Pick Me up

Embankment Galleries at Somerset House open their doors to Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair on March 17th.

In it’s second year, the UK’s first contemporary graphic art fair will feature some of the UK’s most cutting edge collectives and galleries, including Print Club London, NoBrow and It’s Nice That, with over fifty (known & unknown) artists and illustrators and an interactive programme of workshops running throughout the ten days.

One of this year’s Pick Me Up highlights is an open-studio with multi-media illustrator/designer Anthony Burrill who has invited a handful of long-time collaborators to join him in the studio. Including graphics and ceramics artist Emily Forgot, photographer Kevin Meredith, sculptural artist & illustrator Wilfrid Wood and video artists Paul Plowman & Zac Ella to name a few. Watch them create anything from music to posters in the studio which will also feature Burrill’s 20-year career retrospective.

Exhibitors will work on projects, show their latest work and sell a wide range of affordable artwork. In true ‘fair’ style, visitors from all walks of life are encouraged to engage, and if you can pick (me) up a limited edition print or a hand made book, it could make the experience a much more memorable.

Claire Catterall, curator of Pick Me Up says that “even with the more well known artists, it’s not always easy to find their work. You have to know your way around online galleries, Shoreditch galleries and shops which could all prove to be difficult if you are not familiar with the scene. Even if you do know your way around the right websites it’s still difficult to really appreciate the quality of a print when looking at it through a computer screen. There really isn’t anything like Pick Me Up in terms of being able to see and buy such a wide variety of top quality graphic art”

adding that “if things are for sale I think it changes the dynamics of an exhibition. It’s not about our insatiable appetite to consume but more about getting people to engage with the work on a different, often quite emotional, level. If you’re thinking, does this work appeal to me enough to take it home, hang it on my wall and live with it, then you’re looking at it with different eyes. Buying graphic art allows everyone the opportunity to purchase something that is beautiful and meaningful to them, which of course is not always an option when visiting fine art exhibitions”.

On returning for the second year running, Print Club London’s Director, Kate Newbold says, “like last year, we will be re-building our studio at Pick Me Up so we hope people will pop in, meet our artists, watch some printing and enjoy being part of what is usually a closed members studio – it should provide a great insight into our inky world in the depths of Dalston.”

Sam Arthur, founder of Nobrow added that, “we will be selling a huge selection of prints, hand made books and other products at the fair. The theme for the space is taken from our latest issue of Nobrow Magazine, to be released at the event: ‘A few of our favourite things’. We’re building a set entirely constructed from cardboard”.

So if last year’s fair is anything to go by, Pick Me Up 2011 looks to be one of the most interesting and engaging art fairs of the year. With tepees and pop-up stands, raffles and draw-offs, this fair is bound to excite anyone who has the slightest interest in graphic and contemporary art and give them the opportunity to discover new artists and pick up a unique bargain or two.

Alicja McCarthy

For a full list of artists, galleries + collectives visit The Somerset House website www.somersethouse.org.uk/pickmeup
Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair will take place at Somerset House from 17th-27th March 2011.

Uniform Wares Interview

Every day watches intended for longevity, characterised with meticulous design details and insistent on everyday day performance that lasts.

Alicja McCarthy speaks to Patrick Bek and Oliver Fowles, founders & designers of the London-based studio Uniform Wares, about their time pieces, their influences and what makes them tick (ahem…)

What’s the idea behind the time pieces?

They are conceived by the idea that a watch should be legible and simple but with enough character for the user to connect with. We hope that our watches are able to slot in to very different lifestyles and social situations. They should be easily dressed up or down. At the heart of our timepieces are movements that we consider to be the best for the price point, the design is built around that. So what’s more important to you when considering a design, style or practicality?

I think as long as a watch is legible it is already going some way to being practical. We could design a watch that is the essence of everyday practicality but in doing so it would no doubt end up looking like many rubberised dive watches that the market is already flooded with. We have to balance the needs of everyday use with a product that connects with the user because of the texture / finish or material. This is one reason why we chose Italian Calf Leather for our straps, rubber would be more practical but it is less comfortable, less luxurious, these are things that are important when considering how a product will age with it’s user.

There is a definite sense of quality to the watches, how do you go about sourcing materials?

Each of our watches is around 6 / 7 months in the making. We’re proud that each part of the watch is designed by us, only the movement is sourced elsewhere this means that we have many models of each component piece being made / prototyped so we can find the right fit for the product. A lot of our material research and prototyping takes place here in the UK, once we have found what we need we can instruct the factory on every stage of the finishing process whether this be the PVD coatings of the cases or the vegetable tanning of the straps.

So what’s the best seller?

The black 100 Series is definately our staple model but we’re glad that this model is the backbone of the company and our other models are all informed in some way by the success of that watch.

So what’s ‘good’ design’?

Something that has relevance, whether that be commercial or emotional relevance.

Who, form past & present has influenced you the most?

In terms of watch making, Ludwig Oechslin developed the Automatic MIH Watch that has an annual calendar that is able to show the correct date at the end of each month without having to reset between 30th and 31st, and it’s a beautiful tool watch. In terms of design, Konstantin Grcic is always No1.

Anything else on the cards for Uniform Wares?

We have two new models that will be released later this year, the 150 Series and the 250 Series. They will be an interesting departure from our current collection.

Very interested to see what they produce next, ‘an interesting departure’ from their already (or soon to be) classic watch designs! Keep an eye on these guys, with their meticulous design considerations and lifestyle influences, Uniform Wares will no doubt be one of the lead design studios of this decade.

Website:www.uniformwares.com/

Bass Notes: The film posters of Saul Bass

Kemistry Gallery opens it's doors on Thursday 17th February to Bass Notes: The film posters of Saul Bass. The exhibition brings together a collection of his film posters, film titles and film festival posters from the Lloyd Northover donation to the British Film Institute. Kindly, the BFI’s Poster Archive loaned the exhibits to make this show possible. And we thank them for it. The king of the film poster, no graphic designer has made a greater impact on the world of film than Saul Bass. His simple yet dominant and compelling style has influenced many. Breaking conventions, Bass virtually invented titles as we now know them with a career spanning over forty years. Richard Graham, founder and curator of Kemistry, says that "although his work is well known and has stood the test of time, there is always a new generation who may not be so familiar with his work and we feel it's our duty to show them outstanding graphic work from a pre-digital age". www.kemistrygallery.co.uk Alicja McCarthy

FAD looks at Art in Ad Agencies, a series of behind the scenes interviews looking at the recent inspirations in ad land.

Starting with CHI & Partners, Alicja McCarthy speaks to Emma Modler & Dan Beckett (Art Buyer and Head of art at CHI & Partners)

Q1. What was the idea behind the CHI/CIA Chalk event?

The chalkboard in the CHI Bar was really not being put to any use so we approached CIA to see if any of their artists would be interested in coming in to have a bit of a doodle to see what they come up with. However, the Central Illustration Agency went a few steps further and put a proposal together. This was for 5 of their artists to come in for a bit of ‘chalk off’. Each artist was given one of Fitzrovia’s famous residents to study. They had 15 mins on their own board, after which they moved to their neighbours board and then after another 15 mins, they had a free for all. The result was an amazing looking artwork which definitely adds some interest and colour to the bar.

Q2. Do you think that having original art at the agency helps distinguish you from other agencies?

Other agencies do have art IN their building, but what we love about CIA/CHI Chalk is that it has has become part OF the building. When we designed our bar we realised we would have to have a wall where we hadn’t really wanted one. We added the blackboard thinking it would make the wall less stark, and we could figure out how to use it later. The artwork has finally made that wall complete somehow.

Q3. Does it reflect the creativity at the agency, or is it more for aesthetics, who benefits?

I think it’s a combination. Doing interesting things like the Chalk Event definitely gets talked about and although these things look great I like to think the creatives gather inspiration from it. If artists work is shown around the agency, creatives often remember them should an appropriate project come up so as much as it benefits an agency to have amazing artworks up, it also benefits the artist.

Powerpoint is a necessary evil, but it shouldn’t be the only way we tell people about the agency. As an agency we’re selling the notion that creativity will make our clients’ brands and messages more interesting, and I think sometimes we’re guilty of forgetting that ourselves.

Q5. If you could have one piece of any art at Chi & Partners, what would it be?

Emma – One of Chris Levine’s light instillations

Dan – I’d quite like Anish Kapoor’s C Curve, but I don’t think it’d fit in the lift.

Q6. What’s next?

We have a great window at CHI and CIA’s Simon Spilsbury is going to be doing a Christmas themed illustration on it.

End.

VIDEO:See the huge wall panel through the windows of the CHI offices, it’s an excellent mix of 5 totally different styles spontaneously worked together into one very distinctive wall piece, to see more.

www.chiandpartners.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qJPib9OJnU

Page Tsou

Page Tsou’s first solo exhibition opened last week at Badlambs & Sons Barbershop. Curated by Page Tsou & Chia-hua, Chiang.
In London’s smallest barbershop lays Page Tsou’s exploration of the rear view.

With 30 excellently crafted pencil drawings of the back of people’s heads, the installation invites the viewer to “contemplate on the poetics between the subject and the object, presence and absence.”
From an almost unfriendly subject matter, the curators, wearing barber shop jackets, welcome you with the amount of warmth you need on the cold winters day.

Which is very ironic, as the title of the song from the accompanying video installation by Juriaan Booij sings, You Don’t Know Me, you are asked the question, how friendly are we?

Tsou, originally from Taiwan, on completing his Masters in Communication Art & Design (RCA) wanted to explore this question & his assumptions of London culture by photographing thousands of individual’s (back of) heads.

Definitely worth a visit, Page Tsou’s show continues until 20th January, you’ll be left wishing the back of your head was on the wall next to Mickey Mouse.

Carnovsky

The recently talked about Milan duo Carnovsky, speak to Alicja McCarthy about their latest project RGB, their different creative disciplines & Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

If you haven’t already seen their RGB project, with striking overlapping anatomical colour works on paper, they are most certainly worth a look.

1. How did Carnovsky come about? Where did you meet?
Carnovsky started in 2007. Me and Silvia met at Domus Academy in Milan, where we both graduated in design.
The name Carnovsky came from the book “Zuckermann Unbound” by the great American writer Philip Roth, which is actually very important to us.

2. What are your influences?
Me and Silvia have different backgrounds: I’m an art historian and Silvia is an industrial designer, so Carnovsky is actually the result of these different backgrounds and biographies.

3. How did the idea for RGB come about?
We first came up with the idea of working with optical effects of colored lights to achieve the posibility to show or hide something that appears with regular white light. A “trick” which, of course, is not new, but at the same time we have always seen the application with just one color. The issue was to develop a style, a graphic language, or better, a visual universe rather than a specific application. The issue was working with filters, trying to hold all the “magic” and to be sure that the project had a visual interest. We were looking for something “great”.

4. For the wallpapers did you start out wanting to represent anatomical/scientific imagery?
We started thinking about the idea of metamorphosis, in particular we thought about Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which we found the idea of making history of the world as a series of things which transform into other things. We then thougt about the ancient frescos and how it could be possible to make stuff like that in the present time, and so we came up with the wallpapers. They for us, are not only home decoration but also refer to narratives and paintings, the natural kingdom, which also include human beings. We decided to concentrate on this series of wallpapers in very specific and consistently iconographic way.

5. You describe the project as chromatic stimulus – how important is colour to your work?
The “chromatic stimulus” is actually what is needed for the RGB images to change and reveal only one of the 3 layers. But in general terms, colour, especially the primary colours, are the key to our work.

6. You also created a bird cage handbag & a neon typographical radiator, what’s next?
Well, we are currently working on different projects, but in particular, we are focusing on RGB, designing new images and new applications for this project.

7. And lastly, are there any plans to exhibit in London?
That would be great! We have no plan as yet, but we hope that soon we can have an exhibition in London.

www.carnovsky.com/
RGB Photo credit: Alvise Vivenza

Robert Bradford

As soon as I saw one of Robert Bradford’s sculptures, I fell in love. Igniting that child hood desire to dismember barbie or to build a Lego robot with special powers. His sculptures most certainly evoke an element of play & discovery. Bradford uses anything from plastic clothes pegs to scalextrics parts, from Happy Meal toys to scourers, using anything that’s ‘everyday’ to recreate an even more familiar object. From a dog to a gun or an angel, with an element of the recycled, junk or discarded, what’s one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure.

Last night, at an opening of a group art show at a production company Hogarth Worldwide, I got the pleasure to meet the man… and incidentally bought one of the pieces… the Daschund which I shall call Donald.

His work, Nathans Fox’s & Jon Steed’s (among others) will be on display at 164 Shafesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8HL.

(see also FAD)

I Wonder.

Marian Banjes’ new book, I Wonder, is out now, packed full of decorative typographical delights.
The illustrator/typographer/maker/designer spent an entire year in hiding (somewhere in the mountains of Western Canada) to illustrate, write & design this little book of wonders.

Interestingly influenced by nature, Islamic art & Christmas ephemera, you can expect anything from pasta to pac-man. The work is mirrored by Bantjes’ words, her contemplations & observations of the world, sometimes bitter sweet, sometimes philosophical.

When frequently asked what her influences are, she replies, “Everything! Conversations, things I read, things I see around me, books, magazines, old stuff, new stuff, art, design, craft, film, music and garbage. I can be inspired at any moment by the strangest things. I am seldom bored.

I have more ideas than I will ever be able to produce in my lifetime—some of them are even good ideas.”
This book is most definitely about ideas, ecclectic, full of gold, silver & black, it is not only for those of the typographic pattern persuasion,
but those who seek energy & surprise on the printed page.

www.bantjes.com/

The piece was published on FAD Website