Artists pushing the boundaries or going the extra mile are always worth talking about so meet Korean artist JeeYoung Lee who put together crazy dream-like worlds that she then use them as a back drop for her imaginative self-portrait photos.
The artist builds all this in a 10-by-20-foot studio and we heat that some constructions can take months! you can catch a glimpse of her portraits at the Opiom Gallery in Opio, France, February 7 to March 7, 2014.
Artist Alexander Newley is delighted to announce his solo exhibition ‘Portraits in Character – supporting St Martin-in-the-Fields’, in the Crypt of St Martin’s, Trafalgar Square from 7th to 21st November. The exhibition is to run in partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields, a fitting location for the exhibition, with its proximity to the National Portrait Gallery and National Gallery, and will mark Newley’s return to the London art world after several years in New York.
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Auction to support St Martin- in-the-Fields
Saint Martin-in-the-Fields (click to enlarge)
In Spring 2017 the paintings and drawings featured in ‘Portraits in Character – supporting St Martin- in-the-Fields’, will be auctioned to benefit the work of St Martin-in-the-Fields, including their outreach with homeless people.
For more information about this auction in support of St Martin-in-the-Fields please contact StMartins@activ.org.uk
Portraits of comedians such as Dame Judi Dench
Newley collaborated with Kenneth Branagh to create a unique series of portraits of several of the leading cast from the Plays at the Garrick season, which comes to a close this November. Alexander Newley spent time with the cast over a period of one year, capturing the actors in character backstage after performances.
The result is a series of drawings and paintings capturing the aura of some of the UK’s most celebrated actors; Dame Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Adrian Lester, Derek Jacobi, Richard Madden and Lily James.
Alexander Newley commented:
Painting an actor in character adds another layer of interest for me. I’ve always been fascinated by the unknowable human self and how it variously disguises and forms itself into the mask of personality. In a theatrical portrait, that self is further warped and refracted through the mask of portrayal. I am making a portrait of their portrait, in other words, which is a fascinating game of chess on many levels.
About Alexander Newley
Alexander Newley
Alexander Newley is a leading contemporary portrait artist working on both sides of the Atlantic, known for his iconic depictions of major figures in the Arts including; Gore Vidal, Billy Wilder, Christopher Reeve, Oliver Stone and Steven Berkoff. His portrait of Gore Vidal, America’s infamous polemicist and wit, and his dramatic triple-portrait of Actor, Activist and former Superman star Christopher Reeve, imprisoned in his life-supporting wheelchair, form part of the permanent collection of The National Portrait Gallery at The Smithsonian in Washington DC.
About St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a landmark church, which has been serving London for centuries. The iconic building stands as a beacon in Trafalgar Square, welcoming people through its doors for services, music or simply as a place of quiet sanctuary from the bustle of central London.
St Martin’s is famous for offering a welcome and practical support to some of the most vulnerable people in society. This December marks the 90th Anniversary of the BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal. The money raised helps homeless people who receive shelter, food, help and advice at The Connection at St Martin’s; as well as maintaining a special Vicar’s Relief Fund which makes thousands of one off grants to vulnerable people across the UK.
I looked out of the window and the only thought that came through my mind was “bloody weather”. It was pretty nasty out there, aggressive showers and blistering winds. I was that close to get the sleepers back on but I reminded myself that ‘Under her skin ‘ is the first ever show by this newly born gallery – Atomica gallery, and this was enough to galvanise the small amount of motivation I had and turned into some sort of excitement.
A quick (and unexpected) bus journey took me down to Armhurst Terrace where Atomica gallery is located. The gallery actually sits nicely in the middle of Hackney Downs Studios, which have been in service since 2011 and which consists of events spaces and over 70 serviced studios and workspaces for creative businesses.
As I stepped in, I could not help noticing the relatively small size of the gallery but also the large patio that the gallery benefits from and which was, according to Corey, the graphic designer for the gallery and the person I met that day, pretty convenient to accommodate the large amount that turned up at the opening night.
For their first show, the gallery has paired with Things&Ink magazine, a publication which reflects on tattoo culture from a feminine perspective. ‘Under Her Skin’ has been curated by Things&Ink editor Alice Snape and marks the first anniversary of the magazine and the launch of ‘The Art Issue’. The show features work from 12 female tattoo artists who have appeared in the magazine’s pages over the past year.
I will definitely go back there.
Here is our picks
“The Bare Bones” by Charissa Gregson (Jolie Rouge, London UK)
Cobra Girl by Vicky Morgan (Ghost House, Derby UK) (left) | “Elisabeth” by Lucy Pryor (Into You, London UK)
“Medusa” by by Lucy Pryor (Into You, London UK) (left) | “Ruby” by Amy Victoria Savage (Jayne Doe, Hornchurch UK)
Where – Atomica gallery – Hackney Downs Studios Amhurst Terrace E8 2BT London UK What – ‘Under Her Skin’ When – September 12th – 30th 2013
John Stezaker once said of Collage that it “is a yearning for a lost world and reflects a universal sense of loss”. Those sentiments are certainly reflected in the work of artist and radical feminist Linder Sterling (also known as Linder).
In her series Pretty Girls, Linder reacted to visual world she occupied, a society of inequality and the gender specific rhetoric. Linder used the magazines of the late 70’s and 80’s as her painters brush. Splicing images of naked women from pornography, and kitchen appliances from those awful home improvement catalogues, she created a curious and slightly disturbing, yet telling depiction on the representation of women of the time.
Looking back at these images from the 70’s and the post punk era it’s amazing how contemporary they feel. Is this due to the inherent nature of collage and it’s yearning for a lost world (as Stezaker put it). Or is it that in a time when we are bombarded with imagery on a daily basis that more and more contemporary artists and looking back in time in an attempt to decipher it all?
With computers everywhere (or almost) and the digital age, a new form of art is emerging and while the end product can be rather astonishing, this can surely not be compared with the real thing that is painting with a physical medium.
Do not get me wrong here, ART-PIE does not dislike it or having a go at all the digital painters, I am just trying to say that I surely would not get the same feeling of excitement I get with holding a spray paint can or a brush if I had to paint with a computer as my canvas and a stylus or a digitizing tablet(as they call it) as my can or brush – not for me. Continue reading Digital painting: not like the real thing isn’t it?→
We strolled through the London Art Fair for the fourth consecutive year and as always stumbled upon remarkable artworks from ever so talented artists.
In this series, we will tell you why we liked a particular piece from these artists as well as posting more works. We hope you will also enjoy it as we did.
Feel free to comment too at the end of this article. Let’s get started….
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Philip Braham
Click to enlarge
We stumbled upon the piece called “Ophelia Bathing” – oil on canvas, 183x122cm, and instantly appreciated the hazy feel of the depicted landscape.
It made us feel like diving in this river or enjoy a long and lazy lie down on one of its banks.
About the artist
Represented by the Roger Bilcliffe gallery at this year’s London Art Fair, Philip Braham is a Scottish artist whose paintings and photographs emerge from the Northern European engagement with landscape as a metaphor for the human condition. Recent projects reflect on the temporal nature of our existence through personal recollection and collective history, set within the slowly evolving landscape that bears us forward. Fidelity to experience is fundamental to his practice, and this brings a poetic grace to his technical mastery of oil painting and silver-based photography.
Whatever some may think about the London 2012 Olympics, it is bringing a lot art and life to the city making it not only the sport capital of the world but very much a cultural hub right now. We have started to enjoy the many exhibitions and pop up art shows part of the London 2012 festival that is running along the Olympics and actually right into September.
We made our first stop at Art Drive and we so glad we did. The NCP Car Park, 35 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3ER which I ignored so many times as I walked past, is now cocooning the BMW Art Car Collection. 17 cars turned into pieces of art. I will never see again that car park with the same eyes.
You have to go back in 1975 to see the first ever BMW Art Car burning some rubber at the famous Le Mans 24-hour race. From there 16 other Art cars followed which all competed in this very race until the current and last one ever painted – The Jeff Koons one, see below for pictures. Some of the artists who got involved in this 35-year long project are Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Cesar Manrique or Frank Stella.
But enough about the history, let’s go and see the cars! The settings for this show are completely surreal: the car wash team, based outside of the car park was at it while I was greeted with a big smile by the the Art Drive team and quickly ushered inside the car park and rapidly wafted in a huge lift that can most definitely contain a couple of cars but above all that made me feel right into some sort of action or sci-fi movies like Alien. I was excited now.
The girofar then went off, a strident sound soon followed that smashed the relative silence that had settled during my journey up to the unknown. The door slid open: I had reached the 8th floor and was about to see my first Art Car.
Enjoy the pictures below and leave a comment if you like any of them! Consult this website to read more about the cars, designs and artists that took part in this project
A bit of trivia for you – the BMW Art Car M1 by Andy Warhol was the most successful car on the circuit de la Sarthe, it took sixth place overall in 1979.
Digital Media, the new solo exhibition by Skullphone, aims to bring the playfulness, obsession, irony and anxiety of the Los Angeles-based artists’ renowned street installations into the Subliminal Projects space.
In Digital Media, Skullphone examines the contradictions inherent in outdoor digital signage, demonstrating cause for both wonder and concern over the increasingly ubiquitous medium. The artist explores advertising, government and private enterprise signage, and the California landscape on which outdoor media proliferate, making permanent on panels what is removable and reprogrammable in outdoor space.
Although of the same spirit as his past work, Digital MediaIthink marks a distinct visual departure for the artist. His use of mirror-polished, black-painted aluminum panels is a cold and slick leap from past works on found wood, weathered metal, and wheat-pasted paper. Skullphone’s painting technique employs a deliberate dot grid system, and his painted color is expanded to a limited palette of red, green and blue. This shift corresponds to the artist’s recent inspirations and exploits with outdoor digital media. Through painted pointillism, the imagery dislocates as the artwork is approached.
Some of you may also know that there are nice people out there, so nice that after having been notified about a possible freeze overnight, a few good people in Mathura (India) made jumbo jackets and woollen jumpers for elephants in the region.
This is how elephants are treated in Mathura during winter.
The Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center helps
The Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center is actually supporting this and has committed itself to help the women in surrounding villages make these jackets and jumpers to counter attack the freezing winter and its possible damages to the elephants.
It is important to keep our elephants protected from the bitter cold during this extreme winter, as they are weak and vulnerable having suffered so much abuse, making them susceptible to ailments such as pneumonia. The cold also aggravates their arthritis which is a common issue that our rescued elephants have to deal with.
We included below some of the colourful garments. We think they are awesome!
Shoreditch as always will be hotting up at the week end with street art, dance and good music. Zack and his team at eeeefun throwing a party this Saturday 16th April 2011. Best of all, mention ART-PIE and get your names on the guestlist by emailing eeeefunparty@gmail.com!
From Zack
We’re hosting a party on Saturday 16th April at Shoreditch Studios in London where we’ll be recording the international brand film for a cutting-edge new electric scooter. As well as appearing in the commercial, everyone who attends will also get the chance to show off their artistic talents and submit their creative design for an eeeeFUN scooter.
The best one designed on the day will go into commercial production, with the winner getting their very own e45 scooter with their design on. We’re looking for street artists and designers, plus musicians, actors, DJs and dancers (as well as people who just want to enjoy a free party).
As I stepped in, I could not help noticing the relatively small size of the gallery but also the large patio that the gallery benefits from and which was, according to Corey, the graphic designer for the gallery and the person I met that day, pretty convenient to accommodate the large amount that turned up at the opening night.
Whatever some may think about the 
