books

Amelia’s Magazine | Duke Press Launch – One of a Kind

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press shot new Drums 1

They’ve already been creating quite a bit of buzz over here but it looks like 2010 could be the year of The Drums. Their EP Summertime is already available to buy and they’re working on their debut album. This summer will see them touring with Florence and the Machine. We managed to speak with singer Jonathan Pierce about the band.

Andy Devine. How did you all meet?

Jonathan Pierce. Jacob and I met each other when we were very young. I think I was 13 and he was 11? I grew up in the same small town as Adam and I met him through just hanging out and being bored. We all met Connor last June. We feel very lucky to have met each other. We all share a lot of the same interests while at the same time we all bring a little something different to the creative table.

AD. You’ve been tipped by NME as a band to watch this year. Does that put alot of pressure on you to deliver?

J.P. We really have not felt any pressure at all, treat and if we do feel pressure it has not been enough for us to notice it. We just keep doing what we have been doing from the beginning and that is to write sincere pop music. Everything we do, information pills we want it to come from a place of purity and also a place of selfishness. If we do not believe in what we are doing, price then how can anyone else really? This band started as a selfish endeavour and it will end that way. Only that way can you become vulnerable.

A.D Quite a few of your upcoming gigs are Sold Out, how does that feel?

J.P. It’s really wild for us to hear that all these shows are sold out. We would have never thought that a year after we wrote our first song in our tiny bedroom off the highway in Florida that we would be traveling across the UK and other parts of Europe in a tour bus playing sold out shows. It’s very strange.

A.D. Do you enjoy playing gigs over here, how do you find the audiences are?

So far it has been a cool experience for the most part. Everyone seems to be excited. We love playing shows over here. I remember the first show we ever played in London. It was a few months back at The Flowerpot. It was packed and sweaty and wild and we could not believe that it was happening. We could not believe that people cared this much.

A.D. Have there been any notable highlights?

J. P. Playing Barfly was pretty surreal. There was so much hype and people outside trying to get in. It seemed like a movie, but it was really happening. It’s those moments that you have to just ask yourself “is this real”?

A.D. What do you do when you’re not playing in the band?

J.P. Well, since we stared the band, every minute of the day revolves around it usually. If we aren’t playing shows, then we are rehearsing, and if we arent rehearsing, then we are writing songs and if we arent writing songs then we are working on the album artwork or website. It’s very constant because we are such control freaks.

A.D. Finally, what are you most looking forward to doing this year?

J.P. Playing shows, putting out our album, and writing pure pop songs.

The Drums are part of the NME Shockwaves Tour which begins on Thursday. They will also be back in the UK in May supporting Florence and the Machine in March.
press shot new Drums 1

They’ve already been creating quite a bit of buzz over here but it looks like 2010 could be the year of The Drums. Their EP Summertime is already available to buy and they’re working on their debut album. This summer will see them touring with Florence and the Machine. We managed to speak with singer Jonathan Pierce about the band.

Andy Devine. How did you all meet?

Jonathan Pierce. Jacob and I met each other when we were very young. I think I was 13 and he was 11? I grew up in the same small town as Adam and I met him through just hanging out and being bored. We all met Connor last June. We feel very lucky to have met each other. We all share a lot of the same interests while at the same time we all bring a little something different to the creative table.

AD. You’ve been tipped by NME as a band to watch this year. Does that put alot of pressure on you to deliver?

J.P. We really have not felt any pressure at all, seek and if we do feel pressure it has not been enough for us to notice it. We just keep doing what we have been doing from the beginning and that is to write sincere pop music. Everything we do, decease we want it to come from a place of purity and also a place of selfishness. If we do not believe in what we are doing, then how can anyone else really? This band started as a selfish endeavour and it will end that way. Only that way can you become vulnerable.

A.D Quite a few of your upcoming gigs are Sold Out, how does that feel?

J.P. It’s really wild for us to hear that all these shows are sold out. We would have never thought that a year after we wrote our first song in our tiny bedroom off the highway in Florida that we would be traveling across the UK and other parts of Europe in a tour bus playing sold out shows. It’s very strange.

A.D. Do you enjoy playing gigs over here, how do you find the audiences are?

So far it has been a cool experience for the most part. Everyone seems to be excited. We love playing shows over here. I remember the first show we ever played in London. It was a few months back at The Flowerpot. It was packed and sweaty and wild and we could not believe that it was happening. We could not believe that people cared this much.

The drums-1

A.D. Have there been any notable highlights?

J. P. Playing The Barfly was pretty surreal. There was so much hype and people outside trying to get in. It seemed like a movie, but it was really happening. It’s those moments that you have to just ask yourself “is this real”?

A.D. What do you do when you’re not playing in the band?

J.P. Well, since we stared the band, every minute of the day revolves around it usually. If we aren’t playing shows, then we are rehearsing, and if we arent rehearsing, then we are writing songs and if we arent writing songs then we are working on the album artwork or website. It’s very constant because we are such control freaks.

A.D. Finally, what are you most looking forward to doing this year?

J.P. Playing shows, putting out our album, and writing pure pop songs.

The Drums are part of the NME Shockwaves Tour which begins on Thursday. They will also be back in the UK in May supporting Florence and the Machine in March.

Intro-Collection_28Unfinished Town courtesy of Jess Wilson

Ever thought about starting your own publishing house? Talk about pipe dreams…Well look and learn from the boys and girls at Duke Press. It can be done and the launch night last Thursday showcased some the most exciting illustration talent around. In the suitably stark surroundings of Dalston’s Oto Cafe, order beautiful hand bound books were strewn across shelves and confirmed that independent publishing is alive and well. This pretty unique outfit provides opportunities for really exciting emerging talents.

Intro-Collection_12Yo!Ville courtesy of Yo! Fest

Duke Press is an independent publishing collective based in London that was founded by Jess Wilson and Ryan Todd as a platform for creative publishing, illness with the aim to distribute small, medications hand-made and numbered editions. As well as providing a showcase for their own work, it’s given them a vehicle with which to invite fellow artists from around the world they admire and want to collaborate with. When Jess and Ryan were asked what Duke Press is about, they said simply “eclecticism” and it is apparent in the individuality of their output.

Intro-Collection_08Dust and Shadow courtesy of Charlie Duck

Intro-Collection_03Another Way courtesy of Ryan Todd

The books were unique in every aspect, not just in the illustrator’s personal style, but also down to the printing methods, and even the paper. The inside cover is marked by hand, telling me I’m looking at number 24 of 60; these are one of a kind little beauties! In the hand stitched YO! Ville – YO! Fest, individual sheets of coloured textured paper are inserted amongst the pages, and a miniature comic sits in the centre fold as an unexpected gift for the reader. Small touches, but ones that could never be replicated in a mass produced book.

Intro-Collection_25Yo You Youth courtesy of Andreas Samuelsson

Talking to the artists, it is clear that they relished their time working with Duke; they were given complete freedom to explore their ideas. Freelance illustrator Anthony Sheret tells me “The whole experience was so creative. So much of the work I do is commercial, producing stuff for other artists, but with this I was the artist. It was a complete labour of love.”

Intro-Collection_16Risograph courtesy of New Found Original

Standards are exceptionally high which explains why production takes so long. In Anthony’s case I find out it took over a year between being approached by Duke Press to finding the right inspiration to make his book. The Idea for Kyoto Parade came to him while traveling round Japan. When in Kyoto, he happened upon an old Japanese Stationers and was struck by ‘the ephemeral, delicate quality’ of the supplies. It is a quality that he has managed to transfer to the book itself.

Intro-Collection_22Rainy Day by Hannah Waldron

There appears to be very little hidden agenda behind Duke Press, as Jess confirms. “It’s just about promoting people we like and sharing ideas. That’s it…sharing!” Ryan adds “We certainly aren’t making a profit from it. Any money goes straight back in. It’s a platform for whatever we want to do, at the moment it’s books, but we would be really interested in doing publishing projects, like taking over a magazine, there’s no limitations”. With the corporate publishers on their financial knees at the moment, it’s going to be up to the Duke Presses of this world to keep our love of books alive and well. And if their eight pearls of published works are anything to go by, that won’t be difficult…

Intro-Collection_02

Written by Alex Lee katz on Tuesday February 2nd, 2010 6:43 pm

Categories ,Andreas Samuelsson, ,Anthony Sheret, ,art, ,bookmaking, ,books, ,design, ,Duke Press, ,handmade, ,Hannah Waldron, ,illustration, ,illustrator, ,photography, ,Printing, ,printmaking, ,Ryan Todd, ,typography

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Amelia’s Magazine | An Interview with Photographer Vikram Kushwah

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Looking through Vikram Kushwah‘s dream-like work, it’s clear to see that the New Delhi-born photographer is a real fantasist at heart. Growing up in a boarding school with the enchanting Himalayas as the backdrop, Vikram’s childhood and love for all things magical has clearly influenced his work today.

Vikram Kushwah Photography
All photography by Vikram Kushwah

Vikram moved to London just three years ago and his career is already proving successful. With three critically acclaimed exhibitions under his belt, not to mention an international artist award and interest from the likes Vogue Italia, big things are predicted for Vikram Kushwah. I caught up with the ambitious photographer to find out a little bit more about his work and the inspiration behind his current book project Memoirs of a Lost Time, a collaboration with writer, Trisha Sakhlecha.

Vikram Kushwah by Estelle Morris
Vikram Kushwah Illustration by Estelle Morris

What first inspired you to start taking pictures?

The fact that photography is a direct representation of reality, yet it almost never fails to lie. It does so by allowing you to stage a setting, something that reality doesn’t allow you to do. It just exists and takes shape on its own. There’s this tension that I’ve always associated with photography and reality. You think of something and a picture is like a memento you keep, to remind you of your thoughts.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

You grew up in a boarding school in the Himalayas. How does your background inspire your work today?

It was a very big school and I had a lot of free time to explore and to read children’s storybooks. I took the stories as real happenings since there was nobody there to tell me otherwise. I was also close to nature and a bit of a dreamer; I was bound to be growing up in a place like that. Every Sunday I would watch tadpoles in a pond for hours, waiting for ‘papa frog’ to turn up and make a big splash.

Students were given a lot of freedom to discover themselves in this way. I saw magic and sorcery as real life, holding a very strong bond with wildlife and the natural world. When I studied the mystery filled art of Surrealism and the romantics’ pastoral, it took me right back to my childhood. Each of these elements play a strong part in my work today; some conscious and some sub-conscious.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

How much of your Indian heritage can be found in your work?

None. My formative years, from when I was two up until sixteen, were spent in a boarding school. Although it was in India it was a typically English school, maybe because it was founded by an English lady during the British rule during 1937. Though I come from a very traditional Indian family, my roots actually took shape at school where I spent two-thirds of every year since I was thirteen.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

What encouraged you to move to London?

It has to be the rich art and cultural heritage of Britain. The exposure, the opportunities to progress, innovate and transform, the resources to learn, the vast open country. All of this creates, within me, a mental space from where I can continue to grow as a photographer and artist.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

Do you think living in London has inspired your work in any way?

There’s so much for this ‘mental space’ to soak up here. The English countryside takes me back to my school days, back to my storybooks about pastoral landscapes and wooden cottages surrounded by forests and meadows, peasants and farmers. I keep looking for a tumbling Alice, ghoulish wolves and evil stepmothers; I sometimes do find them.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

Earlier this year you shot the photography for Hairspray: The musical. What was it like working with team behind the production?

It was a totally new experience. I enjoyed the rehearsals as much as I enjoyed photographing the play. I was left on my own and given complete freedom, and I really enjoyed the space on the balcony where I shot from. The atmosphere was exceptional and one could really see the hard work being put in by the very young actors and crew. By the end of it I knew all the lines by heart!

Vikram Kushwah Photography

Your work tends to combine both elements of fine art and fashion editorial; is there one medium you most enjoy?

There’s a definite crossover no matter how much I want to pull them apart. I have these peculiar ideas and strange stories in my head, which inform my pictures, and they never escape the thought of fashion. Not just in terms of clothing, but also in the sense of time and place. For example, there was this one picture that I only wanted shot with a certain type of Peter Pan collar. Afterwards I knew the picture wouldn’t have worked without it.

There are lots of elements in my photos that act as pieces of information about my work. Fashion is essentially one of them. The information is subject to interpretation and that’s when the mind starts to wander and stories begin to take shape.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

What is the story behind Ofelea?

The Ofelea series is a portrait of my imagination and memories, often twisted by the dark underlying layers of the storybooks I read as a child. The series of pictures is a juxtaposition of the Freudian concept The Uncanny; the constantly recurring mysterious environments in the Surrealist art movement and reconstructions of my distant childhood imagination.

There is an interesting story behind the name ‘Ofelea’. To begin with, my Ofelea had nothing to do with Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ophelia is in fact the protagonist of one of my favourite films, Pan’s Labyrinth; this is what originally drew me to the name. During the research stage of my project, I studied both romantic and surrealist art. Here I came across the famous painting Ophelia by English painter John Everett Millais, a co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. I learnt that Millais‘ drowning of Ophilea was a depiction of Shakespeare’s very own character, thus bringing all three Ophelias (very co-incidentally) into the equation.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

What was the inspiration behind your new book Memoirs of a Lost Time?

This book project was actually Trisha’s idea. She knows my work really well and we both draw inspiration from similar aspects – escapism, daydreams and so on. We all know what clothes designers make, what song musicians write, but we wanted to know more about the formative days of such creative individuals: the elements of childhood that ultimately inspire their work today. So we set about capturing the memories of their bygone days in our own dream-like style. They themselves feature in the photographs, though nothing too defined. We’ve left the images open-ended – just like dreams and fading memory – yet there’s a strong flavour to each story.

Each chapter takes you into the personal and never seen before world of our subjects, presenting photographs, a short story and an insightful interview. Each section weaves in and out of reality where you begin to drift into a realm of imaginative possibilities, yet always remaining attached to the facts that were. It’s a representation of not only what was, but also a very whimsical take on what could have been.

Vikram Kushwah Photography

What was it like working with Trisha Sakhlecha?

In a way it’s like working with myself. We share a common paradigm in terms of aesthetics. We’re the best of friends too, which always helps. We can rubbish each others’ ideas without hesitation and more importantly the process of storytelling and taking pictures doesn’t feel like work to us; it feels like we’re in a trance. We definitely compliment each other well: she’s the more organised one, whereas I can lift heavy things. It’s a balance.

What can we expect to see next from you?

Memoirs of Lost Time; it’s only half complete. There are some real surprises yet to come in the forthcoming chapters. We’re hoping to release the book mid-2012.
Oh and Vogue Italia are also interested! They’re publishing one of my photographs in their January 2012 issue, featuring London-based fashion designer Elizabeth Lau.

Exciting times lie ahead!

Vikram Kushwah Vogue Italia

Written by Sarah Deane on Thursday December 8th, 2011 3:38 pm

Categories ,art, ,books, ,elizabeth lau, ,Estelle Morris, ,Freudian, ,Hairspray: The Musical, ,Hamlet, ,Himalayas, ,India, ,John Everett Millais, ,london, ,Memoirs of a lost Time, ,Ophelia, ,Pan’s Labyrinth, ,photography, ,Sarah Deane, ,Shakespeare, ,Surrealist Art, ,Trisha Sakhlecha, ,Vikram Kushwah, ,Vogue Italia

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Amelia’s Magazine | Arts Editor’s pick: Christmas Gift Guide

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At Amelia, information pills we thought you should know about these before you go out and brave the cold for that all important shopping trip! From limited edition prints to games and furniture, there is something here for all pockets deep to not so deep. But always for the art connoisseur that you are.

The-Weather-Outside

Jess Smart Smiley – The Weather Outside Is Frightful

The Weather Outside Is Frightful is a 2×3 foot winter-themed “look-and-find coloring poster”. Find the evil Ice Wizard and his mischievous bat brigade before they destroy winter cheer! The poster comes with a pack of crayons and a list of items to find and color. Get your own for just $12 + shipping by sending your address and dollars via PayPal to jess.smiley@gmail.com. Orders of 2 or more posters get a free original drawing of a snow creature. Check the Iphone Wallpaper too!

Book

Jean-Claude Mattrat – Le Reste Offense
2008,
limited edition of 25 copies at £95

Jean-Claude Mattrat’s self-published book is full of beutiful original screenprints all nicely clothbound in slipcase. Rocket Gallery offers this and other interesting prints, books and objects from an affordable £50 to £650. Martin Parr’ s enamel tray or Tomoko Azumi ‘s Hexad [stacking table] can be viewed at the gallery or shipped in time for Christmas. Don’t wait!

WWP

WWP – Originals by Artists

From £100

This new series of originals by leading artists is the perfect last minute Christmas gift. These are ‘one-off’ items and exclusively available through the WIWP site. They will be sold on a first come, first served basis, so be quick if you are genuinely interested in purchasing one. Series One Includes Seb Lester, Dan Baldwin, Wilfrid Wood, David Bray, Kristian Hammerstad, Hellovon, Mr Bingo and Pomme Chan. The selection of Sculptures, Drawings, Sketches and Ceramics are with prices starting as low as £100+PP

Rob Ryan

Rob Ryan – You Can Still do a lot with a Small Brain

Published by Yorkshire Sculpture Park £24.99

Rob Ryan is a renowned artist of many achievements. He is a magician at paper cutting and his intricate screen prints are unmistakably romantic and always appealing. The likes of Elle and Vogue magazines, Liberty’s of London, Fortnum and Mason and our favorite designer here at Amelia, Sir Paul Smith, have all been seduced by his wonderfully detailed and delicate work. This hardback is a glossy and classy affair in which trees stand taller than buildings, leaves have faces and birds speak with more wisdom than humans. Published to accompany the exhibition of the same title, Ryan’s first at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, You Can Still do a lot with a Small Brain includes an interview with the artist and stunning photographs of Ryan’s work.

Anthology

Amelia’s House – Amelia ‘s Anthology of Illustration

Published by Amelia’s House £25

Talking of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, they stock our homegrown Anthology of Illustration. This 265-page long colourful and exquisitely designed page-turner has garnered rave reviews from the Guardian, Creative Review and many others. It is also available to order from Concrete Hermit over the Christmas vacation while Amelia is away helping to make this world a better place!

Eco-houses

Etsy – Monaw

From $11.50 USD

Handmade with love and care, Monaw‘s handbags and other items such as pouches and accessoires are decorated with lovely designs. What’s more, they have a lovely eco theme to them, with the organic handpicked lavender filled houses or the cute zippeed pouches made of cotton fabrics. Etsy is a brilliant shop for one of a kind art gifts and many are also ecologically sound- as you know, we care about that at Amelia! Elsewhere on Etsy, the Sparrow Coffee Cozy is a treat, Slidesideways’ Screenprinted poster are environmentally friendly and woolandwater‘s doll sets are just show stopping!

Paul-Davis

The Planets of Unfailure – Paul Davis

A2 (420 x 594mm), digital print on archive paper with archive inks, edition of 50, £300.00 UK, £320.00 overseas, p+p inclusive

The Drawbridge – One Year Subscription

4 issues for £12.00

Paul Davis‘s fantastic satirical drawing “The planets of un-failure” (first published in The Drawbridge issue 4, 2007) is now available as a limited edition print signed and numbered by the artist. The Drawbridge is a quirky and innovative independent quarterly delivering thought, wit and reflection through words, photography and drawing. It is in turn critically nonsensical and radically serious. With each issue, authors and artists cast an unflinching look at a selected theme. Why not offer a gift subscription of one year and 4 issues? Passionately written, elegantly designed and intelligently illuminated, full-colour newspaper is the perfect gift for the the progressive reader in search of  surprising combinations of views, insights and visual wit!

Articulado---Sanserif-Creat

Articulado’s Book – Sanserif

At first sight, this book looks like one of a kind and it is undeniably so;  this limited edition portable book-product is more sculpture for your mantelpiece than mere reading material .A not-for-profit publication featuring opinions and reflections from leading names in international design —Erwan Bouroullec, Ana Yago, Karim Rashid, Milton Glaser…— and other experts —Alice Rawsthorn, Covadonga Pendones…— on the relationship between design, the environment and the economy. Conceived to transmit values like sustainable growth, recycling, low impact production processes… printed in one colour on ecological paper without varnishes or special treatments.  Coordinated by José Antonio Giménez & Designed by Ana Yago (Sanserif Creatius), with the support of ADCV and Impiva. More info at prensa@sanserif.es. The book is available to buy online or at prensa@adcv.com.

SonnyMe

Sonny McCartney – T-Shirts

From £20

SonnyMe is a very talented photographer and designer. His T-shirts are sticking black and white designs that reflect his off-beat sense of humor. Buy this T-shirt on his website.


Cotton monster

Jennifer Strunge – Cotton Monsters

From $35.00 USD

Maryland Institute College of Art graduate Jennifer Strunge makes fantastic creatures out of recycled fabrics that she culls from old garments and linens. The one she has for sale via her website have pockets in their mouths, making them comforting hand-warmers.

Haunch

Haunch of Venison – Limited Edition Prints

Books from £12 and prints from £100

Haunch of Venison has published a number of new books and editions over the past year and their series of prints are particularly noteworthy! Polly Morgan’s etching ‘Blackbird with Maggots‘, produced for ‘Mythologies’, depicts a rotten blackbird that has become a nesting site for flies. Morgan, an artist who incorporates highly skilled taxidermy in her work, has talked of a ‘desire to celebrate the corpse as a thing of beauty and significance’. Published to accompany ‘Mythologies’, Haunch of Venison London, 12 March – 25 April 2009, this etching on Somerset textured paper is an edition of 100 priced at £100.00. Or what about Mark Alexander’s ‘Via Negativa‘ or Hew Locke’s striking ‘Chariots of the Gods‘. Have a look at the Haunch of Venison website; it is a treasure trove of gorgeous books and editions.

Paper-circus

V&A – Press-Out and Stand-Up Paper Circus

Price £5.00

Created exclusively for the V&A, this delightful press-out and stand-up circus is adapted from an early twentieth century paper circus in the museum’s collection. Each pack includes 2 sheets with a press out, slot together and stand up circus tent and crowd; now all you have to do is press out, fold and stand circus performers and animals! Great price for even greater fun and playful idea!

PhotoPYMCA – Richard Braine and Sky Sheldon

From £30.00

This limited edition from the PYMCA archive is the perfect last-minute Christmas gift.The archive contains over 80,000 classic and contemporary images from Mods, Two-Tone, Madchester, Acid House, Swinging London, Punks, Skins…and every subculture and youth movement in-between. The archive also features famous faces from the music world such as The Clash, The Stone Roses, Madness, The Beat, Faithless and many more. Featuring the work of such fantastic photographers as Richard Braine, Ted Polhemus, Paul Hartnett, Toni Tye, Janette Beckman, Syd Shelton, Dean Chalkley, David Swindells, Normski, Eddie Otchere, to name but a few, a PYMCA Limited Edition Print would make a stunning addition to every living room wall. Each print is strictly limited edition, coming with a certificate of authenticity and can be framed or unframed in many sizes up to 50 x 70cm. Prices range from £35 for a small print up to £150 for a signed, 50 x 70cm.

Chris-Martin

Chris Martin – T-shirt Designs

Chris Martin is one busy illustrator as his blog will demonstrate. At Amelia, we like original illustrators and Matin’s work is quirky, colorful and wonderfully detailed! This design and many more are available to buy. Contact the artist to find out more: Chris@mrchrismartin.co.uk

cushionscovered

Geri’s Cushions Covered

This new company specialises in bespoke cushions, blinds and mounted fabric images. All items are handmade with the choice of shape, design and colour left to you! Contact Geri at cushionscovered@gmail.com. Website to come soon!

Calendar

Jan von Holleben – Journey to Everywhere Calendar

Large 2010 Wall Calendar, 47×45cm, 13 Pages, Published by Chrismon Edition 2009, Price: £15.00

‘Its great to come back to a place and continue where things were left in the past’. It’s seven years ago since Jan von Holleben started to put his kids and childhood dreams into photographs. Since then trees have grown and new houses have been built in the little village in Sasbach at the Kaiserstuhl, in the South West of Germany. The kids he works with have grown too, but are still keen on playing along with him. ‘It’s just that demands from the kids are much higher now and that I can confront them with more complex ideas than in the past. We still meet in front of my mother’s house, discuss the photographic ideas and collect the props we need for the images”. Perspectives are closely defined for everything needs to be perfect for an illusion that needs no digital postproduction. See for yourself and buy here!

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Tuesday December 15th, 2009 3:18 pm

Categories ,art, ,book, ,books, ,calendar, ,Christmas, ,colour, ,craft, ,design, ,designer, ,ecodesign, ,etsy, ,Gift, ,gifts, ,handicraft, ,handmade, ,illustration, ,limited edition prints, ,list, ,photography, ,prints, ,screenprinting, ,T-shirts, ,toy, ,V&A Museum

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Amelia’s Magazine | Arts listings October 5-11

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Queenly gowns. That’s the phrase that jumps to mind whilst watching Ashley Islam’s elegant collection. These are Red Carpet gowns for the red carpet, rx bridal for weddings, for the opera. Sleek Calvin Klein-esque nude maxi one shoulder dresses. These were power gowns coloured in Royal Blue, they gathered at the waist and fell full-length to the floor.

HPIM2003

The hair and eyes were reminiscent of the Egyptians with sleek cat eyes and heavy gold lids. The hair was slicked back as if in homage to Greek goddesses.

makeup

A varied collection, Islam presented nude-tight-short-short body conscience dresses embellished with colour piping that was heavy-on-the-ruffles. It was an inspired jolt of energy reminiscent of Christopher Kane.

ashleylizjohnson

Continuing the laid back glamour, the collection heavily featured bustiers and corsets inlaid into the dresses, whether a strong feature or a material stitched to create a thought of a corset.

ashleycorset

Islam displayed technical prowess with the short short seashell dress, the stitching of tiny pearls across the whole dress was particularly beautiful.

ashleyseashells

Summer dressers were present in sheer printed fabric, one dress provided a nod to the recent zip trend and the collection was filled with drapes and pleats

summerdressashley

Continuing the varied nature of the collection and displaying the multiple thoughts occupying the designer’s head, a delicate, watercolour print blown up across the fabric stalked through down the catwalk.

watercolourprintashley

The collection was democratic in the wide selection of dresses presented, each dress was presented in a maxi and mini version. It was a catwalk for the night. From the column to the cut out draped backless dresses, Ashley Islam sent nightwear flooding down the catwalk.

nightwearashley

Eastern Princesses walked in their bridal gear, body conscious numbers, the fabric taped down until fanning out across the runway like the froth of the sea.  No doubt we will see Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child (seated front row) gracing the red carpet in one of these designs soon.

Catwalk Hand Held snaps: Elizabeth Johnson
QASI_SS10_0044

Despite last year’s reports of the economic sky falling and the gathering clouds sending buyers scurrying for safe ground, viagra 40mg one designer stood defiantly against the whipping winds of change and scanned the skies for a little golden sunshine. And gold he found….caves of the stuff.

QASI_SS10_0419

He found refuge in the troves of religious iconography, viagra mosaics and relics in the massive hull of the Royal Academy of Art’s epic exhibit Byzantium. Designer Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi explains the concept behind the opulent armor-like boleros and satin sheaths, “It’s based on Byzantine women who have been woken up from a crypt and hauled on to the catwalk”. Wish I looked that good when I woke up, not to mention after a 2,500 year long catnap! What he has awoken is an appetite for unabashed opulence.

QASI_SS10_0151

Qasimi’s legion of epic angular boleros of heavily jeweled gold crowned regal scarlet sheaths. Tomato satins and billowing turquoise gowns followed luxurious ivory jodhpurs. His Midas touch glazed eyelids and jackets alike in gold foil while halos of jutting geometry transformed models into saintly icons. The integration of geometry likely originated with one of the designer’s other inspirations, 84 yr old Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian whose use of mirror mosaics, Islamic geometric pattern and reverse-glass painting in modernist works.

QASI_SS10_0376

QASI_SS10_0084

QASI_SS10_0236

Qasimi enlisted the skills of British jewellery designer Scott Wilson, who has worked with groundbreaking designer Hussein Chalayan, to collaborate on the project. One of the most enticing of which were the bejeweled (and interchangeable!) spats.

QASI_SS10_0030

The bubble of Byzantium existed in the Dark Ages, in may ways not disimilar to tremors we’re experiencing these days. While the Roman Empire disintegrated around them, plunging Europe into the Dark Ages, the rich island nation of Byzantium continued to pour money into the arts by commissioning religious works . While the safety and priveleges enjoyed by some evaporated to be replaced by a constant state of danger and uncertainty, others simply exchanged one set of miseries for another. A fitting era to look to for clues. “I wanted to create something optimistic to lift us from all the financial doom and gloom,” said Al Qasimi.

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Byzantium continued to advance the arts in a cloak of spirituality when the lights went out in the rest of the world and it helps to remember that there would have been no Renaissance without it.

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Currently in talks with leading department stores to produce a capsule evening-wear line aimed at Middle Eastern women we can just imagine Dubain princesses licking their lips for these faberge dresses.

QASI_SS10_0398

One person whose eye it pays to catch is that of Dazed and Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti. The style whisperer has already slipped Lady Gaga into a Qasimi creation for her new video and has tempted vocal vixen Florence Welch, from Florence and the Machine, into a new look by the designer.

QASI_SS10_0447

Qasimi’s elevated tastes if not perspective never disappoints. So while we nibbled on our foil wrapped chocolates in the cavernous Old Sorting Building it was hard not to believe that luxury and limitless optimism were still kicking around out there somewhere.

QASI_SS10_0354-1

QASI_SS10_0044

Despite last year’s reports of the economic sky falling and the gathering clouds sending buyers scurrying for safe ground, viagra one designer stood defiantly against the whipping winds of change and scanned the skies for a little golden sunshine. And gold he found….caves of the stuff.

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He found refuge in the troves of religious iconography, remedy mosaics and relics in the massive hull of the Royal Academy of Art’s epic exhibit Byzantium. Designer Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi explains the concept behind the opulent armor-like boleros and satin sheaths, nurse “It’s based on Byzantine women who have been woken up from a crypt and hauled on to the catwalk”. Wish I looked that good when I woke up, not to mention after a 2,500 year long catnap! What he has awoken is an appetite for unabashed opulence.

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Qasimi’s legion of epic angular boleros of heavily jeweled gold crowned regal scarlet sheaths. Tomato satins and billowing turquoise gowns followed luxurious ivory jodhpurs. His Midas touch glazed eyelids and jackets alike in gold foil while halos of jutting geometry transformed models into saintly icons. The integration of geometry likely originated with one of the designer’s other inspirations, 84 yr old Iranian artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian whose use of mirror mosaics, Islamic geometric pattern and reverse-glass painting in modernist works.

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Qasimi enlisted the skills of British jewellery designer Scott Wilson, who has worked with groundbreaking designer Hussein Chalayan, to collaborate on the project. One of the most enticing of which were the bejeweled (and interchangeable!) spats.

QASI_SS10_0030

The bubble of Byzantium existed in the Dark Ages, in may ways not disimilar to tremors we’re experiencing these days. While the Roman Empire disintegrated around them, plunging Europe into the Dark Ages, the rich island nation of Byzantium continued to pour money into the arts by commissioning religious works . While the safety and priveleges enjoyed by some evaporated to be replaced by a constant state of danger and uncertainty, others simply exchanged one set of miseries for another. A fitting era to look to for clues. “I wanted to create something optimistic to lift us from all the financial doom and gloom,” said Al Qasimi.

QASI_SS10_0005

Byzantium continued to advance the arts in a cloak of spirituality when the lights went out in the rest of the world and it helps to remember that there would have been no Renaissance without it.

QASI_SS10_0066

QASI_SS10_0309

Currently in talks with leading department stores to produce a capsule evening-wear line aimed at Middle Eastern women we can just imagine Dubain princesses licking their lips for these faberge dresses.

QASI_SS10_0398

One person whose eye it pays to catch is that of Dazed and Confused creative director Nicola Formichetti. The style whisperer has already slipped Lady Gaga into a Qasimi creation for her new video and has tempted vocal vixen Florence Welch, from Florence and the Machine, into a new look by the designer.

QASI_SS10_0447

Qasimi’s elevated tastes if not perspective never disappoints. So while we nibbled on our foil wrapped chocolates in the cavernous Old Sorting Building it was hard not to believe that luxury and limitless optimism were still kicking around out there somewhere.

QASI_SS10_0354-1

work_hiorns_seizure

Turner Prize

Enrico David, drug Roger Hiorns, page Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright are the lucky shortlisted ones on the Turner Prize’s notepad this year and it’s been noted that the Prize has gone for less shock and awe than usual, stuff resulting in a more thoughtful set of works on show. You will probably have at least heard of Roger Hiorns via his incredible work coating an entire flat in blue crystals.But it’s not about the fame of course. From Tuesday, you can go along to the Tate Britain and see for yourself.

wolf-hall

Booker Prize
Announced Tuesday

The 2009 Booker prize shortlist is full of big-hitters, in the form of Sarah Waters (The Little Stranger), JM Coetzee (Summertime) and A.S. Byatt (The Children’s Book), as well as historical fiction from Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall) and lesser known authors Adam Foulds (The Quickening Maze) and Simon Mawer (The Glass Room). If you’re not sure what to read next the Booker shortlist is always a good place to get ideas outside of lists of the 100 Greatest Books of All Time. If you’re quick enough to have read them all already, look out for the winner announcement on Tuesday to see if you, in your wisdom, agree with the judges’ decision.

Grayson~Perry~

Grayson Perry’s Walthamstow tapestry

Grayson Perry is trying his hand at something other than ceramics with his “Walthamstow Tapestry”, an amazing, detailed piece of work a bit like a Bayeaux Tapestry for 2009. They cared about war, we care about shopping, it seems. Perry examines our consumerism but has also made something that is anti-consumerist: a one-off object that is the opposite of fast fashion or instant gratification.

Cloud-Gate-Theatre-Lin-Hw-001

Dance Umbrella

In recent years we’ve all rediscovered how amazing it is to watch and do dancing that is more involved than shuffling from one foot to the other while hoping that person over there will notice you. A big part of this change, other than Strictly of course, is Dance Umbrella. The influential dance festival-makers annual season kicks off this week, with the theme “African Crossroads”. They are staging performances and “days out” where you can get a little taster of lots of the shows going on around London over the next few weeks.

origin london craft fair

Origin London Craft Fair

There’s something special about an item that’s been made with love by another human being and not just generated by a machine or made under duress in a sweatshop. All the 300-odd artisans at this craft fair at Somerset House make beautiful pieces that are worth treasuring or just getting inspiration for your own Autum projects from.

Written by Satu Fox on Monday October 5th, 2009 3:13 pm

Categories ,Adam Foulds, ,AS Byatt, ,Booker Prize, ,books, ,Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, ,dance, ,Dance Umbrella, ,Enrico David, ,Grayson Perry, ,Hilary Mantel, ,JM Coetzee, ,Lucy Skaer, ,Richard Wright, ,Roger Hiorns, ,Sarah Waters, ,Simon Mawer, ,Turner Prize, ,Walthamstow Tapestry

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Amelia’s Magazine | Becky Barnicoat- Come In, Everyone is Here Already! Part 2

by

Happy-BirthdayImage courtesy Becky Barnicoat

Valerie Pezeron: You mentioned previously that you did a project as a comic book at school. Do you think that if kids did that now, visit web adiposity they would be better received…?
Becky Barnicoat: I doubt it in the school I went to, prescription decease but maybe in a school where you had an English teacher who was creative? It would probably be more in a state school I feel. I’ve got a really good friend who is an English teacher, page she does English media and film and she loves comic books and I’m sure if a kid did that, she’d be interested and maybe she’d recommend some comic books? But my teachers, had they ever heard of a comic? No. They had no interest. We had to do this project, which was about your future career in English literature, and I wanted to be a cartoonist. And I thought I should draw this and I have to confess it was an absolute load of shit! It was so badly drawn, it was really really superficial and I’m sure if I had executed this beautifully she would have been more impressed but I did do it quite roughly.

CIMG1386All photographs courtesy of Valerie Pezeron

VP: You think so?
BB: Maybe, because it would at least have been interesting but I gave in were those stupid cartoons…I didn’t take the project very seriously but yeah, I did get a D minus and a detention for not doing it properly! (Becky laughs)

VP: That is really a shame, because I think that it is quite an original way of doing things and you were trying to approach it from another point of view. If I were an English teacher, I would applaud this because it’s about the content. Did she even look at the content? Maybe she balked at the fact that you decided to draw instead of writing?
BB: I think it was a combination of both. What I did was a story of these two people that wanted to be cartoonists and they went on journey to try and find some cartooning heroes in America and it all went very wrong for them and they failed because nobody was interested in them. And it was really silly; I don’t know why…my school was not interested, I was actually told I was not allowed to do GCSE Art because I was too interested in cartoons and that wasn’t appropriate. They made me do a still life to prove I was serious about art. I did draw a still life of a bowl of fruit…b because my sketchbooks were full of cartoons. And they said, “We just don’t think you’re taking this very seriously, this isn’t art, this is messing around.” How depressing is that!

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VP: Very depressing! I’d be very depressed!
BB: How horrible is that because the only thing I cared about was art and I felt really upset about it!

VP: I agree and little knocks like that actually make a comic book artist, don’t you think?
BB: Yes, I guess, maybe eventually. But I felt I had too much self-doubt that what they said, “You’re not right, you can’t do art”, I thought, “Oh god, maybe they’re right.”

VP: I know because when you are at that age, you wanted to follow in the footsteps of all those great satirists. Who were you looking at when you were a teenager? How did you even get the idea that you could say things through cartoons?
BB: Yeah, I know! I don’t know why I liked cartoons.

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VP: Did you know Bosch or Gerald Scarfe?
BB: A little bit. My parents love art and cartoons. It’s more typical for British people to be interested in political cartoons. I used to thin I love the cartoons but I find the subject matter really boring. (Laughter) Why do cartoons have to be about politics all the time?

VP: But you were aware of the Victorian cartooning?
BB: Yeah, we had lots of Punch books and I used to look through them. And I did really enjoy some of them, but I’ve always really enjoyed the absurd more than possibly satire. I love satire but I think for what I want to do…I really enjoy Spike Milligan, but they were just little doodles. I’ve always enjoyed a drawing where you don’t need to be realist and you can still make someone feel something.

VP: What about movies, or anything that could have influenced you?
BB: Well, I guess, the beginning was probably just children books, which I absolutely loved. I ate them up.

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VP: For instance?
BB: Oh, I mean I love them so much! We read so many, and the illustrations, I never forgot them! I still remember all the drawings from all the children books I read. You know, Meg and Mog, John Burningam who did the Avocado Baby, Mister Gumpy and Simp, they were really beautiful. We read Tim and Ginger by Ardizzone, we did a lot of Edward Ardizzone and Maurice Sendak. And I read all the Tintin books. My dad is a massive Tintin fan! That was good, that’s actually a proper comic strip in my life. The Tiger who came to Tea by Judith Kerr…they were just magical to me and much better than just words, which I always felt was a really controversial thing to say. But now I think you are allowed to say that! Pictures are almost borderline as respected as words, not quite, but still not quite! (Laughter) But I’d look at the pictures and you don’t need words, because it was so exciting and your imagination would go wild.

VP: So what attracted you to this world were the characters, the incongruous…?
BB: Yes, I’ve always loved those worlds where… The Tiger who came to Tea is a great example, actually. Have you read it?

VP: No, I must admit my references are more French. But I do know the Maurice Sendak, Ardezoni and the Tintin obviously.
BB: But this book The Tiger who came to Tea is about this girl and her mum waiting for the dad to come home. And then this tiger just turns up in the house and they invite him in. He has tea with them but he basically trashes the house; he drinks out of the tap and he drinks all of their water, he messes up all the kitchen but they never really question the fact that there is a tiger in there, they’re not really scared! (Laughter) You know, he’s just there and the mess he causes is like the idea of a big person coming around and it’s all very harmless! I love that and Babar: elephants and people, they just coexist, you know, that’s how it is! I love that!

Bear3Image courtesy of Becky Barnicoat

VP: London is like that, isn’t it? Our surroundings is filled with the strange, the incongruous, the elephant in the room but everybody is going about their business not seeming to notice each other. They’re all in a way little elephants! Or it’s actually the opposite: you are the elephant in the room!
BB: Yeah, I suppose so. I don’t know what it is; I think it’s pretty really simplistic. I think the world would be more fun if a dinosaur just walked down the street, right now…

VP: And just eating everybody? (Laughter)
BB: …I just love imagining that! And everyone would be like “oh, hello!”

VP: We can see all of the above have influences this new comic you have been working on?
BB: Completely. Part of my interest is people and their faces; I love drawing that. But in terms of my storytelling, I love people with…(Becky shows me a cartoon of hers). So this was a story about an old lady who has a robot and she doesn’t ever question the fact that her friend is a machine and he has to be plugged into the wall. He is slightly limited. In this story, she is watching X Factor and wanting to take part. She is telling him all about it but his plug is not in, so he hasn’t been listening in to anything she has been saying. It’s kind of sad but she doesn’t really feel sad about it, she just “oh dear” gets on with it. I love to have people interacting with unexpected characters and it’s almost normal.

VP: But that’s a bit different because that is for adults.
BB: But my upcoming children’s book will be, well sort of.

Bear2Image courtesy of Becky Barnicoat

VP: So this will be for adults?
BB: I think so, yeah, but for most adults and children. It’s going to have darkness in it because it’s about a couple that go to stay in a cabin in the woods. And then the boyfriend goes out, he has to go and get batteries or something. He gets eaten by a bear. And then the bear comes into the house. She is waiting for the boyfriend to return and she hears what she thinks is the boyfriend coming into the bedroom, but it’s the bear! You think, “he’s going to eat her”, but he picks up the guitar and he sings a song on the end of her bed. And she hears the music and smiles. You don’t know if she knows the bear and she doesn’t mind. And the bear is not probably going to hurt her; he’s just singing a song. I don’t know what that really means but I like those kind of weird, absurd scenarios.

VP: I like this take on childhood. In a way, children are more ready to enjoy or to open the door to the unreal or surreal.
BB: Yeah, I think that’s true.

VP: And they are more accepting of the extraordinary.
BB: Yeah, definitely. I like the idea of the extraordinary being fairly normal. That’s probably what runs through everything. (Valerie is looking at the sketchbooks) I’m trying to draw every morning now. I have to do a comic. I was so tired when I did these sketches!

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VP: I think it’s a really good effort! In the last few months, I have not worked on my comic book. I think I’ve been through writers’ block. Now, since last month, I’m forcing myself to do this again. Do you have moments like that? I mean, it’s terrible; my publisher at New Humanist is still waiting on me to show my complete graphic novel! Do you get that?
BB: Yes, definitely. I had it…hum…a longish period of my life when I wasn’t really drawing. When I was in university, I was the cartoonist for the student paper, so I was drawing every week. And then I just got to a point where I felt “I’m just not going to do this anymore”. I’m going to do journalism and I started editing my own magazine. And for that year, I was barely drawing at all. And then I went down to London and I got a job on a teenage girl magazine. I wasn’t drawing at all during the whole year I worked for that magazine. I barely drew; I think I drew card for friends. And then I started to really worry about the fact I hadn’t drawn for ages. I was getting insomnias as well, which was weird. And I started to try and draw again and I just couldn’t do a thing. I had an almighty creative block. I’s sit at the pad and draw rubbish, awful stickmen pretty much. I’d think: “this is it! Oh my god, I’ve killed it!” And it took me, well, until now, to get back to a place where I have ideas. I just forced myself.

VP: You know, I find that with me, when I have those blocks, I don’t have the dreams that I usually get when I am really creative- mad and very rich dreams. And I have to run the next morning and write it down or draw something. Do you have that?
BB: Yeah, definitely. When I am not drawing I become really dead, I think, inside. And I don’t sleep, I’ve discovered. If I don’t draw, I get insomnia.

VP: What made you want to go into journalism if you wanted so early on to be part of the visual arts?
BB: Well, when I started drawing on the student paper cartoons, I started editing the art section. I actually do enjoy editing articles. I find it really satisfying; tightening it up, cutting it down, you know, questioning things that don’t make sense. That appealed to another side of me.

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VP: So would you recommend it as a way to get into comic art?
BB: I don’t know. I keep thinking I should try and draw something for the paper. But then similarly to you, I feel going to them with my portfolio, I think “Oh no, they won’t like it”, so I’m a bit scared of being judged and rejected.

VP: Yeah! One of the reasons why I really had to do this interview is that we really have a similar journey. We’re very different, but in some ways we have some similarities. Especially, I wanted to know about the blog. I find interesting what you said about…when you started the blog, and then things started to happen. Did you have that in mind when you created the blog?
BB: Yeah, definitely. The idea of the blog was to make sure I was drawing every day, to have something I’d say “public”. But I mean, god knows how many people check it; maybe ten of my friends. The idea would be they’d be expecting me to do something and I couldn’t just put it off because I’d be really letting myself down in public. You know, people would know I wasn’t drawing. So if I say “I really want to be a cartoonist”, they’d go “oh, you really didn’t update your blog for three months and they’d know that it’s bollocks. That was part of it; to force myself to actually follow through with this thing I was telling everyone. And then, ok, you have to show people what your cartoons are. So I started doing that.

VP: Did you advertise the blog?
BB: I sent a group email around to my mates saying here is my new blog. And that was it!

VP: I think it’s a very nice blog, very offbeat with great sense of humour and comic timing.
BB: Oh, thank you, I’m so glad. I think what’s been really nice about it. One person won’t get what I put up, but then somebody else would say, “That’s my favourite!” It sounds so corny but even if it’s one person who likes it, it makes me feel it’s totally worth doing a cartoon if even one person enjoys it.

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Thursday January 7th, 2010 7:16 pm

Categories ,Babar, ,Becky Barnicoat, ,blog, ,books, ,comic art, ,comic books, ,comica, ,comics, ,comicstrips, ,Edward Ardizzone, ,Fantagraphics, ,fanzine, ,Gerald Scarfe, ,graphic novels, ,Hieronimus Bosch, ,humour, ,ica, ,John Burningham, ,journalism, ,leeds university, ,Maurice Sendak, ,Meg and Mog, ,New Humanist, ,Paul Gravett, ,sequential artist, ,The Guardian, ,Valerie Pezeron, ,Valoche Designs, ,viz, ,Wimbledon college of art

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Amelia’s Magazine | Becky Barnicoat- Come In, Everyone is Here Already!

by

Bear

© Becky Barnicoat

Becky Barnicoat works as the commissioning editor on the Guardian Weekend magazine, purchase pharmacy but is also a cartoonist and currently works on a new comic about a musical bear – you can see a couple of sketches from it on her blog.

She’s always drawn, buy information pills and when she was at school I did a whole English project (the title was ‘My future career’) in comic book form. She got a D- and a detention for it. One could say that was kind of the theme of things – most authority figures think cartoons are for babies. “I wish I could have shown them Maus so they could see how wrong they were, ambulance but I didn’t know it existed back then” Becky says.

Everyone is here zine© Becky Barnicoat

She started the blog Come in, Everyone is here already a couple of years ago and since then has started drawing for various people – including Le Cool magazine, Harry Hill and Five Dials. She was on the panel at the Salem Brownstone event at Comica this year, and last year drew the ‘Bowie and Bowie’ comic strip for Comica PoCom – which was on the wall in the ICA.

She is an enterprising gal as she also sporadically self-publishes a zine called Everyone Is Here Already.

Valerie Pezeron: What is the inspiration behind your work? Did you use visual references doing your faces?

CIMG1395Photograph Becky Barnicoat© Valerie Pezeron

Becky Barnicoat: Actually, that particular page all came from my head. It’s probably what I have always done from when I was a kid sitting in lessons, just drawing faces and caricatures of my teachers, that was quite a big thing. One of them was quite a nice woman, but she had an odd-looking face and I drew an awful caricature of her. She found my notebook and she looked really hurt, that was awful!

CIMG1392Photograph Becky Barnicoat© Valerie Pezeron

VP: Was it the lady who sent you to detention?
BB: She wasn’t one of the bad teachers but one of the good ones. It’s just that she looked a little bit like a guinea pig. But I won’t say anymore because she might read this! So this what I have always done; I just did “Faces” from my head, I find it really fun. I love the possibility of how ugly something could be but I don’t find that disgusting: I love weird faces so much and sometimes I see people on the street and their faces are just bizarre. The odder the shape the better it is.

VP: I agree with you there are so many different characters out there, especially where you live, in Stoke Newington.
BB: Oh yes! I cycle to work and I see many faces I want to draw! The other day I was cycling through Newington green and I saw this woman crossing the road and she had so much of something on her face that her skin was almost reddy-orange. And I was thinking “My, she’s put a bit too much foundation on, it looks extraordinary” and I thought maybe the poor woman has some terrible skin condition. And she would be a wonderful drawing but not in a way that would be mocking her. I love it when people look unusual.

Profile© Becky Barnicoat

VP: So would it be fair to say it is people that draw you to being creative? It’s not about the blandness of objects…

BB: That’s probably true; I’m not very good with objects. Landscapes? Not so much. It’s never been my thing, which is actually now a problem. I can get my pen going on a person or an animal but I have to put them somewhere and perspective is tricky.

VP: Don’t downplay your abilities!BB: (Laughter) So this is one side of what I am interested in. These were people who were on the Internet, and I drew them in on style…

VP: Glad you bring that up. I have noticed you don’t have one particular style.

BB: No, Definitely not!

VP: Is it on purpose or did you try to develop one or you don’t care that much?

BB: Good question as I think about it a lot. I definitely don’t try not to have one style. I just can’t imagine myself committing to just one style; I’d really miss too much the other style.

VP: So do you apply one style to one specific subject?

BB: Yeah, I suppose that is it, but it’s not that conscious. It just happens. I think of an idea and it’s immediately obvious to me what style should be for that.

VP: I see, very interestingly, you use all kinds of medium, inks, pen and washes, watercolour…

BB: It’s not premeditated when I use, and I love to use pen and ink. And I use this medium mostly.

monster© Becky Barnicoat

VP: Tell us about the fanzine. When did you start it?

BB: That was a project a comic book artist friend of mine called Tom and I started. Just like me, he has a full-time job. We both want to be comic book artists and we decided we should do a comic book. A friend of mine who used to work in a bookshop called Persephone proposed we do a comic book evening; it will be in two months, you both work on the comic book and then we can sell it in the shop with drinks and music and we invite people along. They were ALL of our friends, there weren’t any strangers there at all!

VP: How many people?

BB: It was quite full actually…all of my family, friends of friends! I had about 50 copies of my magazine and they all sold! But another project came up at the same time and I had to really rush it!

VP: So this is issue 1 and issue 2 is planned for later? When did you do this one?

BB: That was earlier this year, sort of June / July.

VP: How often would you see yourself doing this fanzine?

BB: I’d like to do them much more often than I do but with my full time job, it’s not really that straightforward. Wake up every morning at 6.30 am, draw for an hour and then go work full-time at the office. I’d like to do it much more often. What Tom and me are going to do in the next couple of weeks is a 12-hour comic and whatever comes out of that will probably be issue 2. It will be much messier, scruffier and perhaps not make much sense!

Invite© Becky Barnicoat

VP: So I’m really interested to know about your journey? Did you go to university and study journalism?

BB: I didn’t, no, not for journalism. I went to an all-girls school in Barnes and then to Wimbledon Art College for foundation. It’s not that exciting, I was shocked at how crap it is. Everyone said “this is one of the best art schools” but it was awful! I stayed and I just about scraped a pass. Some of the people who I thought were the best there got fails because they just didn’t care. They were vicious about your actual work: “This is fine”, looking at someone’s beautiful drawings “but where is your reflective notebook and diary…sorry but that is part of your course requirements. If you don’t have those then we can’t pass you. Some of the students were part of that course in the 1st place because they are dyslexics, they didn’t want to write, and that’s why they are artists! It’s just insane. Wimbledon wanted everyone to be totally institutionalised, do their 9 to 5… The people whose work was the least inspiring but came in every day got the best grades. They were the stars of the year- the work was not great but they got lads of it!

VP: Woody Allen said a big part of success is showing up. It’s one of my favorite quotes and I think about it often.

BB: It’s so true! There were these brilliant dysfunctional characters with amazing imaginations and absolutely raw talent…you should allow them to thrive and allowing people work in the way that they naturally do because that is going to produce the best work. I hated doing the foundation. I really liked the idea of going to art school and part of me regrets it now; I don’t regret the choice I made because I had a brilliant time going to Leeds reading English Literature. Before that, I had a lot of pressure from everybody; I went to an all-girls private school all through my secondary school and all they were interested in was academia. They didn’t care about you wanting to be an artist; they just thought that was pathetic, they hated me. I’d say I want to be a cartoonist when I am older, and they’d go “Come again?” I always wanted to be a cartoonist since I was about 5. And then I ended up doing English, what was I thinking!

VP: I think it actually ties in, as it’s very close. I call what I do visual journalism or… cartoonist?

BB: Oh, but you’re not allowed to say cartoonist! We are visual communicators or sequential artists.

Camera© Becky Barnicoat

VP: So you knew that young! I remember doing my 1st graphic novel at 7.

BB: But in France, they have a much stronger culture of comics.

VP: That is true if you come from the right background. My family did not have a clue and I had to come here to explore all that was possible…

BB: I feel exactly the same. I did not even know people did comic books until I was maybe in my 2nd and 3rd year at university. I was in Cornwall on a holiday with my family and I was getting the train back to London. We went into Waterstones as I wanted to buy a book for the train. I noticed this really colorful cartoon and I picked up this book and it was Daniel Clowes “20th Century Eight Ball”. I thought grown-ups didn’t do cartoons, I had nor idea! Some of his pictures are so grotesque and disgusting; then I realised some of them were just about people chatting over coffee and having existential conversations.

VP: It’s very close to what you do, isn’t it? It’s definitely inspired you?

BB: Oh yeah, oh god, completely! I picked up this thing and it was a revelation! I recall thinking I can’t believe this thing is real; I can’t wait to read it. I was laughing so much while reading it on my way back on the train. Then I read this comic strip called “Art School Confidential”. You have to read it if you did not have a good time at art college. It’s so fun, it’s just the best, it’s perfect, and it’s exactly my experience of Art College! And then I realised other people were like me, they wanted to be a cartoonist and everyone at art school told them they were fools. You have to read it, it’s very good, it’s a collection of a lot his fanzines. It’s a satirical expose of his time at art school with a lot of people who are very pretentious. It seems amazing now that I didn’t know that he existed. I always associated comics with either superheroes, for boys or the dirty and sexy stuff like Vizz. Part of me wishes I could really love Vizz but I am put off every time I read it. “Yeah, right, woman with massive boobs naked in some joke…” it’s really basic toilet humour!

VP: We need more women graphic novelists!

BB: I agree. From those books, I discovered a whole world of cartoonists in America. It’s massive over there!

Cook© Becky Barnicoat

VP: What do you think of the UK comic book industry?

BB: I don’t think it even exists. There is not even a publisher that has an interest in it, really. Jonathan Cape do a few but they mainly bring American ones over. They just publish so very few British people. I don’t feel there is anyone really looking for it. So everyone over here is getting obsessed with Daniel Clowes, Charles Burnes and Chris Ware. They’re just about discovering people that, if you don’t know who they are, you must be living in Britain.

VP: Have you had a look at what’s going on in Europe?

BB: I did take a look. I went over to Portugal, in Lisbon to write a feature on the arts scene there for the Guardian. I met up with a load of comic book artists and illustrators such as Andre Lemos,  Joao-Maio Pinto, Filipe Abranches.  It was fantastic! They had that wonderful European attitude: “We grew up with comic books, it’s part of our culture”. I said I only discovered “Strip Burger” when I was 21. They said “Strip Burger, we knew about that when we were only 2!”

CIMG1387Becky’s office at home © Becky Barnicoat

VP: That’s true with French people too. When you went to Comica festival, did you feel that something was about to take off? I know Paul Gravett feels very religiously that it is happening!

BB: Ah, Paul! Paul is incredible and without him, it would be…he is basically the comic book scene now. It all kind of stems from him, it is fantastic to have him there like this uncle who advises all those artists who didn’t’ think they could do this. He is the catalyst. Since I have discovered that, I’ve realised there is this world of people who want to do this, who love it, who know about all these artists. And they’re really frustrated in this country because it’s not really understood. People are quite illiterate, I think, regarding comics. But I have met loads of people now through Comica and other things. I just discovered this guy called Dash Shaw; his first book is about a thousand pages, called “Bottomless Belly Button”, Fantagraphics. He did this living in a tiny bedroom; he said he was so poor. I asked him how he made it as a comic book artist, how he paid his rent. He said, “ When I left college, I went and rented a tiny, tiny room for $200 a month and I worked part-time as a life model and I drew every second of every day. And he said it took him years, he must have drawn over a thousand pages of comics until anything happened. And he presented a manuscript to a big editor at a comics’ fair; they took him on and published it immediately. It’s a fairytale.

VP: Well, it is. You have to have some kind of break otherwise…

BB: Otherwise you are plugging away in the bedroom!

Tune-in next week for Part 2 of the interview!

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Thursday December 10th, 2009 4:59 pm

Categories ,Becky Barnicoat, ,blog, ,books, ,comic art, ,comic books, ,comica, ,comics, ,comicstrips, ,Fantagraphics, ,fanzine, ,graphic novels, ,humour, ,ica, ,journalism, ,leeds university, ,Paul Gravett, ,sequential artist, ,The Guardian, ,viz, ,Wimbledon college of art

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Amelia’s Magazine | Black Dog Books Haunt Black Rat’s latest Projects

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Pop

© Takeshi Katami photograohy from Kanye West website

Pop Life: Art in a Material World proves that good business is the best art. Spanning across 17 rooms, story Pop Life celebrates artists renowned for challenging the media and public with their extravagant, more about provocative and controversial attitudes towards their craft; often praised but when criticised, they are shown no mercy. Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst love / hate affair with the media and public are perfect examples, both of whom are featured in Pop life.

Pop2

© Photo: Rod Tidnam, Tate Michael Jackson on the front cover of Interview Magazine in October 1982.

As soon as you enter the exhibition you are greeted by the now legendary sight of a Jeff Koons’ stainless steal Bunny, a sculpture more impressive in person than on TV or in a magazine. Jeff Koons has a whole room to himself entitled ‘Made in Heaven’, which can only be described as an ‘orgy of erotic portraits’, featuring his then wife, former porn star and politician La Cicciolina and Koons himself. It is worth a look- as the centerpiece it is quite a remarkable piece of craftsmanship (I won’t ruin it for you).

Pop5© Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin – The Shop

Young British Artists (YBA) alumni are represented well with Tracy Emin; the signature careless, warrior like attitude of her work are featured as well as the inexhaustible and controversial Damien Hirst, both keeping true to their reputations. Hirst keeps things interesting with his live installation featuring identical twins (if you are a set of identical twins the Tate are looking for people to participate in this installation). Both Emin and Hirst sit side by side like brother and sister representing British art proudly.

Pop6 copy© Damien Hirst’s Aurothioglucose 2008

Amongst the wonders on display is Japan’s own Warhol in the shape of Takashi Murakami who is showcasing his collaborations with artists such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams as well as the fashion house Louis Vuitton. Murakami also collaborates with director McG for a Pop Life exclusive video installation featuring Hollywood starlet Kristen Dunst that delves into Japan’s obsession – Manga. It is an attention-grabbing watch and The Vapours ‘I Think I’m Turning Japanese’ as sung by Dunst will have your head bobbing and singing along. Keith Harrings’ infamous pop up store is in the centre of the exhibition and is worth mentioning; the selection of t-shirts, badges and posters is a good one, the perfect place to stock up on Keith Harring memorabilia.

Pop7Petshop © Estate of Keith Haring. Photo by Charles Dolfi-Michels

Andy Warhol’s words ‘good business is the best art’ fittingly describe what this exhibition is about; the man himself, the man behind the reason why the Hirsts, Emins and Koons grace us with their presence today – is I feel the main focus of the exhibition and deservingly so. He made art sexy and created a new demand in the art world that changed it forever. Warhol changed the definition of Pop Life.

Pop3

© Anton Perich, 1979, Jerry Hall, Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, Truman Capote and Paloma Picasso at the tenth anniversary of

Pop Life: Art in a Material World exhibits at the Tate Modern till 17th January. How many more times will you get the chance to experience such influential and celebrated artists of a golden era under one roof? Get to the Tate before the 17th January. Tickets cost £12.50.

TeethLoaded © Sweet Tooth

The invite for Black Dog Books was intriguing and slightly misleading… a number of nice surprises beckon when I arrive at the venue to meet with the people involved in Black Rat Project. Finding the venue is a puzzle in itself and I find my way through the back of Cargo into this character full venue, visit an old railways arch dating back from the industrial revolution.

bookshop1Photographs © Black Rat Projects

A tin man sitting in front of a bookshop greets visitors to the show. He doesn’t have a name individually and is one of three robots called “The Drunkards” by artist Giles Walker. Walker must have a great sense of humour; he came up with the idea after being annoyed with city boys with a lot of money being able to buy into the art world. His robots now happen to be on display a stone throw from Liverpool Street and are the ideal anti-establishment statement. The robot I am looking at shouts at you and has a good rant about ‘them city rats’, information pills a good laugh in a time of recession like ours. And then it’s onto the bookshop itself, pills with quite an extensive array of books by people Black Rat Gallery represents.

bookshop3

Black Rat Projects is the new name for young East End gallery, The Black Rat Press. They specialise in installations and exhibitions by some of the world’s most exciting contemporary artists. In the last two years Black Rat Projects have put on over 20 projects that have gained widespread media attention including features in The Guardian, CNN news, CBS news, BBC London, The Sunday Times and The Telegraph amongst others. The gallery’s focus is on representing artists who undertake ambitious projects that other more traditional galleries might not facilitate. Works by artists represented by BRP – such as Nick Walker, d*face and Blek le Rat – can be found in many public collections including the Brooklyn Museum and the V&A.

bookshop4

The idea of creating the bookshop came when the Black Rat owners slept in the gallery one evening many years ago and were woken by the toilet flushing and books falling from the office bookshelves. Thinking they were being burgled, they turned the lights on only to find the gallery empty. Asking around, a local landlord mentioned that the gallery had been used to store the stock of legendary Victorian book dealer F. J. Williams who disappeared in 1903 and is rumored to haunt various pubs and houses around the East End.

ShepardRevolutionary Woman © Shepard Fairey

The bookshop feels like the creation of an eccentric and well-read individual; all the books in the bookshop are on sale and a few of the selection come from Black Rat owner Mike; second-hand books, fanzines by Swoon, Burning Candy and Brian Adam Douglas. The bookshop is fully functional and complete with customer assistant, working antique till and books available to buy. It has been designed by Will Randall and Giles Walker and can accommodate up to 10 people at a time. And then a plant shakes in the corner and it’s Poltergeist all of a sudden…

SwoonIrena © Swoon

Two original collages by Shepard Fairey (he of the Obama campaign fame) dominate the wall. “Hand Painted Multiples” is a limited edition of 20 prints but each one is slightly different. Swoon is on the wall opposite; from Brooklyn, she is the only one of a generation of street artists to have been embraced by the traditional art world and she is already in the Tate and MOMA.  Swoon uses interesting techniques such as screen-print pasted onto wood and life-size woodcuts, which she makes in the street. Other artists taking part are Cyclops (Lucas Price) who is part of London’s most prolific graffiti collective Burning Candy and über-talented cross-dresser extraordinaire Grayson Perry.

Matt-SmallTimms © Matt Small

A striking triptych of what appears to be a young tormented black face stares intensely at me. Matt Small’s work is breathtaking. Trained at The Royal College of Art and winner of a BP Portrait award, he uses a mixture of oils and water-based paints to create random thick textures. Small works a lot with found objects and builds up his canvases with pieces of metals bolt together to create interesting shapes and symmetry. Painting transcends the 2D flat image to become wood art and sculpture object. The frenzied strokes of paint are pulled from the center of the face and converge outwards in a heady sense of movement. Matt Small is an incredibly brave painter. This is a picture that the viewer could regard as aggressive but I thought I saw sadness in the Somalian model’s eyes. Small tries to give a platform through his painting to anonymous faces that are rarely portrayed in the art world. Young people are constantly undervalued and looked down upon. Everyone has got something valuable to give.

bookshop2

Photographs © Black Rat Projects

This gallery tries to explore all sorts of artistic voices from painting to graphic work and art with substance; but it’s all pulled together in a thrilling and successful way. Consumer culture has no place here. The displays are a throwback to conventional ideas with a human interactive connection. But traditions can be modernised; the old materials, the subject matters, everything is given a modern makeover. A must see!

Exhibition runs from Monday – Saturday 10am – 6pm, through Cargo Garden, Arch 461, Kingsland Viaduct, 83 Rivington Street, London. EC2A 3AY. Nearest tube– Liverpool St / Old St. Entry is free. Information: 020 7613 7200.

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Saturday December 19th, 2009 7:15 pm

Categories ,art, ,Art Space Draw Exhibition Sculpture Drawing Artists Anthony Gormley HEather Deedman Peter Randell Neville Gabie Alison Gil PAul McDevitt Michael Shaw Paintings Photography Applied Art 3D Pencil Galler, ,Black rat projects, ,books, ,bookshop, ,BP Portrait award, ,contemporary art, ,Exhibition Review, ,Exhibtion, ,Gallery, ,MOMA, ,Obama, ,painting, ,review, ,seventeengallery, ,Shepard Fairey

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Amelia’s Magazine | Ahoy there Amelia’s Magazine! What’s your fave Christmas song?

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snowdragon-by-lorraine-nam

Illustration by Lorraine Nam

Back with post two on Christmas music. I hope post one was enlightening. Now let’s see what the chaps at Amelia’s Magazine love to listen to at Christmas time. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE xx

2000 miles by Karina Yarv

Illustration by Karina Jarv

Karina Jarv – Illustrator
Of course there are always a lot of favourite Christmas songs… It’s Christmas, information pills there is a fantastic mood in the air and you want to listen to something very old and familiar to you. The same thing is with me. ONE of my favourites is ‘White Christmas’ by Bing Crosby. But to be honest my current favourite is the ‘2000 miles’ cover by 6 Day Riot. Everything is so perfect there for me: magical voice, amazing sound… Yes, the original song is great, but this sounds a little bit more personal. When I hear this song I want to put the kettle on, take a warm bath and good book with me and wait for someone…very special…’to come back’ to me someday.

Amelia Xmas

Amelia Gregory

Amelia Gregory – Our Magazine Leader
Do they know it’s Christmas? from 1984 – because it reminds me of being young. I love that all the famous pop stars of the era are featured in it, but it was still so craply done – no stylists on hand in those days. Of course it was cheesy even then but I was given a 7″ for my birthday which I still treasure.

YouTube Preview Image

And as I discovered watching the Frisky and Mannish show at the Lyric Theatre, it encompasses all the essential elements of a Christmas tune – obvious references to Christmas, innuendo, pathos, political context, bells and a sing-a-long chorus. An absolute classic.

Faye

Faye West

Faye West – Illustrator
So hard to choose, but it will have to be Mariah Carey‘s All I Want for Christmas (is that what it’s called?!), reminds me of being 14, in New Look shopping for a Christmas Disco outfit in 1998, the year we did a dance to Spice Girls for the Christmas assembly. I chose a gold glittery vest top with a blue velvet mini skirt as had Geri Halliwell in mind. The song makes so many of us excited. And then the fun of dancing to it in summery June in ‘Boombox’ a few years ago!

hippo-xmas-by-lorraine-nam

Illustration by Lorraine Nam

Lorraine Nam – Illustrator
I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas is my favourite Christmas song. It’s funny and silly and it has a great background story to it. The little girl ends up actually getting a hippopotamus and donates it to the local zoo. 

Martin from Principal Colour – Amelia’s Book Publisher
Amelia has been working with Principal Colour since 2004. They have a close relationship, enabling her to do lots of new, experimental things when printing covers – like the pearlescent cover in the latest book, Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration available now here. Martin says his fave Christmas song is: Without doubt it has to be “merry xmas everybody” by slade, when I was young it was what Christmas was about and then when a bit older in the pubs was the sing along of choice (and apparently I used to look a bit like Noddy Holder – don’t know if that’s a compliment or not to be honest).

Matt Bramford Christmas Grump

Matt Bramford

Matt Bramford – Amelia’s Magazine Fashion Editor
Mine is Jona Lewie’s Stop The Cavalry because it’s so silly and I get to do my infamous fawn dance.

slow club by karolina burdon

Illustration by Karolina Burdon

Hannah

Hannah Bullivant

Hannah Bullivant – Writer Contributor – craft extraordinaire
Ok my favourite christmas song is It’s Christmas and You’re Boring Me by Slow Club, because its beautiful…even though i feel the opposite about my mister, I just love it.

Rob photo

Robert Harris

Robert Harris – Writer Contributor
I love Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon. It’s got a lovely lilting, folky melody – it’s actually based on an old folk standard called Stewball. It’s a protest song about the Vietnam War, which makes it 100 times more meaningful than anything by Slade, and it’s one of the few credible Christmas songs. Well, until Yoko Ono starts singing…

Elvis-Christmas-Album-by-Mina-Bach

Illustration by Mina Bach

Mina Bach – Illustrator
The Elvis Christmas Album is an absolute MUST at Christmas for me!

jess_upperstreet

Jessica Furseth

Jessica Furseth – Writer Contributor
My favourite Christmas song is probably ‘Silent night’. It reminds me of what Christmas was like when I was a kid, when it was sort of magic. Where I grew up there weren’t really any Christmas-themed pop songs, so I don’t really like those as they don’t hold any significance for me. So yes, I like the old-fashioned songs.

Wham illustration by Avril Kelly

Illustration by Avril Kelly

Avril Kelly – Illustrator
Wham! Last Christmas. It is the ultimate cheesefest of Christmas songs, I hear it every Christmas in the car on the way to visit family and friends. Everyone always sings along loudly and rather terribly, it has to be said. It’s fun and cheesy and just I love it.

Abby Wright

Abby Wright – Illustrator
Well this is a hard question, I love Christmas songs, especially those I can sing or dance to. In particular I love Stop the Cavalry by Jona Lewie, Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon and Band Aid’s Do They Know it’s Christmas. My favourite ever though would have to be Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade. It makes me so happy, and it’s a song that i’m guaranteed to dance to and get a sore throat singing to! It’s fun, cheerful and just what Christmas should be. I hope one year soon we will have an actual Christmas song for Christmas number one again!

Jingle Bell Rock by Chloe Cook

Illustration by Chloe Cook

Chloe Cook – Illustrator
Jingle Bell Rock by Billy Idol. I’ve chosen this song because I absolutely L-O-V-E Billy Idol, and I also love Christmas, so it’s putting my two favourite things together. Also I just think that it’s quite a funny thing that such a massively known punk rocker has done a cutesy little Christmas song, and I think more people should listen to it!!

Daria Hlazatova – Illustrator
I know what you’ll say about my favourite Christmas song being “Jingle bells rock” by Bobby Helms – “cheeky!” Well, I first heard it as a child in “Home Alone: Lost in NYC” and loved it. Since then it became associated with this city until finally some years later I found myself in NYC at Christmas completely alone. I remember hearing this song when passing Macy’s and being hit by a wave of nostalgia. Cheeky dreams come true at Christmas, I thought! Hope your Christmas is a happy one!

Helen Martin

Me – Helen Matin

Helen Martin – Writer Contributor
Christmas TV by Slow Club is my favourite Christmas song. It makes me happy. Tender, honest, true and full of yearning. Gorgeous.

Written by Helen Martin on Wednesday December 22nd, 2010 5:40 pm

Categories ,6 Day Riot, ,Abby Wright, ,Amelia Gregory, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,Avril Kelly, ,band aid, ,Bobby Helms, ,books, ,Chloe Cook, ,Daria Hlazatova, ,Editor, ,Elvis, ,fashion, ,Faye West, ,Frisky and Mannish show at the Lyric Theatre, ,George Michael, ,Geri Halliwell, ,Hannah Bullivant, ,Helen Martin, ,Jessica Furseth, ,John Lennon, ,Jona Lewie, ,Karina Jarv, ,Karolina Burdon, ,Lorraine Nam, ,Macy’s, ,Mariah Carey, ,Matt Bramford, ,Mina Bach., ,New Look, ,new york, ,principal colour, ,publishing, ,Robert Harris, ,slade, ,Slow Club, ,Spice Girls, ,Wham!, ,Yoko Ono

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