Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2010 Catwalk Review: Betty Jackson

pierre garroudi – lfw – ss11 – sketch crowd – jenny robins
Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Turns out London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike and is thoroughly recommended when hot tailing it between various Bloomsbury venues, doctor as inevitably shows fall within minutes of each other. Actually I throughly recommend traveling around London by bike, one word of warning; once started it becomes increasingly difficult to pour yourself onto the tube. Anyway, I digress from FASHION and within Amelia’s Magazine archive there are posts dedicated to the joys of cycling. In fact why not read Amelia’s interview with Bobbin Bicycles?

But returning to day two of London Fashion Week, in which Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I met super early outside My Beautiful Fashion for Bernard Chandran before hot-peddling it to Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection in the elegant settings of the Portico Rooms.

After dashing back up to Covent Garden via the trusty bike to collect the YSL manifesto, I easily returned to Somerset House in time for my 1pm appointment with Betty Jackson. For reasons I can’t put my finger on, I am strangely intrigued about Betty Jackson.

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

A long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer name I am familiar with, but whose work I know incredibly little about. It appears I was the only one to be so clueless, as the tent was packed to the rafters and as the lights dimmed, and the runway cover was removed, the usual dash to seat the VIP’s caused a mini-pile up as people jumped into their alloted positions or squeezed into any available gap.

After the door scrum was settled and the late comers quietly ushered in, the audience are plunged into darkness, as the first model arrives on the catwalk. A strange hush descends upon the crowd, the chattering murmur of minutes before is replaced by scribbling pens, tapping on phones and the constant wizz of a camera’s flash.

It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer Collections, especially when designers’ tempt you with beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.

Betty Jackson’s S/S 2011 was beautiful simplicity in her presentation of updated 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which were most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love.”

Illustration by Gemma Randall

Luckily after being lulled into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Betty Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before returning the collection to soft muted browns, delectably realised in the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall.

During shows, one occasionally glances around the room – fashion shows are a great place to watch peoples’ expressions – perhaps to see how the collection is going down or to try and catch a glimpse of the outfits from various angles. In the course of watching a model stalk up to the photographers pit, I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking, it has to be said completely unperturbed) by the door.

Illustration by Gemma Randall

A luxurious collection, the shapes were well made in their simplicity and the designer maintained the crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of lengthy cut black garments. Mind you, it appears all designers suffer slightly from an obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it! As showcased in our extremely popular (and excellent) coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here by Amelia Gregory and Matt Bramford.

Categories ,Betty Jackson, ,BFC, ,Charlie le Mindu, ,Edge of Love, ,Flesh, ,Jennifer Saunders, ,Jo Wood, ,Land Girls, ,London Fashion Week, ,Spring Summer, ,SS 11, ,Tracey Emin

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2010 Catwalk Review: Betty Jackson

pierre garroudi – lfw – ss11 – sketch crowd – jenny robins
Illustration by Lesley Barnes

Turns out London Fashion Week is a breeze by bike and is thoroughly recommended when hot tailing it between various Bloomsbury venues, doctor as inevitably shows fall within minutes of each other. Actually I throughly recommend traveling around London by bike, one word of warning; once started it becomes increasingly difficult to pour yourself onto the tube. Anyway, I digress from FASHION and within Amelia’s Magazine archive there are posts dedicated to the joys of cycling. In fact why not read Amelia’s interview with Bobbin Bicycles?

But returning to day two of London Fashion Week, in which Fashion Editor Matt Bramford and I met super early outside My Beautiful Fashion for Bernard Chandran before hot-peddling it to Craig Lawrence’s beautiful collection in the elegant settings of the Portico Rooms.

After dashing back up to Covent Garden via the trusty bike to collect the YSL manifesto, I easily returned to Somerset House in time for my 1pm appointment with Betty Jackson. For reasons I can’t put my finger on, I am strangely intrigued about Betty Jackson.

Illustration by Lesley Barnes

A long standing figure on the London Fashion Week on schedule, this is a designer name I am familiar with, but whose work I know incredibly little about. It appears I was the only one to be so clueless, as the tent was packed to the rafters and as the lights dimmed, and the runway cover was removed, the usual dash to seat the VIP’s caused a mini-pile up as people jumped into their alloted positions or squeezed into any available gap.

After the door scrum was settled and the late comers quietly ushered in, the audience are plunged into darkness, as the first model arrives on the catwalk. A strange hush descends upon the crowd, the chattering murmur of minutes before is replaced by scribbling pens, tapping on phones and the constant wizz of a camera’s flash.

It is -especially on a cold London September day- easy to forget you are watching Spring Summer Collections, especially when designers’ tempt you with beautifully thick knits and wool infused trousers.

Betty Jackson’s S/S 2011 was beautiful simplicity in her presentation of updated 1940′s land girl outfits, the essence of which were most recently seen on Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller in the Dylan Thomas Biopic “The Edge of Love.”

Illustration by Gemma Randall

Luckily after being lulled into a gentle consideration of how warm those knit would be. Betty Jackson threw a curve ball with the appearance of a swimsuit and blouse adorned with club tropicana prints before returning the collection to soft muted browns, delectably realised in the above jumpsuit illustrated by Gemma Randall.

During shows, one occasionally glances around the room – fashion shows are a great place to watch peoples’ expressions – perhaps to see how the collection is going down or to try and catch a glimpse of the outfits from various angles. In the course of watching a model stalk up to the photographers pit, I noticed a very beautiful Jo Wood standing (looking, it has to be said completely unperturbed) by the door.

Illustration by Gemma Randall

A luxurious collection, the shapes were well made in their simplicity and the designer maintained the crowds attention with the occasional loud print or teeny tiny swimming costumes, interdispersed within sophisticated summer glamour of lengthy cut black garments. Mind you, it appears all designers suffer slightly from an obsession with lots of flesh (mainly leg) and teeny tiny shorts? They LOVE it! As showcased in our extremely popular (and excellent) coverage of Charlie Le Mindu seen here and here by Amelia Gregory and Matt Bramford.

Categories ,Betty Jackson, ,BFC, ,Charlie le Mindu, ,Edge of Love, ,Flesh, ,Jennifer Saunders, ,Jo Wood, ,Land Girls, ,London Fashion Week, ,Spring Summer, ,SS 11, ,Tracey Emin

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Amelia’s Magazine | Frieze Art Fair 2011: Exhibition Review

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-salon-94
Salon 94 at Frieze Art Fair 2011.

It shouldn’t really be possible to deduce trends in the art world, approved should it? Yet that is exactly what I was able to do at Frieze Art Fair. By housing a spectacular array of galleries all alongside each other in vast tents, dosage some with work by the same artist shown on different continents, medicine the sameness of much art is highlighted. And I say trends because none of these similarities can really be named a movement, not when the artists are flung so far and wide that they can have no possible involvement with each other than a fleeting knowledge gleaned from the media or touring art shows.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Amelia
This year the biggest trends seemed to follow only a couple of themes.. deducible even as I zipped around the fair in a matter of hours. I must admit that I make judgements on what I like within milliseconds at such events, so by default most of the art that I picked up on were things that spoke to me (and not always for a good reason).

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Dominique-Gonzalez-Foerster
After by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review From the River-Christina-Mackie
From the River by Christina Mackie at Herald St.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Map of Truths and Beliefs by Grayson-Perry
Map of Truths and Beliefs by Grayson Perry.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Isa-Genzken
Isa Genzken.

Neon letter artwork and giant typography in general are popular (Tracey Emin, hello), as are craft inspired pieces that pile together assortments of materials to create something that often looks similar to a school art project. Add to this ceramics, tapestry (Grayson Perry, you have a lot to answer for, and I love you) and old toys, and the potential to create something exciting becomes seriously viable – though that line between primary school art project and stroke of genius is often hard to distinguish.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-David-Altmejd
David Altmejd at Andrea Rosen Gallery.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Ramiken Crucible by Andra-Ursuta
Ramiken Crucible by Andra Ursuta.

This trend sometimes crosses over with a very strong theme that says a lot about the spiritual deficit of our current lives: curious creations that bear significant reference to tribal deities and animist beliefs but also often with strong links to our present lives. Think crystallised heads on sticks, strange shaped skulls with flapping teeth, a flattened woman who looks like she’s just been removed from a peat bog: her body glistens with a jelly like substance, yet she wears trainers.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Joy-by-Tomoaki-Suzuki
Joy by Tomoaki Suzuki.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Elmgreen-and-Dragset
Elmgreen and Dragset.

In opposition to this present day esotericism I also found realistic figures in banal situations, often in miniature size. Or play dead, high heels and Blackberry at the feet or a morgue trolley. Ring a bell, Ron Mueck?

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Doppelganger-(Blue)-Peter-Liversidge
Doppelganger (Blue) by Peter Liversidge.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Gert-and-Uwe-Tobias Contemporary Fine Arts Berlin
Gert and Uwe Tobias at Contemporary Fine Arts Berlin.

Odd arrangements of objet trouvé on shelves have never been more popular. As ever I was also attracted to all the colourful decorative paintings. Aesthetically pleasing, and close in many ways to illustration.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Pierre-Huyghe-Recollection
Pierre Huyghe: Recollection.

And then of course there was the hermit crab in Pierre Huyghe‘s Recollection. That funny creature in a darkened room, benignly going about his own business in a small tank with only smaller creatures for friends. He bears a sculpted head on his back ( a replica of Brancussi’s Sleeping Muse) as he is coo-ed over by the moneyed hordes, marvelling at out total dominion over nature. But maybe the last laugh is on us? For what cares the hermit crab where he makes his bed.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-378
Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-378
Colourful art world characters.

In the past I have been put off attending Frieze Art Fair by what I have heard about the experience. And it was, indeed, a bizarre one. Whilst the plethora of artwork on display undoubtedly provides loads of inspiration, I think a whistle stop tour is necessary to weed out all the dross (of which there is much) and retain a modicum of sanity. But the event undeniably left a curiously icky feeling inside: I’ve never seen so many rich people in one place, and Frieze stank of serious wealth. Ridiculous, unnecessary wealth, of the kind that sucks the lifeblood out of whole nations and forces us to reevaluate our connection the universe. Do you sense the irony? We all know that art is a huge commodity in our money obsessed times, but here it is laid bare for all to see… and it’s disheartening to realise just how much the art world relies on the buying and selling powers of the mega rich to survive. Surely art is about more than this?

Frieze Art Fair continues until Sunday 16th October – you can visit the Sculpture Park for free, more details here.

Categories ,Andra Ursuta, ,Andrea Rosen Gallery, ,Animist, ,berlin, ,Brancussi, ,Christina Mackie, ,Contemporary Fine Arts, ,craft, ,David Altmejd, ,Deities, ,Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, ,Doppelganger (Blue), ,Elmgreen and Dragset, ,Frieze Art Fair, ,Gert and Uwe Tobias, ,Grayson Perry, ,Herald St, ,Hermit Crab, ,Isa Genzken, ,Joy, ,Magic, ,Neon, ,Objet Trouvé, ,Peter Liversidge, ,Pierre Huyghe, ,Pottery, ,Recollection, ,Ron Mueck, ,Salon 94, ,School Art Project, ,Sleeping Muse, ,spiritual, ,Tapestry, ,Tomoaki Suzuki, ,Tracey Emin, ,typography

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Amelia’s Magazine | Frieze Art Fair 2011 Trends: Neon Signs and Typography

Doug-Aitken
Now (#2 mirror) by Doug Aitken

Now for the first in my round up of trends from Frieze Art Fair 2011: my pick of neon sign writing and typographic treats. Make what you will of the words that have been chosen for pride of place in these artworks…

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Jack-Pierson
Jack Pierson

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Dominique-Gonzalez-Foerster
After by Dominque Gonzalez-Foerster

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-All-You-Can-Eat-by-Farhad-Moshiri
All You Can Eat by Farhad Moshiri

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Jung-Lee-at-One-and-J.-Gallery
Jung Lee at One and J. Gallery, there Seoul.

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Warm-Broad-Glow-II-by-Glenn-Ligon-2
Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Warm-Broad-Glow-II-by-Glenn-Ligon-2
Warm Broad Glow II (this read negro sunshine in full) by Glenn Ligon

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-tracey-emin
You made ME LOVE You by Tracey Emin

Frieze-Art-Fair-2011-review-Jason-Rhoades
Hairy Beaver; Glory Road 2003 by Jason Rhoades

Categories ,2011, ,After, ,All You Can Eat, ,Dominque Gonzalez-Foerster, ,Doug Aitken, ,Farhad Moshiri, ,Frieze Art Fair, ,Glenn Ligon, ,Hairy Beaver; Glory Road 2003, ,Jack Pierson, ,Jason Rhoades, ,Jung Lee, ,Letters, ,Neon, ,Now (#2 mirror), ,One and J. Gallery, ,review, ,Seoul, ,Tracey Emin, ,trend, ,typography, ,Warm Broad Glow II, ,You made ME LOVE You

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Amelia’s Magazine | Exhibition: 400 Women at Shoreditch Town Hall

Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photography by Eva Edsjö.

http://www.alisonday.nl

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, page dosage I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, sale tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow musicians doing their own soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ exclaims Anna as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together.’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’. Anna sings:‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston http://www.flickr.com/james_ormiston/

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. You mean the music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are an expression of herself, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have missed it.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November here. The new album, Golden Sea, is out now on Bella Union.

Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photography by Eva Edsjö.

http://www.alisonday.nl

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, buy I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow musicians doing their own soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ exclaims Anna as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together.’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’. Anna sings:‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston http://www.flickr.com/james_ormiston/

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. You mean the music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are an expression of herself, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have missed it.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November here. The new album, Golden Sea, is out now on Bella Union.

Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, troche I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing their own soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ exclaims Anna as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together.’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’. Anna sings:‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. You mean the music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are an expression of herself, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have missed it.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, ambulance I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, look tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, medical I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, page I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, doctor tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, price I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, physician I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, visit web I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, more about I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, information pills tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, price the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.

Rosa Virginia Hernández Caro (31), no rx by Sadie Lee

A new exhibition in the basement of Shoreditch Town Hall aims to highlight the brutal murders of over 400 women in the Mexican town Ciudad Juarez. A range of artists have been brought together over five years by Tamsyn Challenger, pills an artist herself, who was inspired to take action after a visit to the region.

So far 175 artists have contributed to the project, which now acts as confrontational group of portraits. Each work is 14″x10″ (apart from a few exceptions) which is much smaller than I had imagined. The size echoes the retablo, meaning ‘behind the altar’ – a nod to iconic Catholic imagery which still holds so much power in Mexico.

Artists such as Maggi Hambling, Tracey Emin and Paula Rego have lent their skills.


Brenda Patricia Meléndez Vásquez (14), by Ilinca Cantacuzino, and Barbara Araceli Martinez Ramos, by Maggi Hambling

It seems totally inappropriate to single out any particular artists or pieces that I favoured in any way, which seems was the objective from the start. Works are presented anonymously; it’s only by corresponding the chalked number on the floor underneath the works to the handout that you discover who painted each woman. The pamphlet also provides information about the subjects such as their age and, distressingly, whether they are missing or how they were murdered. On the launch night there were the odd pair sprinting around for No. 51 (Tracey Emin) and No. 130 (Maggi Hambling) but the focus is on the women rather than the artists with each image displaying their names. In fact, because of the nature of the crimes and the fact that most of the victims were from impoverished families, some of them don’t even have a photograph from which the artist could have worked. Some of the works – a pair of shoes, a pendant necklace, embossed metal – bear only the name simply because that’s all the artists had to work with.


Erendira Ivonne Ponce Hernández (17), by Phil Cath

Some were underwhelming, some were so moving they reduced me to tears. The gallery is the perfect setting for such an exhibition with its dark alcoves and myriad of rooms, but the opening night was absolutely heaving and it was impossible to see all of the works up close. This might be a good thing.

I caught up with Tamsyn to find out a little more about the project.

How did the 400 Women project come together?
On a flight home from Mexico in 2006 I had almost laid out in my mind the parameters for the concept behind 400. Initially, when I got home I set about trying to source imagery. This actually took a very long time but after help from Rupert Knox at Amnesty International I connected up with Marisela Ortiz who runs one of the mothers groups in Juarez and she sent the bulk of photos of the disappeared and murdered. I then, basically, cold-called artists I like and respect and invited them to collaborate on the project. If they said yes, I would make little connections with the artist to the woman or girl I chose for them. I’d also give them a small amount of information about their woman depending on the artist; as you can imagine some of the info is pretty grisly and I was very aware that I was asking each artist to describe a difficult thing. I was only prescriptive about the sizing because it was vital that the artist had free reign so that each work was individual.

What does 400 Women hope to achieve?
The idea for me is reliant on each artist representing the woman they’ve been given, in some way bringing her back. My hope is that unlike the easy way in which each of these women’s lives have been disposed of, the 400 Women works won’t be so easily disregarded. The importance we bestow upon objects is, of course, a tragedy and irony of our existence and is embedded in the concept. Ciudad Juarez has become an open wound, a region synonymous with gender violence, but ideally, I would like 400 Women to stand for gender violence globally. The 1 in 4 women that suffer domestic violence in this country and the US is a statistic I often think of and one that I wish we would stop putting into shadow and confront.


Elena Guadian Simental (19), by Julie Bennett

What will happen to the portraits when the exhibition finishes?
We anticipate the project will tour to the US and I would love to see it in Mexico eventually.

Will 400 Women continue to develop as an art project as well as a cause?
Potentially. I’ve dedicated five years to the project so far and up until this year have been working in isolation on it, except the other artists! The project is now partnered with Amnesty and I know that they are planning an event next year based around the work. The action cards they have produced to accompany the project are excellent and can be picked up when you visit the project in Shoreditch. These go directly to the Mexican Federal Government to request they take some action to stop the gender violence in Ciudad Juarez.

Has the opening been a success?
I’m not sure that’s for me to say, but here’s a photograph from outside…

400 Women runs until the 28th November. Get all the information in our listings section.

Categories ,400 Women, ,Amnesty International, ,art, ,Ciudad Juarez, ,interview, ,Julie Bennett, ,Maggi Hambling, ,Marisela Ortiz, ,mexico, ,painting, ,Paula Rego, ,Phil Cath, ,Rupert Knox, ,Sadie Lee, ,Shoreditch Town Hall, ,Tamsyn Challenger, ,Tracey Emin, ,women

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Amelia’s Magazine | Exhibition: 400 Women at Shoreditch Town Hall

Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photography by Eva Edsjö.

http://www.alisonday.nl

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, page dosage I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, sale tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow musicians doing their own soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ exclaims Anna as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together.’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’. Anna sings:‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston http://www.flickr.com/james_ormiston/

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. You mean the music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are an expression of herself, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have missed it.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November here. The new album, Golden Sea, is out now on Bella Union.

Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photography by Eva Edsjö.

http://www.alisonday.nl

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, buy I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow musicians doing their own soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ exclaims Anna as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together.’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’. Anna sings:‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston http://www.flickr.com/james_ormiston/

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. You mean the music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are an expression of herself, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have missed it.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November here. The new album, Golden Sea, is out now on Bella Union.

Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, troche I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing their own soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ exclaims Anna as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together.’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’. Anna sings:‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. You mean the music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are an expression of herself, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have missed it.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, ambulance I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, look tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, medical I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, page I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, doctor tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, price I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, physician I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, visit web I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.
Anna Brønsted Our Broken Garden by Alison Day
Anna Brønsted illustrated by Alison Day. Original photo by Eva Edsjö.

That is a really big sound coming from such a small woman, more about I think as I’m standing at the back of the church. Anna Brønsted is up by the pulpit, information pills tinkering with her microphone and ignoring the hustle of her fellow Our Broken Garden musicians doing soundchecks around her. St Giles-in-the-Fields, price the little church tucked behind the Centre Point building, looks warm and cosy with its mood lighting – but in reality it’s barely warmer than it is outside as London is putting on a full cold and rain spectacle for its Danish guests.

‘It’s so cold in London!’ Anna exclaims as she walks over to me, holding her coat closed at the neck. She introduces herself properly, shaking my hand with a surprisingly strong grip. I ask her how she’s doing, with tonight’s gig only a couple of hours away. Does she like playing live? She smiles: ‘I like it very much! But I get nervous too. The anxiety and the … what’s the word – anticipation, they go hand in hand. You get this energy rising inside, and when you get excited the energy gets bigger as the nervousness and the joy of it mixes together. Does that make sense?’

Anna writes the songs for Our Broken Garden, while the band creates the musical arrangements. There is something of a sinister twist to the lyrics underneath the beautiful, dreamy music, I point out, thinking of the single track ‘Garden Grow’ where Anna sings: ‘make my lips bleed if you have to / throw me naked on the floor / just wake me from my sleep …’. Is this deliberate?. Anna squints at me, she’s hesitating over the meaning of the word ‘sinister’. Once explained, she immediate confirms that it is. ‘The darkness is definitely deliberate. Absolutely. I try and write happy songs and it doesn’t work. The songs always have a mellow feel at their middle.’

our broken garden by james ormiston
Our Broken Garden illustrated by James Ormiston

The band name was her idea: ‘It’s like a little take on the lost paradise. We have this innocence when we’re born and then we lose it. Our journey in life may be about finding our way back to that place where we feel natural, where we don’t have to do anything to feel like we belong. A place where we’re unique and perfect.’

She’s thoughtful, open and very eloquent, but it takes her a moment to get her words out as she wants to get it right in English. Words and lyrics are a very important part of Anna’s songwriting process. ‘I like to try and make an expression where all the little bits complement the whole. It’s difficult to explain …’ She stops herself again. The music and lyrics need to fit together, I suggest, and she nods. ‘I care very much about the words, but being Danish I use language differently so it might not make complete sense in English. I make certain mistakes because it’s not my mother tongue. But when you use words that make up pictures in your head it may be good.’

The songs are a revelation of her own self, she admits, but emphasises that it is difficult to capture everything that you are: ‘It varies from time to time which part of me dominates, but I do feel this is an expression of who I am. Who we are. Still, I’m more than this though. For instance I used to play a lot of soccer, and you might not have guessed that.’

our broken garden london 2010
Our Broken Garden’s soulful performance at St Giles-in-the-Fields

Music remains at the centre of Anna’s life also outside Our Broken Garden – she is a music teacher and student of music business management, and she also runs a small festival for women in music. ‘It’s really tough doing this, as you don’t make any money and you travel all the time. But there are moments when you feel you are connected to the people you play with, and for. Then it makes sense.’

I ask if she will tell us something unexpected about herself, and she laughs as she answers: ‘I really like reading women’s magazines, even though it’s such a waste of money. But I like the glittery paper and the pictures. I have many guilty pleasures.’ We get talking about how chocolate is presented by advertisers as a so-called guilty pleasure, but Anna shrugs it off in a true, pragmatic Scandinavian manner: ‘Chocolate isn’t guilty, it’s just a pleasure.’

Just like the music, Anna seems delicate at first – but give it a moment and you realise how much strength there is behind that gentle first impression. And once you’ve noticed it seems strange how you could ever have thought otherwise.

Read our review of Our Broken Garden at St Giles-in-the-Fields on 17th November. Also check out our review of the new album, Golden Sea, out now on Bella Union.

Rosa Virginia Hernández Caro (31), no rx by Sadie Lee

A new exhibition in the basement of Shoreditch Town Hall aims to highlight the brutal murders of over 400 women in the Mexican town Ciudad Juarez. A range of artists have been brought together over five years by Tamsyn Challenger, pills an artist herself, who was inspired to take action after a visit to the region.

So far 175 artists have contributed to the project, which now acts as confrontational group of portraits. Each work is 14″x10″ (apart from a few exceptions) which is much smaller than I had imagined. The size echoes the retablo, meaning ‘behind the altar’ – a nod to iconic Catholic imagery which still holds so much power in Mexico.

Artists such as Maggi Hambling, Tracey Emin and Paula Rego have lent their skills.


Brenda Patricia Meléndez Vásquez (14), by Ilinca Cantacuzino, and Barbara Araceli Martinez Ramos, by Maggi Hambling

It seems totally inappropriate to single out any particular artists or pieces that I favoured in any way, which seems was the objective from the start. Works are presented anonymously; it’s only by corresponding the chalked number on the floor underneath the works to the handout that you discover who painted each woman. The pamphlet also provides information about the subjects such as their age and, distressingly, whether they are missing or how they were murdered. On the launch night there were the odd pair sprinting around for No. 51 (Tracey Emin) and No. 130 (Maggi Hambling) but the focus is on the women rather than the artists with each image displaying their names. In fact, because of the nature of the crimes and the fact that most of the victims were from impoverished families, some of them don’t even have a photograph from which the artist could have worked. Some of the works – a pair of shoes, a pendant necklace, embossed metal – bear only the name simply because that’s all the artists had to work with.


Erendira Ivonne Ponce Hernández (17), by Phil Cath

Some were underwhelming, some were so moving they reduced me to tears. The gallery is the perfect setting for such an exhibition with its dark alcoves and myriad of rooms, but the opening night was absolutely heaving and it was impossible to see all of the works up close. This might be a good thing.

I caught up with Tamsyn to find out a little more about the project.

How did the 400 Women project come together?
On a flight home from Mexico in 2006 I had almost laid out in my mind the parameters for the concept behind 400. Initially, when I got home I set about trying to source imagery. This actually took a very long time but after help from Rupert Knox at Amnesty International I connected up with Marisela Ortiz who runs one of the mothers groups in Juarez and she sent the bulk of photos of the disappeared and murdered. I then, basically, cold-called artists I like and respect and invited them to collaborate on the project. If they said yes, I would make little connections with the artist to the woman or girl I chose for them. I’d also give them a small amount of information about their woman depending on the artist; as you can imagine some of the info is pretty grisly and I was very aware that I was asking each artist to describe a difficult thing. I was only prescriptive about the sizing because it was vital that the artist had free reign so that each work was individual.

What does 400 Women hope to achieve?
The idea for me is reliant on each artist representing the woman they’ve been given, in some way bringing her back. My hope is that unlike the easy way in which each of these women’s lives have been disposed of, the 400 Women works won’t be so easily disregarded. The importance we bestow upon objects is, of course, a tragedy and irony of our existence and is embedded in the concept. Ciudad Juarez has become an open wound, a region synonymous with gender violence, but ideally, I would like 400 Women to stand for gender violence globally. The 1 in 4 women that suffer domestic violence in this country and the US is a statistic I often think of and one that I wish we would stop putting into shadow and confront.


Elena Guadian Simental (19), by Julie Bennett

What will happen to the portraits when the exhibition finishes?
We anticipate the project will tour to the US and I would love to see it in Mexico eventually.

Will 400 Women continue to develop as an art project as well as a cause?
Potentially. I’ve dedicated five years to the project so far and up until this year have been working in isolation on it, except the other artists! The project is now partnered with Amnesty and I know that they are planning an event next year based around the work. The action cards they have produced to accompany the project are excellent and can be picked up when you visit the project in Shoreditch. These go directly to the Mexican Federal Government to request they take some action to stop the gender violence in Ciudad Juarez.

Has the opening been a success?
I’m not sure that’s for me to say, but here’s a photograph from outside…

400 Women runs until the 28th November. Get all the information in our listings section.

Categories ,400 Women, ,Amnesty International, ,art, ,Ciudad Juarez, ,interview, ,Julie Bennett, ,Maggi Hambling, ,Marisela Ortiz, ,mexico, ,painting, ,Paula Rego, ,Phil Cath, ,Rupert Knox, ,Sadie Lee, ,Shoreditch Town Hall, ,Tamsyn Challenger, ,Tracey Emin, ,women

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Amelia’s Magazine | Frieze Art Fair 2010: Exhibition Review

anarchist book fair london
Kutlag Ataman column frieze by jen costello
‘Column’ by Kutlug Ataman (2008) Thomas Dane Gallery. Illustration by Jenny Costello.

Unlike the formidable ‘fashion pack’ who rear their waspish heads every 6 months, website like this the art crowd – a jolly army of jacquard pashminas, drugs trilby hats and black horn-rimmed glasses – tend to be a more pleasant bunch. But visiting last Sunday’s Frieze Art Fair with so many of them arriving in droves, especially families (wanting little Cuthbert and Horatio to get a good cultural grounding early on) made standing in front of a particular artwork trying to ‘get’ it fairly difficult, especially when there’s someone behind you with a camera, waiting for you to get out of the way. Swarming crowds aside, the participating galleries delivered up their usual array of weird and wonderful delights. My personal favourite was ‘Clowd and Cloun’ by New York artist Roni Horn, of Eve Presenhuber Gallery, Zurich a series of images featuring a clown’s head in rapid movement (if you’ve never gotten over the film ‘IT’ like myself, then this is for you!)

Section from 'Clowd and Cloun (Gray)'  by Roni Horne,
Section from ‘Clowd and Cloun (Gray)’ by Roni Horn (2001) Eve Presenhuber Gallery. Photo by Viola Levy.

More macabre and disturbing was Berlinde de Bruyckere’s ‘Lingam’ (2010) from the Zurich Gallery Hauser & Wirth– a grotesque ‘lump of flesh’ suspended in a dome-like structure, with two legs indicating that it might have once been a person. Other works attracting attention was Belfast artist Cathy Wilkes’ intriguing installation ‘The Sea of Galilee’ (2009) courtesy of Berlin’s Giti Nourbakhsch Gallery. Featuring a scattered collection of battered objects including a life-size female figurine and a child’s nativity scenes, the work provided an intriguing reflection on religion and physical embodiment. New York’s David Zwiner Gallery unearthed ‘Trump’ (1998) a dazzling early work by Chris Ofili which demonstrates the artist’s unique manipulation of colour and texture at its most jaw-dropping (I was brought out of my awe-stricken trance by exclamations of: “Mummy, is that ELEPHANT poo?! Get over it!)

Chris Ofili 'Trump@ Photo by Linda Nylind
‘Trump’ by Chris Ofili (1998) David Zwiner. Photo by Linda Nylind courtesy of Frieze.

And the Lehmen Maupin Gallery also in New York, presented enfant terrible Tracey Emin at her provocative best with ‘Dark Hole’ (2009) – a work which among other things, takes the traditional feminine art form of embroidery and turns it on its head (quite literally some might say!)

Tracy Emin 'Dark Hole'
‘Dark Hole’ by Tracey Emin (2009) Lehmen Maupin. Photo by Viola Levy.

Frieze Projects Curator Sarah McCrory provided an engaging and accessible diversion from the serious business of browsing the works on display (and trying to chat to tired and grumpy gallery owners!) The bemused feelings of many newcomers to the art scene were summed up by Annika Ström’s project ‘Ten Embarrassed Men’ where ten be-suited corporate types shuffled around the festival looking suitably awkward (but one of them still managed to tacitly flirt with my companion to her amusement!)

Ten Embarrased Men- Linda Nylind
Annika Ström’s‘Ten Embarrassed Men.’ Photo by Linda Nylind courtesy of Frieze

And ‘Frozen’ by Cartier award-winning Simon Fujiwara took visitors on a tour of excavation sites, mostly seen through glass in certain areas below the floor of the Frieze exhibition space. Depicting a fictional Roman settlement described as “bawdy, materialistic and gender-equal,” the project was explained as the artist’s attempt to return to art in its purist form before the advent of Christianity made it “inextricably linked to piety and morality.” I wasn’t too sure how relevant this statement was given how seemingly little influence Christianity has over art today, but the project still appealed to my inner ancient-history buff!

'frozen' Photo by Linda Nylind
Section from Simon Fujiwara’s ‘Frozen’ Installation. Photo by Polly Braden courtesy of Frieze

Outside in The Sculpture Park, the endless green fields of Regents Park were a welcome break from the slightly suffocating atmosphere inside the tent, and visitors were allowed more freedom to engage with the works on display. Artist Gavin Turk’s “Les Bikes de Bois Rond” was a big hit, allowing visitors to hop on a bike, cycle round the park and return to collect their certificate on ‘having participated in an art work.’ It’s a shame many other art exhibitions can’t take place in the open air.

les bikes du bois ronde
Gavin Turk’s ‘Les Bikes du Bois Rond’ Photo by Linda Nylind courtesy of Frieze

On the Frieze Film side, Linder’s Forgetful Green stole the show in comparison to the other more abstract films presented. Shot by Vogue photographer Tim Walker, the film was an ode to hazy drunken summer days, with its motley crew of hedonistic characters (including Linder herself) painted in garish colours, who gorge on rose petals and birthday cake, and roll around fields of flowers in debauched ecstasy – in Richard Nicoll outfits naturally! I wanted to jump in the film, don a wig and some false eyelashes and throw birthday cake around with them for eternity…

forgetful green
forgetful green
forgetful green
Stills from Forgetful Green, from CT Editions: The Protagonist

Although many are now championing the smaller and more independent art fairs, when it comes to Frieze, it’s important to look beyond the corporate trimmings, and the bustling crowds, as it still remains the best way to digest all that’s new and exciting in the art world in one (admittedly exhausting!) afternoon.

freize art fair by jen costello
‘Map of the World in Ties and Jackets’ by Jonathan Monk (2009), Lisson Gallery. Illustration by Jenny Costello.

Categories ,Annika Ström, ,Archaeology, ,art, ,Berlinde de Bruyckere, ,Birthday Cake, ,Cartier Award, ,Cathy Wilkes, ,Chris Ofili, ,Christianity, ,David Zwiner, ,Drunk, ,Eve Presenhuber, ,False Eyelashes, ,Freize, ,Frieze Art Fair, ,Giti Nourbakhsch, ,Hauser and Wirth, ,Jennifer Costello, ,Jenny Costello, ,Jonathan Monk, ,Kutlug Ataman, ,Lehmen Maupin, ,Linda Nylind, ,Linder, ,Lisson Gallery, ,Polly Braden, ,Regents Park, ,Richard Nicoll, ,Roman, ,Roni Horn, ,Rose Petals, ,Simon Fujiwara, ,Thomas Dane, ,Tim Walker, ,Tracey Emin, ,vogue, ,Wig

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Amelia’s Magazine | Art Car Boot Fair 2011 returns for the Apple Cart Festival in Victoria Park

Art Car Boot Fair 2011 review-all photography by Amelia Gregory
Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.

It amazes me that I’ve never been to the Art Car Boot Fair before… but there you have it, buy this year was my very first time, despite it’s proximity to my home. I think I may have been inadvertently put off by the hype surrounding limited editions by very famous artists, sold out of the boots of (sponsored) cars to the desperate queueing hoardes.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011 review-Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
But if you could put aside the hoopla there was a lot of very interesting stuff to see and buy, especially by lesser known up and coming artists and collectives… here’s some of my favourite discoveries.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Renegade ceramicist Carrie Reichardt was there, selling amusing tiles and bastardised royal plates. Love her stuff – she’s invited me over to her studio in West London, so hopefully I will find the time to visit soon.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
On stage Hot Breath karaoke entertained as Tranny Tarot predicted the future.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Over the way there was face painting for trendy art kiddies, and adults. With some impressive and unusual results.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Holly Freeman was selling a Pint of Art for just a fiver. Pints of liquid in various guises, sold as art, was a fashionable theme.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Billy Childish was selling crumbled limited editions out of a large metal trolley. Here seen chatting to Gavin Turk.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
I particularly liked the recycled wall plaques of self taught artist Cliff Pearcey – tribal wooden faces created from found objects: old chopping boards, keys and hinges given a new lease of life.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Busty Babes on Bank Letters was a real winner – how to turn debts into cash. Kelly-Anne Davitt persuaded at least one of my party to help her out with that mission. Here she is seen celebrating a sale to Gavin Turk.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011. The Girls All photography by Amelia Gregory.
I finally had the chance to meet The Girls, who were posing for pictures beside the boot of their car which featured a carefully curated exhibition of postal memorabilia. POSTED celebrates the dying art of letter writing.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Things best ignored: Gavin Turk‘s eggs. (I mean, really. I would break it straight away. Or eat it by mistake.)

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Tracey Emin in dark glasses doing a book signing. Bovvered.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Good stuff: I picked up a lovely signed print from David David. A real bargain that.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
A man with a rainbow umbrella.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Ridiculous edible art: chocolate biscuits, beans, cheese, you name it.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
Public snogging.

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
And how amazing is this girl’s hair?

Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.Art Car Boot Fair 2011.  All photography by Amelia Gregory.
There was hula hooping, public spanking and bubble blowing. And if you think this all looks like rather good fun but missed the Art Car Boot Fair this year, then there is still a chance to catch a bit of the magic at the pop up Art Car Boutique in a few weeks time at the new Apple Cart Festival in Victoria Park on 7th August. Lovely.

Categories ,Apple Cart Festival, ,Art Car Boot Fair, ,Bank letters, ,Billy Childish, ,Brick Lane, ,Busty Babes, ,Carrie Reichardt, ,ceramics, ,Cliff Pearcey, ,David David, ,Eggs, ,Face painting, ,Found Objects, ,Gavin Turk, ,Holly Freeman, ,Hot Breath, ,Karaoke, ,Kelly-Anne Davitt, ,Letters, ,Limited Edition, ,Pint of Art, ,Post, ,POSTED, ,print, ,The Girls, ,Tracey Emin, ,Tranny Tarot, ,Truman Brewery, ,Upcycled, ,Victoria Park

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Amelia’s Magazine | Art listings Sept 28 – Oct 4 – Big shows roll into town

gustav metzgerGustav Mertzger at The Serpentine

From tomorrow

Gustav Metzger’s “auto-creative” and “auto-destructive” art  involved antics like spraying acid on nylon and building objects only to tear them down, dosage each shape the materials made on their way down forming new works. A bit theoretical, although interesting, but he also engaged in art activism, displaying work to do with the Vietnam war. His work is even said to have influenced the guitar-smashing meme in rock music, started by The Who. This retrospective covers almost a lifetime of work.

kate merrington

Now You See It at the Cafe Gallery

This lovely little gallery tucked away in the middle of Southwark Park is squeezing lots of new artists into its show “Now You See It”. Works from Cecilia, Bonilla, Jemima, Brown, Lucy Clout, Timo Kube and Katy Merrington among others explore the tricks a camera can play on you and quite what can be considered real.

rainforest

Focus on the Rainforest at Kew Gardens

From Wednesday

Award-winning photographer Daniel Beltrá is exhibiting his stunning photographs of the rainforest in the fitting surroundings of Kew Gardens, starting Wednesday September 30. It seems like our generation has been trying to save the rainforests our whole lives and yet the counter on the homepage of the Prince’s Rainforests Project shows how quickly it’s still being destroyed. The exhibition is designed to raise awareness and is also extremely easy on the eye. Rainforests are actually quite frightening and full of spiders, and getting there pollutes the atmosphere, so this is the best way to appreciate their special beauty.

You must also check out Vivienne Westwood’s contribution to the project:

A_View_from_afar_Main Image

Once Viewed From Afar at Gallery 27

There was a time in the arts when work on the British countryside was the main source of inspiration for artists and writers. It has since become viewed as either twee or been used mainly as a counterpoint to urban environments. Artists Sarah Crew and Chris Holman are returning to the appreciative mold of artist, revelling in the idyllic, the beautiful, the nostalgic about the countryside. Using paint and photography, they create characters – think an updated Animals of Farthing Wood. There’s a story being told here, by the most familiar creatures inhabiting the country we live in.

Damien Hirst spots

Pop Life: Art in the Material World, Tate Modern

From Saturday

The artists on display in Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World” exhibition are so influential on the world of advertising and prevalent in any satire on art, that sometimes works by artists like Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin can seem a bit over-familiar. This exhibition acknowledges the way our recent art has wormed its way into popular culture and happily taken its place there, with bright, bold images that are easy to co-opt into the material world it contends that we live in.

anish kapoor royal academy

Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy

All week

This mega-artist’s new exhibition works with the actual fabric of the building to create mind-bending works like his “Svayambh”, shown above in France, a long path made of wax. There are lots of new works for dedicated fans and the grand scale makes this a brilliant way to introduce yourself if you are a recent convert.

showstudio

ShowStudio: Fashion Revolution, at Somerset House

Fashion Week is over but this stellar exhibition, also located in Somerset House, scampers on. Garnering rave reviews, especially from our own fashion section, this mix of video, mannequins and allsorts celebrating nine years of the Showstudio.com website. Some of its content has appeared online before, but much is new and everything is fashion inspiration incarnate.

Categories ,Anish Kapoor, ,Cafe Gallery, ,Chris Holman, ,Damien Hirst, ,fashion, ,Kew Gardens, ,Prince’s Rainforest Project, ,rainforest, ,Royal Academy, ,Sarah Crew, ,Showstudio, ,Tate Modern, ,Tracey Emin, ,video, ,Vivienne Westood

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Amelia’s Magazine | Art Listings October 26 – November 1

Femke De Jong’s illustrations are multi-layered and intensively reworked collages, viagra 60mg doctor they often explore the seemingly oppositional subjects of man and machine. She kindly agreed to answer a few of our questions and send us some lovely images to eyeball.

Femkeresized4

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
I am originally from the Netherlands and I lived in Amsterdam for about 10 years before I moved to Bristol 6 years ago. I come from a family of ‘makers’, pill especially my gran and my mum. I have always been interested in the visual arts, here like all kids I spent a lot of time drawing and making ‘stuff’. I used to sit in the attic, reading old books, and especially loved the pictures in my dad’s science encyclopedias.
Also, I was kept back for a year in Kindergarten, the teachers there thought it would be good for me to play for another year.

How would you describe your work?
Surrealist collage, textural, playful, eclectic mishmash, a whiff of antiquety, whimsical.

What mediums do you use to create your illustrations?
A composition of drawings, collage (digital and hand-rendered) of elements and textures, layered up in the computer. I often scan hand-rendered drawings or textures in and work from thumbnails and ideas I make first. When inside the computer, I sometimes print out things again and then work into these prints. I try to keep that ‘organic’, hand-rendered feel in my work.

Femkeresized2

Collage is a strong element to your illustrations. What is it about using this technique that interests you?
Working with collage gives me a lot of freedom, to mix different elements and ideas, to get to a ‘concoction’. When I was little I wanted to be an inventor, and in a way I still ‘invent’ illustrations.

Would you say you have certain themes which you visit in your illustrations?
I have always been interested in science, and often include mechanical bits in my illustrations.
I sometimes use it as an metaphore to emphasize the ‘clunky’ relationship between man and machine, or eg. the human doesn’t take responsibility for his/her actions, and acts as if he/she is programmed to do so. Themes like science, and environmental issues interest me.

content-5b-web.jpg

Do you think that the fact that you were raised in the Netherlands has affected your work in anyway?
I think my view is from a more ‘Dutch’ angle. I moved here about six years ago and even though I dream in English, Dutch normality is still present in the back of my head. Dutch sayings and expressions often pop up, and I find them visually stimulating. I think they drive a lot of the ideas in my work.
I really appreciate the British sense of humour for it’s absurd and macabre satire, like Monty Python and League of Gentlemen.

Is there a Dutch and an English illustration style?
The Dutch love their very bright colour palette, which is a little too bright for my liking. My colour palette seems to go towards more muted colours.
A lot of illustration in the Netherlands seems to me to be direct, conceptual and design led, and more minimalist whilst British illustration seems to be more romantic and eccentric.
In England, there is a big affection and tolerance of the eccentric, whilst in the Netherlands there is a saying: ‘Act normal, you’re mad enough as you are.’

Femkeresized5

How do you like living in Bristol? Have you ever considered living in london like many creatives do?
I live with my boyfriend in a fairly central bit of Bristol. Bristol is a lively student city, there are always plenty of things to do here, as well I know a lot of fellow-illustrators here, like the collective ‘Hot Soup’. I’m actually thinking about living more in the countryside than we do now, so London would be a step in the other direction. Eventhough London is a very good place to be for creatives, and I have concidered moving there in the past, I now use the internet to plug myself, and visit London once every month/two months.

What are you working on at the moment?
This week I am working on a book cover, an editorial and an image that will appear in the book Lucidity.

Femkeresized3

What inspires you?
Many things. I’ve been called too eclectic before, but when a friend went to Amsterdam with me, she said: “I understand now where you come from, this place is like one of your collages”. Amsterdam is a melting pot of many cultures, colourful, lively and noisy. There’s lots of nooks and crannies, like an old curiosity shop.
In Amsterdam there is an independence in attitude, and the freedom to be expressive. I love walking around antique shops and flea markets, to get a feel of the old times.

Who are your favourite artists?
The Russian Avant-Garde constructivists like El Lissitzky and Rodchenko for their composition. Henrik Drescher, for his independent style and Paul Slater, because of his absurd and surrealist humour. Also Svankmajer, for his nightmarishly unsettling surrealities. I love Eastern European animation the grimness and absurdity they find in everyday topics. The world around us is sometimes unsettling and by depicting the world in a surreal way and making fun of it, helps.

Femkeresized9

How long do you usually work on one image?
It depends. For an editorial I usually work on the ideas and the roughs for a couple of hours, and then a bit longer on the finished piece.
When there’s a deadline, things always get done. When I don’t have the deadline, I revisit work more and things can take longer.

Have you done any commissioned work?
I have done are a book cover for the Bristol short story prize, which they used for the front cover of their quarterly mag. A CD cover for Furthernoise and some editorials for Management Today and Resource.

Femkeresized6

What would your dream project be?
In this order: A cover for New Scientist, to design a range of book covers, a series of books for older children.
Any project where I get a lot of freedom, eg. by working with an art editor who isn’t afraid to take risks.

To see more of Femke’s work you’re just one click away from her website. You can also buy a few of her things here.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, tadalafil Herbert Spencer, prescription was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. Spencer far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic designer. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more revalent, price used as a visual means of making a more fluid and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, cure Herbert Spencer, store was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. Spencer far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he starteProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

out as a freelance typographic designer. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, site used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, diagnosis Herbert Spencer, was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. Spencer far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic desigProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

r. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, link Herbert Spencer, physician was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. Spencer far preceded hisProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

ge – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic desiger. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, drug Herbert Spencer, stomach was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. He far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic desProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

er. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, purchase Herbert Spencer, try was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. SpenceProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

3C/a> far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic desiger. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, and used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, nurse Herbert Spencer, was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. He far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic desProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

ner. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, more about Herbert Spencer, was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. He far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic designer. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face ofProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

ritish typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, viagra Herbert Spencer, was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. He far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic designer. The magazine saw 32 iProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

ues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.

TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, nurse Herbert Spencer, was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. He far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographic Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

signer. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.
TYPOGRAPHICA2

Not too far away from Amelia HQ is the current exhibition now on at the Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch. I would introduce this event with some kind of drum roll if I could. The godfather of typography, symptoms Herbert Spencer, order was the founder and editor of Typographica magazine that ran from 1949 to 1967 and is considered to be one of the most significant and visually outstanding design journals ever to be published. He far preceded his age – he was only 25 years old when he started out as a freelance typographicProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0

esigner. The magazine saw 32 issues printed and with the help of his team they campaigned to transform the face of British typography. The second series (1960-67) shapes the centre of this exhibition where photography is noticeably more prevalent, used as a visual means of making a more flexible and involving way of creating the magazine.

TYPOGRAPHICA3

The gallery itself is contained to one small room. Strange, as you feel a grander space would be more befitting to something so iconic and influential. One wall is dedicated to more photographic examples from the journal. They are all taken in the outside world, in the streets among us. Many of the components that make up our surroundings, in the built up areas we inhabit, can often go unnoticed. Many of us are too busy looking down instead of around and these photographs show us what we’re missing. There are beautiful examples of shop signs, ‘Corseteria’, ‘Sanchez Guaza’ and ‘Camiseria’ in “Spanish Street Lettering” by Alan Bartram (New Series no.15 June 1967). These photos show an early instance of a category of documentary that is now quite common in today’s photography and graphic design. It is only when you see them arranged together in this way that you can start to build up an idea of how much symbols play a part in our daily lives.

TYPOGRAPHICA5

Other pieces are comprised of different road signs, a patchwork of various symbols, that when put together, begin to form a pattern. One is specifically built up of arrows, laid on the road, painted on the walls of buildings and pinned to tree trunks. All the photographs are black and white, which strips them down to their basic forms. I think that it is clearer to see the symbols themselves in this instance and the way in which they integrate into the world around us.

TYPOGRAPHICA4

The opposing wall is dedicated to the printed letter. The pages are predominantly made up of primary colours on a background of black and white. “Piet Zwart” (New Series no.7 May 1963) by Herbert Spencer is a spread from an 8-page article. Spencer would fully engross himself when presenting the work of others in his magazine. In this article about the Dutch modernist Piet Zwart, he bleeds copies of his work off the page without any suggestion of what the dimensions or parameters may be. Spencer chose to use a wide variety of different paper stocks adjacent to each other on the spreads, offering each featured designer a unique look. It also gives a sense of urgency and makes for impressive visual impact.

TYPOGRAPHICA6

The centre of the exhibition is focused on the adjoining second wall. Three issues of original Typographica magazines are displayed in a large glass case, like sacred artefacts in a museum. The Kemistry Gallery have specially created three prints from the original journals. They have chosen what they consider to be the most “iconic and arresting” images from the series, which is available to buy exclusively from the gallery. Pleasantly enough, no one came into the gallery for the two hours that I was there, having the luxury of immersing myself in the work without contending with hoards of other people. This is probably down to the fairly secluded location of the gallery and an optimum time slot of 11 o’clock in the morning. Sedate music (the dulcet tones of Yellow Submarine no less) is played in the background – an agreeable companion to a two-hour stroll around the gallery.

spencer_pioneers

The exhibition is curated by Rick Poynor, prolific author of the book Typographica and founder of Eye magazine and is also part of the London Design Festival and the Icon Design Trail. This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for any typography or graphic design aficionado to be in the presence of the legendary Typographica magazine. You might already be a die-hard Herbert Spencer fan, in which case you may be the proud owner of ‘Pioneers of Modern Typography’. I would strongly vouch for the Lund Humphries/Hastings House first edition, this wonderful book is best read in its original form. If not, this typography tome is definitely worth some of your time and pocket money.
DRAWING ATTENTION

Drawing Attention

The Dulwich Picture Gallery has been graced with a showcase of 100 master drawings from the Art Gallery of Ontario. The great masters from Picasso and Matisse, sildenafil to Rembrandt and Van Gogh are here and movements including Renaissance Italy and German Expressionism. An unmissable opportunity to witness arguably the greatest collection of master drawings in one space, viagra order this exhibition will be undoubtedly compelling and astounding. The gallery have already received a record amount of bookings so join the crowds to see one of this year’s must see exhibitions.

Dulwich Picture Gallery
October 21st 2009 – January 27th 2010

WILDLIFE

Veolia Wildlife Photographer Of The Year

Perhaps a tad too excited about this exhibition, prostate The Veolia Wildlife Photographer Of The Year is at the top of my to-do list this week. Held in the wonderous Natural History Museum, the competition handpicks a selection of the finest wildlife photographs from professional and amateur photographers and have received an astounding 43,000 entries. The candidates aim to produce work that is original, creative and inspired and many of this year’s entries will prove to exceed these expectations. None more so in fact than the winner, Jose Luis Rodriguez’ piece ‘The Storybook Wolf’ alone, makes this exhibition worth going to.

Natural History Museum
October 23 2009 – April 11 2010

PHAIDON

Phaidon Pop-Up Shop

The world renowned publisher Phaidon have just opened their first UK pop up book shop in Piccadilly. Famous for superior quality books on visual arts, culture and creativity, you will be able to buy from categories such as design, photography, architecture, fashion, travel and now new editions, cookery and children’s books. Be sure to make a visit soon to get your mits on any of the beautifully crafted publications as it won’t be around forever. The store will be gone again in the January of next year.

Phaidon Store 173 Piccadilly London W1

POP LIFE

Pop Life:Art In A Material World

Based on Andy Warhol’s notorious quote ‘good business is the best art’ the exhibition considers the legacy Pop Art left behind and the influence it has had since. ‘Pop Life‘ will focus on how artists have inflitrated and been invloved in the mass media since the 1980′s including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Richard Prince and Keith Haring. We are also asked to be aware that some works in this exhibition are of a challenging and sexual nature and admission to three of the rooms is restricted to over-18s only. You have been warned!

Tate Modern
October 1 2009 – January 17 2010

GREEN DAY

Green Day Presents: ‘The Art of Rock’

A celebration of art and music has come to Brick Lane this week. To coincide with the release of their new album Green Day have commissioned a selection of artists to produce work for a travelling exhibition that will also accompany them on their world tour. The artists, who include curator Logan Hicks, Ron English, Sixten, Will Barras and The London Police were asked to make work in reaction to their latest album, 21st Century Breakdown.

StolenSpace Gallery Brick Lane
October 23 – November 11

Categories ,Andy Warhol, ,art gallery of ontario, ,art in a material world, ,Art Listings, ,Damien Hirst, ,Drawing attention, ,dulwich picture gallery, ,green day, ,Jeff Koons, ,jose luis rodriguez, ,keith haring, ,logan hicks, ,matisse, ,natural history museum, ,phaidon, ,phaidon pop up store, ,picasso, ,pop life, ,rembrandt, ,richard prince, ,ron english, ,sixten, ,stolenspace gallery, ,Tate Modern, ,the london police, ,the old truman brewery, ,Tracey Emin, ,van gogh, ,veolia wildlife photographer of the year, ,will barras

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