Saturday 4 June 2011

New piece for the 11:11 Exhibition

I’ve been working away in the studio trying to get my piece finished for the 11:11 show on the 16th June at East Gallery on Brick Lane.  Less than two weeks to go and quite abit left to do!

11:11 is an exhibition curated by Infinity Bunce, Russell Chater and Richard Stone.  It will feature the work of 11 fine artists and 11 urban artists, you can visit the website  here  for further info.  If you would like to come along to the private view, it is 6-9pm on the 16th June at  East Gallery, 214 Brick Lane.



For the first time ever, I will be exhibiting my new piece: ‘The Future is Unwritten’.  The piece is a wall based assemblage made up of statements and slogans painted onto a collection of found wooden panels.  





I like the idea of using found wood to promote recycling, the panels I’ve used had been left in the streets of London as rubbish, painting onto them and turning them into pieces of art gives them new meaning and value.

The idea for ‘The Future is Unwritten’ was inspired by looking around at a world full of advertising.   We are constantly being told what to wear, what to eat, what to wash with, what car to drive, how to live our lives, we are surrounded by propaganda.  I wanted ‘The Future is Unwritten’ to offer an alternative, it is a call to action and asks us to be creative in our lives rather than following the instructions issued by advertising.


I’ve always been inspired by the ideas and slogans of the Situationist International, an activist/political group originating from Paris in the late 1960s, this piece takes a direct influence from their philosophy.

The collection a month or so ago, there are now 14 panels


I LOVE TYPOGRAPHY!!!  and a while ago I decided to bring it in to my work much more.  My choice of fonts in this piece is inspired by Victorian leaflets, broadsides and circus posters.  Much of my current practice looks at previous generations and the style of typography used in this piece ties in with that theme.

Half way through painting this piece I started thinking ARGHHHH this is really prescriptive, and all abit too nice….  I didn’t want to create something that seemed like I was telling everyone what to do, so I began to incorporate quotes from other people, song lyrics, and my own thoughts and reflection on the piece.  The quotes and lyrics have been carefully selected, the words of activists such as Joan Baez, Joe Strummer, and John Lennon have been used so far.  ‘Boredom is Counter-revolutionary’ is a famous quote of Guy Debord’s, the founder of the Situationist International.  ‘The Future is Unwritten’ is the title of the Julian Temple documentary about Joe Strummer, and also one of his lyrics, I thought it was the perfect slogan to borrow for the title of my piece.

So please come along to the show if you can!  I'm really excited about exhibiting the new piece and would love some feedback!  I'll be posting some pics from the show and of the completed assemblage as soon as its all up on the wall.

xx



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