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31 July - 8 August 2010
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PASSION FOR LONDON |
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Opening times: daily 10am-6pm
Private View: Tuesday 3 August, 5pm-9pm
Recent work by Paul Hiles
Hiles' recent work, produced over the past four years, focuses on London life and humour in all its detail. Concentrating on London scenes, he incorporates well-known landscapes, such as St Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge. The trademark red London buses provide a distinctive light touch to the pencil-drawn, intricate, black and white pieces of work.
Many of the works are large in scale and full of quirky details such as "Jack the Ripper" hiding down a dark alley in Spitalfields, Boris on his bike next to City Hall or Anne Boleyn being beheaded on Tower Hill. The intricate yet hectic nature of the work resonates with all London dwellers - the appeal is in the detail, richness and scale.
www.paulhiles.co.uk
11 - 30 August 2010
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THE SKIN I'M IN |
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Opening times: Tuesday-Sunday 12.00-6pm
Opening night: Wednesday 11 August, 6.30pm-8.30pm
Large works on paper by Charlie Pi
With Guest Artists: Eugene Ankomah, Agnes Eve and Jo Wilmot
The Return of the SUMMERSHOW: Four inspired artist in one truly inspirational venue.
Charlie Pi is an artist best known for his paintings of black men , using baroque iconography to create hauntingly beautiful works , but this year things have changed.Since last September artist Charlie Pi has been working on paper.What does a children's nursery rhyme illustration look like when it's five foot square? Plans, sketches, storyboards, illustrations, comics and text made large. Not precursors but finished works in their own right. Charlie has broken away from his previous baroque iconography in oils to a free space in which to examine both theme and process.
As Charlie says, "I can do anything I like on paper, if the picture gets too big for the page I can stick another piece of paper to it and mistakes can literally be cut out. I don't feel the need to finish or complete and if the worst comes to the worst Paper burns."
Playing with mixed media, household emulsions, car paint, inks and oils, even furniture polish and ultimately fire. Moving on from images of beautiful young black men to multi-image pictures of a mixture of models; young, old, black and white, male and female. The multi images an attempt to portray character beyond image. Although the models are real and provide both visual and personal inspiration , these are not portraits. The imagery is probably more informed by Charlie personal projections. Seeing his model in his old fashioned stripey nightshirt not only brings back childhood memories of nursery rhymes but makes Charlie aware of his own ageing process. The 'Squirrel Watchers' are as much about this personal projection as they are about the original model. Again when confronted by a black model who is training in dance choreography but who has no forearms due to Thalidomide, Charlie is made aware of his own feelings about Classical Ballet in which the dancers is bombarded with strictures on there being only one way to do it. 'Porte des Bras' is an exercise which tells how the arms should be held to conform with the five foot position of Ballet. The result in the case of this young dancer cannot be other than other.. Even 'ConsiderThe Lilies' which might appear to be a fairly straightforward painting of the unveiling of a beautiful young man, is based on my feelings about this model who I know suffers from body dysmorphia and believes himself to be 'fat and ugly'.
A very different body of work but with the usual wit and luscious beauty of Charlie Pi: Thugz 'n Frox, Squirrel watching by Candle light, Consider the Lilies, Pretzel Hug and I am a Dancer. After the success of last year's show Charlie Pi has invited three other artist to join him in this truly inspirational venue.
Eugene Ankomah: Will be re-creating an installation and video based on a previous performance, 'Tribal Dance'
"My work often mixes cultural imagery and symbolism from my African background coupled with images from popular culture combined with experimental ways of approaching my various themes I aim to comment socially, politically, culturally, emotionally and personally. I reveal to hide and hide to expose."
Agnes Eve: Will be showing her wonderful strong yet intimate, semi-abstract landscapes.
'The substratum for my paintings comes from Nature. Nature takes the leadership in creating. It is a constant, unstoppable process of formation within creation and has been progressing since the Big Bang. My role is to extract it from the whole and transfer it to my work.'
Jo Wilmot: Presents all new oils based on concepts of glamour.
"I'm interested in the way shiny newness becomes tarnished, in how fast a longed for item or experience switches from desirable to bland. We live in a culture of glossy images, objects and items and we are led to believe that the next purchase or cocktail will make us complete."
I have selected these artists because I admire not only their work but their practice. I see in each of them a desire to push beyond, an openness to new ideas and serendipity but most of all a love for the creative process above and beyond product.
All artists are available for interview and can be contacted direct. For further information or picture go to:
Charlie Pi: 0208 691 5592
Charliepi.wordpress.com/
charliepi@hotmail.co.uk
www.myspace.co.uk/charliepi
Eugene Ankomah: 0796 574 971
www.eugeneankomah.com
www.myspace.co.uk/uegeneankomah
Eugene-ankomah@hotmail.com
Agnes Eve: 0784 1516 312
www.agneseve.com
agneseve@ymail.com
Jo Wilmot: 07967 195213
jowilmot@hotmail.com
4 - 14 September 2010
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THE OUTSIDERS |
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Opening times: daily, 11am-7pm
Private View: Friday 3 September, 6-9pm
A photographic exhibition by Vernon Dewhurst inspired by the situation of the Burmese migrant workers, and the refugees from the oppression and terror of the Burmese State.
Living outside the mainstream of Thai society the people from Burma have few rights and little legal protection against unscrupulous employers and their agents. They are frequently harassed by the Thai police, often having to resort to bribery in order to avoid deportation or prison. Their living and working conditions are harsh and their remuneration minimal, but they are there because at least they are safe from Burmese army and police, and they have a chance to earn some money, a large portion of which is invariably sent back to their families in Burma.
As a photographer I found the dichotomy between their living conditions and situation and their almost invariable cheerfulness, dignity, and optimism an inspiration and a lesson. They have learned to live with so little, to overcome so much, to retain hope in extreme adversity, and to hold on to their identity and self respect.
I hope the pictures show people that we can relate to, they are not from another planet, they are just like us. They have the same hopes, the same fears, they laugh like us, they cry like us, but they have none of our advantages of money, freedom, safety, health care, and education.
People in Burma simply want to leave in peace and security under a federal democratic system where everyone is treated equally regardless of their race, religion and gender.
We should not ignore or forget them, for we are their only witnesses, of their misfortune and of the crimes committed against them,
The camp pictures were taken in various labour camps in Thailand and the background pictures in southern Burma 2008-2009. Portraits of the refugees were made in the UK in 2010.
There will also be showing a short film by 'Joshua' (narrator of Oscar nominated 'Burma VJ') about the monks uprising of 2007.
22 - 26 September 2010
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UK HOME TRUTHS |
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Opening times: to be confirmed
Private View: Tuesday 21 September, 6-9pm
An exhibition of artwork by Susan Elliott
Details to follow
5 - 24 October 2010
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FLASHIER...AND TRASHIER |
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Opening times: 11am-5pm (closed Mondays)
Private View: Wednesday 6 October, 6-9pm
Participating Artists: Kate Bradbury, Dan Casado, Chris Czainski, Yvonne Mabs Francis, Ella Guru, Sue Kreitzman, Karin van der Plas, Julia Sisi, Phil Wildman
From the Folks Who Brought You "WOW!!" ("WILD OLD WOMEN!!") Now Comes: FLASHIER.......AND TRASHIER!! An exuberant celebration of art made from salvaged and recycled materials and an extravaganza of all things kitsch!
Enjoy the thrills and chills of the St Pancras Crypt, deep beneath the city streets. Ponder the questions asked in the installation: What Should We Wear on the Way to the Afterlife??
Be amazed by our glimpse into the murky, voyeuristic past of days gone by: Old Fashioned Circus Side Shows AND MUCH MORE!!!!
Contact: suekreitzman@yahoo.co.uk
27 - 31 October 2010
DELINEATION, CONTEMPORARY DIALOGUES WITH DRAWING
TBC Artists' Collective |
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Opening times: 10am-6pm
Private View: Wednesday 27 October, 6-9pm
Beverley Bennett, Maiven Bergeron, Laura Davidson, Susannah King, James Jeff Lindley, Paula Lucido, Alex McIntyre, Paul Mendez, Elizabeth Oniri, Charley Peters, James Tuitt and Philip Weiner
TBC is a London-based multi-disciplinary collective of artists, and a thinking space for members - and the wider arts community - to engage in discussion and debate, and make public their ideas. The group self-publishes a magazine, 12 Pages, and works on exhibition projects that interrogate individual members' creative identities and explore the potential of collaborative works.
The forthcoming exhibition, Delineation: Contemporary Dialogues with Drawing considers drawing as an expanded field that explores what it is to draw within the context of contemporary art practice. In the elegiac setting of The Crypt Gallery, St. Pancras Church, Delineation will present works from TBC Artists' Collective that contemplate the nature of contemporary drawing activity in physical, cognitive and virtual contexts. The exhibition will focus on the processes of drawing itself, and also assert its relevance to writing, sculpture, sewing, technology, mark-making, language, gesture and performance.
tbcartistscollective.org / info@tbcartistscollective.org
In association with The Big Draw
Sponsored by Quintessentially
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