Time is ticking down till i am in a field in Pilton at#Glastonburyfestival2016. A few new things for you this year, some oddness with George Tomlinson, bringing you the future of begging… and this years prizes! As we know we have lost a lot of folk this year, so this years prizes are ‘Dead Heros’ You may recognise 3, the one you don’t is our unfairground hero, Uncool Dave! So Roll up Roll up Try your luck in the Unfairest show on Earth. Only a pound a go and every one’s a Winner! (well kind of)
Tag: street art
Marrakech was a blast. a real change of cultures, a lesson in patience and a change of pace. It started weirdly with Louis Theroux and his family on our easy jet flight from Gatwick (the unfinished airport). He was to reappear daily while we were painting, just to weird us out. Marrakech is an assault on the senses, the bustle of the souks the smells of spice and moped fumes, the call of shop keepers “come look Ali Babba”. It’s a crazy whirl of getting lost continually, trying to find the walls.
It was a nice mix of folk curated by Atttollo, for the Mb6 street art festival. Local boy Kalamour joined Alexey Luka from Moscow, Giacomo Bufarini aka Run from Italy via Stoke Newington (my old stomping ground), LX one from France, Remi Rough and Yesbee from Saaf London and all three in the Agents for Change crew, Mad C from Germany and old friends Lucy Mclauchlan and Sickboy from Nuart and the Widewalls Majorca easter break, with Ian cox on the camera it was like old times.
When first asked to participate in MB6 street art festival i was very aware i was going to paint in a culture not my own. My usual subjects were not going to work in an islamic country. Islam resists to the representation of living beings both man and animals this ultimately stems from the belief that the creation of living forms is unique to God. So my western stuff like trash, toys and rude kids were out. Marrakech is often called the rose city for its colour, everything is painted a reddish brown, coupled with the fact that Morocco is a major producer of rose oil with a unique fragrance meant that i had found something local i could focus on. The cabbage rose that grows there is not a looker, (its called the cabbage rose for a reason) so i picked a prettier version to paint.
The scaffolding was scary but the locals made me welcome, being asked to eat with the local masons and given countless cups of Moroccan whiskey (mint tea) from the berber barrow boys who carry goods in and out of the souks.
We were housed in a couple of cool riads across the city with the sun beating down on us painting during the day it was a cool place to hang out at night. As the week went on the Marrakech Biennale started with a series of parties, where tiny snacks and large amounts of alcohol often equalled drunk artists, a bloody good laugh was had by all. A massive thanks to Ahmed our local fixer and practical guy and of course his assistant Hassan. Big thanks to both Gladys and Elena who helped the wheels stay on the cart, and of course to Vestalia and Terrence who organised the whole affair.
In Marrakech this week painting for the Biennale with MB6, amazing place, really another world. Its early days and i’ve just started painting, going to be a weird Dotmasters piece and i have had to find something non figurative to fit with the local culture. More info as it happens
Ragdoll update
There are some new toys in Croyden! I’ve been painting there for a week and the first wall is done. The second is underway and should be finished by Friday. The two will stand opposite each other and are part of the biggest toy’s in Toy Town series first started years ago at Nuart in Stavanger.There’s loads of new street work in Croydon at the moment and there’s series of large scale street works planned by The Croydon Mural project which is produced by The Rise Gallery and Attollo art, Cheers guys!
can be found on google maps here
‘Indigo gets up…Before’ & ‘…After’ .The latest in the Rude Kids series.The characters in the Rude Kids series are friends and family, all under 12 and simply too nice to ‘flip the bird’ or vandalise your walls. With teenage years looming, those days are just round the corner; for now, these kids are still too sweet and without the angst to convincingly pull it off. The series captures these kids while they’re still just ‘rude kids’.
The three colours are:
Fluro Pink Before edition1/6 Fluro Pink After edition 1/6
Orange Before edition1/11 Orange After edition 1/11
Violet Before edition1/13 Viiolet After edition 1/13
Prints will be available from Imitate modern here.
I know it’s all a bit late but the reason to write it up is so i can remember where and what the hell i have been doing over the last few months…to be honest it’s been a bit of a blur.
Old friend and collaborator Martyn Reed invited me to Stavanger to do a show at his gallery Reed Projects.There is work available from the show on their online gallery here
widewalls gave some nice coverage here
We produced a print for the event the latest in the TOY series that are dotted all over town from years gone by:
Exhibitionist hotel
It has been a bit busy over the last few months to do updates, so this is a blog catch up. The exhibitionist hotel’s Trash city suite opened on the 13th of may, with this inside outside thing going on. Wallpaper and gilt frames on the balcony and trash and flash on the inside.
A good time was had on the opening and room service had a heart attack but a lot of fun was had by all Thanks Exhibitionist hotel and to attollo-art for making it possible.
It’s been a lock down autumn preparing for shows in London this month and Miami the next. Plans for the show started in the spring, and over the last few months i got to know the gallery and area. Its a fun pop art gallery in the centre of Marylebone, I used to work in a sandwich cafe down the road when i first left school many years ago. Since then it’s become a well heeled W1 address, the Chiltern firehouse down the road a hot spot for London’s celebrity nightlife. It’s certainly a different location to the place i used to know.
With that in mind the title Trash n Cash seemed apt. Big bucks, black bags and swearing kids on found objects, neon and real hard cash. A list branded trash bags, backed by damask drapes and a theme of defaced currency very much a show for W1.
The show is open till the 29th of November, there’s a little something for everyone with a limited edition set of tee shirts, modelled below by Miss Sophie Hermann, with print details below
There are two prints as available
Left.
Rude kids 2 colour silk screen Edition of 29 on Arches rives 250gsm paper embossed and signed at £80 available here
Right.
Rolled gold (Tiffany) 10 colour silk screen edition of 40 on 375 gsm on Lambeth paper embossed and signed at £180 available here
The Way
It’s been a long association with the Buzzers, The Dotmasters and the C6 disaster unit provided the visuals for their 30th tour around the UK. Touring with a band is one of the best reasons for traveling around the country and hitting walls late at night we’ve ever found. This is the second album cover i’ve done, having already supplied the artwork for 30th’s tours subsequent Live album. It’s the Buzzcocks first full release on LP, CD, Download since 2006’s ‘Flat pack Philosophy’. The Album was funded by pledges online and show that the buzzcocks still have their finger on the pulse as far as new tech methods are concerned (I remember Pete Shelley’s ‘Telephone operator’ in 1983 working as a 8 bit video on the ZX Spectrum). I look forward to getting my hands on a vinyl copy available here. A big thanks to Joe Giacomet for doing all the photography and layout.
I’m working on a silkscreen print at the moment of the cover, hand pulled in a few colour ways that i will release details of through this blog later in the month….so stay tuned.