247 Magazine » art

SIGMASIM AT BATH KOMEDIA

247 Magazine — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:07:14 +0000

SigmaSim promises to be a night jam packed full of live music, DJ sets and original art work to be won. The night is a fundraiser for third year students from Bath Spa to raise money for their show in London. SigmaSim hosts a wide range of talent from music to art. Live music comes from Bert Miller and the Animal Folk, Leo Howe (From With Love From Humans), The Daturas,The Unrelated Family, The Jackals and Craig Sutton. DJs include Itchy Fingers and The Exploding Man. With original artwork from Tim Davies, Mark Van de Woestyne, Simon Butler, Stuart Davis, BSAD Alumni (Confirmed – Jack Addis, Phillip J Jones, Tracey Page, Tom Johnson and more).
A spokesman for the event said: “We not only have a great selection of music, but we also an amazing array or exclusive original artwork that is up for grabs. With an Art Raffle and a Secret piece of work from a very well known professional artist up for auction. We have art work from Bath School of Art and Design staff, alumni, and students in the raffle, so bring your backpacks because you won’t be leaving empty handed!”
SigmaSim takes place at Bath Komedia on May 17. Doors 8pm until late. Tickets £6adv

REVIEW: RETROSPECTIVE AT THE BANK OF STOKES CROFT BRISTOL

247 Magazine — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:07:37 +0000

In an age of ubiquitous cameras (where the term ‘citizen-journalism’ is chucked around with abandon, every geezer with a camera-phone thinks their snapshot of a celeb counts as reportage, and shaky-cam footage from the mainstream media camped outside the kettle is considered front-line reporting), the value of a real photographers eye is greater than ever.
Mattko (aka Matthew Smith) has an eye that is crisp, clear and bullshit-free, and it can be seen in full effect at ‘RETRO-PERSPECTIVE’, an exhibition of thirty photographic prints at the Bank, Stokes Croft, Bristol, until 11th April.
Even when swept up in the chaos of an eviction, or facing down the private security hired to police anti-road-building protestors, his instinctive knack for a telling composition, a background that tells its own story, or a split-second of eye contact that invites us into someone else’s world, is unerring. Beautiful black and white prints drawn from twenty years of surviving the highs and lows of the counter-culture lead us through a thousand lives in close-up, and remind us that for all the talk of British tolerance the powers-that-be don’t hesitate to try to crush those who step too far out of the ‘work-too-hard-spend-it-all-on-shite’ economic model we seem stuck in.
Sweaty ravers and smiling cuties, traveller sound-systems and anti-capitalist marches, art performances and the cutest site kiddies you will ever see all add up to a unique record of the last few decades. Mattko’s mistrust of the mainstreams ongoing attempts to co-opt underground culture shines through, with the most recent images hinting at the growing fightback against the corporate agenda that is manifesting itself through the failed economics of the current strain of spam-faced puppet politicians. Whatever happens next in post-Great-Recession-Britain we should be thankful that Mattko will continue to be there to document the hidden corners for us.
Highly recommended.

Words: Ben Random

ARTIST RECREATES ICONIC ALBUM COVERS…IN LEGO

247 Magazine — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 11:02:58 +0000

Artist Aaron Savage has combined his love of music and Lego to recreate some of the most iconic album covers of all time in the plastic bricks. The 21-year-old used bricks and dolls to make his miniature works of art. He spent days positioning everything correctly to mirror the actual album covers. Artists covered include Bruce Springsteen, Queen, David Bowie, Muse, Blondie and Blur. He also did Nirvana, The Bee Gees, Grace Jones, Lily Allen, Velvet Underground and The Madness. He said: “Album covers was an easy choice for me because it combined my two interests. I did some research to see what Lego was available and then picked covers that I knew could be recreated. I found a Lego banana on eBay, so I knew I could recreate the Velvet Underground cover and added that to the list.” He added: “When I show my work to somebody for the first time and they can tell what it is, I know I have done a good job.”
To see more of the inspired Lego album covers visit the Daily Mail website. (Photo from Solent News.)

BRISTOL MAD HATTER’S BALL

247 Magazine — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:24:53 +0000

Bristol Mad Hatter’s Ball Tickets are now on sale. Some of contemporary art’s biggest names have shown their support for Bristol’s children by donating artwork for the Mad Hatter’s Ball and Art Auction, run by Art Action for Kids. The Mad Hatter’s Ball will be held on Saturday 26 March 2011 at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Tickets are now on sale via the Colston Hall. For more information, please visit www.colstonhall.org/boxoffice The exclusive art auction will feature extraordinary artworks generously donated by some of contemporary art’s biggest names including Ben Eine, whose work was amongst the official gifts given to Barack Obama by David Cameron on his first trip to Washington as Prime Minister, and Shepard Fairey, who created the iconic “Hope” poster for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The auction will also include a piece by world famous Bristol based graffiti artist Nick Walker, whose work is coveted by collectors worldwide including the Mugrabi family. Other renowned artists include Conor Harrington, D*Face, David Stoupakis, Carol Piece and Chloe Early. The donated pieces will be on display at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery during the week preceding the Ball. All proceeds from the event will go towards practical art programmes for children at M Shed, the innovative new museum for Bristol opening in Spring 2011. The Mad Hatters Ball will be held at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 26 March 2011. The Ball will include a cocktail reception, dinner and entertainment. Tickets are £95.

BANKSY ORIGINAL FOR GREENPEACE CAMPAIGN MAKES £78,000 AT AUCTION

247 Magazine — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:59:57 +0000

An original art work by the legendary street artist, Banksy, for a Greenpeace Save or Delete campaign photographic poster, sold for £78,000 last night (11 January 2011) at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its Urban Art sale. The unique piece (lot 67), which was given to the vendor by the artist himself, was among a host of Banksy’s that fetched top prices in the sale.

It was commissioned by Greenpeace to highlight the problems of global deforestation as part of their Save or Delete campaign and features some of the main characters from Disney’s The Jungle Book transposed onto a picture of a devastated forest. Intended for use on posters, billboards and postcards, it was printed, but never put into circulation because of the protectionist policies at Disney. It is believed that the vendor of this lot is donating a percentage of the proceeds to Greenpeace.

Other Banksy highlights in the sale included Portrait of an Artist, circa 1998, believed to be the first work that he created for sale, which sold for £60,000; Everytime I Make Love To You I Think Of Someone Else, 2003, which made £42,000; Balloon Girl, 2004, which fetched £12,600; and Rude Copper, 2002, which sold for £9,600.

The sale saw an enormous turn-out and competitive bidding (both on the phone and in the room) following Bonhams’ two-year break from holding Urban Art auctions.

Other works to achieve excellent prices included a performance piece (lot 18) created by American graffiti artist, Futura 2000, for punk rock band The Clash’s Combat Rock tour, which sold for £38,400 (estimate £15,000 – 20,000); French artist JR’s Street Kid, Favela Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2008, which made £31,200 (estimate £15,000 – 20,000); and the catalogue’s cover lot, Shepard Fairey’s Peace Goddess on Wood, 2008, which fetched £27,600 (estimate £8,000 – 12,000).

www.bonhams.com/urbanart

SILAS/AMOS ARTIST JAMES JARVIS JOINS SOUVENIR ART PROJECT @CENTRAL SKATEPARK

247 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:38:56 +0000

Plymouth City Council have teamed up with design studio Intercity, Plymouth skate shop Prime Delux and renowned artist James Jarvis (creator of the Martin vinyl toy produced by Silas amongst other things) to create a piece of large scale artwork using the Central Park skateboard park in Plymouth as a blank canvas.

The project, named Souvenir, has been put together to commemorate the existing park (which is due to close on 27 November), and to celebrate plans for the new development set to be created in connection with the wider plans for Central Park.

Souvenirs of the event will be designed and made by students from Plymouth College of Art (and for all you fact fans out there, two of the founding members of Intercity are ex Plymouth College of Art students)!

CALLING ALL CREATIVES – If you’re interested in getting involved in this project (positions are available for volunteers in areas including project coordination and project assistants for James Jarvis) then get in touch with Jodie Bishop in the Arts Unit at Plymouth City Council by 2 November – 01752 307029 or jodi...@plymouth.gov.uk

ART STUDENTS HIT THE BEACH FOR ECO FRIENDLY CREATIVE SESSION

247 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:15:50 +0000

Saturday Arts Club students from Plymouth College of Art work at Whitsand Bay. Image by Cassandra Horsley

Students from the Saturday Arts Club at Plymouth College of Art spent Saturday on Whitsand Bay constructing huge portraits from found material as part of the Big Draw, a national initiative being run throughout October.

The beach project was an extension of their studies into self portraits but it also had a significant environmental focus. Alan Lemin, Head of Educational Partnerships, at Plymouth College of Art said “We wanted to take their initial studies on portraiture to a different level and as part of the Big Draw initiative do something positive for our local environment. As a surfer I use these beaches frequently and it always saddens me to see how people can be so thoughtless in leaving their rubbish on the beach. We spent the day collecting debris and discarded materials to construct huge portraits. This provided valuable opportunities for the students to work together as part of a team and consider scale as well as design. Following the project we collected 25 sacks of rubbish which we removed for proper disposal”.

This work will form part of a major London based exhibition later in November which will see the students visiting the capital to participate in a design day focusing on public art.

This group of students are the first to be a part of a National Saturdays Arts Club campaign which is supported by the prestigious London based Sorrell Foundation. The Foundation has been working with the Plymouth College of Art and their counterpart colleges in Leeds, Hereford and Cleveland in launching a National Saturday Art and Design Club. This is the start of a five year plan which is hoping to engage more than 80 colleges in establishing Saturday Arts Club provision for young people.

Alan Lemin added, “The Sorrell Foundation have joined forces with the Audi Foundation in facilitating this fantastic opportunity for students aged between 14 – 16 years old. Plymouth College of Art is one of only four specialist Arts Colleges in the country. Over the past few years we have been running a very successful Saturday Arts Club for children from 9 to 18 years of age. Sorrell recognised our success and have taken our model to draw together the other three specialist Arts Colleges in launching this superb initiative. During the course of the year the students will take part in a master-class conducted by an internationally renowned artist. We have requested sculptor Anthony Gormley. At the end of the year they will stage a major exhibition of their work in London.”

The National Saturday Art and Design Club students spend 30 weeks at the College and work through a carousel of different art forms such as photography, graphics, film making, sculpture, print making, painting and drawing. For anyone who wishes to obtain further information on these programmes please contact Alan Lemin on Plymouth 01752 203456 or by email at ale...@plymouthart.ac.uk

www.plymouthart.ac.uk