Friday 11 December 2015

Bill Mudge wins Wandle Photo Awards

Bill Mudge - Feeding the Birds (detail)
Last night Bill Mudge won first prize in the Wandle Valley Photographic Competition 2015. The awards ceremony was conducted at Bedzed, the UK's first and largest zero energy housing development and hosted by Sue Morgan, CEO of Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust.

Dan Mitchell from Cubiquity and Bill Mudge
The competition received over 200 entries and Bill not only secured top spot with his photo Misty Mitcham Morning but also a winning entry in the Wandle Folk Category for Feeding the Birds.

The photos originated from an exhibition and map project that Bill undertook for CollectConnnect earlier this year. He mapped a beautiful walk along the River Wandle's green corridor in South London. Along its route he teases us with his photos, making the map itself a thing of beauty and fascination. Learn more about Bill Mudge's Wandling here.

Congratulations to Bill from us all at CollectConnect.

AL.

Monday 9 November 2015

Noise_Dolls Zine 006 - open call out.

Noise_Dolls Zine 006 [NDZINE:006] open call out.
 
Noise Dolls is a printed art zine, featuring a variety of contents from emerging and established artists.
  
Noise dolls are looking for content for its Autumn/Winter Zine. 
 
So if you’re a, photographer, fine artist, poet, graphic artist, creative writer or just a funky and quirky maker and shaker then get in touch!
  
Our content broaches a variety of mediums, and the best thing is the zine is completely free to submit to. So there's no reason not to ping us an email and if we like your work we’ll run with it!
 
We also offer advertising space for a crazy small fee. So if you’re also interested in advertising anything from, shops, events/happenings, workshops, exhibitions or gigs etc then get in touch.  
 
This issues theme is "Light and Shade", interpretations on or around this theme are welcome. 
 
We are looking for a cover artwork for this issue. The selected artist will receive a modest commission fee. 
 
So please get in touch with your submission and a small artist statement about the work. Please upload your images in a Jpeg format. 
 
To purchase a copy of our latest issue for only £2.00 visit the link below. 

Get noisy about us, and spread the word. 
Follow us on Facebook 
 
We're dying to know what you think about our work so please get in contact with any suggestions or comments.
 
We'd also love to hear from you if you're interested in getting involved with the Zine - write an article, design the cover etc.
 

Get in touch at noisedolls@hotmail.co.uk

Deadline early January 2016 but may close earlier due to demand
 
 
 
 

Thursday 5 November 2015

Seventeen Mundane Moments in Tate Modern - Peter S Smith

Peter S Smith
 
There are often stories in the newspapers about cleaners at major art galleries throwing away priceless modern art because they not whether it is rubbish or priceless rubbish. I like the current art trends that give me a better grip of reality, once upon a time I dreamed of dripping fantasy worlds but now I want the taste of steel and to hear the reverberations of urban sounds in my art. Many of these artworks can be easily mistaken for everyday objects and of course our newspapers love nothing better than to ridicule this supposedly lazy approach to creativity.

Mundane Moment 11
Part of the enjoyment of art is the detective work that's needed, finding out about the artist, their context historically. Inevitably you start to look at the world around you in a different light, even finding meaning in objects and moments that you once thought were arid wastelands. Such is the power of Peter S Smith's map "Seventeen Mundane Moments In Tate Modern". It is both a work of art in its own right but also a route to discovery.

Mundane Moment 5
Here is a map that allows you to look at the world that surrounds some of the most iconic artworks in the world. Don't think about the Tate Modern as a landmark, think of it more as a dirty mark on the table cloth of London. Its blemished surface reveals as much about us as individuals as it does about the way art has evolved in the past 50 years.

Mundane Moment 3
Earlier this year we held an exhibition of artists' maps at the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery in the beautiful setting of the Sunbury Walled Garden. Ten artists created maps which could be walked throughout Great Britain. Some were factual, others conceptual but most of all they gave us a new perspective to the world outside if we chose to follow the artist's instructions.

 All of the maps are published by Sampson Low Ltd and can be bought for as little as £2. One of the criteria for the commissioned maps was that they should be affordable to all. The artists were asked to consider 3 criteria; their map should be set in the real world, somewhere in the UK; that it should include a route which could be walked and the walking of the map shouldn't cost more than £10 (train fares, entrance to museums, lunch).
Mundane Moment 2
My pledge to the artists for giving us such a wonderful array of creative cartography was that I would walk all their maps in the months to come. Here is my route through Peter S Smith's map "Seventeen Mundane Moments In Tate Modern". It covers the stairwell that runs down from the 6th Floor until it's final destination in the famous Turbine Hall. Along the way you've got to keep your eyes peeled, find these little mundane treasures and make up your own stories about them.

Mundane moment 8
As I walked through Peter S Smith mundane world we poked fun at the art world and revelled in its power too. As we found each mundane moment we couldn't help but look like a couple of idiots as other people walked past but there were more than a few art lovers who eavesdropped on our conversations, hoping to snaffle an invaluable titbit of artistic insight.

Mundane Moment 14
I hope you enjoy walking Peter S Smith's map as much as I did, it reflects a very British wit in its attention to the oblique and darkly humorous. What I enjoyed doing most of all was creating imaginary artists who made these undiscovered works, their titles and hidden meanings. The hole of Mundane Moment number 14 was a favourite, a solitary bright socket looking out at you, like a camouflaged Moby Dick in the handrail of the Tate Modern.

BUY Seventeen Mundane Moments In Tate Modern for £2

AL.

Monday 12 October 2015

Art Language Location - Contemporary Cambridge

It's that time of year again where Cambridge is turned into a cryptic crossword of criss-crossing Art across the city centre. Art Language Location is a festival we really believe in at CollectConnect, where the Art populates public places and inquisitive creative bloodhounds are rewarded with thought provoking urban vignettes. It is the brainchild of artist Robert Good who we have had the pleasure of featuring on Freedbook, Fab Fridge 2014 and most recently the excellent 'On The Map' exhibition.

Now in its fourth year, Art Language Location (ALL) , 2015 is proud to welcome work by nearly 70 of the brightest emerging and established artists from across the UK and beyond who use text in their work. ALL is a contemporary visual and performance arts event taking place over two and a half weeks in October 2015 in Cambridge, featuring prestigious, innovative and experimental contemporary art. Join us at Anglia Ruskin University campus and around Cambridge in October for this year’s festival, which is bringing exciting new work to Cambridge.

Each artist  has found an appropriate venue for their work: the resulting intervention creates a conversation between artist, artwork and location. This extended exhibition aims to show a series of visually exciting and unexpected encounters in which our everyday interactions with text can be explored and challenged.

Highlights include Supertext, an exhibition of Art and Text around the campus at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU). With over 20 works to find, you are invited to track down adorable shaggy dogs (and stories) by Tom Hackett, a multilingual Winnie-the-Pooh (plus aprons) by Laima Vanaga and an argument between Daniel Djamo and his mother.

And we'd love to see you at ShowTime! on October 17th, also at ARU, for a full day of participation and performance. Take part in an interactive audio drawing by 2015 Jerwood Prize Winner Alison Carlier, listen to a new choral work by Ian Wolter and have your nails done as never before. Sample local street food by Food Park, and round off the day with live music and bar.

With a programme of supporting events and artworks around town, encounter art on your daily travels as our ALL artists uncover more unusual locations across Cambridge. This year, find stone carving in a burial ground and social commentary at a bus stop as well as a new dictionary at the Central Library and dazzling drawing at the Sedgwick Museum. Don't miss hand-stitched financial reports by Rhiannon Williams at the Alison Richard Building and venture further afield to see a video projection by Sally Stenton

There is a Launch Party on 15 October at The Junction, Cambridge, which will be opened by Molly Jackson of the South Bank.

ALL is going from strength to strength, building a reputation for Cambridge  as a place to visit for contemporary art - ALL2015 is the fourth annual event, which began with Text&Context in October 2012. We want to bring new and experimental art to Cambridge and contribute to what is becoming a growing and exciting contemporary arts scene. Join us in October and see for yourself. See you there! Check out our website www.artlanguagelocation.org for full details.

Monday 28 September 2015

Heath Robinson Exhibiting Opportunity

Uncle Lubin in his airship
(W. Heath Robinson, 1902)
One of our regular exhibitors Ann Kopka is helping to organise this fantastic opportunity for artists to exhibit their work and help support the building of a Museum to legendary thinker and artist Heath Robinson. Your art will be sold through a Secret Art sale in aid of The West House and Heath Robinson Museum Trust in the Upstairs Gallery at West House during the first weekend of November 2015.
 
Below is an invitation to Artists with all the details. Don't forget the organisers will supply the small canvas on which you work on and pay the postage too. 
 
An invitation to help build The Heath Robinson Museum
Secret Art Sale, 6-8 November 2015
Upstairs Gallery, West House, Pinner Memorial Park, West End Lane, 
Pinner HA5 1AE

We are raising funds for The West House and Heath Robinson Museum Trust - registered Charity number 1086567 - to build a new Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner Memorial Park.
And we would like you to be a part of it!

You are invited to produce a small work of art on a 6” x 6” canvas, which will be supplied by us. You may choose your favourite subject and medium – painting, drawing cartoon, textile or simply words of wisdom. 
Please print your name in block capitals, sign and date your piece on the BACK only in order to keep the work anonymous. You may include your website, email address and any other information if you wish the purchaser to contact you after the event. You will be able to return your work of art in a prepaid envelope that will be delivered with the canvas.
All work will be sold anonymously for the same price. The artistʼs identity will only be revealed at the end of the exhibition. Whether you are a local artist, well known celebrity or one of our patrons, you will all be treated the same. 
The artistʼs names will be displayed during the exhibition as well as being publicised and promoted through the West House and Heath Robinson Trustʼs PR, communications and social media, although names will not be connected with a painting.

Each work of art will be sold at the same price - £35. All proceeds raised from the exhibition will go directly to The West House and Heath Robinson Trust.

Deadline for Submission of Work Friday 23 October
Exhibition launch and Private View Friday 6 November 6.30-9.30pm
Public Sale   Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 November
10am-6pm

Any unsold work will be donated to the Museum shop and displayed for future purchase.
We do hope you can join us. To confirm your participation in the exhibition please email your details including your full postal address to:
Deena Dwala, Email: westhousepinner@gmail.com 

For more details on the Heath Robinson Museum http://westhousepinner.com/the-appeal/


Submissions are open to UK based artists only

 

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Walk Mitcham to Wandle Junction - Wandling Bill Mudge

Earlier this year we held an exhibition of artists' maps at the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery in the beautiful setting of the Sunbury Walled Garden. Ten artists created maps which could be walked throughout Great Britain. Some were factual, others conceptual but most of all they gave us a new perspective to the world outside if we chose to follow the artist's instructions.

All of the maps are published by Sampson Low Ltd and can be bought for as little as £2. One of the criteria for the commissioned maps was that they should be affordable to all. The artists were asked to consider 3 criteria; their map should be set in the real world, somewhere in the UK; that it should include a route which could be walked and the walking of the map shouldn't cost more than £10 (train fares, entrance to museums, lunch).

Wandling Map
My pledge to the artists for giving us such a wonderful array of creative cartography was that I would walk all their maps in the months to come.

I start my journey with Bill Mudge's Wandling map which includes a photographic walk along the River Wandle. The map contains a plan of the walk, which leads from the train station at Mitcham Junction to the tram stop at Wandle Park. Contained within the map's pages are 28 photographs that Bill Mudge took along the route.

The route is not challenging in itself, it is a 2 hour meander through the lush green corridor created by the River Wandle. It is easy for the eye to get distracted though and 2 hours can easily ease toward 3 if creativity strikes along the 6 mile route. It is a walk that is easy for pushchairs, cyclists, runners and can be completed by hardy wheelchair users.


1. This Way
The main tenet to the Wandling map is its photographic narrative and spurs even the idlest of snappers to pick up their camera or phone. Bill Mudge's map tests your own powers of observation, first you want to spot what he's photographed along the route and then you want to see what you can capture yourself.

I stepped off the train at Mitcham Junction Station and was immediately struck by the detritus that us humans leave behind. A cigarette packet stuffed (1) in the fence reminded me of those secret Boy Scout trails we used to lay in the woods. The packet pointing in the direction up the hill.

2. Flow
The roads too were littered with our rubbish, blown by the rushing cars down the Carshalton Road (A237). I started my own narrative here that rolled throughout my journey, its was the markings that we leave as humans, on roads, trees, notices, on walls accidentally and deliberately (2).

3. Caught
By the time I had reached Watercress Park (3) I had joined forces with the author Bill Mudge himself. He is a local resident and despite being a self proclaimed introvert it seems he spends many hours out of doors watching and photographing his world.

4. Lost and Found
The River Wandle is of course the true narrative of the walk and the constant criss-cross of its banks give you a never ending perspective of reflections, wildlife and hidden paths. I liked the constant tension along its path between cyclist and pedestrian (4). Lines kept us apart and on the bridges we were even given colours to stop us wandering into each others zone. Of course no such separation is needed, the people of Mitcham, Carshalton and Beddington are perfectly capable or regulating themselves.

5. Treefitti
Our effect on nature was a theme that was reflected in our scything cut through this highly populated suburban world and laminated planning applications dotted its route. We saw a surveyor inspecting the outside of a property and local authority worker checking the viability of a footpath. Underneath it all came a spirit of the woodland (5) that the sprites and fairies that kept the woods alive were really the unemployed and errant teenagers.

6. Duck Hunt
Amongst the ducks, herons and darting gudgeon I spotted the lesser spotted Mudge (6) in his natural habitat. If you didn't know, Mudge is a well known figure on London's Jazz circuit where he can be found in dark and moody venues either at the helm of his keyboard, piano or beloved Hammond B3 organ. Although you can hear him on many recordings he has but one album of self penned originals to his name, Skylight, which was released in 2010.

7. Reasonable Advice
We walked past the intriguing Wilderness Island which remains a mysterious presence between Hackbridge and the strangely named The Wrythe. Along its borders lurk graffiti scrawls (7) that match the texture of the leaves and brambles, occasionally their short poetic stabs are poignant too.

8. Goal
The walk wanders through many parks and open spaces. The Grove (8) in Carshalton teemed with pockets of life, pigeons stalked rice cake holding toddlers in playgrounds while the football pitch was only populated by goalmouth scuffs. I could hear the scurrying of a rat stuck in a rubbish bin, destined to be marooned until enough litter had been deposited and it could reach the high exit once more.

9. Deadwood
Although we took a short detour at this point to the Honeywood Musuem (9) in Carshalton if I was you I'd walk just a little further to the MINE Gallery on Charshalton High Street where there was an excellent exhibition from Carl Lawson. In January 2016 they will be exhibiting the work of our very own mapmaker Bill Mudge with his 20 in 15 project. 20 in 15 is based around creative individuals, documenting them / their work / their  workspace, through environmental portraiture and still-life photography. A total of 20 projects in 2015 will be represented; a series of photographs for each individual.

10. Treeo
I was inspired by both the walk itself and Bill Mudge's photographic map. My photos aren't as technically proficient nor as imaginative as Mudge's but that's not the point. I now have a photographic narrative on which I pin the feelings and experiences of my 6 mile walk from Mitcham Junction to Wandle Park.

Buy the Wandling map through Amazon from the publisher or Bill Mudge himself.

AL.

Thursday 27 August 2015

Connect with Droitwich Spa

Tamara Jelača, one of our favourite artists, is trying to put Droitwich Spa on the map with a great exhibition of Mail Art gems. Why not get involved by sending a postcard of your artwork and join artists from around the world. Your work will be exhibited at the internationally renown Droitwich Salt Fest.
 

'Connection is made...'

'Salt Fest' Droitwich Spa, 12th - 13th September 2015

Droitwich Library, October 2015


Droitwich Arts Network invites the artists to participate in the Mail Art Exhibition in town's library. The aim of the project is to connect artists from Droitwich Spa with fellow artists from twin towns and around the world. Feel free to introduce yourself through your artistic expression. We are looking forward to see your works.


Conditions:
Participation is free.
All mediums will be accepted like: mixed media, collage, painting, drawing, text/poetry, original printmaking, photography, digital art but please no photocopies.
Dimensions: approximately A5 (15 x 21 cm), but it's not a strict rule
More than one work allowed
Artwork must be sent through the regular postal service as a postcard (not in envelope). Be sure the postage is stamped at correct amount.
No Jury. All artworks will be exhibited.
Each artist is required to give the following information together with his/her artwork(s): name and surname, country, title of artwork, technique, email and, if any, personal website. Please write clearly.
Artworks sent for the exhibitions will not be returned. The artworks will become a part of The Droitwich Arts Network collection or be offered for sale for a symbolic prize and the revenue will be all donated to a charitable institution (with the permission of the artist).
All artworks will be published in e-catalogue and available to download.
The organiser retains the rights to photograph and print photographs of works in local papers, in web, public relations and advertisements of the exhibition. The artists' name will be clearly noted.
The organiser The Droitwich Arts Network reserves the right to refuse any material judged to be unsuitable for exhibiting due to violent or offensive subject.


Deadline:

Please send your postcards before:

30th September 2015

All artists that include the contact email will be informed when the artwork is received.


Please send your artworks to the following address:
Mail Art Project

19 Impney Way

Droitwich Spa

Worcestershire

WR9 7EJ

United Kingdom

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Art of Caring Success

photo: Bill Mudge
This year's International Nurses' Day didn't last a mere 24 hours, in fact those of us in Kingston-upon-Thames thought all those health professionals and carers deserved at least a week of appreciation and celebration.


John Sutherland. Photo: Bill Mudge
We started on 12th May 2015 (International Nurses' Day), which is Florence Nightingale's Birthday with the Private View of The Art of Caring at the Rose Theatre. It was a wonderful night and many of the 133 artists came from far and wide to see the 252 artworks on the walls of the Circle gallery space.

photo: Bill Mudge
A special mention must go to Ella Penn and partner Liam who brought our poster boy Jack to the party. It was Ella's photograph of her son which graced the publicity for our event. Thanks to all that helped hang the exhibition on the 11th May including Bryan Benge, Kevin Acott, Nikki Yun, John Sutherland, Harvey Wells, Rajaa Khalife and our photographer for the whole week Bill Mudge.

Dr Julia Gale and Harvey Wells. Photo: Bill Mudge
The exhibition wouldn't have been possible without the support of Kingston University who funded the exhibition and the refreshments at the Private View. Especially Harvey Wells and Dr Julia Gale, Head of School of Nursing / Associate Dean (Quality) at Kingston University and St George's, University of London (FHSCE) who gave a rousing speech at the Private View.

Art Jazzed Up. Photo: EZZIDIN ALWAN
The exhibition was part of a inspirational event on Friday 15th May called Nursing's Got Talent which was a celebration of Nurse's and Nursing. The day included talks, book recitals, drama and plays, poetry and live art & music. Alban Low represented CollectConnect with a live drawing performance in the 400 seat main auditorium with his Art Jazzed Up project. While jazz musicians, Duncan Eagles (sax), Max Luthert (bass), Bill Mudge (keys) and Chris Nickolls (drums) played 3 original compositions Alban drew on 3 large paper canvases.

We had a very positive response from the public about The Art of Caring exhibition and we would like to say thank you to all the artists to help make it such a success. There are more photos to view here, just follow the link - https://picasaweb.google.com/103519518631561147857/ArtOfCaringExhibition02?noredirect=1
The Photos of the Private View and exhibition set up are courtesy of Bill Mudge. The photos of Nursing's Got Talent are courtesy of EZZIDIN ALWAN.

The future is a positive one for the Art of Caring exhibition. We are currently talking to Camden & Islington NHS Trust about exhibiting in one of their galleries. Watch this space!

Our next exhibition at CollectConnect will be from Bryan Benge with a collaborative evolution art project.

Alban Low

Sunday 26 April 2015

Art of Caring Exhibition

We've had a fantastic response from artists all around the world on the theme of Care and Caring. The Art of Caring exhibition is proud to display 251 artworks from 133 artists at the Rose Theatre from 12th-16th May 2015.

Join us for the Private View on Tuesday 12th May from 4-6pm to help celebrate International Nurse's Day and launch this diverse exhibition. Come along to the circle gallery space to meet the artists and have a glass of wine. A panel from Kingston University Nursing Society (Nikki Yun, John Sutherland, Gurlal Jagdev and Daniel Waters) have also selected 15 images to print at a larger format alongside the 251 postcard sized artworks.

The exhibition is open daily from 10am-6pm at
Rose Theatre,
24-26 High Street,
Kingston upon Thames,
Surrey KT1 1HL

As part of our celebration of Nursing we have created a FREE event on Friday 15th May from 1.30-4.30 in the main auditorium where we'll be showcasing the best in literature, drama, music and art. All welcome, details can be found here - http://www.kingston.ac.uk/events/item/1588/15-may-2015-nursing039s-got-talent/

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Art of Caring submission closed

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Art of Caring. We've now got the long process of logging in all the submissions, approx 250 and preparing them for the exhibition on the 12th May 2015.

Wednesday 25 March 2015

On The Map exhibition

On The Map Exhibition
Welcome to the On The Map exhibition from CollectConnect artists. Earlier this year publisher Sampson Low Ltd commissioned 12 new maps from a group of exciting contemporary artists. Each map was designed to be printed as an A3 fold out sheet with 4 supporting pages on it's reverse side.


The Sunbury Dice Game
Alban Low and Harvey Wells
There is an inherent beauty in maps, like the Dwell book that proceeded this exhibition maps are a 2 dimensional rendering of a 3 dimensional form. They are often interpretations of the real world in a graphic light with motifs and lines that help us find anything from roads to windmills.

Artists are natural observers and organisers who like categorise through visual means. This map exhibition gives us the chance to see the world around us through the eyes of 14 artists from around the UK.

The artists were asked to consider 3 criteria.
Their map should be set in the real world, somewhere in the UK.
That it should include a route which could be walked.
The walking of the map shouldn't cost more than £10 (train fares, entrance to museums, lunch)

Sampson Low Ltd have printed them all in colour at an A5 (21x14.8cm) size with an A3 fold out map incorporated. They will be selling the maps at an affordable £2 (+ Postage and Packing) so that anyone can try one of these artist's walks or frame them on their wall.

The artists are -

Bill Mudge
Melanie Ezra and Rose Davies
Bryan Benge
Robert Good
Peter S Smith
Dean Reddick
Tahira Mandarino
Alban Low and Harvey Wells
Phillip Cribb
Stuart Simler
Jill Hedges
Glyn Walton

The exhibition runs from 14th April to 10th May 2015
Private View - 23rd April, 6.30-8.30pm
at
The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery
The Walled Garden, Thames Street
Sunbury-on-Thames, TW16 6AB
http://www.sunburyembroidery.co.uk/index.htm

All welcome. We hope you can find your way there.
If not, I'll draw you a map!

AL.

We would especially like to thank Robert Shaw, Barbara Robertson, Tahira Mandarino at the Sunbury Embroidery Gallery. Also Spelthorne Borough Council for their support of the exhibition.

Sunday 1 March 2015

Tamara Jelaca - Little House in Prairie



Tamara's Little House in Prairie
Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.

Noahs Arc Wheres my Dearest
Detail from Net













Our final Net, on the first day of March, comes from Tamara Jelača.
One of the most exciting aspects of Collect Connect is the contact we make with people all over the world. Today we have a wonderfully dynamic little sculpture from the Serbian Artist Tamara Jelača.
Tamara recently exhibited with us at the Fab Fridge Exhibition in Bath. A quick look at Tamara's recent group shows reveals that she is prolific and hard working artists with a specialism in embroidery.


Cloud
Tamara writes on her web site,
'Embroidery for me is a kind of meditation. The process is slow, the drawing is showing up slowly. I love the fact that I can touch and feel the line. Each line gives me enough time to think and discover what the process itself means to me. Oddly enough, at the same time my embroidery is fast. It is a picture of my thoughts that develops slowly on a piece of fabric. Each finished piece is for me the revelation and tangible moment of my personal history'(http://www.tamarajelaca.com/artist-statement/#)

We placed 'Little House in Prairie' along the canal path at Mile End on a windy day. The threads hanging from Tamara's cloud whipped around in the breeze, each thread tracing a contour in the air to make an ever changing drawing of the wind.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.
 

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK

Saturday 28 February 2015

Stuart Simler - Trojan Horse

Stuart Simler  - Trojan Horse
Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.


Stuart Simler
Today we've got our very own Odysseus exhibiting his sculpture for the dwell exhibition. Stuart Simler's Trojan Horse even has its own address, No.7 St Michael's Alley, behind the Crosse Keys pub in the City of London. Stuart Simler is one of the founding members of our modest collective, and is a great believer and practitioner of our 'Art for all' philosophy. This isn't the only collaborative project he's a part of, Stuart is also integral to the Sunbury Working Artists group , including painters, potters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and textile artists who got together this time last year. Their flourishing creativity flows from their studios beside the river in Sunbury-upon-Thames.

Stuart Simler  - Trojan Horse
We are indebted to Stuart for his overall creativity and exciting 'can do' attitude at CollectConnect but even more so for this Dwell exhibition. Dean Reddick cites Stuart's excellent 'Cardboard City' exhibition along London's Southbank  as one of the influences on this public art trail of tiny dwellings. In fact both referenced the spiralling housing costs in London and further afield as themes in their exhibition introductions.

Kim Reddick
We've placed Stuart's Trojan Horse right in the middle of the City, not Troy of course but London's fortified financial district. Here in London we've been under more than a 10 year siege although not one with ancient Greeks camping outside our gates. The IRA activities of the 1980's have now given way to a new threat from further shores, and Police sentries permanently line the battlements of the capital's Square Mile. We had our fair share of unusual looks from tourists and Rozzers alike but we also had a secret weapon when placing Stuart Simler's dwelling on the streets. For who could suspect our cherubic helper Kim Reddick of any skullduggerous activity.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.
 
To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK

AL.

Friday 27 February 2015

Steve DT - Sistene Chapel

Steve DT's Sistene Chapel near The Bank of England
Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.
 






Today we have Steve DT's Sistene Chapel.
Steve DT has been a regular exhibitor with Collect Connect- last showing with us on the streets of Bath for The Fab Fridge Exhibition.

Steve is a celebrated erotic artist.
'As an erotic photographer, I attempt to bring a fresh perspective layered with social content to familiar subjects. Part of the inspiration is derived from the sex industry and its many facets, the rest is intuitive.' http://www.worldphoto.org/profile/stevedt
 
Detail of Steve's net
For the Dwell exhibition Steve created the Sistene Chapel, 'a place to relax and contemplate' which is dedicated to St Raphael: the patron saint of love, lovers and happy meetings (Dwell page 57). Steve's net is the only one dedicated to the erotic nature of dwelling in the Dwell book and his title 'The Sistene Chapel' suggests that the erotic is worthy of praise and veneration.
  
We placed Steve's Chapel near to the Bank of England in the city of London an altogether different 'chapel' dedicated not to the pleasures of the flesh but perhaps to the worship of money. There is of course a clear link between money and the erotic with reference to the global sex industry and these are the charged areas that Steve explores through his art.
 
Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK


Thursday 26 February 2015

Sara Lerota - Table dwelling

Sara Lerota - Table as a place of infinite imagination
Welcome to the Dwell exhibition and book. For a whole month we will be taking each artist's page and transforming it into a 3 dimensional dwelling. Each one of these small sculptures will be exhibited in public on the London streets.

Sara Lerota
The concept behind today's dwelling is undoubtedly one of my favourites. For who wasn't once a child whose rampant imagination needed only the meagerest of props to visit other worlds. Sara Lerota's net titled 'Table as a place of infinite imagination' gives us this opportunity, however old we are. In fact the whole dwell book is a exercise in regression, it's been a while since I got out my coloured pencils, scissors and Pritt Stick on a wet weekend afternoon.

Sara Lerota is one of our most enthusiastic and longest serving artists here at CollectConnect. Despite committing herself to a regular job in recent months she always tries our unusual ideas and is willing to extend herself. In fact her table idea didn't come easy and it took some time for us to persuade her to publish it in the book.

Dean Reddick photographing
Sara Lerota's
Table dwelling
Sara is a well respected member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina art scene and came to international prominence for her detailed pencil art. She first exhibited with us back in 2011 during the Lightbite exhibition on the streets of Nottingham. Since then she has reached the hand of friendship to other artists around the world as well as many of our CollectConnect crew. Most recently we've seen her take on an administrative/curatorial role at the excellent Art:Language:Location festival in Cambridge, UK.

Dead Man's Hole
Our Table as a place of infinite imagination is placed underneath the fairytale Tower Bridge on a rainy day in London. It sits alongside the legendary Dead Man's Hole which is named because of the tidal currents of the adjacent River Thames where bodies ended up due to accident, suicide or convenient disposal. The corpses tended to congregate along this part of the riverbank, then fished out and stored in the mortuary before being removed for burial.

Don't forget to have a look at the next Collect Connect project, 'The Art of Caring' exhibition at The Rose Theatre in Kingston-upon-Thames. The theme is Caring/Care and it is FREE to enter.

To buy the Dwell Book for £6 then follow this LINK