic compendium, catalogues a decade of ethnographic encounters. Ahead of its launch, we caught up with Paul in his Manhattan home to discuss what this book represents for him and to reflects on ten years of recording life in his lens.
Ten Years in Pictures, Paul Solberg’s fifth photographic compendium, catalogues a decade of ethnographic encounters. From Hanoi to Cairo to Sicily to Jordan, we meet a startling diversity of artistic topography. The book reads as a world portrait where each part makes up a whole; each portrait stands alone with a poetic, poignant potency whilst weaving itself into a photographic tapestry of humanity. Solberg hones in on the intricacies in his anthropological portraits; choosing to capture the spontaneous, subtler details of cultural expression; but instead of cataloguing these subjects with a flat, documentary objectivity, he infuses these details with a joy, a poignancy and a simple reflectiveness. Through his photographs, we see “a world in which Solberg lives and wish we could all live”… we see a world in which we live in, but haven’t drawn our attention to. You are standing in Solberg’s shoes when looking at his photographs. The Moholy-Nagy new vision approach reframes his scenes and subjects from an alternative angle; encouraging us too to look on anew and afresh with, and though, his hungry, curious eyes.
Ten Years in Pictures represents ten years of collecting and curating tales from lenses and lives abroad. Ahead of its launch, Suzanna Swanson-Johnston caught up with Paul in his Manhattan home as he catches a breath between countries to discuss what this book represents for him and to reflects on ten years of recording life in his lens.
The book begins in 2004; the beginning of your professional photography career. Set the scene.
I have always been plagued by that chronic question of ‘Who are we? If you live with that, then you tend to be drawn to subjects like Anthropology, Philosophy, Photography out of a yearning for an answer. I come from a family where photography was a hobby; a predominant hobby, but a hobby, not a career. I ended up going to study Social Anthropology at university in South Africa and moved to N.Y.C. afterwards. As a kid in that city you can afford to be lost and that afforded me wonderful space in my twenties to live, and reflect. I met a director there and I assisted him on a film he was making, whilst ‘fluffing’ on Wall Street; talking to old ladies about their money in order to make enough of my own. Quintessentially Woody Allen. I moved to Nice when I was twenty-six to work for an ad agency. I loathed it. But I am adamant that being shown a lack of success and having it revealed to you what you hate and what you’re not good at, reveals to you what you are. The camera was always the most natural thing for me. But it wasn’t till my thirties, 2004, I was told I had the potential of it being my profession. I was offered a book deal, and with that came the promise of a career. I guess that tension, intensity, and desire has exploded into ten years of a densely packed period of work – which this book charts a selection of.
“you need a lifetime of experience to shape your eye”
Does marking this decade herald a different direction for your work now?
A photographer’s best work is usually in their later years; you need a lifetime of experience to shape your eye. Studying photography after you’ve learnt the technical process never made sense to me. Being thirsty and curious and learning about your subject grows your eye and that is the best school for taking pictures. I feel I’m still closer to the beginning of this whole process. It’s about paying attention, and I don’t always do. I would like to do a singular, biopic exploration of one subject at one point. My travel schedule is very disjointed so I’ve never in one place long enough. I am never that calculated about my career; I try to just stay relaxed, do my business and put it out there in the most honest way possible.
How have you seen the world evolve and change over the past ten years?
2004/2005/2006 were the last years where we were pre mass-media; people weren’t continually connected to technology. Now, we are all plugged in but entirely disconnected in being so; always partially listening or watching. We are so obsessive about documenting that we are never experiencing; we watch everything through the lenses of our iPhones.
Photography is an interesting dichotomy of that document / experience binary. I try to be as attentive to the world as I can and my photographs come out of that as an emblem of that experience. Thus, I work very candidly and organically.
The book is composed entirely of ‘found photos’; ‘found’ driving from Jordan to the Dead Sea and having a cup of tea with a man looking after fifteen orphans; ‘found’ as the light stroke perfectly on the surfers coming through Munich [City Surf]; ‘found’ when you happen to have discarded polaroid film in your camera and the sailors come off the boats [Service]; ‘finding’ ballroom dancers in the snow at the St. Peterburg market. This book was an exercise in of going through some of the thousands of images I’ve never looked back on and curating them. Half the book is unpublished material.
But I am highly aware that the cultures I have been recording might not be there in the next ten years, or five years even. Throughout my travels, the moment that has stuck with me the most is when I was dropped from a helicopter onto Alaska’s largest body of ice; the Bering Glacier. When you’re on a planet of ice, to hear the crackling and moan of the ice melting, you realize with a new clarity, the looming dilemma that the planet is literally disappearing from under our feet.
Having seen so much of the world, has your faith in humanity been inspired or disillusioned?
Travel turns you into an optimist and it teaches you that you know very little. The old adage “the more you know the more you don’t know” is really true. You go to different ends of the globe, and you learn, as cynical as one can be, people are generally good. I always think, why doesn’t CNN feature – in the same four story loop that they repeat over and over – an enlightening story about someone, somewhere, anywhere. They’re not hard to find, I know from experience; I’ve been welcomed into enough stranger’s homes. It’s hard to find a negative story on the road, why don’t you hear a good one occasionally from the news? I guess the sad story sells, otherwise we would hear them.
So that’s what travel does. It gives you the real news. The unedited news. The Egyptian cab driver that saw I was digging his Egyptian pop music he was playing as we drove through Luxor, and he finds me the next day, to give me the C.D. of music. I guess these small stories don’t have a lot of show-business to them. They’re more fireside stories. But that’s what I seek to capture ; the small details, the intricacies, the moments, the smaller narratives.
“It’s hard to find a negative story on the road, why don’t you hear a good one occasionally from the news?”
There is an anonymity to your work; thanks to the reluctance to provide a narrative, title or context and the new-vision-alternative angle of your lens...
I like to keep ambiguity. If there is a story, it is a collaboration with the viewer and I leave it up to them to impose their own decisions about who this person is and what their story is – I find that the interesting part. The identities are in the objects, not the names and the titles.
I find it far more fascinating when you hone in on the details. Under a microscope, suddenly the invisible becomes another world of mountains, rivers and new shapes.
What has travel taught you?
My travel process tends to be pretty unplanned; that’s how you find the spontaneous moments, you have to let the experiences happen through exploration. Crossing roads with no street lights in Hanoi; the orchestra of activity in streets dense with pandemonium and the weaving currents of Cairo; the sensation of dry in the Atacama desert; the solitude and the beautiful lifelessness; invitations into familiar strangers homes in Jordan; floating in the Dead Sea; the matte black of Lanzarote.
I appreciate how lucky I am to have had the opportunity to travel as much as I have; it’s something everyone should experience. You can read to escape your mind but it doesn’t compare to actually being there. I’ve stood in the spot where the bombs dropped on Vietnam and met the same family that still lives there. The faces, and connections, and people. It is being present in moments like that that is your world education. Travel builds empathy and expands perspective. A life of travel makes you realize everything is relative to your little world, so you don’t usually sweat the small stuff. You are humbled when you understand how provincial your concerns are.
Ten Years in Pictures Review
Frieze Art Fair 2015
Frieze Art Fair is incredible this year, and I’d recommend it to anyone. That being said, the myriad number of unpronounceable galleries and labyrinth layout can be overwhelming, and might lead to some of the best work going unseen.
Photos by Nick JS Thompson
Frieze Art Fair is incredible this year, and I’d recommend it to anyone. That being said, the myriad number of unpronounceable galleries and labyrinth layout can be overwhelming, and might lead to some of the best work going unseen.
Below is a list of some of our favorite galleries, and some of their stand out artists.
Exceptional galleries
Frith Street Gallery
Cornelia Parker, Massimo Bartolini.
Cheim & Read
Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, Jack Pierson.
Georg Kargl Fine Arts
Raymond Pettibon, Carl Andre, Elizabeth Peyton.
Lisson Gallery
Ai Weiwei, Anish Kapoor.
Frieze Projects
Jeremy Herbert.
Vitamin Creative Space
Liu Han-Chih
Maureen Paley
Liam Gillick, Gillian Wearing, Kaye Donachie, Wolfgang Tillmans.
Simon Preston
Amie Siegel.
Galeria Fortes Vilaça
João Maria Gusmão & Pedro Paiva, Damián Ortega, Adriana Varejão.
Other notable mentions
Anthony Reynolds Gallery
Paul Graham.
Galerie Peter Kilchmann
Francis Alÿs.
Lehmann Maupin
Tracey Emin.
Galerija Gregor Podnar
Ariel Schlesinger.
Galerie Max Hetzler
Inge Mahn.
Victoria Miro
Conrad Shawcross.
Alison Jaques Gallery
Hannah Wilke.
Galerie Greta Meert
John Baldessari.
Mai 36 Galerie/ Victor Gisler
Thomas Ruff.
Herald St.
Matthew Darbyshire, Scott King.
Gagosian Gallery
Glenn Brown.
Marian Goodman Gallery
Anri Sala.
Galerie Gisela Capitain
Luke Fowler.
White Cube
Tracey Emin, Mona Hatoum, The Chapman Brothers, Andreas Gursky.
Sadie Coles
Sarah Lucas, Elizabeth Peyton.
No Jeff Koons in sight, but sadly still too much neon.
We interview Frankie Shea, founder of Moniker Art Fair
Moniker Art Fair returns for its sixth year, on October 15–18 at the Old Truman Brewery, having firmly established itself as London’s premiere event for contemporary art with its roots embedded in urban culture.
Moniker 2014
Moniker Art Fair returns for its sixth year, on October 15–18 at the Old Truman Brewery, having firmly established itself as London’s premiere event for contemporary art with its roots embedded in urban culture.
Building on the foundations of five years experience and it’s continued success, Moniker Art Fair will be again venue-sharing with London’s leading artist-led fair, The Other Art Fair, in what will be a showcase of independent and established talent all under one roof in East London’s iconic Old Truman Brewery.
This exciting spectacle will attract 14,000-plus visitors to the capital’s East End, forming one of the major satellite events of London’s Art Week when 60,000 visitors descend on the city to form an unparalleled international art audience. The partnership emphasises both fairs formidable reputations for showcasing artists operating under the radar of the traditional art establishment. Over a period of four days and across 21,000 sq. feet in The Old Truman Brewery’s impressive interior, this compelling combination promises to generate much interest and exposure this coming October.
BM - Why did you decide to start an art fair?
FS - The fair was started out of frustration.
I was running a gallery and representing several artists within the street art genre with great success. The artists I worked with had strong primary and secondary markets and I was keen to secure wider exposure for them but found it difficult to break into the UK art fair circuit. So in keeping with the ‘do-it-yourself’ street art ethos, I decided to form my own fair focusing on street art and its related subcultures.
BM - Does the name Moniker refer to the use of pseudonyms by many street artists?
FS – Yes. I was working with friend and artist Felix Berube (AKA Labrona), a Canadian freight train painter who told me all about Moniker Culture and the Hobos of America. I registered ‘Moniker Projects’ as a domain name before I even thought of the fair I think.
BM - What sets Moniker apart from all the other art fairs that are so ubiquitous this time of year?
FS – We’ve established ourselves as London’s premiere event for contemporary art with its roots embedded in urban culture. This is what ties the fair together and we have firmly put East London back on the art fair map in doing so. We’re an unpretentious fair, accessible and unpretentious. You won’t find many obscure pictures on white walls with gallery assistants glaring at you at our fair. Every day is fun, we are known for generating a friendly unintimidating art buying atmosphere. It’s become one of the highlights of London’s Art Week for many people.
BM - You have decided to accept Bitcoins this year, why is this?
Nick Walker, Decibel No.1 . Art of Patron space curated and produced by Moniker Projects
FS – A mixture of reasons. I met several people from the Bitcoin community this year who really sold the benefits of the digital currency to me. Plus they were genuinely nice people who welcome social change. I wanted to know more about the decentralised system so decided to curate a 50ft Bitcoin inspired installation that will integrate artworks by Ben Eine, Schooney and Toonpunk. Bitcoin will be accepted as valid tender throughout the fair, not necessarily because we believe Bitcoin will our saviour(!), but exploring possible alternatives to the current financial system is a good thing.
BM - How do you select the Moniker-represented artists?
FS – Initially I like their art and then I like them. Sometimes it happens the other way around, I like the artist and begin to understand their work and their paintings may grow more and more on me.
BM - Which are the most exciting artists that we should look out for at this years fair?
FS – I’m looking forward to seeing work by SA artist Kilmany-Jo Liversage, Betz from Etam Cru, French Street artist Bom.k who debuts at the fair and Apolo Torres. Legendary Bristol stencil artist Nick Walker will be exhibiting his brand new ‘smoke series’ body of work in the Art of Patron space along side multidisciplinary artist Lauren Baker. The Renaissance is Now installation is going to be off the wall.
TIAF London
The Independent Art Fair London will be blowing us away again this year with 80 contemporary independent creatives from all over the world.
When? October 14th-18th
Where? Rag Factory, London
The Independent Art Fair London will be blowing us away again this year with 80 contemporary independent creatives from all over the world. Offering new talent as well as established artists the opportunity to showcase their work amongst others forms an inspiring environment full of photography, installation, video, painting, sculpture and every other way creativity can take form. The exhibition takes place in the heart of Brick Lane, in the eminent Rag Factory.
Paul Solberg - Ten Years in Pictures, Lifetimes in Print.
Ten Years in Pictures, Paul Solberg’s fifth photographic compendium, is a catalogue of ethnographic encounters with a startling diversity of artistic topography; drawing together sepia sailors, haunted soldiers, priests, Wild West horses, flower petals and Ai Weiwei that have gathered together in his lens across the years.
Ten Years in Pictures, Paul Solberg’s fifth photographic compendium, is a catalogue of ethnographic encounters with a startling diversity of artistic topography; drawing together sepia sailors, haunted soldiers, priests, Wild West horses, flower petals and Ai Weiwei that have gathered together in his lens across the years.
From Vietnam to Cairo to Sicily to Jordan, the book reads as a world portrait where the parts make up the whole but each part stands alone with a poetic, poignant, potency. Solberg hones in on the intricacies in his anthropological portraits; choosing to capture the subtler details of expression of culture and humanity. Instead of cataloguing these subjects with a flat, documentary, objectivity, he infuses these details with a joy, a poignancy and a simple reflectiveness. Through his photographs, we see “a world in which Solberg lives, and wishes we could all live”. There is a sense of standing in the shoes of Solberg when looking at his photographs; seeing the subject through not only his lens, but his eyes; with a universal awe and wonder. The Moholy—Nagy-new-vision approach reframes his scenes and subjects from an alternative angle; encouraging us too to look on anew and afresh with, and through his hungry, curious eyes. Life and art bleed, indeed - previous to his prestigious photographic publishings in Interview, the Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler, and CNN Travel, Solberg studied anthropology at university in South Africa before travelling extensively throughout South Africa, South America and Asia. These early formative experiences fostered his fascination for the forms of the world, and the influence is evident throughout.
Ten Years in Pictures. © Paul Solberg
Frieze Talks 2015
This Frieze London edition broaches some of the most interesting and thought provoking topics, discussing interactions between art, politics, design and environment in 8 inspiring talks.
This Frieze London edition broaches some of the most interesting and thought provoking topics, discussing interactions between art, politics, design and environment in 8 inspiring talks.
Here are some of our must-visit highlights:
If you believe art has the ability to comprise political power you should definitely listen to installation and performance artist Tania Bruguera. Having dealt with detention from her own country, she takes the stage to talk about her politically motivated practice and her belief that if it is to be political, art must have consequences.
In an era where anyone can do anything, what happens when artists no longer have the financial tools to express their creativity? Justin Simons OBE, head of Culture at the Greater London Authority leads this discussion, addressing London’s redevelopment and rising costs of real estate and how it puts pressure on the city’s artists.
Fashion lovers will leave the art fair more than satisfied, having the opportunity to listen to renowned fashion designer and activist Vivienne Westwood about her changing relationship between art and her practice, addressing a.o.i. her commitment to environmental and social activism. As for rising talent, Frieze has selected Anicka Yi to talk about her ambition to make art a sensorial experience, going back and forward with Darian Leader, psychoanalyst and author of e.g. ‘Stealing the Mona Lisa’.
Other personalities providing contemporary art fans with food for thought are Fionna Banner, Emily King, Metahaven, Justin McGuirk, Viv Albertine, Gregor Muir and Adrian Searle.
Slow – Co – Ruption by Dineo Seehee Bopape
An interview with the South African artist on her first UK solo exhibition at the Hayward’s Project Space, London.
Dineo Seshee Bopape is one of South Africa’s most admired, unconventional artist. Her first UK solo exhibition at the Hayward’s Project Space, Southbank, can best be termed as surprising, unexpected, puzzling or wonderful that your brain cannot comprehend it. Too many gadgets going on at the same time. It’s like you are not supposed to grasp what the display is about? Comprehending the works isn’t really the idea here I gathered. You walk into the space and you are challenged by a tremor of everything but the kitchen sink. From sculptural installation with video montages to constant flash photography, two TV set with no pictures flipping between analogue and digital visuals, a machine mix and re-mix ear-splitting sound. What is more? Timber, bricks, mirrors and plants, form multifaceted and wobbly configurations, often across the walls and on grass floor of the gallery, alongside a fresh sculpture conceived especially for Hayward Gallery Project Space. The presentation is overwhelmingly imposing.
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Video still from why do you call me when you know i can’t answer the phone, 2012
Digital video, colour, sound
Duration: 10 minutes 42 seconds
Photo credit: © Dineo Seshee Bopape. Courtesy of STEVENSON Cape Town, Johannesburg
DSB: I was born in 1981 in Polokwane, South Africa. I was born on a Sunday. If I were Ghanaian, my name would be akosua/akos for short. During the same year of my birth, the name ‘internet’ is mentioned for the first time Princess Diana of Britain marries Charles; AIDS is identified/created/named; Salman Rushdie releases his book “Midnight’s Children” bob Marley dies ‐ more events of the year of my birth are perhaps too many to have accounted for... I did my undergraduate studies in Art at Durban University of technology, South Africa, (2004), and attained my MFA from Columbia University, USA, in 2010. I work generally in a variety of mediums, mostly installation and video and drawing. My work has generally dealt with issues/ideas of representation so to speak... and memory, whilst some resist the pressure of having to mean something.
Here and now, what made you want to take part in Africa Utopia festival and what do you hope to pull off?
DSB: I was invited to take part. And what I hope to attain is to brush up my talking skills, I get often nervous when I speak in public, and often unsatisfied after because there is so much stuff that remains unsaid. Perhaps agreeing to participate is a chance for another rehearsal for the next time.
How would you describe your art? Is it redemptive, ethical or relative and political. And when putting together your installations what is your end goal?
DSB: It depends on who the viewer is I guess. It can be redemptive. Whilst in the process of making a work, goal posts changes. There is a freedom of sorts that comes with not having a strict goal. The goal is an unamiable thing.
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Video still from is i am sky, 2013
Digital video, colour, sound
Duration: 17 minutes 48 seconds
Photo credit: © Dineo Seshee Bopape. Courtesy of STEVENSON Cape Town, Johannesburg
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Video still from is i am sky, 2013
Digital video, colour, sound
Duration: 17 minutes 48 seconds
Photo credit: © Dineo Seshee Bopape. Courtesy of STEVENSON Cape Town, Johannesburg
Talk to us about your Africa Utopia exhibition at the London Hayward Gallery project Space?
DSB: "Slow-co-ruption" is the title of the show. I was thinking about data corruption, the data of narrative, of memory, of liberal socio-politics, self, language, sense and order and all thatcorruption implies… rupture... An interruption of a memory/a file/a story... about politics of space and the metaphysics of being... A death… ‘Productive’ death…The show has 3 main works and 2 supports, so to speak. In the first room is “Same Angle, same lighting”, a mechanical sculptural work which I made in 2010 but is now in its 3rd incarnation. The first version had a light that was shining repetitively, back and forth on to a dark photograph (just looking over and over again). The 2nd version which I had shown in Cape town at Stevenson had a camera that was supposed to capture the information on a photograph and send it to a nearby monitor, but the machine kept on failing and what stood in the monitor with it was a pre-recorded video (showing the movement that was supposed to happen); an external memory of sorts…
(Flabbergasting response or what?) Rendered speechless.
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Video still from is i am sky, 2013
Digital video, colour, sound
Duration: 17 minutes 48 seconds
Photo credit: © Dineo Seshee Bopape. Courtesy of STEVENSON Cape Town, Johannesburg
And now in its 3rd reiteration in Slow-co-ruption, the camera sends information to several monitors/screens (hosts). The camera goes back and forth scanning the information off the paper (a scanned colour photocopy of picture of a lush garden from a garden and home magazine from the early 1990’s). This machine is hosted on and by these wooden supports and shop display things. Around “same angle, same lighting”- (the other supports) are several copies of video grass green/sky blue and also slow-co-ruption (stickers of flowers and eyes) the flowers are an almost random selection of native SA flowers and some from the garden image in same angle…. The eyes are those of an anonymous person and also those of philosophers Biko and Sobukwe who are also known for having written much about a need for rupture – both mental and spatial (so to speak). In the other rooms are the video “why do you call me when you know I can’t answer the phone” a piece from 2013 which is itself about the rupture of meaning or sense, a corruption or narrative. Whilst “Is I am sky” also speaks of a thing of absence, self-presence and of a kind of a metaphysical death to make a very insufficient summary…
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Video still from Grass Green, 2008
SD digital video, sound
Duration: 6 minutes 52 seconds
Photo credit: © Dineo Seshee Bopape. Courtesy of STEVENSON Cape Town, Johannesburg
Do you have a favourite piece from this exhibition and what next for DSB?
DSB: Not really, I love the different pieces differently...but currently I must say I am most excited about the "slow-co-ruption" stickers. On what next? I would like to show my work more on the African continent (abroad too), I would like to grow as an artist, to clarify my thoughts, for my work to be sharper, to continue being curious and continue to play... also to share with others... to remain healthy and able.
5 London Art Fairs you can’t say no to
Have you ever heard of the phenomenon ‘the fear of missing out’? Well then you better get rid of all plans in your agenda and all excuses in the making, as these 5 London Art Fairs are too good to pass on.
When.. October 15-18th
Where.. Old Truman Brewery
Besides bringing 130 emerging talents to the stage and enlightening you with the next big thing in terms of art, the ‘other’ in ‘The Other Art Fair’ stands for more than you can possibly want from a creative event like this. Besides innovative creative workshops for the curious and intrepid amongst us, talks by art experts and past exhibitors, shows, films and installations, there will also be a surprise event that most likely will knock you off your feet.
When? December 4th-6th
Where? Bargehouse at Oxo Tower Wharf
If you are obsessed with graphic design, print and everything illustration based, The London Illustration Fair, which has earned the title of the only London based event dedicated to illustration, will feel like utopia to you. Bringing buyers and artists together in one creative environment, the fair has both an eclectic audience as well as a massive assortment of cutting-edge artworks.
When.. October 14-17th
Where.. The south end of Regent’s Park
With 160 galleries from over 25 countries in the world, it is safe to say Frieze London is the most impressive contemporary art fair in London. Celebrating its 13th anniversary, the fair goes big, presenting contributions by artists such as Asad Raza, Jeremy Herbert, Lutz Bacher and winner of the Frieze Artist Award 2015 Rachel Rose. Organising inspiring talks, interactive installations, underground chambers and the return of the beautiful Sculpture Park, Frieze London is a feast for the senses.
When.. November 8th
Where.. Bloomsbury Holliday Inn
This boutique-style photography fair will astonish you with vintage masterpieces, unusual findings, and an abundance of specialist knowledge. Whether you are there to absorb the nostalgic atmosphere or to browse for photos that complete your collection, London Photography Fair will leave a mark on your memory.
Image via www.widewalls.ch
When.. October 15-18th
Where.. Old Truman Brewery
Celebrating urban culture within contemporary art, Moniker Art Fair brings something unique to the scene and foundations of a matchless experience. Voicing a new generation of street artists and introducing Bitcoin to art fans, it challenges the status quo.
Hackney Wonderland 2015
Hackney Wonderland's sold out 2014 success has left us wanting more.
Hackney Wonderland's sold out 2014 success has left us wanting more. The one-day rock'n'roll festival returns for its second year to Hackney's coolest music venues. With just 10 days to go we are gearing-up for it. Get your tickets before you regret it!
When: 10 October 2015
Where: Oslo | Seabright Arms | London Fields Brewery | Oval Space
Tickets here
TOY - Interview
Bo Ningen - Photo by Cat Stevens
To Kill A King - photo by Wolf James Photography
Late at the Library: Felabration
Celebrating the birthday of Fela Kuti, ‘Late at the Library: Felabration’ is a musical tribute to the pioneer of Jazz, Funk and Afrobeat and praised defender of human rights in Nigeria.
Celebrating the birthday of Fela Kuti, ‘Late at the Library: Felabration’ is a musical tribute to the pioneer of Jazz, Funk and Afrobeat and praised defender of human rights in Nigeria.
Prepare for a night full of rhythmic vibes, as it will be loaded with recognizable hits and new beats from some of the most renowned African musicians in the world.
Starting of with former band members and friends of Kuti, Dele Sosimi who was part of Fela’s band ‘Egypt 80’ will be leading the event with his 16-piece Afrobeat Orchestra. Following up is legendary drummer Tony Allen, who is known as co-creator of Afrobeat.
Carrying on Fela’s legacy at this event are non other than 2FaceIdiba, multimillion selling recording artist and producer who brought life into hip-hop with the hit ‘Afrikan Queen’, Shingai Shoniwa, vocalist and bassist of the insanely popular indie rock band Noissettes, and other brilliant guest vocalists such as: Laura Mvula, Afrikan Boy, Bumi Thomas, Ed Keazor, Terri Walker, Audrey Gbaguidi and The Floacist (Floesis). Plus DJ Koichi and The Trinity College Afrobeat Ensemble.
For the art fans attending the event, there is free access to the British Library’s outstanding new exhibition West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song - dedicated to the power of words and its sociocultural influence on West Africa.
The event will take place on Friday, October 16th in the beautiful atrium of the British Library.
London Fashion Week Show Highlight: Day 5
Anya Hindmarch SS16, Backstage - Kris Mitchell, British Fashion Council
Anya hindmarch SS16, Backstage - Shaun James Cox, British Fashion Council
Alexander Lewis SS16, Presentation - Kensington Leverne, British Fashion Council
Fashion Week Showrooms: Gayeon Lee, Kevin Geddes, Nafsika Skourti and REIN
London Fashion Week: our picks
Gayeon Lee SS16
Gayeon Lee takes us by way of the hazy impression of an Italian summer, that, specifically of Federico Clavarino’s travel photobook Italia O Italia. Just as impressions pale in our mental weather, her SS16 collection lands in a tonal palette, with variables of dark and light that composed an unassuming study of chiaroscuro. A recurring theme is one adorned by burnished and matte buttons, bishop sleeves and puckered waistlines. Braced in Lee’s metallic orange hues, the ample tailoring unveiled as startlingly sinuous. Leave it to the wisdom of daylight.
Kevin Geddes SS16
When the nearing London winter would finally conclude, spring may be, for Kevin Geddes, an act of bravura thawing the icy drama with a hushed resolution. I’m talking about the Evil-Knievel-meets-Japanese-retro-anime kind of resolution, but crafted in easy lines and earthy tones. With the delight of sports-inspired rubber KG logo, the female heroism is charged with no less energy, but reticent and gentle in its own array. Spells are better left in whispers.
Nafsika Skourti SS16
Though tense under the spotlight of escalating international crisis, let us be reminded that being a vital manufacturer for garment conglomerates, Jordan is much in its element when Fashion comes calling. But of course, being Jordanian, it is never devoid of social relevance. For SS16, Jordan-based Nafsika Skourti ventured slightly outside her previously desaturated outlook, and staged such “fashionable protest” with her camouflage-themed Temporary Security: soft in form, resolute in spirit. Bilingual text enunciates an intuitive political self, up against backgrounds furnished by derelict Hollywood movie props. I for one, would long to see the “beautiful activism” prevail in and outside the wearable dialogues of Jordan.
REIN SS16
As many collections for SS16 couldn’t help retrieving the rosiness of sunlight and green leaves (though hardly blameful after the non-existent English summer), REIN marches in with an all-black statement that does not pronounce rigidness, instead, a uniform, necessary stubbornness we could all contemplate on, on the thesis of female empowerment.
Laser cutting reveals maze-like patterns through tunic dresses, jackets and matte suede, there stands a body and a girl who is the helmer of her own skin but don’t ever think that’s all there is to her assets.
5 must-see exhibitions this month
With so much happening in London this season, we selected 5 art shows for your gallery crawl.
With so much happening in London this season, we selected 5 art shows for your gallery crawl.
With digital integration in every facet of life, will we be predisposed to the negative effects this can bring to our lifestyle?
Digital Disturbances goes back and forward in time, showing the strange effects advanced technology can have on the fashion Industry.
11 – 12 December 2015
The World Goes Pop
“The World Goes Pop!” examines the global story of pop art and reveals a side of it you have never seen before. Revealing the outcomes it had in cultures and countries, and insinuating a language of protest throughout the 60s and 70s.
17 September 2015 – 24 January 2016
States of Mind: Ann Veronica Janssens
In ‘States of Mind’, Ann Veronica Jannsens creates a sensory experience, reminding us of the richness of our interaction with the world. Filling the gallery with bright coloured mist, her work disorientates the viewer through the dissolution of normal perceptual boundaries.
15 October 2015 - 3 January 2016
The Fabric of India
One of the most exceptional highlights of the V&A India Festival, ‘The Fabric of India’ holds more than 200 pieces of pure Indian culture and beauty. Covering historic costumes, modern fashion, and unique textiles from an amazingly large time frame, this is an exhibition every creative with a weakness for history, culture and craftsmanship should visit.
03 October 2015 – 10 January 2016
Ryan Gander: Fieldwork
A kitchen sink, a dead pigeon, a chocolate bar, a pebble beach and a helium balloon. This and much more is awaiting for you at the ‘Fieldwork’ exhibition. Expect to be blown away in this amazing freak out, as Ryan Gander is serving his inspiration on a silver conveyor belt for you to observe in an impervious and mysterious way.
25 September to 31 October
Africa Utopia 2015 art and ideas from Africa that are impacting the world
AFRICA UTOPIA was back for a third year – bigger and better. We interview designer SOBOYE.
Toumani Diabate, Baba Maal, Damon Albarn ,Tony Allen. Photo by Ade Omoloja
This year was one breath-taking summer for arts, music, dance and fashion festivals in London. What is more? The recently concluded third edition of the Africa Utopia Festival was one of the capital's forthright and most spectacular festival ever, celebrating all aspect of the creative arts industry.
Africa Utopia was a creative explosion of Jedi proportion that featured performance arts, music, dance, fashion, theatre, visual-techno art exhibition, family events and mouth-watering food market and much more besides. The whole shebang was spread out - in the streets, galleries, library, public buildings, and every available space and corner of London’s most vibrant cultural quarters – The Southbank Centre. This four-day fiesta enthused by the African continent and Diaspora delved into the dynamic and ever-changing contribution of modern Africa to art, culture and ultimately to our society. Organisers hope the festival will also help make connections between artists and activists, get more accessible; to engage.
Discussions and debates deliberated on sustainability vs profit, digital journalism and digital activism, youth education and power to African feminism. Furthermore, in a nod to the present refugee crisis, the migration debate asked the question: “Why do people flee? What awaits them where, and if they reach their destination?” It’s a question for us all to ponder on at this time. The Talks/Debates consisted of defining speakers including the traditional suspect, journalist, author and arts programmer Ethiopian-born Hannah Pool, who must be noted has been involved in Africa Utopia from the very start. Next in line is singer-song-writer and UN Ambassador for HIV/AIDS Malian, Baaba Maal, who also has been involved with AU from its birth. As well as Jude Kelly CBE, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre. The lot are experts in contemporary art, art history, music and green politics, each addressing the historical relevance of arts and culture - including the power of art in activism and the role of women and young people who have made a huge contribution to our arts as part of our lives and still motivates us all in creating future change. These themes are conceived to appeal to taste, of all ages, colour, cultural aficionados and newcomers alike.
Chineke Junior Orchestra with founder Chi Chi Nwanoku and conductor Wayne Marshall. Photo by Ade Omoloja
Even more so, the tune line-up was a must-hear for anyone and everyone fascinated by great live performing. First on stage was Malian singer Kassé Mady Diabaté of royal stock and acknowledged as one of West Africa's finest singers. He was accompanied by fellow Malians: Ballaké Sissoko, a noted player of the kora; Lansiné Kouyaté performing on Kora & Balafon (The balafon, also known as balafo is a wooden xylophone - percussion idiophone from West Africa) and Makan Tounkara, a gifted composer, arranger, singer, and n'goni artiste. (The n’goni, an ancient traditional lute found throughout West Africa). To bring the festival to a close was the master of it all - Nigeria’s Tony Allen with friends. And oh boy were they great!
Tony, is a skilful drummer, composer and songwriter and once musical director of late Fela Anikulapo Kuti's band Africa 70 from 1968 to 1979. Furthermore, he’s famed as the powerhouse behind the late Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat movement. It’s recognised that Fela said: “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat music”. In alliance with Tony on stage; Baaba Maal, multi award-winning singer/song writer and Toumani Diabaté, a Malian kora player, genius of African music and widely recognised as the greatest living kora player. And in a rare father-and-son kora-playing collaboration, Toumani Diabaté and his son Sidiki Diabaté put down a spell-binding presentation. It was a mind-blowing ensemble. A-ma-zing! And to put the last bit on the Tony Allen and friend’s fusion was French star rapper Oxmo Puccino (born Abdoulaye Diarra) a hip hop musician born in Mali. The whole shebang brought the house down. It was a high octane musical extravaganza of fantastic proportion that received a rapturous reception at every song and every notes that rings out. These musicians nailed and killed it in equal measures. There was an eight minute standing ovation. For a man who turned 75 in August, Tony Oladipo Allen, is remarkably springily. He still hits the studio (and treadmill, I suppose) every day. He is just as you’d imagine, small, frail and thin looking, dressed in a classic white African traditional classic number with bold abstract designs and he outdone it with a white Fedora Hat. Maybe this is what comes from churning out some five gigs a year for over 50 years. He has delivered some of the music most indelible music albums and concerts from Africa to Europe and North America to Australia and the Americas – straight-up.
Toumani and Sidiki Diabate, Baba Maal. Photo by Ade Omoloja
With all the serious shows and presentations that took place, however, the three that stood-out for the festival – in my modest view - are the music performances and fashion presentation curated by Samson Saboye, of Nigerian parentage, from Shoreditch-London. Soboye brings together a team of leading designers from Africa and the African Diaspora to present an inspirational and exciting women’s wear, menswear and accessories.
“I’ve been a Fashion Stylist for many years now with a spell designing and manufacturing soft furnishings, which led me to open SOBOYE.
Africa Utopia is a great showcase to celebrate the importance and significance African Culture to the rest of the World. London has the highest population of African nationals from all over the continent and the contribution that Africans have made to the city is noteworthy. Our presentation is called DIASPORA CALLING! A presentation of African Contemporary style, inspired by Street Style photography. Our show producer Agnes Cazin from Haiti 73 Agency conceived the concept as we were searching of different ways to present fashion that was away from a traditional catwalk show. We are showing the diversity of Africa that will linger on even after the festival: the Joy, the vibrancy and richness of its people, who mostly have an innate sense of style that is not dictated by the latest trends or Designer head-to-looks. The Modern Style-conscious African’s style is a mash-up of pop culture, vintage clothes, self-made fashion and images fed daily through Instagram and Pinterest, of which they are fully engaged in. All these influences are absorbed in to the visual memory banks and stored for future referencing at any time. This then in turn manifests itself in the Individualist looks that we see influencing mainstream Western style today”.
On the small matter of who SOBOYE designs for: “SOBOYE designs are for the fashion savvy, confident, style literate person, with their fingers on the pulse and a zest for life. The Women’s wear came a year after the Men’s collection and is designed in collaboration with Designer and friend Chi Chi Chinakwe”. (A moniker moment in this festival is the premiere of Chineke, the UK’s first professional classical orchestra made up entirely of musicians of African descent and minority ethnic classical artists performed a tribute to the black teenager Steven Lawrence that was murdered in a raciest attack in 1995) Soboye expressed: “Our customers tend be in the creative industries and have an eye for well fitting, original clothes with an attention to detail. Our clothes add to the enjoyment of dressing up and I’ve yet to see someone wear any of our pieces and not look and feel better for wearing them… Sidney Poitier is my all-time style icon. Not only was he well-dressed, he always carried himself with such dignity and broke so many barriers by being such an accomplished actor. Currently Pharrell Williams and Solange Knowles would both be great brand ambassadors for SOBOYE." So if they are both reading this come on in… we are waiting for you. Yes, of course they read roomsmagazine.com.
Beside ambitious philosophy in the horizon: What does the future hold for Samson Soboye? “We plan to expand our online business and build the brand. We’d like to secure good investment to consolidate the business and allow for expansion and growth and for that to be manageable. We’d like to be the ‘go-to’ brand for the talented, ambitious discerning globe trotter “.
‘Be Inspired’, an exhibition by Save Wild Tigers
Save Wild Tigers brings people with an appreciation for art and a love for animals together in exhibition ‘Be Inspired’.
Save Wild Tigers brings people with an appreciation for art and a love for animals together in exhibition ‘Be Inspired’. As this promising title states, the prestigious Hotel Café Royal is lavishly filled with inspiring artwork, highlighting the beauty of the wild tiger and raising money to give them a better habitat.
INAZUMA by Daisuke Sakaguchi
Painting legend Christian Furr is selected as curator for the event, as well as contributor to what probably is one of the most spectacular artworks of the exhibition. Together with friend and designer Chris Bracey, he created a 3D neon artwork with chrome tiger head sculpture. Internationally known artists Rose Corcoran, Dan Baldwin, Otto Schade, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Shauna Richardson,John Gledhill, Julia Wager, Claire Milner, Misha Masek, Jacky Tsai, Pandemonia and Lauren Baker also used their creative talent to contribute by interpreting and incorporating the wild tiger in their work. The results are astonishing and might just be the most exciting way to create consciousness around the distinction of this beautiful creature.
If this hasn’t convinced you to visit the event, the next piece of art will. Chosen to be the showstopper at ‘Be Inspired’ ‘INAZUMA’, Japanese for ‘Lightning’, empowers the qualities of the wild tiger: power, speed and impact. The artwork, meticulously painted by Daisuke Sakaguchi, captures the freedom of the majestic wild tiger in a modern way. Both ‘INAZUMA’ and all other artworks at the exhibition will be available for auction online, giving you the opportunity to take a reminder home and simultaneously support the good cause.
Another pinnacle of the event is the work of urban art talent Otto Schade. With "Butterfly Tiger" he takes the abstract layering he is known for to another level, intertwining creatures together and modifying the perspective on the wild tiger.
Butterfly Tiger by Otto Schade. 150x122 cm mixed media stencil spray
Time to bid! Please visit this link to view the "Be Inspired" art bidding which will be up on PADDLE 8 until the 8th October 2015:
Curated by Christian Furr
The Club at Café Royal, 22 September – 8 October 2015
By Appointment Only
We meet fabric illusionist Yvette Peek
The ArtEZ design alumni blew everyone away with her graduation collection, sending illusional masterpieces down the catwalk. Check out the interview.
All keep track of upcoming designer Yvette Peek. The ArtEZ design alumni blew everyone away with her graduation collection, sending illusional masterpieces down the catwalk. As curious as we are, we had a talk with her about the story behind her first collection, her admiration for strong women with non-conforming elegance and being the assistant designer of Sharon Wauchob.
What made you realize you wanted to be a designer?
My biggest source of inspiration is my grandmother. When I was a little girl, she taught me how to sew. That led to her teaching me embroidery techniques and pattern making. We even stitched my first designs together.
What do you think are your biggest assets as a designer?
As a designer I challenge myself to find the unexpected in materials and textiles and I made that into my greatest strength. When I design clothing I always have a strong woman in mind, with non-conforming elegance and a luxurious approach to colour and fabric. My graduation collection is based on the insomnia drawings of Louise Bourgeois. One of the strongest and most inspiring women I have ever known.
Before you started with the collection, did you already know the outcome of the design concept?
I went to the exhibition of Bill Viola during my internship in Paris. This was one of the most exhilarating exhibitions I have ever seen. My eye caught on of his illusional art pieces ‘Veiling’ of Bill Viola. In a dark space, an unfocussed film of a man is projected through 10 translucent sheets of fabric, growing paler and larger towards the centre. Two projectors at opposite ends of the space face each other and project images into the layers of material. I became fixated on this video installation. And from that moment on I knew that I wanted to recreate that illusional effect with different kind of layers fabric in my collection. The elements of shape-shifting developed later on, during my drape sessions. After a few drape sessions I came to the idea that my collection had to represents the brain that is experiencing insomnia, and that’s where the insomnia drawings came in.
You interpreted insomnia with fabrics where Louise Bourgeois did the same thing with pencil. Why is it that your collection exists of tints of black, grey and white, while bourgeois’ work consists of colour?
The type of woman I made this collection for is elegant, unpredictable and psychotic. I have used darker tones to create that psychotic vibe. And the best way to create an unpredictable illusion through different layers is to use tints of black and grey.
Can you tell us a bit more about the design process behind the collection?
Quality of fabric and craftsmanship are my most important values when designing. Therefore I won’t be looking at the clock when working on my designs. My collection consists of a lot of different crafts that have to be meticulously conducted. One look required an embroidered top that consists of 460 small pieces of springs that I have formed in circles, and those springs and beads are all embroidered by hand. This took my approximately three weeks. The two last looks in my collection consist of 22 meters of tulle per outfit, all hand-printed with markers, and 4.5 meters of printed plastic. From of all the time I spent working on my collection, those looks were the ones that took up the most time.
You're working as an assistant designer for Sharon Wauchob now. How did that happen and what do you admire about her work?
I worked as an intern for Sharon Wauchob two years ago. During my internship I was assigned as assistant textile/embroideries designer. This was one of the best learning experiences I had so far as Sharon gave me a lot of opportunities to develop myself. After my internship I went back to school for my final year but I stayed in contact with her and I always came back to Paris to help the team during Paris Fashion Week. Sharon is a consistently talented designer who creates thoughtfully engineered garments. I admire her strong detail-focused aesthetic. The way she uses traditional techniques and delicate fabrics in her collection inspires me.
How do you see your career developing from now on?
I would like to gain more experience within the field of design. I hope to get the opportunity to learn a lot from Sharon Wauchob over the next years. It would also be interesting to develop myself within another creative luxury brand with a focus on textiles, but we should not jump to conclusions. You never know what happens and I am looking forward to every new opportunity!
