What began as an ‘art experiment’ by London-based Simeon Farrar has now turned into a successful fashion label; winning not only international acclaim but also the prestigious NEWGEN award three times along the way. Despite being crowned a fashion buyer favourite with stockists such as Liberty in the UK and many more in Paris, Tokyo, and Sydney (to name a few), Simeon hasn’t lost sight of his Fine Art training gained at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. Every collection begins with a philosophical root from which the designs and drawings develop and each one-off piece is then created with Simeon’s trademark dash of humour delivered through experiments with colour and print, done by hand in his Shoreditch studio.
Simeon Farrar, all photographs courtesy of Iroquois PR
As someone who trained as a fine artist, what was it that made you want to turn your hand from canvas and paper to fabric?
I’ve always been into printmaking and I used to use a lot of screen-printing in my paintings. I would load them up with all sorts of images and paint over them to form multiple layers. I started putting some of these images on to t-shirts purely as another surface rather than as fashion. The first t-shirts were so loaded with paint like the canvases that they could never be worn. I got so into this that it soon evolved into fashion.
As a ‘non-fashion’ person, did you expect to make such a big impression when you first exhibited at London Fashion Week?
Absolutely not. I had no idea what people would think of me. I didn’t even have an order book so I guess I didn’t expect to write any orders. Suddenly I had all these people wanting to order this junk I’d made which I found all a bit weird. It was still an art experiment at that point.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned about being a designer and the way the world of Fashion works?
As an artist you develop a certain degree of snobbery towards anything that isn’t ‘Art’. I can safely say that I have been cleansed of that snobbery after being welcomed so openly into the fashion world. I’ve learned that it’s all a load of rubbish and an artist just does what ever he/she feels is the most honest path for their creativity and it doesn’t need a label to make it valid.
Butterfly Chiffon Maxi
Your ‘Kate Mouse‘ illustration has become a widely recognised and coveted t-shirt graphic. Why do you think it’s had so much success?
For me it was one of those magical moments when an image just works perfectly. I’d drawn the image for a nursery rhyme collection we were doing at the time and I wanted to do Three Blind Mice. So, to name the file on Photoshop I used ‘Kate Mouse’ so I would recognise it. Then it just clicked, like a light bulb coming on above my head. I think it’s been a success for the same reason. It’s not forced or contrived, just simple and genius. There’s been such a demand ever since her birth that she’s featured in every collection since, with various additions. She gets pimped up every season. Except this forthcoming A/W 2012.
What personally inspired you to create a ‘Kate Mouse’ t-shirt with Net-A-Porter especially for the Japan Earthquake relief appeal?
Two of my staff are Japanese and they have been with me for years so due to that I feel a certain closeness with Japan. We sell a lot in Japan, and since I began the label the Japanese have been so supportive and loyal to my brand that when the earthquake hit it felt like an opportunity to repay some of that. The Kate Mouse print was our obvious big hitter, so I thought it would make the most money if we offered it for the appeal. We did it by ourselves at first, offering a free t-shirt with every donation to Save The Children. That went very well but as we were paying postage we had to limit it to the UK only. My PR company Iroquois and I approached Net-A-Porter so we could take it further. They were amazing with how they took it up and offered so much percentage of the profit to the appeal. I was very impressed with their instant generosity.
Your current S/S 2012 collection not only has your own charming take on the uniquely temperamental British summer through neon colours, raindrop prints and a nod to the new Royalty, but a uniquely feel-good quote that runs throughout. How did the slogan ‘You Are My Silver Lining’ form in your head?
There is always a sense of romance in my collections, and no matter what the theme I always like to bring that in. I like the idea of someone being your Silver Lining. No matter what happens in life there is someone who’s very presence brings with it a sense of hope or a way out of darkness.
What are your favourite colours to print in (at the moment) and why?
I loved using the neon colours in the S/S 2012 collection. I like printing images in neon then overlaying that with a black print and washing it all out so the greys defuse the neon a bit.
What can we expect for A/W 2012 from Simeon Farrar?
For S/S 2012 we had a ghost print that did very well, so I’ve built the next collection round that. So I guess it’s a Haunted House collection. We’ve got lots of ghost drawings, howling wolves, that kind of thing. But, there’s also a romantic side to it. I’ve always been interested in the tragic side of vampires and the sense of undying love that runs through it. So I’ve brought a lot of that in to the collection. And for the first time, NO KATE MOUSE. I didn’t want to cheapen her and put some fangs on her or something. Kate Mouse is dead, you heard it here first.
Simeon Farrar’s current S/S 2012 collection is available to buy in store and online at a variety of stockists, and his forthcoming A/W 2012 collection will be exhibited at Tranoi this March.
Written by Alia Gargum on Tuesday January 24th, 2012 4:04 pm
The necklace is designed in Ada’s inimitable way, the boldly futuristic shape inspired by the formation of origami and emblematic of a ‘brighter future’ for the people who mined the gold that it is made of.
Walking around Broadway Market, approved one cold wintery Saturday, feeling hungry and looking at all the delicious food I could ill afford, (oh the joys of being a student!). I came across a treasure trove of a stall run by the delightful Jessie and Buddug and instantly fell in love with their charming designs. Since this initial visit, I have returned time and time again to buy unique necklaces as birthday (incredibly successful!) gifts.
So you can imagine my delight coming across their Columbia Road shop, originally located in the upstairs of one the picturesque houses adorning the street. Jessie and Buddug have recently expanded ‘downstairs’, and in celebration of their success, I had the pleasure of interviewing the talented textile artists for Amelia’s Magazine.
I first noticed your designs at Broadway Market on Saturday, was this your first venture?
Buddug: We started broadway market after we graduated 5 years ago and got the shop 2 years ago.
What was your experience of the market? Do you still have a stall there?
Buddug: We still have a stall at Broadway Market, we feel it has grown so much since we started. It’s been cold and wet at times but it’s been great learning what people buy. Its been great socially too, speaking with our friends and customers.
As friends from home, what has it been like to work together?
Buddug: We met when we were on art foundation and always said we we would like to collaborate together in the future. We find it easier that we both do our own work and then display together because we both have different working hours.
You previously occupied an upstairs room in Columbia Road, how did the opportunity to expand into a downstairs space arise?
Buddug: We got offered a place at ground level by Bev who had the shop before us, she made handmade clothes and toys etc, she offered it to us before anyone else which was an honour and we jumped at the chance.
What was your experience of the Goldsmiths Textiles course (which sadly no longer exists?)
Jessie: I was at Goldsmiths, at a very tricky time, the course was going through a real denial period, as they were finding the debate about what to do with textiles and fine art really hard. Which made it hard for us as students and as someone who is passionate about cloth and textiles and most of all making, I found the course incredibly frustrating!
But I had very supportive parents; Primmy Chorley and I am close friends with Audrey Walker and Eirian and Denys Short. So I always had a huge back up behind me in the textile world. I did feel incredibly pulled between the two worlds though and I was lucky enough to come out fighting, determined to set up my own business and to carry on my making process.
Overall I am pleased I went through the Goldsmiths experience, as the academic and written side of it, (for me) has helped me today to think the way I do and pushed me in other ways.
What course did you study Buddug and what was your experiences?
Buddug, what was it like to work for Urban Outfitters?
It was quite difficult working for URBAN OUTFITTERS, due to the ammount i had to make! and I waited a long time for payment!
Jessie, what role does recycling play in your practice? Why is it important to you and how did you first become interested in using recycled materials?
Recycled materials has and I believe will always be a huge part of my work, I like it that it creates a timeless feeling, I guess it started from the scrap books I made with my Mum when I was young and colleting and using found and recycled items for me creates a story, old clothes and books hold some kind of story and depth to them.
A detail from Jessie’s seating plan for her Wedding Collection.
And how did the wedding collection develop?
I was asked to create a whole wedding theme for a lady who used to buy my cards at Broadway Market, I handmade her invites, table names and a seating plan and really from here I got other customers and then early this year I designed some invites which were slightly quicker to make and I did a huge wedding show in London and its kind of gone from here I have made for several weddings this summer and I am already making for 2011-2012 weddings.
Buddug, how did you start designing the Home Ornaments collection?
I’ve always been interested in developing the enamel process since university and always liked/inspired by objects mother and grandmother had in the kitchen, I invested in a bigger kiln, which was a challenge to make bigger things!
What materials do you like working with and why?
Jessie: Fabrics, worn clothing, paper they all hold such a good quality and are embedded with an excisting narrative
Buddug: I’ve always tried to use things that are around me and be inventive with the materials i already have/been thrown away and in old/secound hand things, there’s such a quality in materials and making process and a added charm in old things and it’s actually nicer to use…
I like to combine different materials metal and fabric. fabric and paper or wood…but i mostly enjoy metal and enamel. I really like the solidness of metal and the duribility of it as a raw material.
Buddug: I can’t remember were we met Laura Dockrill, but she asked if we were interested in doing the stage for her. It was quite a challenge because we didn’t know the size of the stage but the best thing was Jessie’s bunting it was really big and yellow!
Have you made or participated in Set Design before? Is this something you will continue to participate in?
Jessie: Yes for me it is a real passion, I love to create things and watch others create a story with the objects I make. A lot of quite random masks and house like boxes which I display in the shop are often borrowed for shoots, and I always like the outcome. For me styling our shop is like creating a stage set I love making it all different each week and then watching the customers come in and their response to it!
My degree show was also about staging and the response of the audience and the creator, for this I made a huge seven foot book which you could walk inside.
Buddug: I haven’t done much set design before, but wold love to, it’s been quite good having practice doing the shop window.
What are the inspirations for your collections?
Jessie: Story telling, people places and preserving memories creating beautiful things from lost or found objects.
Buddug My inspiration for my work is a collection of things I find and come across, I usually collect and draw in sketch books. Nature, a sense of home comforts and memories/naustalgic sences. It’a quite a mish mash of ideas and influencs.
We have a few pieces in the shop were we bring things together such as the fabric bows with enamel buttons, but we find it easier to make our own work and display together.
Do you both run and participate in the organisation of the workshops?
Jessie: No I run the workshops I have done for quite a few years now. For me I love to go out and meet other people and hopefully change the way they see the world through making, I have worked with a lot of charities, which is both frustrating and very rewarding at the same time, I am always touched by certain characters which can feed directly in to my work.
The whole workshop trend has gone huge now though and people expect so much more, and have so much more since places like hobby craft became so big and shows like The Knit and Stitch.
I am currently organising my Christmas workshops which will be in November in North London. I will have some day workshops creating simple gift wrap and gifts.
Buddug Jess does a lot of workshops, I’m yet to start, but it might be something I would be interested in doing when I’m a bit older.
What’s next for Jess Chorley and Buddug?
Buddug: At the moment we are preparing for christmas, thinking of making stocking filler ideas and promoting our little shop. Nothing too big, taking up projects as they come along…
An eclectic mix of art work by a group of like minded people exploring expressionism through art.
Peckham Square, tadalafilpage 28th of March 2- 6pm
In the Pines
Jack Strange Limoncello 2 Hoxton St London, rx opening 27th of March 6.30 – 8.30pm, case exhibition: 26th – 28th of March 11am – 6pm and by appointment until 2nd May 2009.
Order and Disorder
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
A look at a very unique collection of paintings and prints, several have never been publicly exhibited before. Art first in Cork street, 24th March – 23rd April
One or Several Wolves
Priya Chohan, Coral Churchill, Annelie Fawke, Kwang-Sung Hong, Heidi Locher and Anne E Wilson.
A group of artists look at conceptual motivations within Art, using a variety of media each artist explores the relationship between concept, material and final work created. Kingsgate Gallery, 20th March – 5th April Free
Bandits present
New installation work from Glaswegian artists littlewhitehead. The Bun House Bandits, 96 Peckham High Street London. Preview: 15th March 2009, 4pm. Exhibition: 16th March 2009 – 29 March 2009, 11am–11pm
Being and nothing-ness
Youngmi Kim, Kiwoun Shin and Seunghyun Woo
Three Korean artists explore the notion of “being” through various multi media methods, the exhibition includes paintings, videos and sculptures. Nolias Gallery, 60 Great Suffolk St SE1. Private view: 26thMarch at 6pm- 9pm, exhibition: 27th March- 7TH April 200 10:30Am-6pm,
We are his body
installation art work inspired by the artist’s exploration of the cross in today’s society.
Viewing at Christ Church URC 663 Barking rd Plaistow E13 9EX, 25th March 6pm
Kate Marshall: Live Painting.
This dextrous figurative painter will be doing a live drawing and painting gig at Movida, Argyll Street on April 2nd. Arrive at 9.30pm, you might get a free drinky. She’ll be starting work at 10pm. Check out the event on facebook.
I just woke up from the best nightmare I ever had, store at least I think it was a nightmare. I mean, side effects I’ve heard of mutton dressed as lamb and a wolf in sheep’s clothing, health but last night I saw a couple of ladies, dressed as a wolf and a sheep respectively, among other things.
But what was this, what had I stepped into? Well I found the best person to ask, Annie Oldfield. A lovely young lady from Leeds, dressed as a wolf! I thought it would be fun to create a one-off themed party where you can listen to music all night that`s in some way related to animals: Animal Collective (Panda Bear), Deerhunter, Modest Mouse (the list is endless), eat crackers and, of course, what themed party is complete without fancy dresses. Shark, tiger, zebra, duck, crab, swan, cat (there were lots of cats) all had turned out.
After Annie along with friend Bonnie Wan came up with the idea they went to
DJ/Promoter friend Dave Bassinder (Underachievers) and Filthy animals! was born.
Not one for getting down on the dance floor, that was no problem here, you could keep yourself occupied by making animal balloons or watching films played on a big screen, obviously starring our fantastic furry friends. Or grab a piece of paper and give origami a go, make some sort of flapping pterodactyl. Of course the term filthy suggests more than balloon modeling so a few cheap drinks and many tunes later and the dance floor got the attention it deserved, well you spend all day making a costume you gotta show it off, right?
It`s a real shame it had to end as there are no plans for further repercussions. If you read this Underachievers “BRING BACK THE ANIMALS and KEEP EM FILTHY”!
I have something to admit, viagra sale I am a warehouse party virgin. By warehouse parties I mean not-really legal parties, treat which announce their locations via facebook messages about five minute before they start and you quickly have to get yourself to some remote north London spot in Zone 4. For me there is nothing fun about the obvious issue of trekking all the way out there just for the police to shut it down at twelve. Or 11.30 PM on New Years Eve, rx which is what happened to one of my friends!
After one of our writers posted about their last exhibition I decided i couldn’t miss the LuckyPDF warehouse party, even better it was all above board and legal. There were rather fancy gold flyers promoting the event and they even hired their own bouncers, who were at the door all night checking ID. While this might take some of the thrill away for regular warehouse party goers I rather enjoyed being somewhere with plumbing and electricity. My favourite part was not having to trail across London to a Saw-esk industrial park, because the event was just off Peckham high street. As the LuckyPDF people boldly proclaimed before the event, “The people of South London shalt need to travel to East London any longer for their Huge Party needs.”
I arrived at eleven and the queue to get in was absolutely insane, luckly i’d sent a RSVP email, but I still had to wait a good fifteen minutes to get into the rooms even once I was through the main gate. This was no thrown together event, they had obviously put a lot of effort into sound and lighting, which was refreshing and very welcome. As I entered the bottom room floor I was immediately hit with throbbing lights and heavy bass. There were hoards of people, I couldn’t even begin to count how many attended the event, but nothing was too serious. I think something about the fact it was in a warehouse just made the whole event more relaxed, there was a lot less people there just to smoke and be seen than there were people just wanting to have fun. No “this is the dance floor, this is the bar” locations usually explicit in gig venues meant people were just doing what they wanted where they wanted.
The LuckyPDF warehouse party aimed to be “a rampant music/art extravaganza that will continue til the early morn..” The music was definitely there with the order of the day being, “Bass, Bass, Garage, Electro, Bass, Drum n Bass, Swing, Tango, Nintendocore and Bass”. There were Dj sets from 10 PM – 4AM from South London party circuit favourites, XXX, My Panda Shall Fly and Tomb Crew, plus many, many more. These Dj’s were well selected and well received (apart from whoever kept cutting tracks short in the top room!) effortlessly mixing cutting edge bass tracks with forgotten classics.
However, I was completely perplexed about the other bit, you know the art. Unless really, really small (microscopic) art has come in fashion since the last exhibition I went to I would swear that there wasn’t any. It could have been hidden by the hoards of people there, but still if you’re going to advertise art it would be helpful if people could see it. Previously this would have annoyed me, but I feel i’m just starting to get the point of collectives such as LuckyPDF and it’s peers. Although these guys are artists, they’re not together to try and promote a certain type of art or medium over any other. With the exception perhaps being Off Modern who have a whole Off Modern manifesto on their website. As far as I know there is no particular theme or common interests in the work of the organisers of these events and if there were it would be purely incidental. It’s more a case of getting people excited about South London. Which something that hasn’t happened since (dare i say it) the YBA’s, and they all rushed off to live in the East End or houses in the country as soon as they could anyway.
I will forgive the LuckyPDF guys just this once having an event light of the art and heavy on the music (which draws people in and allows them to charge entry fee), because they have stated that they’re a not for profit organisation, and I hope the money they made will be going into more exhibitions. And when they do I’ll be there, pen in hand, because I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next. Photography by Ted Williams
Monday 23th
The Rakes release their third album, symptoms KLANG, buy information pills today and to celebrate the band will play a special gig at London’s Rough Trade East at 6pm tonight.
The follow up to ‘Ten New Messages’ is pure and the best of The Rakes as you can check out on lead track ‘1989‘.
Wristband collection 1 hour prior to gig, first-come-first-served basis-one per person.
The Rakes
Tuesday 24th
It`s crunch time at The Social and the venue welcomes Kid Carpet to promote his new single, followed by Moonfish Rhumba with their electro beats and peculiar lyrics.
If great music is not enough to take your mind of recession, this month the venue provides the Crunch Time Rant where you can take your anger to the stage, step on to a soapbox and speak out your thoughts.
Doors 6pm, 99p.
Moonfish Rhumba
Wednesday 25th
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen receives Joseph Mount, aka Metronomy and DJs, including the opulent pop of Your Twenties (whose harmonious frontman is Metronomy’s former bassist).
8pm, £7, adv £6.
The three new yorkers forming The Virgins land in town for some dance rock at Koko London.
9:30pm, £7, £5 before 11pm, concs £4.
The Virgins
Saturday 28th
Up for some healthy girlie pop? Betty and the Werewolves bring their female fronted indie-ditty-pop vocals (they do count with one boy on the drums!) to Bardens Boudoir next Saturday.
8pm, £6.
Betty and the Werewolves
Sunday 29th
Close (or begin?) your week with the Society of New Music – an avant garde event featuring Wet Dog live at The Social.
7pm, £2.
Wet Dog
To all you vintage addicts I bring you salvation!
On April the 4th a vintage bonanza will be hitting the streets of Bethnal Green to bombard you with their scandalously cheap vintage, viagra 40mg so prepare yourself Shoreditch! I understand if you are dubious, case “what makes it unique in comparison to the endless array of oversaturated vintage fairs and markets in London” I hear you say? Well, the differentiation is that at this event you won’t be leaving empty handed if you left the house with a mere twenty pounds. This is vintage on an extremely tight shoestring, for any savvy shopper the affordable vintage fair is akin to the sensation of being a child in a sweet shop again!
Heralded as the largest vintage fair in north England, the organizers have delved the nation with their noble quest for affordable vintage, leaving no stone unturned. Our loyal travellers have unearthed hidden gems and want to bring you the fruits of their labour! So cast aside the idle and banal window shopper, let your hair down and embrace your style hungry primordial urges. The fair is an emporium of vintage wonderment; there are style advisors, a customisation and alternations area, swapping area as well as bundles of vintage clothes and furniture.
But the most exciting element of the fair has to be the pay by kilo vintage stall. This really is vintage paradise; trawl to your heart’s content safe in the knowledge it’s not going to cost you much more then your weekly grocery shop. The phenomena is commonplace with our European counterparts, but kilo shopping will be making its debut here in the UK. So get trawling and scout some hidden gems, this might just be your chance to revive your wardrobe from the brink of darkness and inject a whole new burst of life. What other chances would you get to weigh out your clothes, just like you would weigh out your sugar?
They have catered for your every whim feeding your ears and taste buds with a nostalgic trip down memory lane. With music spanning the decades from the bohemian 60s to the energetic 80s, not forgetting a whole host of cake stalls and beverages to whet your appetite.
So don’t miss out, get down there 11am pronto on the 4th of April, I for one will be installing my vintage bargain radar and heading down myself!
Everyday at the office here, treatment while we`re writing our articles and drinking our teas, we try to go through the many cd`s we receive daily and now and then there`s one that catches everybody`s attention, making everyone in the room ask “who`s this”?
That`s exactly what happened when Cari put on the single from up and coming group My Tiger My Timing. In less than 30 seconds heads were bopping and legs were shaking unanimously. This Is Not The Fire is so catchy that I`ve been listening to it non stop since Tuesday.
They play a delightful, totally danceable afro beat, electro-pop and still they compare themselves with bands like Metronomy and Casio Kids. While most of the groups desperately run away from extreme pop and commercial tracks, MTMT does exactly the opposite, recognizing their will for creating easy listening and fluid beats.
The foursome was formed in 2008 in south east London and their debut single was produced by Andy Spence of New Young Pony Club and will be released April 6th 2009 downloadable through Silver Music Machine.
Tuesday I had the chance to see them live at Cargo and I`m definitely looking forward to the entire album, it was quite an electrifying performance. Here`s a little video of the last song:
Yesterday, buy a few of the Amelia’s Magazine girls went along to witness the G20 protests in the City of London. The day had dawned to brilliant sunshine, and clear blue skies, which meant that the sight and sound of the police helicopters hovering overhead was even more pronounced. The events which were due to unfold promised to be extraordinary, and I was keen to see what was going to happen. It was hard to know what to expect, but here was the run down. Four different carnival parades, were to converge around the Bank Of England, and protest the current economic and environmental climate. We were guided there by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, leading the processions from four rail stations. We were setting off from Liverpool Street, led by the Green Horse – representing climate chaos. Walking from Brick Lane to the station, I was struck at how different the city seemed. Spitalfields Market, and all the restaurants around it were closed. There were not many city workers around, but those who were out and about were dressed down. I didn’t see a single suit around me.
The Barbican towards The Bank of England. It was enjoyable to be part of such a good natured crowd and it was fun to watch all the shop owners standing outside their establishments, watching with fascination at the colourful carnival proceeding past them.
As we walked towards Bank we passed Northern Rock. Some clever jokers had hung a sign inside their office entitled ‘We Love Money”. As I went to take a picture they hastily pulled the sign down. I could only marvel at the thoughtlessness of that statement, wasn’t it hundreds of thousands of pensioners money that they had lost – was that the money in question that they loved so much? After a brief stop, we marched into the space around The Bank Of England. I was shocked by the amount of people who were here. Estimates at 4,000 are not an exaggeration. The place was packed. Having only ever seen this section in London as a thoroughfare for busy, frantic city workers, and crammed to the gills with buses, it was surreal to see it filled with so many protesters. No cars, just people.
After about 45 minutes, we were ready to head back to the office. I went to walk past a row of police and quickly found that I couldn’t get through. Not quite understanding the situation I was unconcerned, thinking that they were guarding just one exit. Knowing there were plenty more exits around Bank station we wandered back to the road that we had come in on. Again, we were met with a throng of police. They stood arms locked. Still assuming that this was something that would be resolved soon, we sat down and scrounged some crisps off a girl sat next to us. (Not expecting to be there for long, we didn’t take any food, and not much water.)
Then some of the police vans next to us started to move through the police and drive away. We thought that this was our cue to leave as well, and strode towards the police. They immediately closed ranks. It was at this moment that I took in the situation. They had cordoned us all in; we had unwittingly become kettled. (This word now chills me to the bone). No one was going anywhere without their say so. the crowds started to fill up and began asking questions. As I was nearest the front I asked how long this situation would last for. “Don’t know” came the response. Many people started asking why this was happening, but the police would not respond. Our crowd was large, and there was not an ‘anarchist’ in sight. Many tried to squeeze towards the police and told them that this was violating their human rights, and was against the law. Again, no response.
We were soon packed so tightly that it was like being at the front of a gig, but instead of watching a band, we were staring into the hard faces of men who refused to talk to us, and would sooner beat and arrest us then let us get past them. At this point the crowd surged and we fell into each other. The police shouted at us “Get back!” a woman shouted “Where to?!” We were trapped in a scrum, and the police were pushing us back while we were being pushed forward. I saw riot police walk towards us and I felt a surge of panic. We had been trapped by the police and there was nothing that we could do. I pleaded with the officer in front of me to let us go (I can now see how futile that was). I said that we were scared, and asked if a riot were to kick off, who are they going to protect? “I can’t answer that” was the response. Women started shouting that they had children from school to pick up, jobs to get to. The most common cry to the police was “Why won’t you speak to us?” I got so fed up from this feeling of powerlessness that I phoned the news desk at BBC News. I shared my feelings of worry to the reporter on the other end of the phone; and told her the scenario. I relayed what the officers had told one girl to do who said that she needed the toilet – “you can go in the street”; what they told one boy who said that he wasn’t even part of the protest – “You are now”. The BBC reporter told us that this situation was happening at every exit of the march. She said, “You are all being tarred with the same anarchist brush, this is their tactic”.
Around an hour later, still in the same position, a man passed out in front of me. He had been standing quietly, not trying to defy the police, and his only movement for the two hours that we were held was to quietly read a peace of paper that he had in his hands. I had looked at it at one point and could see that it was a Psalm. Thankfully, the officers took him away and led him to an ambulance. Just as I started to feel that it was going to be an all night cordon, my friends phone rang. A friend of hers told her that they had just opened one of the exits round the corner and we bolted for it. Walking to the tube, we were jumping up and down with exhilaration. We began receiving updates that the RBS building was being stormed, and that the police were beating protesters. What had started off as a peaceful and well meaning protest was quickly turning into something much darker, but who was at fault? If you asked anyone in the 4,000 strong crowd they would have no trouble telling you. The police’s tactic of kettling us, purposely providing us with no information and locking us in for two and half hours was easily going to generate the mayhem that they had predicted. Nonetheless, I am so pleased that I attended. It was always going to be an interesting day, I just wish that the peaceful protesters would have been treated better and not denied their basic human rights. Monday March 23rd.
WE CAN postcards to Ed Miliband and MPs: Monday 23rd March
On Monday 23rd March, pills hundreds of children dressed as endangered animals will write postcards to Secretary of State Ed Miliband and to their MPs, in an effort to make the government call a halt to plans to build a third runway at Heathrow and a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.
According to NASA scientist James Hansen, who is now advising President Obama, up to 400 species of animals are threatened with extinction by the emissions from Kingsnorth.
Filmmaker, mother of three and founding member of WE CAN, Rebecca Frayn said, ‘The children are horrified that so many animals could be wiped out. Ed Miliband has said that carbon capture and storage will be introduced to clean up the emissions, but nobody knows when, or if the technology is even practical.’
The postcards will be coloured in and presented after a gathering in Old Palace Yard at 5pm on Monday 23rd March. Several MPs including Andy Slaughter and John McDonnell have agreed to meet children in the lobby of the House of Commons
Forests and Climate Change: an Amazonian Perspective for Copenhagen
Date: Tuesday, 24 March, 2009 – 17:30
Chatham House?
10 St James’s Square
?London
?SW1Y 4LE
A joint IIED and Chatham House event, the debate will be led by Professor Virgílio Viana, Director General, Amazon Sustainability Foundation.
Doors open 5.30pm?Event starts 6.00pm?Reception to 8.30pm
Venue:?email: Alessandra.Giuliani@iied.org Tel: 0207 388 2117
Professor Virgílio Viana is one of Brazil’s leading academics and practitioners on forestry, environment and sustainable development. Prof. Viana served as Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development, Amazonas, Brazil, between 2003 and 2008. He stepped down from the position of Secretary of State for Environment and Sustainable Development, Amazonas, in March 2008 in order to devote his time to new challenges and projects. He is currently the Director General of the new Amazon Sustainability Foundation, and is presently in London as part of a 3 month sabbatical with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
Wednesday 25th March
St James’s Church
197 Piccadilly
London W1J 9LL?
7.00pm GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT FORUM – Governments; friends or foes of development?
Contact 020 7734 4511 for further details
The Age of Stupid (PG)
Genre: Drama/Documentary
Dir: Franny Armstrong
The Age Of Stupid is the documentary-drama-animation hybrid from director Franny Armstrong (McLibel, Drowned Out) and Oscar-winning Producer John Battsek (One Day In September, Live Forever, In the Shadow of the Moon).
Oscar-nominated Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects) stars as an old man living in the devastated world of 2055. He watches ‘archive’ footage from 2008 and asks: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?
Plus Q+A with
Thurs 26 March after 6.45pm screening- Lizzie Gillet (The Age of Stupid film producer)
Forests and Climate Change,
7pm, Royal Geographical Society,
1 Kensington Gore, SW1 London
The world’s forests are home to an extraordinary range of species, and are arguably one of our greatest safeguards against climate change. Yet deforestation, whether for timber, farming or human settlement, continues at an alarming rate. Climate Change, Canopies, and Wildlife
Dr. Mika Peck, University of Sussex
What are the impacts of climate change on the cloudforests of north-west Ecuador? Are existing reserves in one of the richest and most diverse of all biodiversity hotspots big enough to protect large charismatic mammals like the spectacled bear and big cats? How much do carbon offset programmes really benefit wildlife? Can technology such as Google Earth help us to identify canopy tree species and biologically diverse areas from space? These are just some of the questions that will be addressed during this lecture, which is based on data collected by Earthwatch volunteers in the mountains of Ecuador.
“Hell and High water: Climate Change as a spiritual challenge.” An evening talk with Alastair McIntosh
6.30pm drinks & light buffet at Gaia House, (18 Well Walk, Hampstead, NW3 1LD)
7.30pm Talk & discussion at Burgh House (Opposite Gaia House, New End Square, Hampstead, NW3 1LT)
Alastair McIntosh’s recent book, “Hell and High Water: Climate Change, Hope and the Human Condition” has been described on Radio 4′s Open Book programme as one of the best on climate change “because of its rage and optimism.” But Alastair’s “optimism” is not of a conventional type that relies on political, technical and economic solutions. His book is about hope, and how our response must also be psychological and spiritual. During the course of this evening, Alastair will introduce the book exploring why he thinks climate change is as much about our inner lives as outer realities, and discuss here this leaves us as campaigners for change.
Saturday 28th March 2009
“Climate Change, Consumerism and the Decolonisation of the Soul.”
10am – 4.30pm at the Gaia Learning Centre
18 Well Walk, Hampstead, NW3 1LD
Alastair will build on his presentation from the previous evening, focussing in particular on the role that consumerism plays as the driving force of climate change. He will unpack the history of consumerism and demonstrate how it has “colonised the soul” in an addictive manner, that needs to be responded to in a manner akin to other addictions. This will bring us back to the need, discussed the previous evening, to understand climate change as a call to deepen our inner lives, as well as come up with outer solutions. Many of these solutions will touch on the need for “Rekindling Community” – the title of his other recent book (a Schumacher Briefing) which he will introduce in the latter part of the workshop.
Alastair McIntosh is a writer, broadcaster and campaigning academic best known for his work on land reform on Eigg, in helping to stop the Harris super quarry; also for pioneering human ecology as an applied academic discipline in Scotland. He is a Fellow of Scotland’s Centre for Human Ecology, a Visiting Fellow of the Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages at the University of Ulster, and in 2006 was appointed to an honorary position in Strathclyde University as Scotland’s first Visiting Professor of Human Ecology. He is the author of many books, including the critically acclaimed “Soil and Soul: People versus corporate power“.
Booking for either the talk, workshop, or both is essential. Evening talk £10 / One-day workshop £45.
Reserve your place online at: www.gaiafoundation.org
Or send a cheque made payable to The Gaia Foundation.
For further details contact Vicky at: vicky@gaianet.org or 020 7428 0055.
Put People First march for Jobs, Justice and the Climate
11am Victoria Embankment, London
Please come along and add your voice to the Put People First march for Jobs, Justice and the Climate in London on Saturday 28th March.
Global leaders are meeting in London on 2nd April for the G20 meeting, and we want them to Put People First and focus on jobs, justice and the climate. Greenpeace is one of the 50 organisations supporting the march, which is calling for — among other things — a green new deal to help rebuild the economy and create green jobs. To see the full list of demands visit www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk.
Put People First is a coalition of organisations ranging from environmental and development charities to unions, churches and mosques, and we are expecting thousands of people from all walks of life to take to the streets and send a strong message to the G20 leaders. If you can make it to London, please join them.
The march will start at 11am at Victoria Embankment and head to Hyde Park for a rally with speakers and entertainment including comedian Mark Thomas and environmentalist Tony Juniper. Visit the website for more details including a route map.
We’re sorry if you’re not based in or around London and can’t make it, but if you do want to travel down for the march, Put People First are organising coaches from various places around the UK.
Hope to see you there, http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk/
Timothy M Duong is a fine artist searching for something extra ordinary to put “the ordinary on blast”. He as no interest in the ideal beauty, pilule finding that painting from life poses a challenge that often results in mistakes which can change simple art works into timeless pieces. This week I had a chance to find out what inspires his creativity.
What inspires you?
People inspire me. The space around us inspires me. What fills that space and our relationships to it inspire me. Anything that sparks a resonance inside of me to ask the question “why” is probably the reason why I continue my work. So I guess you could say what I am making at the current moment is a documentation of how I perceive the world or my view of it and this is constantly changing as for my work also.
How did you get into Art?
My cousin who passed away several years ago introduced me to comic book art when I was very young and for years until high school that was all I was doing. While I was deep into the world of comics and the linear art, cure I bumped into “Kabuki” a book written and illustrated by David Mack and that was probably one of the most pivotal points in my artistic development. I didn’t even know that it was possible to bring such a way of communication with such a medium as comics. From then and there I abandoned comics and ventured into fine art.
Who do you aspire to be like and who inspires you at present?
I really don’t aspire to be like anyone. I aspire to be more my self, if that can be an answer. People that do inspire me at the moment are artists like Phil Hale, Alex Kanevsky, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Degas, Egon Schiele, Richard Diebenkorn and anyone that has a way with the brush and pencil.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?
I see myself living comfortably from what I love doing. I can’t really put it any others words other than that…but I guess we’ll see how the economy goes eh.
What advice would you give to someone trying to get into the Art?
My advice would be to have an open-mind and be forgiving of your mistakes, yet be your harshest critique. Our experiences are what makes us and to be afraid of consequences generated by our “experience” is to neglect ourselves. It’s all about trial and error in my book.
Do you have a muse?
I have no muse. Although I do hire models and try to work with some friends but no one on a regular basis, at least for now. I need constant change and revision so for me to have a regular muse would probably bore me, but you never know…maybe I haven’t found the “one”.
Of all the art in Shoreditch, here’s some you should definitely see. It’s an exhibition of raw talent, and the work is done using the very basic method of drawing.
I say ‘raw talent’, but this exhibition shows what happens when talent is nurtured and directed. The four hundred drawings here were produced by children and teenagers in The Prince’s Drawing Clubs, a network of free after-school classes in London and Glasgow for 10-18 year olds who show a passion or aptitude for drawing. So this is the first work you’ll see by some of Britain’s best young artists.
Much of the work here is impressive full stop. You find yourself thinking “that’s really good”, rather than “that’s really good for an eleven year old”.
I think the background to this cat may be a heavily-used litter tray. Genius.
The exhibition is in The Prince’s Drawing School, a four-storey Victorian warehouse near the upmarket intersection of Charlotte Road and Rivington Street. It’s all brick and cream walls, light and airy.
To maximise the hanging space on the ground floor, they’ve split things up with a maze of gallery walls. There’s lots to look at here, in any order you fancy.
You can tell some of the briefs that have been set. Self portraits (often cleverly framed in pairs by the curators). A horse. A meal. People dancing. Subjects as simple as drawing itself.
Each piece is labelled with the artist’s name, age, and which drawing club they belong to.
There’s a long box of sketchbooks (sadly behind glass – I wanted to flick through).
The drawing school is one of Prince Charles‘ not-for-profit organisations. He gets a lot of flack, but Prince Charles is doing something right here. My generation had Tony Hart as our drawing inspiration, and artistic ambition meant sending your best pics off to his Gallery in hope of TV fame. I’m not sure what the kids watch nowadays for art kicks (Art Attack with the ace Neil Buchanon ended in 2007), so it’s great that The Prince’s Drawing Club is continuing Tony Hart’s wholesome, studious approach to this art.
The exhibition makes you excited for the next generation. I particularly like the Drawing Club’s explanation that “drawing skills open doors to careers in the arts, design, architecture, and science”. Yes, science. Drawing makes you think about physics, biology, chemistry and maths, and can lead you down unexpected roads. All the drawings in this show are for sale, and the money goes directly to the artist, allowing these children and teenagers to see a real possibility of making a career from art.
The Drawing School also offers really affordable drawing classes for adults. Someone in my own class there mentioned how hard it is as an adult to draw freely, as children do. So if you’re inspired to take a class, or if you already draw, approach it with something of the free spirit you see here.
And if you know a child with passion and aptitude for drawing, get them involved.
Sketch of Quentin Blake at the Royal Festival Hall by Jenny Robins. All images below copyright Quentin Blake.
As one of the most iconic and respected artists of line drawing the world has ever seen, Quentin Blake is in a unique position to explore the possibilities of what can be done with drawing. And I think drawing is the key word here – as we were guided through examples of work that Blake has produced for galleries, hospitals, building projects and charities. Despite being recontextualised on walls, on giant billboards and awnings there was still no doubt that these were drawings not murals.
Awning to cover up building work at St Pancras Station.
The work originally done on a small scale on paper and then blown up to huge proportions or printed on transparent acetate to be transferred to walls, of course keeps that energy and spontaneity that makes them so very Quentin Blake. In this way he can hang on to his strong identity as an illustrator working in many contexts – providing an example for the exciting possibilities that new technology provides for illustrators – Blake says that illustration has ‘inherited what art used to do’ – to enhance and decorate and communicate informally.
Work for a Maternity Ward
In looking at how his various projects have been matched and created for different medical and mental health locations – Blake also gave insight into both illustrators’ instinct for this kind of informal communication – and into the great therapeutic effects the right picture can have in times of stress and pain. Working primarily with the Nightingale Project which works to place music and pictures into hospitals, Quentin’s artworks can teach us a lot about how people are represented in pictures, and what effect that can have on the viewer, whether well or ill. Here’s what I took from this very interesting and informative talk:
* Authenticity and Spontaneity – although happy and eloquent in his analysis of his hospital work now, Blake was fast to point out that he did not plan them meticulously – several series he said came about by accident – and he almost never uses a visual reference – he makes his characters up as he goes along. He is a lesson to developing illustrators to trust their instincts as this is where your most vibrant work comes from.
Work for an Adult Mental Heath Centre
* Fantasy – for a children’s hospital Blake drew fantastical creatures and creations interacting with sick or injured children and doctors – reframing the problems faced by his viewers in a safe and imaginary setting. This is another thing that illustration excels at – combatting the troubles of reality by providing fantastical parallels.
Work for a Children’s Hospital with The Nightingale Project
* Metaphor – similarly Blake’s illustrations of old people climbing trees and getting up to unrealistic mischief for an elderly care centre, and his pictures of people swimming fully clothed for an adult mental health centre reframed the issues faced by his audience metaphorically. For Gordon Hospital, the swimming characters are clearly going about their business, interacting with swimming fish and animals and getting on with life despite being underwater – a perfect fit for mental health as they show ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances – but coping with them.
Work for an Elderly Care Home
* Reality – In contrast the work produced for an eating disorders unit was totally based in reality. As the people who end up there have enough trouble with fantasy and distortion of facts, Quentin said a parallel universe was not useful here. Instead his characters in these pictures try on dresses, feed pigeons, interact with food but don’t focus on it. As always his characters feel real and identifiable.
Work for Vincent Square Eating Disorder Service.
* Agency – In another series for a maternity ward Blake painted more swimming figures – this time naked mothers and babies. As well as providing a calm and happy scene of what was soon to happen – the meeting of mother and child – these pictures illustrate something which is so important in Quentin Blake’s work – agency. These are naked female figures with their own agenda and their priority is connecting with their babies – in each picture the mother and child make eye contact and seem oblivious of the viewer. Unlike the images of naked women we are so used to both in modern media and classic art, there is no male gaze here at all – like all Blake’s characters they have their own believable life, their own agenda, which ultimately, is much more useful an example for any kind of viewer – much better to hold up a mirror of a full life than a posing subject. I think perhaps this is the real fact of what makes Blake’s work so satisfying. And this immediacy is what good illustration is really capable of.
Written by Jenny Robin on Wednesday February 12th, 2014 12:47 pm
When I open Issue Seven of Wrap, I’m thinking of Princess Clara, Wooldoor Jebediah Sockbat, Foxxy Love, Toot Braunstein and the whole gang. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this wondrous cast of visual mockery, these are characters from animation parody Drawn Together, a TV show which pokes fun at our favourite 2D cartoonies, and also, the name of Wrap’s most recent issue. Wrap‘s Drawn Together puts a beady eye onto collectives, and the highlights of this issue include: Anthony Burrill, Peepshow Collective, Nous Vous, Pictoplasm, Studio Tipi,Print Club London, Hvass&Hannibal and Edition Biografiktion.
‘Are four hands better than two?’ is the question at the nib of the latest installation of this illustration celebration. This “people power” issue not only explores the relationships between happily ever after collectives, but also plays matchmaker to a few of its own new ink-birds. There are some familiar faces here, making me think that the illustration world is pretty incestuous, but the overall effect is inspiring. This isn’t the first time I’ve had my mitts on a copy of the mag, and around Santa-time the Nordic Lights issue was like a security blanket for me; I carried it everywhere. There’s something very tactile and natural about yanking out the pages of a mag and the concept of this little magazine has me completely infatuated.
Ripping a magazine is usually a painful, accidental and clumsy affair, caused by careless turning, or perusing in the tub. Wrap is meant to be ripped. With 5 pull out, reversible pages of double-sided illustration goodness, you can artwork-coat your gifts with this lovely ‘zine. Wrapseems to be everywhere I look these days, having stumbled across it viaSTACK, I’ve also found it hidden in a nook of the Ohh Deer online webshop. What could be better than dressing up your gifts in beautiful outfits before handing them over to your loved one? Undressing presents is half the fun of getting them after all. That and the ‘gift shake’; the little dance move you do when you first grab hold of a present to assess its potential insides.
Wrap is more than just an illustration magazine, it celebrates design and creative culture as a whole. Created by Christopher Harrison and Polly Glass it’s on the way to proving that print hasn’t passed its use-by date. I spoke to co-creator Polly Glass about how the pair got the mag off the ground and what they’re looking for in new contributors.
What did you get up to before Wrap?
Before, and also during the early stages of Wrap, Chris and I both worked as jewellery designers in London for a fashion jewellery company – that’s how we met actually. We worked with a whole host of British brands including Mathew Williamson, Agent Provocateur, Ted Bakerand Cath Kidston which was a great experience, and really helped us to see how bigger designs brands like that function.
Wrapping paper is something many people overlook, has it always been a passion of yours?
I wouldn’t say it quite like that, no – although I do take pleasure in a beautiful wrapped present! For us, the wrapping paper element to Wrap is about it being the best way to show off the fantastic and hugely impressive work of our contributing illustrators, because the sheets are so nice and big. Also, as one of the main purposes of Wrap is to share illustrators work with other people, if our readers can pull out a sheet that has one of their favourite designs on, and use it to wrap up a present for their best friend, then they are carrying on that sharing process.
How did you get the funds to publish the first issue of Wrap?
We funded issue one ourselves through savings – our print run was quite small, and we created a much simpler version of what Wrap is today, which made it relatively affordable to test out as an idea, and see how people would react. Luckily, people seemed to really like the concept of the magazine, and so from there, sales of the magazine have funded all future issues.
How does the financial model of the mag work now? Do you both work on it full-time?
Yes, we both work full time on the magazine, and we also have a team of brilliant freelancers who we couldn’t do without! Wrap is now 80 pages (compared to 24 in issue one!), so it takes a great deal of energy from all involved to make it what it is. Financially, magazine publishing is a hard industry to crack, but essentially the model is to make and sell lots of magazines! At the moment we have very minimal advertising in Wrap, so revenue comes mainly from sales, and we run nearly all the distribution ourselves in order to maximize profit and insure that Wrap is sold to the best shops possible, and ones that really understand what we’re all about. We also work firm sale (meaning they buy the magazines out-right) with our stockists, as this means every magazine that goes out the door has been paid for, which helps to reduce wastage and over-printing.
Wrap uses vegetable based inks and 100% recycled paper, was making the mag environmentally friendly always a priority for you, despite cost?
Whether it’s the magazine, or our range of wrapping papers and prints, we always try to produce things in a considerate and environmentally friendly way – there’s no reason not to really. Printing can be a hugely wasteful industry, so we are very careful to only make things that we really believe in, and we only work with UK printers – a manufacturing industry we’re keen to support and promote.
Issue Six focussed on Nordic lights, and Issue Seven on collaborations, how do you go about picking a theme?
There’s no particular method to our theme selection – really, it’s about delving into a subject or area that we think is interesting and relevant to the field of illustration at the time. We do also of course consider the time of year, so with the Nordic Lights Issue (our Winter 2012 edition) – we thought the idea of ten illustrators from across Scandinavia sharing with our readers their impression of a snowy, Nordic winter would be wonderful! And our new, seventh issue celebrates creative ‘collectives’ and collaborations – a way of working that seems to be growing in popularity and that we wanted to find out more about.
You mentioned that you visited Berlin for research, what’s been your best research trip so far?
Ooooh – we’ve been very lucky to go on a few research trips now. I loved Berlin, and our trip to Helsinki for the last issue was brilliant, if not a bit chilly, but for me, going to spend the day with graphic designer Anthony Burrillin sunny Rye was the best! He gave Harry (our editor) and I a super tour of the coastal town, including visiting ‘Simon the Pieman’ – his favourite cafe, and Adams of Rye – the traditional letterpress printers who he collaborates with to produce his famous posters, including the special one he’s made just for Wrap 7!
I found a beautiful illustrated postcard inside my copy, is this something you’ll be doing in future?
Oh yes, we always try to include something a little special with each issue, like the postcards. Our subscribers all received a set of exclusive patterned stickers by illustrator Ed J Brown (who drew our title typeface in issue 7), with their delivery of issue 7 – we hope they liked them!
Who do you imagine as your typical reader?
From what we’ve seen, our readers can be pretty wide ranging, but typically, they are practicing creative people, and around 70% are women.
Anthony Burrill produced a poster based on the latest issue, is it important for you to make Wrap more than just a magazine? Wrap is about celebrating some of the best and most vibrant artists of the moment, and the more we grow, the more we find exciting ways to do that through the magazine and the Wrapbrand! Last year we worked with four of our favourite illustrators to develop our first range of commercial wrapping papers, and so far this year we’ve worked with Anthony to produce his fantastic poster for Wrap, and the six illustrators in our‘Make a Good Thing Happen’ project to produce a range of 3 limited-edition notebooks. We’ve had lots of fun, and have lots more ideas to work on!
Your latest issue featured a whole host of illustrators, including Nous Vous and Peepshow Collective, how do you go about finding illustrators to work with?
We’re always on the lookout for new illustrators and designers to work with, whether it be through exhibitions, events or twitter and social media channels, but we’re also very lucky to get a lot of people contact us through our submissions email which is great. I suppose the more and more you’re immersed in an industry like illustration, the more you hear about, and know what’s going on. However we also love to go to the summer student shows by universities like Brighton and Kingston – they’re a great place to spot potential new stars.
Do you think that “print is dead”?
This is a question we are often asked! No, I don’t think print is dead – but the industry is obviously changing and evolving, like lots of areas at the moment. I like that it’s actually making people more considerate and careful about what they print, which can only be a good thing.
Louisa Lee: I’ve noticed that you’ve got a fine art background, health how did this develop into illustration?
Zöe Barker: Since I was a kid I wanted to be an artist. I loved drawing the most so it seemed an obvious choice. I headed straight to University onto a Fine Art degree after school. I hadn’t considered anything other than being a painter. University was interesting; realism and portrait painting were not trendy and I struggled for a while with explaining my thoughts and concepts. The ideas that were getting great reactions – dark, patient crude or shocking, information pills whacko performance art – were a bit frustrating and I didn’t know where I fit. I came close to transferring onto an Illustration degree, but decided that Fine Art was a great platform to work out my ideas and style. I began to understand how I wanted to communicate. I am really pleased that I stuck with that decision; during the last year of Art School ideas started forming that are still very much key in my work now. I started drawing in a way that achieved the right balance between craft and concept. When I left University I felt a bit stuck because I hadn’t received the advice or direction that a young illustrator could feed off, and my portfolio was essentially that of a fine artist. I kept getting told that my work wasn’t illustration but ‘real’ art, and I didn’t understand why illustration had to be so dumbed down, or why I had to be one or the other. I then started producing more drawings, giving them more of a purpose. I still felt like I was totally “blagging” it when I went for interviews, and was terrified to show my portfolio. I now have a better awareness of the sort of projects suited to me. It’s really important to not change the core of my art to get more work, but striving at refining and specialising.
LL: Does your fine art background affect how you respond to commissions?
ZB: I hope so. I don’t like the idea that illustration is seen as a commercial cop out, and Fine Art as airy-fairy business. When I was studying fine art I found it so demoralising walking around galleries and studios seeing stuff that didn’t mean anything. People explained their ‘work’ with sweeping intellectual breakdowns. I only really discovered illustration at Uni. I thought illustration was people doing cute little watercolours for kids books, or people who could draw pretending they couldn’t. Then my housemate showed me Charles Anastase fashion illustrations and it changed the way I looked at drawing.
I don’t see why illustration can’t be as weighty and thought provoking as fine art – I wonder whether we aren’t thinking enough of the reader when we use illustration merely to decorate a text. Fine art taught me to think about how I wanted to communicate most efficiently. I am not limited by ways to approach an idea, which helps in handling wider ranges of projects. I prefer to call myself an illustrator because it sounds like a proper job!
LL: Which artists or illustrators influence you?
ZB: Dryden Goodwin has been a huge influence. When I was in university he had produced a portrait of Sir Steve Redgrave. He’d meticulously drawn the same photograph 25 times and then animated it and looped it. All of the images are practically identical, but when animated the variations in the shading become apparent and suggest changes in the light. It’s beautiful; so simple but says so much about the nature of drawing and photography. When I first saw it I was having one of those days of cramming as many exhibitions into one day as I could, getting pretty demoralised by the work that I was seeing. Then I saw Sustained Endeavour and was blown away. I went to see that drawing so many times; when I had been having a bad day, when I need inspiration or reassuring. That sounds so cheesy, but I think that’s what art should be able to do. I have spent hours staring at his drawings, analysing his mark-making, literally breaking down how he uses a pencil. I’m pretty sure the Gallery staff thought I was mental. Justin Mortimer is also a massive influence on me. He’s done everything with paint that I wanted to do but didn’t come close to. Also Gerhard Richter, Chuck Close, Hellovon, and Billie Jean.
LL: Your work manages to make the ordinary e.g. old cars, Tesco, Brylcream funny and interesting. What else inspires or influences your work?
ZB: I think I have a weird sense of humour! I get inspired to draw by lame things that everyone loves, like Coronation Street, or things totally unnecessary or ugly. I like looking at everyday objects/adverts and taking them out of context to show how bizarre they are. Especially stuff from when I was younger that I thought was super cool and then grew up and was like, really? Like Old Spice. You know that men’s fragrance? I’d buy my Grandad that every Christmas and think it was swanky as. I love seeing how time changes your perception. What I choose to draw is just funny, odd, awkward or outdated. I have a large collection of old National Geographics, suitcases of family photographs and other books and magazines from the 60s-80s. I love how excited everyone got about things like Thermos flasks. The sense of wonder you can see in people discovering these crazy ‘modern’ inventions. It seemed way more exciting back then; none of this Iphone, plasma TV, Playstation stuff. I found this advert in my book of modern day marvels describing the “new” ticket machine in the London Underground. It was describing how it ‘thought’ like some modern crazy robot, making sure it gave you the right change every time you used it. All of these things that we make out to be the best thing yet, and then the following year they get trashed for some slightly better update, and before you know it we’re laughing at our massive ‘brick’ phones. It just shows how fickle we are.
I’m probably most inspired by past ideologies; my Parents and Grandparents talk about how they lived when they were kids, and I think we’re missing out! I grew up in Suffolk, and going back there feels like a different time zone. Up until a couple of years ago the beer from the local brewery was still being delivered to the local pubs by a horse and cart. The contrast between the countryside and London living is fascinating; taking old-fashioned ideals of family, community and the local, and then mashing that up against power-dressing and corporate empires. That’s where the Tesco Values drawing came from. Tesco opened in my tiny, sleepy little town where you know every shopkeeper and where Woolworths had once been the peak of the high street shopping experience. It made me angry. And then I laughed at the obscurity of it and made a drawing. I think my drawings are kind of a nostalgic bid to hold onto outlooks on life that seem to be fading. That’s where my fascination with Volvoscomes from. The family car encompasses an ideal of a family unit; safety and practicality over shiny good looks. What does life in England look like when these ideals have disappeared, and have been replaced with slick corporate efficiency and independent living?
LL: Most of your work seems to be in 3H pencil, why is this? Do you ever work in different colours or mediums?
ZB: I think pencils are underrated. I usually use 3H pencils. It’s just such a beautifully simple, honest process and it’s so delicate. I’ve done many drawings where I’ve obsessed over a particular area, and then realised the drawing has got over-worked. I usually bin it. If you start bombarding a pencil drawing with stacks of colour and different texture it loses its gentle and fragile charm. Drawing shouldn’t try to be high tech, showy, glossy, perfect thing, because it goes against everything that’s great about it. I like that it’s a process that everyone can get in on. There’s no mystery to it. You can say so much with a pencil mark because it’s so direct and undiluted. I like things simple and the idea of my equipment costing £3!
LL: I like your pixellated work on graph paper, how did this come about?
ZB: During my degree I lost interest in painting portraits. I wanted to produce intricate paintings. The whole idea of re-mediation and reproduction fascinated me. I was getting really interested in photography and truth of representation theories. In my third year of my degree ahead of my final show, I stayed late in the studio and was sat in front of some painting I had done of a fisherman from an old National Geographic. I had loved the process and the realism of the painting, but was totally unimpressed with the concept of the finished piece. I hated the composition and was in a real state of frustration. So, I pulled it off the stretcher and started cutting it into little squares. I think my friends thought I’d gone a bit mad. But I was on some quest. I had to find a purpose for the work, a question I was trying to answer. That was the last painting I made. I started making drawings from photographs but using abstraction and pixilation, using different layers and materials, trying to understand photography through drawing. The pixel drawings came from the idea that photography had this privileged link with truth and representing the ‘real’, yet was totally flawed – taking old imagery and cropping it awkwardly and distorting it, then locking it behind an envelope window or a piece of tracing paper to show some kind of finality or impenetrable surface. I enjoy trying to push what drawing can do. LL: What would be your ideal brief?
ZB: A hand-drawn billboard campaign for Volvo! My favourite jobs come from working with people who are passionate about what they’re trying to achieve. If I really believe in a project or a vision I’m sold. I’ve loved working for Howies and Bobbin Bicycles because they are clear about what they’re about and won’t compromise. People going against the flow get me excited. Obviously I’d also like to do the artwork for my favourite bands’ new albums and stuff like that, but then I sound like a 16 year old. That’s ok though. I’d love to collaborate with a musician or a band and produce artwork that is as important as the music it’s encasing.
LL: Where will we see your work next?
ZB: I have a couple of collaborations coming up. I’ll be contributing to each of Patrick Fry’s next set of No.Zines. The last three were ace! I’m also starting work for an exhibition with a photographer friend, focussing on ‘Tesco Values’, exploring how technological and cultural advances are affecting rural areas.
Written by Louisa Lee on Wednesday January 27th, 2010 3:35 pm
This year the Jerwood Drawing Prize grows more influential than ever. During his speech at the opening of the exhibition last night art historian Tim Marlow told us that there were a record number of entrants this year: 1, ampoule 779 artists submitted 3, ambulance 354 entries in total. In describing the continuing importance of drawing judge Tim Marlow drew our attention to the new Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts which opens this weekend. It concentrates on Degas‘ relationship with the new disciplines of photography and film as he explored ways of recording movement in ballet 150 years ago. Despite the prevalence of these other mediums today they can never entirely replace the visual discipline of drawing.
Without further ado here’s the work of the winners, order and my favourites from a selection of everything else.
I was drawn to Homage to Anonymous by Gary Lawrence the minute I stepped foot in the gallery. This giant biro drawing is a complex, surreal, fantastic piece of artwork. Gary accepted this years Jerwood Prize turned out in scruffy tracksuit bottoms with a greying beard and described his drawing as ‘a tribute to all the anonymous artists through history who made work but are unrecognised.’ The Essex based artist took a year to create his work of art, which was based on a view of Pothea on the Greek island of Kalymnos, which he visited on holiday. Over time the drawing gradually transmogrified into something far more complex, taking on historical references to town views by other artists across time.
The Cut (details) by Jessie Brennan.
Jessie Brennan‘s five metre long The Cut was inspired by oral histories of the Lea River Navigation Canal, and features a delicate array of found objects piled up in curious arrangements. Scale becomes distorted when you realise the presence of little people at the foot of the drawing.
Nicki Rolls took second prize in the Student Awards for her Sketch, a black and white film that screens against a sketchbook.
A very well deserved first prize went to Kristian Fletcher of the University of West England, who boasts ten years experience in the construction industry. His dimly lit Lake consists of an eery industrial space where hard edged architecture looms over an ominous section of chainlink fence.
Surrealism was a common theme amongst short listed entries. I particularly liked Pattern of Faerie Tales by Iain Andrews, which was stacked up loosely on a table. Giant fish lie on chicken feet tables and maidens sit beneath crepuscular bugs, in scenes inspired by the words of Tolkien.
Adam Bainbridge‘s Interior combines memories with absurd imaginings: tracking the formation of clay ornaments in soft focus.
Gefallener by Johanna Love.
Untitled 2 by Janine Rook.
The abstract patterns of dirt were big news: Johanna Love and Janine Rook traced the minutest amounts of fluff in delicate detail.
Abstract paper layers featured in several artworks. Robert Battams used graph paper to stack patterns inspired by the fragmentations of digital recording.
Kasia Depta-Garapich‘s Organic Structure, Animation Still merges drawing, sculpture and animation in a curious fluttering object of semi-transparent layers.
Simon Leahy-Clark stacked newspaper in random grid formations created around the missing content.
Polly Yatesconsiders herself a weaver of paper: circular cutouts and felt tips create the push and pull of space in Untitled (Folds).
Explosions of colour and pattern will always turn my eye. I loved Imagery Imaginary Volume 1 by Lottie Jackson-Eeles, a concertina-ed sketchbook tracing her journeys through London in glorious colourful detail. Peeks between the pages reveal details such as wind mills and towerblocks. Do take a look at her website: there is some fabulous work on there.
Steven Lowery‘s artwork is a protest agains the mindlessness of celebrity infested tabloids and reality TV, set against a love of improvisational music – the tightly crafted words and images curling in and out of each other in Shepherd’s Fry Up.
Mouth Full of Triangles 4 by Sally Taylor is a clever and curiously amusing piece.
Ground Truth and Deep Grief by Louisa Fairclough are simple watercolour paintings of tents, formed after ritual cycle rides taken along the Severn river at full moon. She sleeps on the ground, at the edge of the river: feeling the pulse of the tides.
Drawing Room by Fran Richardson is a large charcoal artwork, an evocative space of flouncy curtains that invites the viewer inside.
Photorealism in Girl Bag by Kristian Evju cleverly catches the sense of limbo within a narrative.
Reginald Aloysius used pencil and enamel paint to create an eery netherworld, where ancient temples and airplane routes collide.
Fashion meets art. Inspired by memories and moths, Tree (Catocala) by Ash Summers perhaps unwittingly echoes the ikat patterns of the new season’s fabrics.
This year the Jerwood Drawing Prize grows more influential than ever. During his speech at the opening of the exhibition last night art historian Tim Marlow told us that there were a record number of entrants this year: 1, ampoule 779 artists submitted 3, ambulance 354 entries in total. In describing the continuing importance of drawing judge Tim Marlow drew our attention to the new Degas exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts which opens this weekend. It concentrates on Degas‘ relationship with the new disciplines of photography and film as he explored ways of recording movement in ballet 150 years ago. Despite the prevalence of these other mediums today they can never entirely replace the visual discipline of drawing.
Without further ado here’s the work of the winners, order and my favourites from a selection of everything else.
I was drawn to Homage to Anonymous by Gary Lawrence the minute I stepped foot in the gallery. This giant biro drawing is a complex, surreal, fantastic piece of artwork. Gary accepted this years Jerwood Prize turned out in scruffy tracksuit bottoms with a greying beard and described his drawing as ‘a tribute to all the anonymous artists through history who made work but are unrecognised.’ The Essex based artist took a year to create his work of art, which was based on a view of Pothea on the Greek island of Kalymnos, which he visited on holiday. Over time the drawing gradually transmogrified into something far more complex, taking on historical references to town views by other artists across time.
The Cut (details) by Jessie Brennan.
Jessie Brennan‘s five metre long The Cut was inspired by oral histories of the Lea River Navigation Canal, and features a delicate array of found objects piled up in curious arrangements. Scale becomes distorted when you realise the presence of little people at the foot of the drawing.
Nicki Rolls took second prize in the Student Awards for her Sketch, a black and white film that screens against a sketchbook.
A very well deserved first prize went to Kristian Fletcher of the University of West England, who boasts ten years experience in the construction industry. His dimly lit Lake consists of an eery industrial space where hard edged architecture looms over an ominous section of chainlink fence.
Surrealism was a common theme amongst short listed entries. I particularly liked Pattern of Faerie Tales by Iain Andrews, which was stacked up loosely on a table. Giant fish lie on chicken feet tables and maidens sit beneath crepuscular bugs, in scenes inspired by the words of Tolkien.
Adam Bainbridge‘s Interior combines memories with absurd imaginings: tracking the formation of clay ornaments in soft focus.
Gefallener by Johanna Love.
Untitled 2 by Janine Rook.
The abstract patterns of dirt were big news: Johanna Love and Janine Rook traced the minutest amounts of fluff in delicate detail.
Abstract paper layers featured in several artworks. Robert Battams used graph paper to stack patterns inspired by the fragmentations of digital recording.
Kasia Depta-Garapich‘s Organic Structure, Animation Still merges drawing, sculpture and animation in a curious fluttering object of semi-transparent layers.
Simon Leahy-Clark stacked newspaper in random grid formations created around the missing content.
Polly Yatesconsiders herself a weaver of paper: circular cutouts and felt tips create the push and pull of space in Untitled (Folds).
Explosions of colour and pattern will always turn my eye. I loved Imagery Imaginary Volume 1 by Lottie Jackson-Eeles, a concertina-ed sketchbook tracing her journeys through London in glorious colourful detail. Peeks between the pages reveal details such as wind mills and towerblocks. Do take a look at her website: there is some fabulous work on there.
Steven Lowery‘s artwork is a protest agains the mindlessness of celebrity infested tabloids and reality TV, set against a love of improvisational music – the tightly crafted words and images curling in and out of each other in Shepherd’s Fry Up.
Mouth Full of Triangles 4 by Sally Taylor is a clever and curiously amusing piece.
Ground Truth and Deep Grief by Louisa Fairclough are simple watercolour paintings of tents, formed after ritual cycle rides taken along the Severn river at full moon. She sleeps on the ground, at the edge of the river: feeling the pulse of the tides.
Drawing Room by Fran Richardson is a large charcoal artwork, an evocative space of flouncy curtains that invites the viewer inside.
Photorealism in Girl Bag by Kristian Evju cleverly catches the sense of limbo within a narrative.
Reginald Aloysius used pencil and enamel paint to create an eery netherworld, where ancient temples and airplane routes collide.
Fashion meets art. Inspired by memories and moths, Tree (Catocala) by Ash Summers perhaps unwittingly echoes the ikat patterns of the new season’s fabrics.
A selection of
The Barbican towards The Bank of England. It was enjoyable to be part of such a good natured crowd and it was fun to watch all the shop owners standing outside their establishments, watching with fascination at the colourful carnival proceeding past them.
Forests and Climate Change: an Amazonian Perspective for Copenhagen
