Amelia’s Magazine | Shelter Up My Street Art Auction: Our House, an Amelia’s Magazine Collaboration

Our House up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine final
Our House, a collaborative artwork by Amelia’s Magazine created in aid of the Up My Street campaign by Shelter.

A few years ago I held an open brief to put together a piece of art on the theme of a House of Cards, which was sold at auction in aid of Shelter in the company of such luminaries as Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen (RIP) and Vivienne Westwood. The Shelter Card Quilt included interpretations of the Two of Hearts by 54 illustrators and artists, including some who became regular contributors to Amelia’s Magazine and went on to feature in my books. The final artwork sold for £2,200 to a mystery bidder, so we were thrilled to raise so much money for a good cause.

emma block up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Close up of room by Emma Block.

This month Shelter once again hosts an exhibition of artwork themed around the concept of Up My Street, currently showing at the Coningsby Gallery. With my baby due mere weeks away I decided that instead of an open brief I would commission some of the wonderful illustrators who I have worked with regularly over the past few years, and who have featured in my books, Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration and Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Thereza Rowe up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Close up of room by Thereza Rowe.

It’s fitting that I first worked with two of those illustrators, Lesley Barnes and Thereza Rowe, when they entered the House of Cards open brief back in 2009, and it’s fantastic to see how much their confidence and careers have developed since then.

Lesley Barnes roof up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Lesley Barnes attic up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Lesley Barnes front door up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Close up of roof, attic and front door by Lesley Barnes.

To represent the idea of an emotional connection to a secure home environment I settled on the idea of creating a house full of rooms, each of which features the individual illustrator’s interpretation of happiness and security. I wanted to include a broad spectrum of ways in which people are happy today, whether singly or together, and at whatever age that might be: so there’s the family with grandparents by Emma Block, a single mother with her baby by Yelena Bryksenkova, a children’s party by Natsuki Otani, and an older lady enjoying a luxuriant bathtime by Antonia Parker, to name a few of the scenarios. I worked closely with Lesley Barnes to create the body of the house, including the attic, roof and doorway, and then each of the other illustrators worked on their own room. I hope the final artwork, Our House, embodies feelings of comfort, security and happiness in the home.

Natsuki_Otani up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Close up of room by Natsuki Otani.

There will be a silent auction held tonight at the private view at the Coningsby Gallery, so I popped in earlier today to check out the other artworks.

Shelter Up My Street Our House exhibition
Bidders will be spoilt for choice for once again we are in very good company: there is original art to bid for by top artists such as Julian Opie, Grayson Perry, Anthony Gormley, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Giles Deacon, Bob and Roberta Smith and Miles Aldridge. We are delighted that our image has been used on the Shelter website and took pride of place in the Metro newspaper!

yelena bryksenkova_up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Close up of room by Yelena Bryksenkova.

I am extremely grateful to the illustrators who got so enthusiastically involved with this project, and to Richard Penny at Ripe Digital for so kindly printing the final high quality A1 giclee print. I hope that Our House resonates with someone, and that once again it will sell for a princely sum – all the proceeds of which will go to support the important work of Shelter.

Antonia Parker up my street shelter Amelia's Magazine
Close up of room by Antonia Parker.

The contributing illustrators have been blogging about Our House too. Here’s some links to their websites:
Emma Block introduces the grandparents who inspired her piece.
Lesley Barnes describes how she put her architectural skills to work.
Thereza Rowe shows off her room, with one man and his dogs.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Amelia’s Magazine, ,Anthony Gormley, ,Antonia Parker, ,art, ,auction, ,Bob and Roberta Smith, ,charity, ,Coningsby Gallery, ,Emma Block, ,exhibition, ,Giles Deacon, ,Grayson Perry, ,House of Cards, ,Jake and Dinos Chapman, ,Julian Opie, ,Lesley Barnes, ,Metro, ,Miles Aldridge, ,Natsuki Otani, ,Our House, ,Richard Penny, ,Ripe Digital, ,shelter, ,Thereza Rowe, ,Up My Street, ,Yelena Bryksenkova

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Art Fair 2013 Review: 12 Top Picks

London Art Fair 2013 LED art
The London Art Fair hosts a bewildering variety of artist talent under one roof at the Business Design Centre. From the banal (the LED artwork above, almost identical to a gadget in the baby sensory room at my local Sure Start centre) to the dreadful (oh god, bad painting) to the sublime (pretty much anything below) to the derivative (copycat Damian Hirst Skulls-R-Us) – you can expect to find it all here. I negotiated the thronging crowds at the 2013 London Art Fair with boyfriend and baby in tow – here are my most interesting discoveries.

London Art Fair sarah woodfine
At Danielle Arnaud Sarah Woodfine had constructed an installation from MDF and cardboard. Like many of the artists that catch my eye these days she ‘explores the imaginary worlds that border the familiar and the fantastical.’ Fine pencil drawings decorate 3D shapes reminiscent of vessels.

London Art Fair 2013 Klari Reis Hypochondria installation
Klari Reis (showing with Cynthia Corbett) hails from San Francisco, where she creates wall installations from colourful epoxy polymers. Her current Hypochondria series features patterned groupings of petri dishes that appeal to my love of all things bright.

London Art Fair 2013 Nadav Kander Bodies
It was great to see one of Nadav Kander‘s Bodies photographs up close: an un-airbrushed version of the feminine that proves you can be true to reality and still utterly beautiful. You can see the whole series in his current exhibition, listing here.

London Art Fair Chris Wood
Installation artist Chris Wood works with glass and light to create enchanting works of art that caught my eye last year and again this time around.

London Art Fair 2013 Sweettoof
London Art Fair 2013 Sweettoof
I have only ever encountered Sweet Toof artworks on the walls around East London but like most contemporary street artists he also creates pieces with the fine art world in mind. His Dark Horse series features a host of scurrilous street scenes, skeletons jousting with gummy grins. His website explains that he ‘masterfully blends urban detritus with bygone decadence,’ and the results call to mind works by Jake and Dinos Chapman, especially their cheerful defamation of prized Goya drawings.

London Art Fair 2013 Ye Hongxing Scream Fine Art Utopia
I first saw works by Chinese artist Ye Hongxing at Scream late last year and was immediately drawn in by her kaleidoscopic use of kitsch stickers, used in their thousands to create Modern Utopian landscapes featuring wild animals (such as the zebra in this detail). Her work is a reaction to the swift changes taking place in Chinese culture.

London Art Fair Butch Anthony
Alabama based folk artist Butch Anthony has tapped into our love of all things skeletal; layering his own doodles on top of junk shop finds. You can see more of Butch Anthony‘s work at his new show, Intertwangleism, opening February 8th at Black Rat. ‘Intertwangleism is how I look at people and break them down to the primordial beginnings,’ explains Butch Anthony, who also hosts Doo-Nanny, his very own annual outsider folk art festival. Watch this video to find out more about the intriguing Butch Anthony.

London Art Fair 2013 Yellow Pollen by Simon Allen
The sculptor Simon Allen creates carved, polished, pigmented forms that appeal to all my tactile senses. His pollen series was featured alongside equally captivating carved metallic wooden forms.

London Art Fair 2013 Mel Bochner words
London Art Fair Mel Bochner
We recently visited the Mel Bochner exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, so I am familiar with his large scale typographic works. At the London Art Fair his tactile paintings featured extraordinary mounds of screen printed paint. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the pornographic words.

London Art Fair Shane Bradford
I profiled Shane Bradford many years ago in the print version of Amelia’s Magazine: assorted objects dipped until they are heavily encrusted with glossy paint take on new symbolism and meaning.

London Art Fair Jealous Gallery Adam Dix
I listed Adam Dix‘s 2012 exhibition Programming Myth, which inspired these gorgeous gold leafed screen prints for Jealous Gallery. The images marry old fashioned imagery and a modern day fascination with technology.

London Art Fair Susie Macmurray
Susie Macmurray‘s huge installation bulged from the wall like an overgrown carbuncular growth, unapologetic in it’s vulgarity. A former classical musician, she is well known for her use of unconventional materials such as cling film.

And there you have it: my best bits from this year’s London Art Fair. To see my fave images as I see them follow me on instagram @ameliagregory.

Categories ,2013, ,Adam Dix, ,Alabama, ,art, ,Baby Sensory, ,Black Rat, ,Bodies, ,Business Design Centre, ,Butch Anthony, ,Chinese, ,Chris Wood, ,Cynthia Corbett Gallery, ,Damian Hirst, ,Danielle Arnaud, ,Dark Horse, ,Doo-Nanny, ,East London, ,Folk Art, ,Goya, ,Hypochondria, ,instagram, ,Intertwangleism, ,Islington, ,Jake and Dinos Chapman, ,Jealous Gallery, ,Klari Reis, ,LED, ,London Art Fair, ,Mel Bochner, ,Modern Utopia, ,Nadav Kander, ,Petri dishes, ,Programming Myth, ,review, ,San Francisco, ,Sarah Woodfine, ,Scream, ,Screenprints, ,sculpture, ,Shane Bradford, ,Simon Allen, ,street art, ,Sure Start, ,Susie Macmurray, ,Sweet Toof, ,Whitechapel Gallery, ,Ye Hongxing

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