Jockum Nordström Celebrates His Solo Exhibition at David Zwirner London
Represented by acclaimed David Zwirner London, Swedish artist Jockum Nordström boasts a celebrated and undeniably modern body of work.
Featuring eclectic collages, exquisite watercolors, detailed drawings, and architectural sculptures, Nordström’s ouervre is diverse yet aesthetically unified.
Through January, the gallery will proudly present For the insects and the hounds, an exhibition featuring new sculptures and works on paper from Nordström. Inspired by the artist’s experiences in Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, For the insects and the hounds conveys an innate focus on nature and evokes the rusticity of the island’s rural landscape.
To coincide with the exhibition, David Zwirner London will also host a book launch celebrating the reprinting of Who is sleeping on my pillow, a book by the artist and his wife, Mamma Anderson. Both artists will be in attendance to sign copies of their charming book, which features 200 full-color plates depicted “alongside favorite family snapshots and source materials”. Co-hosted by David Zwirner Books – the gallery’s stand-alone publishing house – and the London Review of Books, this exciting event will take place in the gallery space on Friday, 28 November, at 6:30 PM.
Be sure to check out For the insects and the hounds, on view from 28 November though 24 January 2015 at David Zwirner London!
Upcoming talk:
Special event: Talk by curator Marc Donnadieu
Saturday, January 17, 11 AM
Free and open to the public
RSVP to Naomi Chassé at naomi@davidzwirner.com or +44 203 538 3165
Visit the gallery for a guided tour of the exhibition, For the insects and the hounds, and a talk on the artist by Marc Donnadieu. Donnadieu curated Jockum Nordström’s recent major European survey, All I Have Learned and Forgotten Again, which was on view in at the LaM, the Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’Art contemporain et d’art brut in Villeneuve d’Ascq, France. The exhibition later traveled to the Camden Arts Centre in London.
Shades of White: The Runway Dominator for SS15
From the lightest white to the darkest white, this shade has not been missed on the runway for the Spring/Summer 2015 collections. With it’s simplicity and clean effect, white has been observed in almost all the fashion shows this season.
French fashion houses such as Lanvin, Hermes, and Celine have all featured this pure and soothing shade. Clean cut, yet floaty materials were seen to be paired together with this elegant colour. Minimalism was the ‘Big Boom’ for this SS15 Ready-To-Wear collections.
For instance Balenciaga used geometrical mesh cut materials to emphasise texture and transparency, while showcasing different shades of white and neutral colours. Loewe’s runway was dominated by oversized, loose and light fabrics used on high waisted trousers and tops. Light white cotton and linen combined together with leather gave this collection a modern yet realistic feel. The white craze also took over Hermes. The ‘Wrapping’ style has been effectively combined with this colour. As always uber-feminine chiffon gowns from Valentino have been featured with lace and floral details, brining the real spring/summer mood into play. Alber Elbaz, the much adored designer of the Lanvin fashion house started the show with super sleek Grecian dresses in white, black and navy. Details such as the ‘thigh slit’ and the animal print belt, took these dresses to the next level of chic. The message for us from the Fashion Houses this coming season would have to be ‘Go All White’. Fashion trends will always change, but no doubt this colour will always remain dominant in the fashion industry.
From Bed Linens to Statement Pieces: The Fashion of DUVET DAYS
While you may have thought the cartoon-covered pillowcases and dinosaur sheets of your youth were merely a thing of the past, fashion label Duvet Days has brought them back in a big way.
When reminiscing about your childhood bedroom, embarrassing posters and strewn-about toys inevitably come to mind. But what about your old bed sheets?
Whether covered in busy, colorful patterns or decorated with contemporaneously popular cartoon characters, your old bedspread undoubtedly made a bold statement about your prepubescent interests. And, to London-based fashion label Duvet Days, they still can.
Specialising in upcycled, unisex clothing, Duvet Days repurposes old blankets and pillowcases into casual garments. Ranging from trousers to cropped tops, each retro-inspired creation features simple lines and basic silhouettes to complement the boisterous patterns and nostalgic decorations. To founder Emma Graham-While, this balance is key, as she emphasises that “it’s important to let the print talk”. In addition to its appealing aesthetics, each piece is 100% upcycled and, thus, entirely eco-friendly.
Whether worn as daily getups or lazy loungewear, Duvet Days’ wistful blast-from-the-past collection is sure to jog your memory.
BRIGHTON MUSIC FESTIVAL
This December, the DRILL : FESTIVAL is coming to Brighton, and we’ve selected five exciting acts to be sure to check out!
This December, the DRILL : FESTIVAL is coming to Brighton, and we’ve selected five exciting acts to be sure to check out!
Boasting more than 100 bands, artists, films, talks and exhibitions and across 14 different venues, DRILL : BRIGHTON will feature numerous not-be-missed acts. Here are five bands – Wire, Gold Panda, These New Puritans, East India Youth, and Three Trapped Tigers – that we are most excited about.
The original curators of the DRILL : FESTIVAL, Wire is an English rock band that emerged in 1976. Renowned for their prolific role in London’s punk rock and post-punk scene, the band played at myriad venues in the city before dissolving – and then reforming – in the 1980s. In 2013, the band introduced the DRILL : FESTIVAL in London, as a means to “show-case their impact on and relationship with groups and artists from younger generations”.
English composer and electronic music producer Gold panda gained prominence in 2010 with his debut album, Lucky Shiner. Since then, he has toured the world performing and promoting his music, emphatically described by The Guardian as “combination of warm, lo-fi electronica, a patchwork of crackly samples and melodies that stick”.
Based in London, art-rock act These New Puritans cite a wide range of influences as inspiration, from New York-bred Wu-Tang Clan to the happy songs of the Smurfs. With a timeless sound ambiguously described as “very 1970, but also quite 1610, 1950, 1979, 1989, 2005 and 2070” (The Guardian), These New Puritans are not-to-be-missed!
Known as East India Youth, English electronic musician William Doyle is new to the music scene. While having only released his first album, Total Strife Forever, in January of this year, East India Youth has been working on his craft for years. Initially focusing on pop music, he attributes his current electronic sound to the experimental work he created as a way to combat “the boredom of being at the very end of the central line, without any friends or social life in London.”
Unlike the previous four bands, Three Trapped Tigers is an instrumental act. Described as noise-rock, their dreamy music has been described as “the sound of imagination itself”, and “aggressive, beautiful and frightening all at once”. Experimental and raw, Three Trapped Tigers are sure to bring a new vibe to DRILL : BRIGHTON.
Be sure to check out the rest of DRILL : BRIGHTON’s impressive line up here and see them live 4-7 December!
Scoping it out: Five exciting artists to check out at SCOPE
As the “largest and most global art fair in the world”, SCOPE Art Fair has emerged as a key outlet for emerging artists. While this year’s Miami Beach event boasts myriad promising exhibitors, we have selected five artists to keep an eye on: Saner, Tal Frank, Kim Hee-Wan, Vik Muniz, and Mira Loew.
Represented by Fifty24MX, a gallery in Mexico City, Saner “freely wander[s] between graffiti, graphic design, painting and drawing”. Merging iconography from Mexican tradition with a style adopted from contemporary pop culture, Saner is able to establish an aesthetic dialogue between the country’s past and present.
Like Saner, Tal Frank – a ‘sculptress and installation artist’ represented by Corridor Contemporary in Tel Aviv – seeks to balance and connect classical traditions with modern practice. Working in mixed media and often producing casts of every day objects, Frank seeks to make the ordinary extraordinary.
Though sculptural, the work of Baik Song Gallery’s Kim Hee-Wan greatly differs from that of Saner and Frank. With abstract forms and geometric lines, Hee-Wan’s sculptures evoke a minimalist approach. Using plains of solid colour divided by intersecting lines, Hee-Wan creates unique and undeniably modern works.
Represented by Forré & Co., a gallery in Aspen, Colorado, Vik Muniz is a Brazilian artist and photographer. Using unconventional materials in his work, Muniz creates his own versions of works by well-known artists – including Edward Ruscha, whom he emulates in two pieces, Standard at Night and Norms on Fire, that will be shown at SCOPE. Through this unique approach, Muniz is able to give new meaning to existing art, demonstrating his belief that “the interpretation of forms (abstract to one’s experience) becomes the result of an entirely personal process”.
Similar to Muniz, Decorazon Gallery’s Mira Loew uses photography as a means to encourage “the viewer to challenge the idea of images as representations of reality and identity”. Born in Austria and based in London, Loew focuses primarily on the female body, using herself and performers – particularly, dancers – as her models and muses.
Be sure to check out the work of these artists (plus many, many more!) at this year’s SCOPE Miami Beach, 2-7 December
ANDREA JIAPEI LI
I BECAME VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT FASHION BECAUSE I LOVED HOW IT COMBINES BOTH ART, CREATIVITY WITH FUNCTIONALITY
Earning her stripes as a breaking new talent in her native China, Li elevated her dream of becoming a fashion designer to New York, where as well as graduating from Parsons has also showcased at New York Fashion Week. Here, Li gives her honest overview on sacrifices, the best piece of advice she’s received from her mentors as well as finding her individual identity.
How did you kick-start your career?
I just graduated from the MFA program in fashion design at Parsons, so I’d say that my career is really just starting out. I obtained my undergraduate degree in fashion design in China, and founded the label Nothing Clothing while in school, which I was very fortunate to have the backing of several independent retailers. Upon graduation was when I decided to come to New York to pursue an MFA at Parsons.
Why did you decide to break away from China and relocate to New York?
The MFA at Parsons was a very exciting opportunity as the academic excellence and achievement of the fashion design program are highly recognized around the world. Also New York is one of the major fashion capitals and home of a lot of young fashion brands that I’ve frequently followed.
How did your interest in fashion come about?
Growing up I always loved to paint, when I was in high school I became very passionate about fashion because I loved how it combines both art, creativity with functionality – fashion design to me is a form of art that can be constantly observed and admired in daily life.
Who are the influential figures in fashion you look up to?
I wouldn’t necessarily consider her as my role model but Phoebe Philo is a designer that I’ve always admired. I think she is very forward thinking and modern in her creations, transitioning this ethos to her own personal style – to me she embodies both the elegance of a European woman and the cool personality of a New Yorker.
Building your career can be very time consuming. What sacrifices did you make to get to where you are today?
I think the sacrifice that most designers and fashion design students have to make is slashing the time spent with friends and family. Designing a collection is a lengthy and sometimes lonely process in the sense that one has to completely shut down and have some time alone in order to fully explore themselves to conceptualize and design a collection. Then of course there were countless late nights when my friends were out partying and I was working to a deadline cutting patterns.
Have their been difficult times in your career and how did you overcome them?
What I found the most challenging during my two years at Parsons was the process of transforming abstract inspirations and ideas into the actual design and garments. Yet this difficult time allowed me to discover and explore my own design identity.
Living in New York must give you plenty of fresh ideas for new collections. What inspires your work?
I get a lot of inspirations from my surroundings, whether it is music I listen to, movies I watch, places I visit or people I meet. New York is such a diverse and vibrant city where there is always something going on, living in the city alone is already a great source of inspiration.
What are your stand-out moments of your career to date?
It was the greatest pleasure to have my collection open the Parsons MFA show at Milk Studio during New York Fashion Week. The graduate collection was the culmination of my two-year study at Parsons and I was very grateful to have the opportunity to not just share my work with industry professionals and the media, but also to have my collection open the show.
What is the best piece of advice you have received from your mentors?
Design not only for production, but also for fun. I think as a designer it is very easy to get absorbed into the design process and become very product or goal-oriented. As I work on a collection I like to remind myself that the process should be enjoyable and only if I enjoy the process and have fun with it can I come up with a collection that I love.
There are many young people who are desperately trying to breakout in the industry. What advice would you give to someone who wants to become a fashion designer?
It may sound cliché but I’d say try to stay true to yourself. It could be tempting to follow trends or be influenced by what is popular, but at the end of the day it is the designer’s own design identity that matters the most.
What projects are you working on right now?
I’m working on the Fall/Winter 2015 collection now and I’m really excited about it. In terms of style and aesthetics I’d like it to be a continuation of my graduate Spring/Summer 2015 collection, but definitely with new silhouettes and focus on fabric innovation.
ABSOLUT ART
Instituted in 2009 to mark 30 years of creative collaborations with artists, the Absolut Art Award aims to support emerging artists and art writers with a cash prize up for grabs.
With a total of forty seven artists and art writers up for nomination across both the ‘Art Work’ and ‘Art Writing’ categories, this year’s selection includes nominees from around the world who have all shown potential to be the next Absolut Art Award winner. Nominees come from multiple artistic disciples and professional backgrounds from across five continents and 24 countries, ranging in age from 30 to 69. In the ‘Art Writing’ category, ten art writers have been selected, continuing Absolut’s longstanding support of critical theory and nurturing of artistic discourse.
The 2015 jury will select five finalists from a shortlist of both categories to be revealed during Art Basel Miami Beach 2014, with the winning artist and writer being announced during the Vernissage of La Biennale di Venezia – 56th International Art Exhibition in May 2015. The award ceremony will then take place in September 2015 in Stockholm, Sweeden.
Providing a unique opportunity to realise their dream projects, the winning artist will receive a cash prize of €20,000 along with a budget of €100,000, to produce and exhibit a new artwork. The winning art writer will also receive a cash prize of €20,000, with a budget of €25,000 to be used toward the research and production of a new publication.
The international Jury for the 2015 Absolut Art Award will include three additional distinguished curators: Magali Arriola, Curator at Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City; Doryun Chong, Chief Curator at M+, Hong Kong and Jessica Morgan, Daskalopoulos Curator, International Art at Tate Modern and Artistic Director of the 10th Gwangju Biennale, as well as Negar Azimi, writer and Senior Editor of Bidoun Magazine.
ROUND-UP: Hottest music videos of the week
From dark themes of capital punishment and solitude to warped Halloween car-ousel trips and female empowerment – it’s all here. Five recently released music videos you’re going to want to watch
From dark themes of capital punishment and solitude to warped Halloween car-ousel trips and female empowerment – it’s all here. Five recently released music videos you’re going to want to watch.
Lorde – Yellow Flicker Beat
“I’m a princess cut from marble”, sings New Zealand born singer-songwriter Lorde, the princess of dream-pop and indie-tronica, in her latest release ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’. The song is part of the soundtrack to the much anticipated ‘Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1’ which will be released worldwide later this week. The song is the first offering from a soundtrack curated by Lorde. The video displays Lorde, with her signature long fingernails and wild hair, twisting and tossing towards the musical climax. Like any good work, this video explores a diversity of elements before revert-ing to the initial tone, which is indeed “smoother than a storm”.
Metronomy – The Upsetter
Images of Robinson Crusoe immediately come to mind in the latest video release from Metronomy, the electronic group founded as a bedroom project by Joseph Mount in his parents’ Devon house. The ‘Upsetter’ video, which was directed by Daren Rabinovitch, however puts a new spin on the old story as a primitive woman creates herself a lover from her surroundings. The song, a “campfire sing-along”, is a touching tribute to nature and companionship and the video appropriately mellow and beautifully shot.
Melanie Martinez – Carousel
Breaking through the ranks in the 2012 American The Voice, Martinez released her first original single earlier this year after signing with Atlantic Records. Her creepy-cute sound comes through even stronger in her second single, ‘Carousel’. The single, which is featured in this season’s American Horror Story: Freak Show trailer, has been captured in a deserted Long Island carnival video. The candy-coloured video, sufficiently twisted and sinister, is freakishly good and promises great things from the young queen of the bittersweet.
FKA Twigs – Video Girl
Twigs, who has been called “the UK's best example to date of ethereal, twisted R&B” is an artist in her own right. Experimental of sounds and emotions, the London-based, former backup dancer with the whispery, moody vocals opens herself up to controver-sy in her latest video. The video mixes the erotic with the politics of capital punish-ment in a cocktail of disturbing images and dark undertones, curiously offset by the extreme delicacy of her voice. Twigs releases her unsettling video just in time for the Mercury Music Prize Ceremony which takes place on 18 November. “All eyes on you now”, Twigs, “what (or how) you gonna do?”
Azealia Banks – Chasing Time
All black-and-white but for one devilish red eye, Azealia Banks’ new video is just about as cool as the Harlem-raised singer herself. Well-known for the profanity in much of her other music, Banks is on her best behaviour, yet manages a “banging tune” with just the right amount of empowered diva. ‘Chasing Time’ is a catchy, ready hit with a booming chorus. The video, futuristically simply as it is, matches the quick-footed lyrics and the electro-pop synthesis perfectly.
Klara Kristalove’s Ceramics Come from Your Childhood’s Anxieties
Klara Kristalova creates beings that would appear to come from the dark enchanted forest in Holden Caulfield’s (The Catcher in The Rye) dreams. Kristalova is known for her ceramic sculptures, which portray narratives of change that are doomed with brooding undertones. Alongside the sculptures, her repertoire includes installations, drawings, textile works, paintings, and sketches. Kristalove finds inspiration in nearly everything: traditional myths, fairytales, Hans Christian, Oscar Wilde, TV, music, and even overheard conversations. Reflecting on these various mediums, Kristalova explores themes of trauma, the loss of childhood, changes, memory and decision-making in her work.
Born in Prague (1967), Kristalove and her family fled to Sweden when she was a child. Her mother passed away when she was only six years old and she was left to grow up with her father and brother. She studied painting at the Royal Institute of art in Stockholm. Eventually, she found the medium to be limiting and wanted to explore three-dimensional works. She began experimenting with bronze and gypsum, but being a broke student (many of us familiar with the struggle of the ramen noodle diet) led her to using clay. She was also fond of the fact that most of her peers saw ceramics as passé at the time.
It is evident that clean lines are not a daunting concern to Klara Kristalove; her creations rarely follow real life proportions and their paint bleeds like a crying drunk girl’s makeup. Their size range from smaller delicate works to almost child-like proportions. The artist primarily portrays fauns, young girls, flora, the deep woods, animal human hybrids, masks, and doubles. The roughness and muted colors of her sculptures gives them a tone of shame and isolation. These motifs remind us of the difficulties we ourselves felt (possibly still are) when growing up. The inner anxieties we all feel when shedding our childish individuality in order to fit in as adults.
Valeska Jasso Collado Debuts Out of this World Collection
Inspired by interior design and interested in bold, lively shapes and forms, Valeska creates distinct and undeniably modern garments.
With their quirky color palette, playful silhouettes, and unorthodox materials, the pieces presented in fashion designer Valeska Jasso Collado’s graduate collection for the University of Westminster further blurs the already-evasive boundary between high fashion and contemporary art. Inspired by the eccentric shapes and bold hues characteristic of Memphis Furniture, an innovative yet classic American interiors company, Valeska’s avant-garde line boasts a peculiar and exuberant aesthetic.
Comprised of latex-laden forms and stiff-yet-streamlined contours, Valeska’s collection proves that fashion is not limited to traditional fabrics and textiles. Using metal, foam, and latex, she creates pieces that are as playful and fun as they are edgy and fashion-forward.
Given the garments’ unconventional composition, Valeska employed a very unique process to create the collection. Using foam as the foundation, she then applied latex and structured each piece with distinctive folds and puckered pleats reminiscent of origami. The final product – a line exhibiting saturated, sugary colors, sleek and slick textures, and out-of-this-world construction – portrays Valeska’s experimental, original, and unabashed approach to her work.
BLOOMBERG new contemporaries moves to THE ICA
Tajinder Dhami Electric Dream: Will Synthetic Intelligences Dream of Electric Sheep, 2014.
Tajinder Dhami Electric Dream: Will Synthetic Intelligences Dream of Electric Sheep, 2014.
New Contemporaries is the leading UK organisation supporting emergent art practice from British art schools, whose aim is to promote and provide a platform for new and recent fine art graduates. In our current issue, we spoke with the director of Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Kirsty Ogg about the latest artists to join this year’s exhibition. After opening as an integral part of the Liverpool biennial in late September, the collection is now heading further South to London, where it will remain until late January.
With previous New Contemporaries including the Chapman Brothers, Damien Hirst and David Hockney, there is always electricity in the air at the show, with new artists showcasing their potential to join the ranks of the modern masters. This year, the final selection for the show promises to deliver a range of innovative practice, including moving image, printmaking and performance, with artists exploring themes ranging from current affairs to human behaviour and the body. Whether it be Alice Hartley’s bold large scale screen prints or Yi Dai’s poetic and subtle paintings, the exhibition will appeal to anyone looking to have their perspective challenged.
From 26th November to 25th January, the exhibition will be at the Institute for Contemporary Arts, where the public can come to see the work of the fifty five participants involved in the show. To find out more about the exhibition, and to read more about our discussions with a few of the artists on display, pick up a copy of the latest ROOMS and check out the website.
Bloomberg Aspirations: A Contemporary New Generation. Read our interview with Director Kirsty OGG and Artists MKLK , Alice HARTLEY, Frances WILLIAMS, Jesc BUNYARD by Suzanne Zhang in our current issue ROOMS 15 Breakable
One of my favourites: MARK LYKEN
In Mark Lyken’s headspace: creating art evocative of something galactic, whilst exploring relationships between people and places and the influence of sound and visuals.
When I first discovered audio and visual artist Mark Lyken it was purely coincidental. One particularly rainy afternoon, I found myself in a London Wagamama in search of shelter and hoping to find some kind of caffeinated drink. Struggling to get my oversized umbrella under control in a room packed with people who had had the same genius idea, I spotted Lyken’s name on the Wagamama ‘art and eat’campaign poster. Lyken’s graffuturistic art, which captures the essence of the connection between visual and musical manifestation, stood out to me as an explosion of kaleidoscopic dynamics.
When the 2007 recession hit, DIY art forms such as street art and self-produced music boomed, paving the way for Lyken’s unique mode of expression. Fuelled by heartbreak and a failed business Lyken moved to Glasgow. Switching from urban graffiti to more abstract, gallery based art he found his calling in sonic art forms. The buoyant quality of his work attracted up-and-coming, Glasgow-based Recoat Gallery, which was later instrumental in launching Lyken as an artist.
Lyken’s art, initially a recreation of bacteria and other internal life forms, resembles vibrant outer space constellations. Musically, Lyken is drawn by the melodic, monophonic effect of drone tunes. For the artist, there is no real line between the two art forms, no definitive segregation. It is hard to say which is which, as one becomes the response to the other. To Lyken, the combination of music and art is prolific as long as it is not overanalysed. He is adamant never to impose an interpretive meaning on his art; it simply “is what it is”.
Lyken has matured into more than a musical street artist, a fact which was cemented when he joined internationally renowned art house, Cryptic, earlier this year. The Terrestrial Sea, commissioned by Cryptic, will make its debut at Multiplicidade Festival in Brazil between 29 and 30 November. His award-winning film, Mirror Lands, a collaboration with filmmaker Emma Dove and Aberdeen University Ecologists, is further proof of artistic evolution. The film muses peoples’ feeling of home, using a synthesis of images and sonic elements to challenge preconceived ideas about life on the Scottish Highland Black Isle. The outcome is an exploration of the complex interactions between nature, industry and culture.
In spite of the diversity of Lyken’s work, themes of mutation, metamorphosis and renewal make up constant, recognisable components of a portfolio, which includes musical and sound pieces, film, paintings and installations. Lyken is an artist who pinpoints contrasts everywhere and whose work, full of contradiction as it is, offers something for everyone. So take the opportunity, next time you are caught in the rain; experience art in a new way – experience Mark Lyken.
Living through imperfection: FRANCESCO TORTORELLA
IN SOME WAYS, I HATE ALL OF MY ARTWORK
By Kiran Grewal
IN SOME WAYS, I HATE ALL OF MY ARTWORK
Francesco Tortorella is described as a creative head, an art director, illustrator, writer, film-maker, animator – all of these titles suggesting bursts of creative energy in almost every form imaginable.
He, on the other hand, doesn’t like to label himself an artist, and uses his work as a way to express and stimulate debate and questions. He is, on many levels, an ordinary man who finds solace in exposing his emotional outbursts through his work and hugely enjoys free thinking people.
He especially explores the artificial idea of perfection that is constantly and brutally imposed upon us, and how love and life is in itself, imperfect. His illustrations penetrate the fragile nature of certain eluded topics and leaves lingering questions about how we actually perceive these everyday insecurities.
How do you want people to respond to your work?
I never really raised this question to myself. Mostly my artwork are emotional outbursts that I make for personal enjoyment. I love when people have fun and I love it when they react critically. Commercially speaking it’s a different story, my daily job often requires me to deal with a brief. In that case my emotional imprint is conveyed for other purposes, and takes advantage of other types of communication.
Who influences/inspires you?
I’m inspired by almost everything. I’m very curious and I always look in different directions. My greatest sources of inspiration have always been the history of art. There are great directors and writers who influence me hugely, as I’ve always loved Italian classic movies.
I am also extremely passionate about music, in all its forms, as music is always present within my day it inspires me creatively. I’m completely addicted to collecting records. Often the sentences and titles of my drawings refer to song lyrics.
What is your background and do you think it reflects in your work?
I studied art history, fine art and animation. Absolutely all of that reflects in my work. I start my creative process almost always from rough sketches and build on it from there. I used to be very “concrete”, trying to create a handmade feeling using paper textures and painted stuff on digital works as well.
Are there any pieces of work that hold significance more than the other? If so, which one and why?
Each piece of my art, till the moment I decide that they are finished, last as long as the inspirational mood that pushed me to create them. Then, once finished they become only pieces. In some way, I hate all of my artwork.
What drove you to become an artist?
I don’t think of myself as an artist. When I think about great artists, who inspire me, I think of those who have double the thought process and imagination of a “normal” person – those who think without compromises and boundaries, sacrificing everything for art and adopting extreme lifestyles often to the detriment of themselves.
You’ve mentioned that you work across a whole range of media, such as independent film production, are there any projects you’re involved with at the moment? What should we look out for?
In addition to my day job as a Creative and Art Director, at the moment I am finishing a short animated film. It’s a personal and introspective project made in traditional animation.
I’m also writing an animated series, I’m excited about that, it’s great stuff…but I can’t talk too much about that yet. All I can say is that it deals with a kind of music in some ways.
Speaking of different media, are you partial to any one in particular?
I work a lot with video computers and digital stuff mostly, and I love it, but paper remains to be my favourite media. There is no day without a sketch at least.
Would you say you had a defining style which remains constant throughout your work? I’ve noticed a lot of pop art techniques. How and when did you develop a style and how does this effect your work?
I don’t think so, I think I have quite a personal style, but even that has no real definition and I have to try and understand it day by day. I constantly research and experiment with things, looking at what happens around me. It’s mainly just for my own entertainment. I try to evolve my approach, purely because I get bored easily and I like to change constantly.
You recently announced your artwork becoming available to order all over China. Are you finding an international interest in your work? Why do you think it appeals to such a wide range of audiences?
A couple of years ago I lived in Beijing for a while, working for Pixomondo. And I was lucky enough to hold an exhibition. I must say that my illustrations aroused considerable interest, especially those which were erotic, so I made an attempt to make a partnership with some distributors.
What was the inspiration surrounding your project ‘The Weird Love’?
We have always been caught between two tendencies: to expose and surround to others or to protect ourselves and hide away in search of shelter. This project has been described as dealing with the need to reveal and at the same time to hide love. It’s a secret, delightful torture and a terrible pleasure.
In terms of your piece ‘The Wall Must Fall’, do you find your artwork reflects your political stance?
I do not like to take sides, artistically speaking, I prefer to try and stimulate debate and thoughts, conceptualising the messages or the ideas I want to spread. In this case I wanted to be close to the people of Gaza, most of those people are innocent children that are unable to escape from their tragic conditions. They are not free. I just don’t think we need walls to separate or jail anybody.
You are the founder of Made On VFX, how is that going and what work are you involved with in relation to that?
Actually we do a lot of stuff! Made On VFX is an independent film production company focused on creativity, animation, visual effects and design. We are only a small part too, Made On Studio is actually a huge creative network of directors, artists, writers, designers and a lot of creative people. We work a lot on advertising, the film industry and TV, we also develop Tech and interactive projects focused on art, social and film-making mostly. Right now we’re waiting to produce an animated mid-length that I wrote, a doc-film, a lot of TV shows and a couple of shorts – everything will be written and produced by our team, it’s exciting stuff!
francescotortorella
The return of JORIS VOORN
Dutch DJ and producer Joris Voorn is set to release his third album Nobody Knows 7 years after last LP From A Deep Place.
Dutch DJ and producer Joris Voorn is set to release his third album Nobody Knows 7 years after last LP From A Deep Place.
Voorn, highly respected and well-known in the arena of electronic music returns with this 12 track fusion of guitar, piano and synth through his own record label, Green. The album features collaborations from American DJ and producer Matthew Dear, guitar talent Bram Stadhouders and vocalist Kid A.
Marking a change since his mix CD Balance 014, featuring the 100 biggest electro and dance tracks, this album creates a more ambient landscape. Mixing ethereal vocals and acoustic softness within his usual electronic environment, Voorn creates an enchanting production.
Highlights of the album include already released ‘Ringo’ and the gentler ‘Momo’, a personal track Voorn and his father collaborated on. His track ‘So Long feat Kid A’ is equally as entrancing, while ‘The Wild’ plays upon a darker tone.
Ahead of the release, Voorn has captured his previous tour in California through a series of personal photos.
The album will be released on the 17th November.
Turner Prize 2014
This year’s Turner Prize aka £25,000 will be given out on December 1st to the rightful winner, one of the four finalists whose exhibitions are currently being held at the Tate Britain.
With three of the four competing pieces being film-based, it’s proven that us the viewers may find it necessary to invest as much manoeuvre into understanding the pieces as the artists did making them, given the unanimous verdict from major critics that this year’s entries are oblique and timid. Perhaps in this political climate where daily papers have been blasting stories on child abuse, plane crashes, beheadings, dismantling of our country, either we are out of capacity to react to shock art that some of the previous Turner Prize buzz-generating artists such as Damien Hurst and Tracey Emin have unveiled or contemporary artists have lost the will to shock. Even Turner Prize’s archenemy – Stucklists who have protested every year at the Prize decided to take a break this year, the least shocking bit of the whole ordeal. Britain is at such a fragile state and this year’s four finalists Duncan Campbell, Ciara Philips, Tris Vonna-Michell, and James Richards (who has been tipped as the likely winner for his film collage – Rosebud) may have just produced the art in reaction to this. As much as we miss the eccentricity of our Turner Prize artists, this year we will get sensuality for a change.
Photos by Abigail Yue Wang
PHOTO LONDON 2015
By Abigail Yue Wang
Here is that itching question finally addressed: how come there hasn’t been an encompassing fair yet dedicated to photography in the undoubtedly encompassing city that is London? For four days next May, London will see the launching of its first annual photography fair hosted at the riverside Somerset House.
With participating photography and contemporary art galleries worldwide and citywide, Photo London is not just another commercial array of contemporary photography scene, but a series of programmed exhibitions, talks, screenings and events that will sure indulge those with a pictorial appetite. Photo London will be in partnership with major museums (Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum and more) and auction houses in London and international bodies, as well as emerging galleries from cities such as Istanbul, Seoul and Tehran. During the fair, an exceptional photographer will be selected by The John Kobal Foundation Discovery award for the prize of a three-month residency in New York.
Needless to say that, Photo London 2015 will be a highly anticipated art fair first of its scale to celebrate Photography in the photogenic capital, with a capital P.
Photo London opens at Somerset House, 21-24 May 2015.
The Art of Teaching: MELANIE PAICE
After studying fine art at Central St Martins and De Montfort University, Melanie Paice went on to work for the Tate Gallery (Modern and Britain), where she managed a course programme before becoming freelance to work on projects with organisations such as Frieze Art Fair. She currently lives and works in Woking, Surrey, giving classes at the Lightbox Gallery among other venues in the surrounding area, whilst still producing her own work for commission.
I feel that my own art practice has improved a great deal since teaching. The fact that through teaching, you’re learning other peoples work constantly and finding a way of helping them to correct mistakes in their work means that my own observational skills have improved greatly. It’s just a constant thing that you do when teaching. There are some tutors particularly in adult education that will come to the front of the class, demonstrate something and then ask the class to copy what they do. I don’t work like that. I prefer people to think a bit about what they want to make so that they have further interest in what they are doing rather than just following what the teacher says. I encourage them to come up with their own ideas. My own practice has improved because of all that.
With lecturing, I find that researching about other people’s work and teaching about artists that interest me quite often mean that I go into a lot of detail about the art history of it all so the approach in my lectures is more about looking into the art historical details, but it certainly helps my own work progress.
Abstract is really what I consider to be ‘my thing’. It’s what I like doing but abstract doesn’t really sell that well in Surrey, so I tend to do more figurative work. Although I prefer abstract work, I do certainly have a love of plants and flowers as my parents were landscape gardeners, so I still enjoy working that way.
I love the work of Andy Goldsworthy. He is a sculptor who works with natural materials and uses only natural processes to bind the elements together. When I lecture on him I put his work under ‘land art’ because he is more than just a sculptor. His work is very transient and he takes a lot of photos of his work so that the photograph becomes the piece of art in the end. When I was around nine years old, the artist that really made me want to get into the art world was Chagall and in particular his painting, ‘The Cattle Dealer’, where the foal is in the womb of the horse. It fascinated me that an artist could show you what you knew was there, but that you couldn’t actually see. In some ways, I feel like this is similar to what I do when I teach.
I love teaching art because I love working with people and I wanted to share my love of art. To be able to make people feel what I feel when I paint is a wonderful experience. My approach is that it should be a sociable environment when I teach because then the students are more relaxed and open to learn. I prefer working with a very small class where there is more interaction and discussion about the work. It’s a much more pleasurable experience than lecturing at people. Teaching brings a lot more back into my own work.
I love working in the negative like when I do my slate drawings. I love bringing the light onto a black surface. There is an element of it being less of a blank canvas as you have something to work against. I love working that way but when I try and teach it’s surprising how hard beginners find it until they start really looking at light that way. The exhibition I did last year included a load of sculptural bees, which I created out of smashed light bulbs and so light is very important to me in that way, bringing old things into the light. The exhibition was actually called ‘Trash to Treasure’ as I was working on turning old materials into new pieces of art.
For me, creativity is the closest thing to spirituality. When something is really working in a painting or a sculpture, there is an amazing feeling that is almost spiritual. If I haven’t made artwork in a while, there is a frustration where I feel I need to make something. If people revaluated what ‘success’ was in our world and it wasn’t just about money and becoming known but more if you were happy and how you would be viewed by other people, I think people would be a lot happier.
New rule collective presents: HORROR SHOW
Hidden down a side street, behind a beautifully spray painted set of bolted gates sits 5th Base gallery. Back for their second show at the gallery, New Rule collective presents ‘Horror Show’, an illustrated tribute to Classic & B-Movie Horror Cinema. Featuring work from 30 internationally renowned illustrators, the show opened (appropriately) on Halloween and will be on until the 5th November when prints of the work will go on sale on the website. All prints will be limited editions of 50 in either giclée or screen prints, and once sold will not be printed again, so grab one while you can!
The show includes work from a number of artists from around the globe:
Ray Frenden // Gemma O’Brien // Blitz Cadet // Boneface // Robin Davey // Thomas Key // Guy McKinley // Mr Gauky // Tom Mac // Tom J Newell // Pete Murgatroyd // Fred Dirge // Robin Boyden // Godmachine // 2D Bean Kate Prior // Coke Navarro // Loose Limbed // Dan Mumford // Lynnie Zulu // Animaux Circus // Studio Muti // Burrito Breath // Croz // Russell Taysom // Sam Chivers // Liane Plant // Tony Delfino // Kristyna Baczynski // Jonny McKenzie //
Each participant has been allocated their own personal movie from which to create their interpretation, the full list of movies included in the project are as follows:
The Thing // Nightmare On Elm Street // Braindead // Toxic Avenger // Nosferatu // Lost Boys // IT // Phantasm // Basket Case // Night Of The Creeps // Hellraiser // The Fly // Lords Of Salem // The Mist // American Werewolf In London // Evil Dead // Dawn Of The Dead // Frankenstein // Texas Chainsaw Massacre // The Hills Have Eyes // Hausu // Mars Attacks! // Critters // Alien // The Wolfman // Demons // Return Of The Living Dead // Gremlins // Creature From The Black Lagoon // Wasp Woman // Slither //
Alongside the show, an A5 sized book has been produced that contains 52 pages of full colour illustrations, with every piece of artwork included in the book created specially for this project with the first run of 100 books printed as a limited edition, hand numbered design.
With the show in its final few days, head down now and check out the work for yourself!
Save the date! SWATCH presents days of my youth
By Tatyana Wolfman
On November 11th, Swatch invites you to the exclusive London premiere of Days of My Youth. A new film that explores the passion of skier’s for their sport. It is sure to tantalize the nerves of even the most extreme adrenaline junkies. The movie features four of the Swatch Proteam athletes and an all-star free skier lineup.
Swatch embraces the artistic side of Swatch Proteam member Richard Permin’s radical sport and inspirational way of life, through a creative collaboration to design his first signature Swatch model – PERMIN. Available this fall, the Swatch Sports Special is set to launch in sync with the athlete’s starring role in Days of My Youth.
Get your tickets for the premiere on Tuesday 11 Nov here!
A new cosy knit to spice up your winter wardrobe
Luxury knitwear label Leutton Postle has teamed up with esteemed spiced apple cider brand Kopparberg to make your winter a little bit less chilly with a new winter knit
Luxury knitwear label Leutton Postle has teamed up with esteemed spiced apple cider brand Kopparberg to make your winter a little bit less chilly with a new winter knit.
Merging Leutton Postle’s characteristic aesthetic – a vibrant colour palette and bold, quirky patterns – with Kopparberg’s Swedish origins, this new piece is sure to be the apple of your eye this winter.
Like Leutton Postle’s other signature creations, this limited edition woolen knit “draws on a range of influences to create wearable, craft-led collections that are unlimited by trends”. Featuring an abstract, Scandinavian-inspired pattern in ‘Falun red’ and a large, deconstructed ‘fair isle’ star motif, the offbeat knit reimagines traditional winter wear. Unisex in design, everyone is sure to love this cosy creation.
While luxury fashion and spiced cider may appear to be a peculiar pair, the two brands share a very similar approach to their products. Promoting “virtues of simplicity and uncomplicatedness” since emerging in 1882, Kopparberg stays true to its cultural roots and boasts time-honored quality. While, having only made its debut in 2011, Leutton Postle does not have quite the history, it undeniably shares the sentiment, representing “a labour of love and a shared creative vision that can be seen in the extraordinary attention to detail in each garment”.
Ultimately, given each brand’s commitment to quality, you can be sure that this new knit will make the perfect cold weather companion.