listings

Category: Art

Arse Flowers in Bloom, 2010.

Born in 1959 in Cape Town in South Africa, Ansel Krut studied Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (1979-1982) and ascribes much of the unsettling imagery in his paintings to growing up in Apartheid in South Africa. Krut’s painting focuses around subverting still life by linking objects to create improbable, playful and often dark human forms. His grotesque and provocative inventions, drawing on paradoxes, vaudeville and peep show, are poised between absurdity and moral criticism.

Mussels, 2012.

Verbatim, staged by Jerwood Gallery Hastings this May, will be the largest exhibition of his work to date, including new pieces exclusive to the exhibition, as well as paintings which haven’t been seen before in the UK. Click here for more information and find out more about Ansel Krut on his agent’s website here.

Thuggish Houses, 2012.

All images courtesy of Modern Art.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday- Sunday 11am-6pm, Closed Mondays (with the exception of Bank Holiday Mondays and during East Sussex school holidays)

Giants of Modernism #2 (Carrot Head), 2009.

Category: Art

Call Me is a degree show exhibiting the work of the 2014 Illustration Animation graduates of Kingston University. ‘We want to meet everyone, and treat everyone to our eclectic spread of visual, sculptural and interactive solutions.’ Kingston always put on a particularly strong display when the graduate shows come around (read some of my previous reviews here) so I'm really looking forward to this one… and you could be there too! Here's a taster:

Call Me- Kingston University Illustration Animation Degree Show from Chloe Winn on Vimeo.

'Roofless' Jessica Tickle

'Soporific Tips to Enhance Smile Goo' Jack Smith

'Pick a Pen' Carmel Attia

This show is the culmination of a three year course, in which, through making, critiquing and resolving, the students have tackled industry briefs, competed in national and international competitions, woven narratives and explored new concepts and ideas.

'One Hundred Years of Solitude' Jooyoung Ryu

'My Darling' a film by Matt King and Imogen Woolley

Under the banner of Illustration Animation, the Call Me is comprised of prints, paintings, graphic novels, children’s books, zines, apps, contraptions, animations, cartoons, games, reportage, furniture, music videos, crockery, concertinas, lampshades, flipbooks, puppets, packaging, portfolios and much much more. The walls of Dalston Department Store in Hackney will be filled with all of these, and a cinema will showcase the best of the course’s animation.

'King of the Jungle' a film by Jac Clinch

'Jungle Tumble' Nicola Kinnear

Call Me is an important opportunity for the students to both reveal their work to the public, but also to make contact and forge connections with professionals and future colleagues, hence the rather cheeky name.

'Have a Glass of Water' Dale Crosby Close

'Disconnect' a film by Doug Hindson

There really is something for everyone, so whatever you do, whoever you are, it's not one to miss!

'Anticipation' Luisa Crosbie

Private view: Thursday 12th June, 6.30pm
Public View: Friday 13th June – Sunday 15th June
Opening times: 11am- 7pm

Category: Art

The AOI presents The Illustrator's Guide to Business, an essential course for all illustrators hoping to succeed professionally, with talks from eight different speakers covering all aspects of the industry. There will also be the chance to network with peers and industry experts, as well as receive 20% discount on entry price into Pick Me Up, the graphic arts festival held at Somerset House from 24 April – 5 May. The speakers are as follows:

Fig Taylor
Fi is currently Portfolio Consultant for the AOI and advertising charity, NABS. In the past she has run her own agency, Fig 1. She subsequently worked for four agencies including CIA. She also lectures on professional practice for illustrators internationally and at art institutions across the UK.

James Louis
James is currently Business Education & Support Team at HM Revenue and Customs. He has worked for the HMRC for over 25 years providing advice and education from small business and individuals.

Derek Brazell 
Derek is Director for visual arts of the British Copyright Council and a member of the Design and Artists Copyright Society’s Creators Council. He's currently AOI Projects Manager and has illustrated for magazines, design work and a string of successful picture books for children. His latest book Understanding Illustration was co-authored with Jo Davies and is available now.

Matthew Shearer
Matthew provides advice and support to AOI members as AOI Membership Manager. This can include anything regarding pricing, ethics, contracts and professional practise.

Victoria Pearce
Victoria is currently Senior Agent at Illustration Ltd. Prior to working as an illustration agent Victoria has worked in fashion photography as an agent as well as a stills producer.

Alex Jenkins
Alex has a background in Graphic Design, Illustration and Character Animation. He is the Creative Director of B-Reel London. Projects range from digital branding, interactive to 360 campaigns, games to interactive stories, apps and installations. He has won several awards and continues to deliver talks and workshops for conferences and learning institutions.

Alex Mathers
Alex is an Illustrator and Writer, he specialises in digital vector maps and landscapes. He runs an online platform called Ape on the Moon which showcases work from various illustrators as well as a site run for creatives focusing on building influence, called Red Lemon Club.

Anna Steinberg
Anna practises as freelance Illustrator and has worked for seven years as a part time member of staff on the AOI membership desk. She also lectures on professional practise at various universities.

All images by Tim Ellis. Ticket prices: Non Members £60 per day, £110 for both days, Students, AOI & SCWBI Members £50, £90 for both days. Purchase tickets here.

Category: Art

Two intriguing urban artists showcase their new work at the Well Hung Gallery in Hoxton.

Tom Bingle, aka Inkie has emerged as one of the most prolific graffiti writers in the the UK and has painted with some of the most notorious artists on the scene including Banksy, Nick Walker and Massive Attack’s 3D. Inkie’s art is characterised by a unique collaboration of graffiti and figurative imagery. His style ‘Ink Nouveau’ draws on art nouveau influences with an urban twist. Portraits of woman are usually accompanied by poignant words or phrases; faces are understated, almost anime and are framed with his iconic, stylised flowing hair.

Otto Schade or ‘Osch’ is a Chilean-German artist, architect and urban sculptor has been influenced by abstract and surrealist art. The themes behind his compositions use iconic symbolism, with a sharp, ironic touch. Otto’s paintings are characterised by ribbons, which are painted meticulously in layers to produce his imagery. Otto has exhibited his work around the world (Chile, Berlin, Moscow, New York, Amsterdam & London). You can see also see his work on the streets Shoreditch.

*** STOP PRESS*** The exhibition has been extended and you are invited to the closing party on Thursday 7th August when the gallery will be offering free prints for the first 10 people through the doors and great deals on any remaining work on show. There will also be Limited edition prints of the Otto Schade 'Golden Steam' print on sale at half price for only £45.

Opening times: Mon-Fri: 9.30am-6pm, Sat: 10am-7pm, Sun: Closed
Private view: Thursday 3rd July 6-9pm, please RSVP to info@wellhung.co.uk

Category: Art

In a new exhibition at the High House Gallery a duck attacks the lens, a dog snarls at the camera and a frog lies dead in the road. In his own truly unique way Giacomo Brunelli photographs animals unlike any other photographer today. In place of candid photographs taken with long lenses – usually the result of hours of patient waiting – Brunelli instead records his animal subjects by approaching them provocatively and from unusual angles – often very close up. He often works in the early morning to exploit the low light, shadow and contrast. Locations are backyards, streets, small villages, fields and farms. 

He entitles this juxtaposition of styles 'animal focused street photography'. Working entirely in analogue format with a 1960's Miranda Sensomat 35mm camera his practice includes the meticulous hand printing of his photographs as limited editions. Most recently, Brunelli was commissioned by The Photographers Gallery to create a series entitled Eternal London. Using his distinct film-noir style he created a unique and evocative view of the capital and its famous landmarks.

More information:
Giacomo Brunelli is an Italian artist who first studied photography on a short course, after having graduated from a degree in international communications. He was the winner of awards such as the Magenta ‘‘Flash Forward 2009’’, Toronto, Canada, the Sony World Photography Award in 2007 and the Winner of Grand Prix of Fotofestival, Poland in 2007. Brunelli currently resides and works in London.

High House Gallery was founded in 2011 by Martin Jenner and situated within a grade II listed Victorian mansion and recently-restored formal gardens located in the Oxfordshire village of Clanfield. The gallery promotes only the best in critically- engaged contemporary art, with an innovative exhibition programme features both solo and curated group exhibitions from an international roster of gallery and invited artists.

Opening times: Thursday – Sunday 12am – 6pm
Evening preview: Thursday 24th April, 6 to 8pm. Artist present.

Category: Art

Illustration by 2014 Illustration degree graduate Ara Cho.

Now in its tenth year, Camberwell College of Arts invites members of the local community to come and see its Summer Show, as part of the Open House event on Saturday 21 June 2014. Open House is a welcoming and fun event – open to all, offering people from the surrounding area the chance to see the work of the Camberwell students, whilst also participating in some fantastic free, art and design workshops.

Illustration by 2014 Illustration degree graduate Matt Dunlop.

The day offers visitors a unique opportunity to join students, technicians, recent graduates and alumni at the college and learn first-hand how to: produce simple photographic images, work with stop frame animation and try out screen-printing, ceramics, letter pressing and much more! All workshops are suitable for all ages, and run and assisted by experienced tutors and students from the college.

Open House has become a permanent feature on the community events calendar in Camberwell. The day is hugely popular with local families, many returning year after year. For a taster of what Camberwell College of Arts has in store for visitors check out the Open House 2013 promo video above.

Opening Times: 11am-5pm (workshops finish at 4pm)
For further information visit this webpage. NB:All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Category: Art

Printer of Dreams presents a month long exhibition at The Ritzy cinema in Brixton celebrating the best (and worst) of 80s Youth as seen on the silver screen. Eleven of the finest illustrators have re-imagined their favourite movies from the decade that brought you back to the future, hoody wearing aliens, wisecracking ghost busters and gangs of kids escaping everything from school, crooks and pirates. 

Labyrinth, Alec Doherty.

Back to the Future, Kate Copeland.

Alec Doherty has created a fantastically colourful and playful Labyrinth design, whilst Kate Copeland has wowed us with her fantastically simplistic Back to the Future poster. And expect something darkly wonderful from long time Printer of Dreams collaborator Edward Tuckwell, who has recently upped sticks from Falmouth and is now making his mark on the capital.  

Ghostbusters, Toby Leigh.

ET, Tony Johnson.

Other contributing illustrators include Rebecca Carey, Rob Flowers, Jean Julien, Annu Kilpelainen, Joe Melhuish and Mat Weller.

All are invited to the opening night on the 6th May, 7.30pm – late. Expect a night of nostalgia inspired by the magic of a decade when cinema changed the face of youth, with 10 signed limited edition prints available and DJ Pee-Wee Robinson on hand to spin the very best from the decade on the wheels of steel. Find out more info here.

Category: Art

Anima Mundi has already captured the attention of people from all over the world thanks to the successful kickstarter campaign ran by the artist Tim Lane. Anima Mundi is a 5 metre long, graphite on paper drawing, which folds in to an A5 book and slipcase. The pages can be recombined with each other by folding the pages back and forth in different combinations, revealing new narratives and as such resists being pinned down to one linear reading or explanation. Anima Mundi asks more questions than it answers – it’s a starting point for imaginative thought and exploration of some of the most fundamental and timeless ideas and questions. 

Tim Lane is a contemporary fine artist living and working in Bristol, graduating from Falmouth College of Art in 2004 with a first class BA (Hons) Illustration. Tim’s degree helped to give structure to his love for working directly from his imagination and also encouraged a passion for drawing, which is at the core of all his work. His anachronistic style takes strong influence from Classic Literature and World Mythologies. The consideration of Myth, provides a structure of multi-layered, open narrative that inspires highly symbolic imagery which seeks to explain the world in a visceral, imaginative, dark way, often with a animalistic element. 

The exhibition at Antlers Gallery will celebrate the launch of Anima Mundi as a Limited Edition bookwork. Audiences will be invited to play with the book and create their own narratives and stories through folding the pages in different combinations. Also on display will be original artworks by Tim Lane which have been inspired or influenced by the bookwork. 

Opening times: 10am – 6pm, Anima Mundi Preview and Book Launch: Friday 4th July, 6 – 9pm

Category: Art

‘Penumbra’ is a word that describes the indistinct area between light and shadow, and is the title of the debut art exhibition by young curatorial collective VERB, to be held at the APT Gallery in Deptford. The collective is made up of curators Nella Aarne and Rachael Smith, curator/journalist Olga Stebleva and artists Elizabeth Hudson and Harriet Wiseman.

Anton Burdakov, Light Lighter, 2013.

The show presents the work of 11 emerging artists with fresh and intriguing perspectives on ambiguity and the in-between. The curators see a link between the position of themselves and the artists – as emerging practitioners – and the current phenomena of the young taking longer to find security and stability. The exhibition is structured around three main strands; ambiguous spaces, the passage of time and transformation. Approaches range from the disorientating spaces of Collette Rayner’s film Sealand and Megan Broadmeadow’s towering installation Mastaba, to Anna Hussey’s delicate etchings Relics, which explore an ambiguous mix of memory, fact and fiction.

Here's a bit more info about some of the featured artists:

Anton Burdakov lives and works in London and Berlin. He originally studied neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and has recently completed an MA in Fine Art the Royal College of Art in London. In his work Light, Lighter a set of scales gradually tips over as a candle on one end burns down.

Clare Price, Gentle Filth, 2013.

Clare Price is currently doing her MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmiths, she has a BA (hons) in Fine Art Painting from Central Saint Martins. She was selected for the Marmite Prize for Painting 2012/13. Plume, Flip Flopping, Rip and Gentle Filth are mixed media abstract paintings that contrast unpredictable mark-making with digitally-inspired forms.

Helen McGhie, Fitting Rooms #6, 2013.

Helen McGhie is a current MA Photography student at Royal College of Art. She has had a solo show at Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston and been in group exhibitions across the country. Fitting Rooms (#6, #13, #17) is a series of colour photographs showing glimpses of women in fitting rooms.

Megan Broadmeadow, Mastaba, 2013.

Megan Broadmeadow is a current MFA Fine Art student at Goldsmiths and has a First Class BA (hons) from UCL Slade School of Art. Mastaba is a sculptural video installation that combines cultural memory and pop imagery.

Opening times: Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm.
The public events programme is free, and includes curator's tours on Friday 2nd and Wednesday 14th, a panel discussion on Thursday 8th, drop-in workshops on Saturday 10th and an artists' talk and performance on Sunday 18th. Families are welcome.
Join the facebook event here.

Category: Art

The Arts University Bournemouth present ‘High Noon’, a diverse degree show featuring a mix of 3D work, textiles, animation, paper engineering, comics, drawing and so much more! The show explores exciting new techniques and concepts and challenges the definitions of contemporary illustration. Fully funded and curated by the students themselves, High Noon demonstrates three years of hard work and development at the Arts University Bournemouth from illustrators at the beginning of their careers. Below is a small example of the work on show:

Emily Irving.

Crystal Budd.

Allie Oldfield.

Kristi Minchin.

Louis Craig Carpenter.

Florence Zealey – High Noon

Maia Fjord.

Marianna Madriz.

Philip Bailey.

Sam Spencer.

Tom Innes.

Have a look at all the work on the High Noon website or join the Facebook page here. Follow the students on twitter url @highnoonshow.

Opening times: 10am-6pm, all are invited to the Private View on 1st July from 6-9pm.