Amelia’s Magazine | London Art Fair 2015: Review

London Art Fair 2015 review_Amelia_Gregory
After some years attending the London Art Fair I have a fair idea of where to find the artists that will catch my eye. Here’s what I loved at this January’s show, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

John Stark-The Division of Labour
John Stark: The Division of Labour. This eery tableaux features beekeepers poring ominously over their hives.

Tom Butler
Also at Charlie Smith, Tom Butler once again showed that the trend for doctoring the faces of old photographs continues.

Jamie Taylor at John Martin gallery
Jamie Taylor at John Martin Gallery has also been messing with faces, this time pixelating his painted version of an old portrait.

Matt Smith at Ink_D Gallery
At Ink_D Gallery artist Matt Smith chose to deface the features on a tapestry. Myself and others clearly find this style oddly appealing; I wonder why? It seems to me a reference to the way the past is all eventually obliterated. The subjects of these works must have meant something to someone at some time, but we are swamped in a sea of memories that means nothing to anyone anymore.

Katharine Morling
I am more used to seeing porcelain sculpture by Katharine Morling in the Whitechapel Hospital, here she was showing with Long & Ryle.

London Babel by Emily Allchurch
London Babel by Emily Allchurch was selling well as a light box display. This powerful piece shows a future dystopia inspired by Brueghel’s Tower of Babel.

Bird Tree by Simone lia
Bird Tree is the newest screen print from Simone Lia, on display with Jealous Gallery.

Paul Scotts Cumbrian Blues-Palestine, Gaza
Paul Scott turns traditional ceramics practice on its head with his Cumbrian Blues series. This Palestine, Gaza plate sets the destruction of war against a traditional pattern.

Dawn by Juliane Hundertmark
This strange figurative work is called Dawn, by Berlin based artist Juliane Hundertmark.

Jane Ward at bearspace
Jane Ward at Bearspace Gallery specialises in super detailed digital collage landscapes, combining the urban and the natural in a dreamlike manner.

Guy Allot - Alien III at Grey Area Paris
Gary Allott - UFOs at GreyArea Paris
Guy Allott- Barricade
I am really taken with the surreal works of Guy Allott, who was showing with Grey Area Paris.

Mark Thompson
There was no title with this painting of a spooky house in a wintery landscape, but fortunately an artist friend on instagram was able to inform me that it is most probably by Mark Thompson.

Heather Nevay- Last Days in the Dollhouse
Heather Nevay: Last Days in the Dollhouse. This Glasgow based artist produces extraordinarily strange vignettes inspired by the memories and dreams incapsulated in dolls.

Roland Corbin- Iona
I am a sucker for an evocative natural landscape and I love the way that Roland Corbin has captured the splendour of rock formations on the islands of Iona.

Geoff Diego Litherland- Spaceship Earth
Geoff Diego Litherland creates an eery fantasy world in Spaceship Earth, showing at Antlers Gallery.

Photos of soviet monoliths at breese little
I love these photos of brutalist Soviet monoliths by Jan Kempenaers at Breese Little.

Adam Dix
Follow (kneeler) by Adam Dix
I am always a massive fan of Adam Dix, who was showing with The Contemporary London. I love the use of tapestry to make this footstool, titled Follow (kneeler).

Anaemic Archives by Christos Venetis
Finally, Anaemic Archives by Christos Venetis is a series of delicate pencil drawings on old book covers. An engaging installation tucked away at TinT Gallery.

Categories ,2015, ,Adam Dix, ,Anaemic Archives, ,Antlers Gallery, ,Bearspace Gallery, ,Bird Tree, ,Breese Little, ,Business Design Centre, ,Charlie Smith, ,Christos Venetis, ,Cumbrian Blues, ,Dawn, ,Emily Allchurch, ,Follow (kneeler), ,Geoff Diego Litherland, ,Grey Area Paris, ,Guy Allott, ,Heather Nevay, ,Ink_D gallery, ,Iona, ,Jamie Taylor, ,Jan Kempenaers, ,Jane Ward, ,Jealous Gallery, ,John Martin Gallery, ,John Stark, ,Juliane Hundertmark, ,Katharine Morling, ,Last Days in the Dollhouse, ,London Art Fair, ,London Babel, ,Long & Ryle, ,Mark Thompson, ,Matt Smith, ,Palestine Gaza, ,Paul Scott, ,Roland Corbin, ,Simone Lia, ,Spaceship Earth, ,The Contemporary London, ,The Division of Labour, ,TinT Gallery, ,Tom Butler, ,Tower of Babel

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Amelia’s Magazine | Meet Grande Dame: Special Guest Featured Artist from That Which We Do Not Understand

Amelias_Magazine_TWWDNU_Grande_Dame_Saint_AgathaAmelias_Magazine_TWWDNU_Grande_Dame_Saint_Agatha
Tiff McGinnis, aka Grande Dame, is a highly collectible multi-disciplinary artist who is currently hosting My Voodoo On You, a spectacular solo show at the Ink_D gallery in Brighton. I have been working with Tiff since issue one of Amelia’s Magazine 10 years ago so I am really happy to announce that she has donated a one off silk screen print, featuring loads of 24 carat gold leaf and hand coloured with flouro acrylic paint. Saint Agatha is the Patron Saint of Breast Cancer Patients, Rape Survivors, Bell Ringers, Bakers, Jewellers, Martyrs, Wet Nurses, Fire and Volcanic Eruptions, and is depicted carrying her breasts on a tray because they were cut off when she refused the advances of a high ranking magistrate. Tiff was drawn to this subject because “I went to Catholic school for 12 years and have always been intrigued by religious iconography. Later my mother introduced me to Saint prayers, which are really a kind of personal voodoo for when you want or need something… Although I am not religious, I believe in the power of concentration and visualisation.

Grande Dame_My Voodoo On You portrait
What in particular drew you to Saint Agatha as the subject of your artwork?
I have been fascinated with Saints for sometime now. I went to Catholic school for 12 years, but other than St Francis of Assisi, we didn’t learn about them really. A few years ago my mom turned me on to the power of Saints through prayer. I don’t believe in God and absolutely detest organised religion. But we have this kind of game really. Say you want something, like when I was waiting to hear about my flat. We looked up who the Patron Saint of Home was. It was Saint Joseph. So for 3 weeks, or until I heard back from the landlord, I just chanted his name over and over and concentrated on the flat until I got it. I think my mom does Hail Marys, or some other prayer, but I just repeat their name and focus on what it is I want. I did it the other day when I heard a friend was ill and found the saint for her illness, repeated their name and by the end of the day she was better! Is it coincidence? Or is it power of concentration or positive thought or cosmic ordering? Who knows? But I use it a lot in my life. And I swear it always works!

I was drawn particularly to Agatha, as her story was so bizarre and gory. Many depictions are of her carrying her breasts on a tray, all though some passages have said that Saint Peter came to her and her breasts came back as bells or milk jugs. I have been researching saints for sometime now for a project I want to do and the odd thing is most women Saints were slaughtered and the men were just monks who died of old age… Funny that…

Grande Dame_My Voodoo On You 3
How was she created?
I drew her in the Flash animation program which I use for all my sketching. Then the black, red and 24 carat gold leaf was silk screened and I hand painted the rest.

Grande Dame_My Voodoo On You 2
You are currently hosting a spectacularly successful solo show, what has been the highlight of the exhibition so far?
The Private View night was amazing! Over 100 people showed up! I was really shocked. I didn’t expect that many people to come, as I don’t know a lot of people in Brighton. But friends came from Hastings, London, Somerset, from all over! It was brilliant! Also yesterday I gave a 2 hour talk on my career and how I ended up being an artist. It was kind of like a live therapy session! Ha! But it was cool to explain to people how I work and how I got to where I am. They seemed to enjoy it too! So yay! Result!

Grande Dame_My Voodoo On You 5
How long have you been working towards the show and what has been the best and worst parts of being so absorbed in My Voodoo On You for such a long period of time?
It’s been a 5 year project in the making. Wrote the album in 2009. Recorded it in 2010. Animated in 2011, 12 and 13. And spent much of 2014 doing all the art for it. The best part of being absorbed? Hmm… Well my mother always said “keeping busy is the key to happiness“… So I suppose just being focused on this project has been beneficial to my mental state. Although there have been times where I questioned myself as to why was I doing it and was it a waste of my life… The worst parts have been – money. Not having much or any, or worrying where I will get more to finish everything… And the few days before the show opened was so stressful. I worked myself into a right state. In fact the night before the PV I honestly thought I was having a stroke! But all in all – it was worth it! The good & bad!

Grande Dame_My Voodoo On You 4
What is the best thing about merging so many different methods of creativity?
Hmm… There isn’t a best thing really. It’s just how I work. I am a story teller who uses music, moving image and art to convey the meaning of the story… It all goes hand in hand. I would never hire anyone else to make my videos or do my record covers. I have to tell my own story. Also I am a control freak. Ha!

Grande Dame_My Voodoo On You 1
How do you manage to juggle all the various elements of your art making?
It’s not that hard really. Computers allow us to be are own industries. I have to really be in the zone to make music and honestly haven’t recorded anything since I did the album in 2010. Having said that, I’m always writing things & storyboarding ideas in my head. As far as the art side of things. Again – the initial design is done in Flash on the computer so it’s not too difficult to manage. Plus it’s nice to step away from my desk and do a bit of panting or embroidery, or gilding etc…

Grande Dame_My Voodoo on You cushions
You currently live in Hastings – what are the best places to hang out if you are a creative living on the South Coast?
My flat! Ha! I don’t really hang out too much to be honest. This year especially, I just haven’t had the time. But there is a great music and arts scene here. The Royal Standard is great for live bands, and there are always cool warehouse parties happening at artist studios…

Grande Dame terry de haviland couture
What can we look forward to from Grande Dame in 2015?
More art most definitely! I really would like to bang out another animation for this project that I started ages ago. Then it will totally be behind me. And also loads of photographs from my exotic, tropical holiday that I am hoping to go on at some point this year!

You can read what Tiff has to say about her involvement in my book here and pledge for her outrageously wonderful one off artwork on my Kickstarter campaign page here. She receives 50% of profits.

Categories ,art, ,Catholic, ,Exclusive, ,Flash, ,Gold Leaf, ,Grande Dame, ,Hail Marys, ,Hastings, ,illustration, ,Ink_D gallery, ,interview, ,My Voodoo On You, ,Saint Agatha, ,That Which We Do Not Understand, ,The Royal Standard

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