Gallery Shots

Ok, so the opening night pics were a bit atmopherically blurry, so heres some more slick pics of the gallery. As I am in the gallery every Sunday, I had the chance to take some pics before the open house hardcore did the rounds....


Heres the monty deep set frame with 'Darkness' on the left, & two of my favourites in the gloss ornate frames (framed by Tim in the gallery)


The long awaited Crime scene print (thats an Artist Proof up there as its still being printed, but is gonna be worth the wait...)


The Big Beautiful Nightmare (which seems to be a favourite to most), some beautifully white framed Red Stencils (all the frames are made by Tim at the gallery)


A view from the stage


Bo the cat making the place look more spooky. (flowers from my friend Tracy)


The stage with The Crime Scene print framed, behind is the huge 'Conquer' flag & Outside Threat on the left

I had a great time meeting people in the gallery, the response has been so positive so far, interestingly most people have asked why I use american flags (in a nut shell its because its a reflection of fear culture & american cinema)


Most people seem to want to know who is in what picture (sometimes its best to leave it to the imagination as everyone has their own opinion on who is the great & the good- so in future I think I'm gonna keep this one a secret!)


I'm in every sunday & the gallery is open Fri, Sat & Sun until 25 May, so if you haven't been in yet come check it out

:)

opening night

well.... the opening night was a blast, lots of wine was drunk, the place was packed, lots of friends old & new, and then as it hit about midnight i thought i should take some photos....



yeah i know they're a bit blurry, i think i probably was in full celebratory mood when i eventually picked up my camera


The band played a couple of sets, mesmerizing the crowd with some good, low down bluesy tunes,


They set the scene for a kinda dirty deep south chilled mood.

The Gin Club played til the wee hours, satisfying the crowd fully, the neighbours weren't best pleased though (sorry....)


the party went from civilised to hedonistic and the last peeps left about 6a.m.
just like a opening night should be.

on the radio

hello, on a lighter note im on brighton's radio reverb this afternoon, about 4 ish.....
www.radioreverb.com
97.2 fm

I'll be playing some choice tunes and having a chat with Jeff Hemmings about the solo show & probably some random gossip!

just to be clear

I think as I near the opening of the Video Nasty show I should make it obvious what its all about.

It is not a celebration of Americana
It is not a celebration of Video Nasties
It is not a celebration.

I make this work, the Fear work, as I am perpetually angered by the media, by America's foreign policy, by the illegal war that is fuelled by money hungry institutions (the federal reserve & the weapons industry).

I am angered by George Bush & his puppeteers.

I believe that we are being manipulated to believe in a threat of terrorism, only this week newspapers are stirring up stories about nuclear reactor in Syria. Is this fear mongering going to result in yet another illegal war?

I hate to be so blunt, but I am not making this work to please.
If it offends then I have perhaps done something more worthwhile than paint a nice picture. Art doesn't have to be pleasing

I am just as disillusioned by the British government as the American government. Tony Blair got us into this ridiculous war in Afghanistan & Iraq, because the numbers added up. International Banks, the weapons industry do very well out of war. So making the public scared, vacuous & numb is just how they want us.

We need to question more. We need to protest more. Above all we need to think more.

This consumer world we live in, its a distraction from reality;

Video Games
Films (and horror!)
The latest electronic toy
The latest trainers
It keeps the public entertained & not questioning.

We are like children with too many toys.

A frightening amount of America's population is illiterate. As G.W.Bush put it "one of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." Half the adult population of USA are illiterate. That is frightening. it is worst in Miami- 63%.

Entertained we may be, ignorant we are.

Open house Line up

Heres the full line up for Ben Allen's Open House in May::

Ben Allen
Jane Sampson


Rich Townsend
Jo Lee



Rosie Irvine (love her work)
Kary Fisher


Jon Crane
Alex Hill



me
Graeme Lock



Maria Rivans

Jackie Sumerfield

Phillip Cosham

Tamana Rodes



Theres some very cool prints that I have my eye on, also ceramics & jewellery, so certainly worth a peek (oh and I have 3 american flags there too)

x

The Embroiderys

I wasn't sure whether to keep these a secret 'til my opening, but I've had friends & peeps asking about them, so I thought I may aswell give a sneaky peek!

These will be in the solo show.....i fell in love with a video nasty 2008 28 x 41 cm Hand & machine stitch on dyed American flag section
welcome to the freak show 2008 28 x 41 cm Hand & machine stitch on dyed American flag section
Tiny Freak 2008 27 x 17 cm Hand Stitch on dyed American flag RESERVED

Dream 2008 28 x 41 cm Hand Stitch on dyed American flag section
We all are haunted 2008 28 x 41 cm Hand Stitch on dyed American flag section
Blind Fear 2008 28 x 41 cm Hand Stitch on dyed American flag section

Proofing colours for the Crime Scene screenprint

What a great day, just come back from Artizan Editions (the screen printers that produced Bridget Riley's prints) and have just been proofing the colours for the limited edition Crime Scene Screenprint.


Heres the low down & a few of the nitty gritty ace details:

Its a limited edition screen print run of 50, which will be launched for my solo show "I fell in love with a Video Nasty" at Fairtrade Gallery, Montague Place, Brighton on 2nd May 2008.

The paper size is 1 metre x 70 cm (so quite a substantial size!) the actual image ink area is 79 x 44 cm, printed on heavy 300 gsm paper


its a 6 colour edition (grey, white, cream, red, blue & Black) the beauty of it is that the layers are translucent and I have made the layers quite stippled, so it looks very original & has a great depth, The grey layer is mixed with a medium very loosely which mixes when it is being printed, so that the whole piece has some great movement and layers of colour....


I have fallen in love with the process, it really is an exquisite art, I must say that Artizan are the top of their game, they seem to be able to achieve some really experimental techniques and have been able to adapt the print process to my work to achieve the very vintage and bleached out effect of my flags.


The last thing is the "dirty varnish" which Sally suggested to tie in all the colours together, and it made the print so much richer and more sepia, so all in all its going to be a very beautiful print.


Still, me & Tim left them a list of tweaks to do, very minor details, but as we are investing in the print run of 50 we need it to be right.

Tim is already taking reserves for the edition. Tim Harbridge's gallery email is fairtradegallery@hotmail.com

They are going quite quickly, just off the back of the flag & the acetates, but no one has seen the final print, I'm going back to Artizan next week for a final proof of the colours & the beautiful varnish. exciting times.

painting red

i have been working, stenciling, dyeing flags and such like a demon lately, because in May ive got a solo show and a group show in Brighton.......... exhibitions are like buses, they always come at once....

so i have been destroying more classic horror books, or embellishing them, making them into art, upcycling them even, whatever you want to call it.... heres my studio after a red painting session, the entire book of the Omen, my studio buddies must think i have a red fetish...

2 new flags for open house

I'm going to be showing in Ben allen's Open House in Brighton in May, its a beautiful house in Seven Dials (i visited last year, one of those ooooooo houses!) so i was happy to be asked to take part in the exhibition

here are 2 new works that will be in the open house::

1000 Million Years 2008 144 x 80 cm Bleach & dye on vintage American flag



Dark Secrets 2008 140 x 81 cm Bleach & dye on vintage American Flag

Interview

Claudio Parentela asked me to do an interview, which is now posted on his blog here::

www.diabeticdew555.blogspot.com

it covers my processes, fav artists, books and some other current obsessions

French flag

I made this French flag for a Melanie Pain gig at Fair trade gallery last month. Its Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion, possibly my favourite psychological drama of all time...... Deneuve does vacuous beauty very well!

fairtrade gallery photos

I took some pics at Fair Trade before Kate & Englands Dream get sent to their new buyers::

beautiful nightmare

here my newest piece-

Beautiful Nightmare 2008 65 x 145 cm bleach on black brocade

new flag

just finished my newest flag- Hollywood Disaster,.its just freakily coincidental that I called the image 'Hollywood disaster' when I was starting the FEAR series months ago & now my first international show is in Hollywood, a very happy accident!
The red Hollywood Disasters have all sold, so thought I would make a flag of it, she is Sharon Tate (also seen in Darned & Star Gazer & Bathing with Bats), she had such a beautiful strength to her face, almost boyish, there is a bit of Warhol in here- maybe its the hair.....

Some nice press about the carmichael show

i stumbled across some nice reviews and photos from the carmicheal show:

Juxtapoz article: http://www.juxtapoz.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2679&Itemid=1

Foundtrack blog: http://foundtrack.blogspot.com/2008/03/outsideinside-art-show-carmichael.html

carmichaels exhibition photos on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carmichaelgallery/

another fear added

this is my latest addition to the ever expanding fear series, its available from the etsy shop, and is worked from a screen still i took from a rather haunting film called 'house of wax' the recent one with paris hilton, oh yes, paris hilton that classic actress!
this is elisha cuthbert as she wanders around the house of wax- a film not for the faint hearted

things have gone a bit crazy

im not one to overreact, but just lately things have been getting a little bit crazy...

for so many years i have been quietly making work, for no one really but my little self, but since xmas the tide seems to have changed; people, random lovely strangers are actually buying my work....

this is really quite a recent happening; only this week a mysterious art collector from russia has bought a large flag, a nice chap from the west country and a nice guy in bristol. oh and the hollywood show has sold the big flag called crime scene too

(phew, i think i need a whiskey).

furthermore, I have a solo show in may at fairtrade gallery in brighton, and previously I thought i didnt really need to make much more work for it, but now it seems I have nothing available.....................

(best get back to flag sewing then, me thinks :)