Next week sees the opening night of a solo exhibition of my work in London.
The exhibition is called Modern Memorabilia & is being held at the
GGGallery in Notting Hill.
The exhibition will run from the
16th June until July 22nd.
The opening night is on Thursday 16th June at 7pm.
If you are in the London area & would like to visit the exhibition you can find out more information by visiting the GGGallery's website here
If you would like to come along to the opening night, I will be there to chat about my work & you can contact the gallery & RSVP by e-mailing info@gggallery.co.uk
The work being exhibited will be added to my portfolio next week & which you will be available to see on my website.
Some new pieces I've been working on recently are these Lego Men.
This is the first set - Spacemen!
Like the paintings of bottle caps, the Lego figures are a simple way to explore colour, form and design. The familiarity of the imagery allows me to almost explode the image while still retaining it, something that I find is only possible with easily recognisable objects.
Also like my other recent work it focuses on an interest in the hobby of collecting in which the displaying of any collected objects (worthless or priceless) becomes more than its individual pieces.
This set of four Spacemen sold immediately in Gallerina last week, on their first day of appearance!
The feedback to the Lego paintings has been great!
But who doesn't love Lego?
***
Update ......
Lego Spaceman Prints Now Available!!!!!!
Find them HERE
The Save the Arts campaign is organised by the London branch of the Turning Point Network, a national consortium of over 2,000 arts organisations and artists dedicated to working together and finding new ways to support the arts in the UK.
The aim of the Save the Arts campaign is to encourage people to sign a petition which will be sent to the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. It points out that it has taken 50 years to create a vibrant arts culture in Britain that is the envy of the world and appeals to the government not to slash arts funding and risk destroying this long-term achievement and the social and economic benefits it brings to all.
Over a hundred leading artists including David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Anthony Caro, Howard Hodgkin, Anish Kapoor, Richard Hamilton, Bridget Riley, Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin have joined the campaign to make the case against the proposed 25% cuts in government funding of the arts. The campaign acknowledges that reasonable cuts and efficiencies are necessary but that the 25% cuts being proposed will destroy much of what has been achieved and will have a particularly damaging impact on smaller scale arts organisations, as well as on national and regional museums and their collections.
The first stage of the campaign presents a new video animation by artist David Shrigley highlighting the effect of the funding cuts and a new work by Jeremy Deller with Scott King and William Morris. Each week, the work of a different artist will be released. Mark Wallinger will present the next project.
The costs of David Shrigley’s animation have been covered with a grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. All artists engaged in this project have generously donated their time, talent and art.
These are my two latest paintings using the simple repetition of a single image to create a new experience. By releasing myself from the constraints of the original design I can explore a more painterly rhythm within.
As an Artist I often find myself creating rules in which I must work, one of them being, working within the original design of the source material. The reason behind the was not concrete but an idea that in reproducing lowbrow imagery as 'fine art' there was a need to be truthful of the source material. This, over time became unmovable and it is always liberating to throw away the constraints I have applied to myself.
12” x 21 ½” 2 x 4” x 9½”
No. 11 Kings Of Speed Captain G.E.T. Eyston
Also in the same repetitious vein a new kings of speed painting with actual cigarette cards and packets
You may recognise the TV as it seems to have become my archetype for vintage televisions.
14” x 25 ½” 3 x 7” x 3½”
No. 30 Kings Of Speed “Bluey” Wilkinson
This is a large scale work on paper based on Churchman's Cigarette cards from 1939. The piece includes 6 original cards all of which are Bluey Wilkinson. The back of the card has been hand painted and over scaled. Mounted on top are another three hand painted versions of Bluey slightly smaller but still oversized.
19” x 13 ½” 2 x 6” x 8½”
Spook Talk No 46
Another large scale work on paper is based on American Leaf Brand gum cards from 1961. Like Bluey Wilkinson The piece includes 6 original cards all of which are Frankenstein and his bride and 4 original reverses with terrible jokes!.
Again the back of the card has been hand painted and over scaled. Mounted on top are another two hand painted versions of Frankenstein slightly smaller but still oversized.
14 x 10 ½” No.56 Cheese Fondu
Finally a new work on paper that is based on adverts found in 'Woman' magazines from the 60s. Unlike the earlier works on paper - see here- which were all full page ads this is one large ad and two that are smaller.
They were all taken from separate magazines and chosen to create a tension that is found when disparate images are combined. This also gave me a great title in the misspelled No 56 cheese fondu
Benjamin West, The Treaty of Paris (1783 Unfinished)
I'm often asked how do I know when a painting is complete and in my case the answer is difficult to explain.
Personally the act of painting can be best described as a game of balance between the abstract nature of paint and the image that is reconstructed. A painting can be described as 'complete' when I run out of spaces to move.
It is therefore an individual choice of what I believe the painting needs in order to convey my intent and still hold a painterly balance. When I am satisfied then it will be left.
"I refrain from 'finishing it. I paint myself out of the picture, and when I have done that, I either throw it away or keep it'
It is this idea of not actually 'finishing' in a traditional sense that is very important to me. The viewer must be the person to 'finish' the painting (not by painting in my gaps!!) but by adding all of the disparate imagery and making their own connections. This open ending allows you to constantly revaluate the painting.
Because of this I have no qualms of re-working a painting sometimes years after it has been exhibited if I still feel connected to it. This is not because the painting needs to be improved in any way but over time as I have changed a new aim and vision for the painting can develop.
This does not always happen as paintings have a strange way of disowning you. This I must add is not negative. As De Kooning said you can paint yourself out. Sometimes you never see a way back in as a painter but can then fully enjoy it as a spectator.
My new book 'Ex Post Factor' is now available to buy.
The book costs £25 & is available to buy from either Gallerina or from my website.
Ex Post Facto is a book which is based upon a loosely tied together series of works created over the last three years.
It examines my influences & the main aims of the collection which is split into four sections, Objects, Advertisements, Knitting Patterns and Magazine and Book Covers.
