Sanctuaries Exhibition Competition

 

Call for entries to the Live Hazard Collective exhibition to happen at Rich Mix London in February 2014. Curators Guy Harries and I are aiming to have a mix of up and coming artists to be exhibited alongside more established names, in order to reflect the vibrancy of the area (East London Shoreditch) where the show is taking place. All selected artworks will be available for sale during the length of the exhibition, with no commission claim on the sale by the organisers.

Sanctuaries Exhibition and Illustrated Concert

I am curating with music professor Guy Harries this upcoming exhibition and performative illustrated concert for Rich Mix London to take place in February 2014. Supported by Diversity Art Forum, in partnership with Reportager, the Association of Illustrators and the University of East London.

 

Indigo Mag Interview

 

I have been interviewed for a feature for a soon-to-be-launched creative arts magazine named Indigo on the increased popularity of collectives and here are the answers to questions I was asked about collectives. As soon as I get the link I will post the online article.

1. Question: Would you say that collectives are the future of the illustration industry?

Answer: Collectives are no longer the future of the illustration. They have very much already taken hold of the industry. The concept of multi-disciplinary collaborations in groups is what I conceive as being the future, as it is getting harder and harder to make a living out of illustration alone and designers are asked more and more to be jack of all trades. It will be interesting to see what direction that format of pooling resources and skills will take.

Q 2: Why do you think they are so popular?

A 2: Collectives are popular because they are a great way to launch fresh faces, new blood into the public consciousness. There is always an an exciting vibe when attending group collectives shows or buying artwork where the talents of a few have produced outcomes that are often surprisingly refreshing in its audacity. Collectives fire its participants to try their best; people appreciate that DIY spirit and want to buy into that culture.

 

Q 3. Would you advise up-and-coming illustrators to think about joining a collective?

A 3: Yes, I would and as a matter of fact I do. Since working as a lecturer at UEL, I have encouraged my students to think of their class as a Collective. Every year, we have exhibitions where students think of a theme and title for their collective- the aim is to reflect what is going on in the industry, for them to think as a team, to create marketing, PR and manage finance in groups, ...all attributes that make great collectives work.

 

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Sonic Rituals 2 Images

These are the live drawing images I created while performing this Monday for the second instalment of Sonic Rituals.

Sonic Rituals is a live improvisation night between different musicians. A creation of Yumi Hara Cawkwell and Guy Harries, it has so far included a very diverse range of players from electronic musicians to more traditional instrumentalists. On Monday, we had Mark Hewins, Geoff Leigh and former member of Soft Machine Daevid Allen (now in Cong) come and join us.

My involvement is a visual one in that I react to the improvisation sounds by creating images that go with the moment and the music.

I am using now an IPad for these experimental nights as I feel such a device is more anchored for immediate and most effective broadcasting. I also like the IPad because it forces me to draw quite differently and not be so precious about doing nice pretty drawings- the idea of being freed in my expression of movement through the gesture of immediate mark making on a digital device is revolutionary for me. Last night I brought a clunky projector which in fact had great picture quality and everything went smoothly.

I had a good chat with the concert promoter and Jazz Servant Quarters owner (pictured above) who kindly agreed to pause for me for a portrait. All in all, it was a magical night; the music was excellent and the audience really enjoyed themselves. Feedback in my projections was really positive. There is much I want to do in terms of developing these experiments into a polished act and we will take out time and many more gigs to end up doing it.

We are the Future Collective

Poster designed by Lesh Parmar

"We are the Future" Collective would like to invite you to the opening of the illustrated concert and exhibition "What is the Future of Illustration?", on the Wednesday 15th of February at 5.30 pm, ADI Gallery, University of East London, London.

Work in progress- mural based on the theme of music

This event is co-curated by Illustration students and their two lecturers (including me) currently on their 3rd year of the B.A Combined degree. You will be treated on the night to a live drawing mural performance, a concert from one of our illustrators/singers along with an exhibition and projection of students artworks reflecting concerns facing the Illustration industry right now.

Flier designed by Lesh Parmar

Over the last two months, our students used online social networking platforms such as Facebook to have a conversation related to seismic changes rocking the commercial art world.

The rise of illustration collectives, the predominance of digital means of production as well as more and more illustrators using performance were all hotly debated topics. We are proud of of the result and we would live to invite you to be part of our future.



Holy Shit Flyer

Drawing courtesy of Valerie Pezeron. Copyright Valoche Designs 2011. Do not reproduce without permission

Art Shop Collective Opening

This is the entrance of the Arthur and Albert studio where the Art Shop Collective have found a home for their twice a month contemporary artefacts sales.

The brain -and the red glasses- behind the 27 artists strong collective!

 Katie, a member of the collective and a lovely person to boot!

Taking place every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, last Saturday was the opening of the venture.
There was cake, tea and rose wine on offer.

 This is me posing next to a row of my watercolor portraits and trying my best expressive face. It worked? Non?

Yep, there was music on the day! And the atmosphere was really chilled and friendly. The day was sunny and the public very supportive. We sold quite a few artworks on the day!

The till with tea, business cards and other promotional materials such as artists statements.

Yum! 

My watercolors and below, one of my digital prints on display at the very bottom.

More of my watercolors and digital prints above.

As you can see the collective is a collection of very disparate styles, the only selection criteria being it must be just very good art indeed.

Above another one of my digital prints, called "Fear".

The lampshade made of sunglasses was quite popular with the crowd!

The shop was pretty busy all day. Set right next to the Regents Canal in Haggerston, we benefited from a  fair bit of footfall from all those ramblers making their way to Broadway market.

Many of the collective came along with their friends. The collective is composed of a good mix of up and coming and more established jobbing artists such as recording artists who also paint.