Tuesday 30 March 2010

For those with a little more pocket money may we suggest...

One of Genevieve Dionne's gouache and wood burner plaques for £100.



A delicate embroidered print from Lisa Solomon for £200


Lovely mixed media print from Amy Greenan for £235 (framed)

52 mini interviews: Michal William

Name: Michal William
Location: Bristol
Age:33

Website(s):

How would you describe your work?
 
I work mostly with photocopies, making minimalist collage/photomontage using text and images. For years I made gig posters, slowly realising that they had 'artistic' merit in their own right, and even slowerly realising that I could even make something that didn't even have any 'information' in it! In my posters I would be facinated by the movement I could create by placing the cut-out letters and numbers and shapes in different places, and how each would determine how and where the others would be placed. Various gravitational points would pull figures, characters, in, and spin them out. And it's this play-fight between choas and control that entertains me enough to continue to create my non-poster work.

 
What are you currently working on?
I am currently expoloring the flight of sea gulls and ballerinas and others. It's funny.

 
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Old films, old buildings and old books.

 
3 artists/designers you love and why! :
Matt Jones (as well as others around him in the Bristol music scene) has greatly influenced not only my artwork, but also has informed my music, temperament and life goals. Before I knew Matt, I was a big fan of the bands he was involved in (Crescent, Movietone, etc), and when I first saw his large white abstract carpentered paintings in 1996, it was some of the first art that I felt I could instantly understand and relate to. And the simple style of his posters for Cafe Mono made me rethink what gig posters could be.

Marianne Brandt is my favourite artist of all time. She is mostly known for her metal design work at the Bauhaus in the 1920's, but at the same time she also produced many photomontages, usually just for herself or her friends. Her photomontages are playful, political and minimalist, and again I felt an instant understanding as soon as I saw them. I have never studied art, and so I can only trust my instincts when making or appreciating it. Marrianne Brandt's artwork stuck out its hand and said 'hello, you and I are the same.'

Charles M. Schulz was suprised himself how a few lines and dashes on paper could invoke so much emotion and human recognition. This is what any form of art means to me - seeing a relationship in it to what you know, belonging to some language that is not part of words (even when words are used).

Monday 29 March 2010

some sneaky peeks of super affordable work for you



Peskimo have sent over some photos of their work for the show, can you tell what it is yet?


This have been screen printed using the set up that they've built in their own home, how great must it be to have screen printing facilities at home?

 It's a bandit bunny! Just in time to steal all the Easter Eggs! These will be on sale for just £12 so I am pretty sure that they are going to get snapped up quick fast.



And here are three of Fiona Cassidy's 'Units of Habitation' which are just £10 each, or £50 for the set of 7. These little houses are made from hand stitched calico.



Edith Abeyta is sending some of her 'Bats and Rats' bunnies our way- you can take one home for just £20

Susan Schwake has two of these lovely paintings on cedar wood for just £20 each

Saturday 27 March 2010

Venue Magazine says 'Don't Miss Fifty-Two'

So I didn't have time to scan this but if you look closely you can see that our show is one of five that are marked as Don't Miss shows for next week. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Here's an even worse photo of the listing:


I promise i'll get a good scan of it soon.

Friday 26 March 2010

52 mini interviews: Bjorn Rune Lie

Name: Bjorn Rune Lie
Location: Bristol
Age: 32 1/2


Website(s):  


How would you describe your work? 

It depends who I'd be describing it to....It often features ordinary people in bizarre circumstances or vice versa; outlandish looking characters in an everyday setting. Playful and warm, rich in detail and texture..Possibly overworked  a lot of the time.


What are you currently working on?
 

A picture book for Nobrow Press in London. To be printed in 3 spot colours..Quite exciting, but probably economic suicide.


Where do you find inspiration for your work? 

Everywhere but illustration annuals.


3 artists/designers you love and why!
 

Jockum Nordstrom, Gosia Machon and Yokoland. Because they are confident enough to do "loose" work. I can't do that myself..It just doesn't feel finished to me if I haven't worked my ass off. Guess you just gotta do what feels natural. And I love this here blog: http://ajourneyroundmyskull.blogspot.com/
 

3 things that make you smile: 

Scrambled eggs, newspaper, Fresh coffee. 


Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:
 

Got this really exciting show called 52! Apart from that, no...Well..Jamaica Street Open Studios in June, of course.

Thursday 25 March 2010

52 mini interviews: Edith Abeyta


Name: Edith Abeyta
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Age: 44

Website(s): 

How would you describe your work?
Fiber based installations with 19th century ragpicker sensibilities infused with literature and radical politics.

 
What are you currently working on?
"My Business is Circumference No. 2" an installation for the Bath Spa Gallery and "Me, You, Us" an exchange based installation for the exhibition "Crossbreed: the art of collaboration" at the El Camino College Art Gallery in southern California.


Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Much of it comes from reading novels and talking to people.

3 artists/designers you love and why! : 


Porous Walker He has an approach and sensibility like no one else.

Vanessa Renwick The only artist I know who can make black eyes look sexy and the demolition of nuclear reactors beautiful

Yong Sin Her perseverance and dedication to her work is more extreme than anyone I know.


3 things that make you smile:
1. Getting a good night's sleep
2. Being told, "We'll reimburse you for materials."
3.  Homemade Stout

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:
see answer above


Wednesday 24 March 2010

52 mini interviews: Fiona Cassidy

 

Name: Fiona Cassidy
Location:Bath


How would you describe your work?
reversible


What are you currently working on?

working on finding a studio space so I can actually get some work made
Where do you find inspiration for your work?

skips, second-hand furniture shops, neglected urban spaces, building sites
3 artists/designers you love and why! : 
Ceal Floyer: clever clever titles
Richard Long: he’s taken a simple idea and carried it through with integrity
Susan Collis: immaculate execution
3 things that make you smile:
sunshine
cake
nice surprises


Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:
Dispatch Office Residents 09 - April 30 - May 3 - Spike Island Sculpture Shed, Bristol
Wilderness -  May 27 - June  13 - The American Museum, Claverton, Bath
Curator - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow  - May 28 - June 13 - Fringe Arts Bath - Bath


52 mini interviews: Claire Platt (aka the other half of Calm Air All Ice)

hand knitted Heinkel He 111


Name:
Claire Platt

Age:
24

Location:
London

Website(s):

www.claireplatt.com
blog, flickr, tumblr
and calm air all ice!

How would you describe your work?
an attempt to combine things I love and make them into beautiful objects. or to put it in plain terms (no pun intended) knitted aeroplanes! (mostly)

What are you currently working on?
I'm currently finishing knitting a duck for an upcoming show and planning some new pieces -
This summer/autumn marks the 7oth anniversary of the battle of britain so my new pieces will be centred entirely around British planes and those specifically involved in the battle. I'm collecting the new wood cut pieces on Monday! I'm very excited!

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Airshows, the sky, knitting books, fair isle knitting, aran knitting, magazines, galleries, etc etc

3 artists/designers you love and why! :
Obviously all the wonderful people involved with this show, but outside of that...
Kiki Smith - her drawings are stunning, and her objects even more so
Rachel Denny - because she transforms knitted jumpers into wonderful sculptures
Jeffrey Milstein - his photographs of commercial airliners are the best I've ever seen, in fact I saw a show of his at the photographers gallery long before I was creating my planes. I think it sat in my head inspiring me subconsciously.

3 things that make you smile:
matthew
sunny days
listening to good music

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:
knit one, purl one:
Contemporary Knitting and Crochet at the touchstones gallery, Rochdale May 1st-July 4th 2010


52 mini interviews: Camilla Stacey (aka one half of Calm Air All Ice)

Name: Camilla Stacey
Location: Weston-super-Mare
Age: 36

Website(s):

How would you describe your work? 

Drawing plays a large part in my work, it’s one of the threads that links whatever I do, although I do work across a wide variety of media. I have a fascination with found photos and postcards and a love of nostalgia and the past.  A sense of time and memory is important to my work.
 

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a series of pieces at the moment that are investigating time, ways of mapping histories and imagined timelines. I am working with found pianola rolls and am enjoying working in a scroll like format- it lends itself well to work about time and I’m starting to investigate making durational work and incorporate the tidal aspect that is ever present in a seaside town like Weston.

Where do you find inspiration for your work? 

Junk shops, old photo albums, found postcards, family histories, old films, ‘treasure’. My house is full of ‘stuff’ and I can’t stop picking up things that inspire me- I’m inspired by pretty much everything I ever see. I love to visit new exhibitions and am a fan of history documentaries.  

3 artists/designers you love and why! :

Amy Santoferraro I saw an exhibition of her work in Cwmbran, Wales completely by chance and I totally loved her use of found objects and ceramics.

Xin one of the artists that sadly couldn’t take part in 52, I love her drawings and paintings, and she also makes amazing comics as well as her Doinky Doodles shop that sells handmade goodies

Maya Bloch: I just love Maya’s drawings and wish I could own one for myself. Her work makes me want to draw more and more and to be true to my own way of drawing.

(Lots of my other favourites are taking part in this show of course!)

3 things that make you smile:
My oldest nephew
My youngest nephew
My niece

(don’t worry I haven’t left anyone out- I only have the three)
 

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Summer Show
Bath Spa University Gallery
17th June

I’m also curating shows by Rachael Allen from 15th-26th March, Sophie Jones  from 19th-30th April and Edith Abeyta from 3rd-21st May all at the Bath Spa University Gallery.

Tuesday 23 March 2010

52 mini interviews: Cathy Cullis

Name: Cathy Cullis
Location: London / Surrey
Age: 40
Website(s):

http://cathycullis.blogspot.com
How would you describe your work?
I'm a poet as well as a visual artist, so my mixed media work is about making visual poems. I like to explore word and image, personal experience, line and texture. I'm often working on several different projects at the same time.

What are you currently working on?
Current obsessions are making folding mixed media books and exploring natural dyes on fabric. I'm also working on a new collection of poems, so these ideas are playing together and one thing leads to another.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I'm inspired by an interest in literature, women's lives, the work of primitive and outsider artists, medieval art, spirituality, Victorian obsessions with ghosts, nature.... I studied both English and Art at university and the work I looked into during that time has continued to inspire. I also enjoy visiting as many current art exhibitions as I can get to.

3 artists/designers you love and why! :

'outsider artist' Madge Gill - I wrote my undergrad dissertation on Madge Gill (along with other outsiders) and her mesmerizing style has certainly impressed me. My own great-grandmother was a spiritualist medium, so I am very interested in Gill's spirit-inspired work.

Nina Bagley is an amazing, supportive friend and artist who has encouraged me greatly. I admire her use of materials in her jewellery making, her subtle use of word, texture and colour.

I really admire Cornelia O'Donovan's illustration and artwork. She is a fab artist and I have several of her prints in my home. Her work makes me smile. I like it's freshness and humour.


3 things that make you smile:
my children - I have two school-age children who are my best critics and tell it like it is!
a good phrase in a poem - you know the kind you wish you wrote yourself!
spring flowers especially auriculas - I collect auriculas, I am a bit of a collector

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:
Next I'm working on a collaborative book project with a group of other artists - more details on my blog later.
I've got work currently at The Edge Gallery, Lancaster.
Also my work is to be featured in a US magazine this Summer - more details on that to follow also!

52 mini interviews: Alys Paterson


Name: Alys Paterson
 Location: Bristol
 Age:  30

 Blog


How would you describe your work?

Wow it’s hard to describe your own work! It’s colourful, happy and hopefully a little bit magical.


What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on some cards for John Lewis. After that I am planning a screen print of a boat.


Where do you find inspiration for your work?

People, books, music, art, folklore, poetry, films, music, walks, natural history….and on and on….


3 artists/designers you love and why!:

Howard Hodgkin -  what he does with colour is phenomenal. Though seemingly abstract his pictures are full of emotion and feeling. Each painting is associated with a memory, a person or place. This is idea is central to my work too, many of the themes I go back to are in very linked to my childhood or linked in with how I am feeling or how I want to feel. 

Maria Kalman  - read "Principle of Uncertainty' or look at her blog ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ and you will love her too:
Rob Ryan – His work is beautiful, lyrical and all over my walls!


3 things that make you smile:
Family and friends
Gretel – our family cat
silliness

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:

I have been asked me to take part in the next 'Girls Who Draw' postcard book and exhibition, which I am very excited about.

Monday 22 March 2010

52 mini interviews: Simon Daly

name:  Simon Daly

age:  I usually pick something from 1957 or 1923 when filling forms like this on the internet.


How would you describe your work?

I would avoid describing my work. These questions are hard. Its only because you offered to punch me on the nose that i'm having another go. If my work was a dvd it would be a early eighties tv box set that was next to Children of the Stones and Quatermass in the shop. That's more of a description of a dvd I like than any thing I've produced. My work is not a dvd.

Looking at my website I'd say I like drawing and colours. Looks like there's some thing to do with popular culture, with animation, comics, and computer games. There's some sort of attempt at humour or something to do with ideas? who knows?

What are you currently working on?

I'm kinda in-between things at the moment.  I'm thinking of doing more digital stuff in the future. I've just finished up some 3d modeling on the computer. Doing that has made think about ways of working at higher speeds. Of simplifying things and combining 3d modeling and drawing. So I'm modeling 3d environments but some of the edges of objects are drawings rather than models. So I'm trying to merge a bunch of techniques into a new process. I don't know where its going but its a long time since i spent any time trying new stuff out for its own sake.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Books at the top of my pile are Miyazaki watercolours, a book of aerial photos of Britain, book about Kamishibai.
I've been looking at painting lately because of the 3d models. Trying to work out how to work more like that with patches of colour rather than having too much of the wrong detail as is the tradition with computer graphics.

3 artists/designers you love and why!

I would have liked to spend more time answering these questions properly. But then the show would be over. And where would that time come from anyway.

Nathan Fowkes : Found this the other day. Painting is good. I'm really into painting at the moment. Because I'm making 3d models ?!

Paper Rad: i cant explain why i like that stuff as much as i do

Hayao Miyazaki: could try and link to some interesting things you might not have heard of but Miyzazki. just, you know.

3 things that make you smile:

"now I wont be able to buy my hovercraft"
er...
Plus two other things.

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc.?

I have nothing upcoming. but I think I'm starting from scratch again anyway. I'm not really into physical objects at the mo. And I'm not sure its relevant to exhibit digital stuff.

(Simon was bullied into answering some questions for us, pointing out to me that 'not everyone likes to fill in forms as much as you do Camilla' so I feel a bit mean, but seriously Simon is great and Claire and I LOVED the postcard he designed for our original Calm Air All Ice show last year so we had to invite him back)

Sunday 21 March 2010

52 mini interviews: Laura Donald



Name: Laura Donald

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Age: 29

Website(s): (websites, blogs, flickrs, etc you name it, we’ll link it!)

Blog

etsy

shopify

How would you describe your work?

That is a tough one! I’d say I am fairly eclectic, which is really the diplomatic term for a jack of all trades! I have to say, the first time I did a craft market and saw all my wares together in one place, I was surprised by how… jaunty everything looked. The things I make definitely do make people smile. Well, they either smile or look confused!

What are you currently working on?

Building up a healthy supply of stock so that I have more time to work on new ideas. Despite developing a (tragic) allergy to sewing, I have lots of embroidery-based ideas and plans, but probably more embroidered products than embroideries, if you see what I mean… I can’t say any more just now!

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

Television, fairy tales, chats, charity shops, vintage craft books and (obviously) the internet. Getting into reading other people’s crafty blogs is probably why I do what I do. I also find I get really inspired by looking at supplies. Visiting an art/fabric shop always sets my mind buzzing with potential new projects.

3 artists/designers you love and why! :

Finding it too hard to narrow down, I’ve decided to focus on stitchers and have picked three good-humoured embroiderers who are far from traditional. Here goes…

Lou Trigg whose Dusty Springfield embroidery directly inspired me to sew my first ever Dot Cotton portrait! Her tragic women collection is amazing.

Claire of Miso Funky who holds down a full-time job while running a veritable cross-stitch empire! Claire has given me lots of advice and encouragement over the past couple of years and was also the first person to stock any of my work.

Jessica Kallam who gives away a hand-made embroidery on a monthly basis. She used to give away an amazing embroidery every single week! I wish I was as fast (and as generous) as her!

3 things that make you smile:

EastEnders (except when people die – I’m still not over the live episode)

Charity shopping

People choosing to buy something I’ve made myself – still so exciting!

Do you have any other upcoming exhibitions/shows etc:

You will find me selling my wares at the Made In The Shade Springtime Jamboree (the Lighthouse, Glasgow on Saturday 17th April) and at Say No To Plastic (Oran Mor, Glasgow on Sunday 18th April).