Art
It was my 43rd birthday on Sunday, I know, I’m looking good for my age, and my darling other-half surprised me with a present of this brilliant cushion made by an anonymous prisoner currently residing at Her Majesties pleasure somewhere in Scotland. It’s entitled Moustaches – for obvious reasons – and features surface embroidered bushy moustaches. You can see the entire range of products from Fine Cell Work here.
Whilst trawling through the internet trying to find the website I came across this site which demonstrates prisoners’ incredible ingenuity when not guided. Unfortunately these are not available to buy on-line.
Nathan Usmar Lauder
Posted on Thursday, 10th of December 2009 Permalink
I was pleasantly surprised to see that from the 23rd of October to the 5th of December this year the Zach Feuer Gallery in New York had a retrospective exhibition of works by the Pop artist, teacher and nun Sister Mary Corita.
One of my all time favorite image makers who sadly passed away in 1986 spent 30 years practicing as a nun at the Immaculate Heart Convent in Los Angeles where she also had an art studio and used her time to create screen prints and serigraphs.
Her work features a beautiful mix of type and image usually in bright or fluorescent colours. Newspaper photos, chopped up slogans and quotes, advertising images, jingles and hand rendered type all came together to illustrate political and world issues she felt strongly about with a great sense of playfulness and freedom
It has been said that she is “responsible in part for advancing the silk screen process as fine art”. I can only hope one day to see them with my own eyes. Maybe next time…
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Thursday, 10th of December 2009 Permalink
Stephen Powers is a New York based artists who during his youth wrote graffiti under the name ESPO (Exterior Surface Painting Outreach). Powers work has always blurred the lines between graffiti and graphic design by producing murals influenced by advertising and sign writing, his public work often appearing to be legitimate billboards.
Today Stephen’s work is as intelligent and engaging as ever. For his latest project ‘A Love letter For You’ Stephen Powers has traveled back to his home town of West Philadelphia, this time with the funding and backing from the local authorities, to paint a series of murals on the rooftops where graffiti once stood visible from the elevated train lines. Sadly the original 1980s graffiti went unnoticed by the public and were all painted brown sometime during the mid nineties. Powers feels that the original more ‘traditional’ graffiti was alienating and that by creating work which is understandable and readable by all it will ultimately result in a greater acceptance from the general public.
The ‘A Love letter For You’ project is still in production. For the latest murals, info and pictures straight from the rooftops of West Philidelphia check out the blog here
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 20th of October 2009 Permalink
Don’t forget to send us your entries for the free tickets to Brussels competition!
In order to show you how simple it can be we thought we would have a go at reproducing our own Magritte here in the Fibre studio (no this wasn’t an entry for the National Giant Fruit Championships). For anyone who already sent in, or was planning to send in a version of this painting you will now have to think about a different solution. Full competition info here.
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 29th of September 2009 Permalink
Everyone by now must have seen Muto the epic eight minute stop frame animation from Italian artist Blu. Well, to my delight he’s just completed a new film as part of the Fame festival which kicked off in Grottaglie Italy on the 19th of September this year. It’s called Combo and this time it’s a collaboration with David Ellis who has been making similar animations as part of Barnstormers since 1999.
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 29th of September 2009 Permalink
I recently came across this online. It’s a website dedicated to simplifying various film posters. Although you may not recognise a lot of them, it doesn’t take away from the pleasure of seeing these things translated so beautifully into basic geometric forms. If only everything in life could get the same treatment.
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Thursday, 24th of September 2009 Permalink
A couple of posts back I blogged about a free trip to Brussels Fibre was invited to go on by Eurostar and We Are Social. Well, courtesy of the same Little Break Big Difference campaign now you have the chance to win a pair of free tickets to the same destination.
All you have to do to be the winner of this generous offer is recreate a Magritte painting of your choice using photography. You may choose any one of his masterpieces and there are plenty to choose from. The best entry will receive the two tickets to Brussels.
Anyone wishing to enter can email their entry plus an image of the original piece you copied to the ‘contact’ link on the left of the page. The competition will only be open until the end of September, so get snapping!
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 15th of September 2009 Permalink
Bold Tendencies III exhibition has taken over the rooftop of Peckham’s multi-storey car park, this is the third installment in a series of art exhibitions curated by the Hannah Barry Gallery. The exhibition consists of workings from 16 fresh-faced, up and coming artists.
There are some quite amazing sculptures on display. One favourite of mine is the quite humorous “Failed Obelisk”, by James Balmforth – a broken-in-two obelisk, with the top part broken off and stuck on top of a giant spring. Another, a sculpture by Molly Smyth, entitled “Motion Towards Collapse” – concrete steps that lead up to a large window, from which you can see another large concrete window, laid out on the floor below. The strong architectural shape of Molly’s sculpture works really well against the lush panoramic view of the London cityscape, which can be seen from the top of the car park.
Franks Café also shares the space with the art exhibition, which is perfect for a bite to eat whilst watching the summer sun setting across London.
The exhibition is open from Thursday to Sunday 11am till 10pm and runs until September 30th, catch it while the weather is nice!
John Alexander
Posted on Wednesday, 26th of August 2009 Permalink
For those who missed the screening of Beautiful Losers at the ICA, from this week the DVD is available for purchase from here. The movie celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential American cultural movements of a generation, rooted in the DIY subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip-hop and graffiti. The loose-knit group had amongst it’s ranks heavyweight creative powerhouses: Harmony Korine; Mike Mills; the highly influential graffiti artist Margaret Kilgallen (above image); and many more besides. Well worth a night in front of the box.
Nathan Usmar Lauder
Posted on Wednesday, 26th of August 2009 Permalink
Anyone who is unfamiliar with the work of photographer JR from Paris, France should definitely look him up.
He started off documenting subcultures with a camera he found on a subway and now pastes up his images in large scale on walls and houses all over the world.
JRs Women project was set up to highlight the importance and “Pivotal role” of women in society, traveling to poor areas like the favelas in Rio de Janero, Kenya, and more recently (in March of this year) Delhi, shooting them in their everyday lives and pasting their images in a huge scale on the surrounding buildings, bridges (and interestingly enough an entire train) in their home towns.
His thinking is that by pasting these same images both in their native countries in the streets and in galleries of western countries he can draw attention to and give a voice to those often over looked people, colliding the two worlds in a striking and unmissable way.
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Friday, 21st of August 2009 Permalink
