Opening on 11 August 2017 is photographer EmmaElizabethTillman’s debut solo show entitled Disco Ball Soul. The exhibition, consisting of more than 90 collages created over a ten-year period, is an accumulation of photographs and texts taken from her new book of the same title. Tillman began this body of work in 2007, recording precious moments, including her meeting of her now husband Josh.
The HIX Award is back this year and more exciting than ever with a £10,000 cash prize to be awarded to the overall winner thanks to new sponsors Coutts and Baxterstory! The award itself is even designed by art world legend DamienHirst so artists, we’d suggest you get submitting as soon as possible!
The annual emerging art award, which is open to current students and recent graduates of UK art colleges alike, was created five years ago by restaurateur and art aficionado, MarkHix, to give young artists a platform to showcase their work and take their first steps in their professional careers.
Thursday 24th May sees the opening of RobertPerkins: The Written Image at Benjamin Spademan Rare Books, the first of a two-part exhibition of the American artist’s 45-year collaboration with poets.
From Seamus Heaney to Allen Ginsberg, Perkins has worked with the best of the best when it comes to the world of poetry. In fact, his journey began back in the 1970’s when he was a student at Harvard University and took poet, Elizabeth Bishop’s creative writing seminar. Perkins explains that when he told Bishop that he’d always wanted to be an artist, she wrote out a copy of her poem TheFish and asked him to illustrate it.
This assignment launched The Written Image, which Perkins describes as ‘self-portraits of the poet in the moment.’ To begin a work, he takes the poet’s hand-written text and then melds it with his own imagery, thus constructing a visual representation around the words.
On Friday 19th May Gallery DIFFERENT will present 35-year-old contemporary painter, Tarek Sebastian Al-shammaa’s debut solo show Fall of Europe II (until 22nd May).
We at ArtAttack stumbled upon Tarek’s artwork last year and have been great admirers of his painting practice ever since. His painterly use of space is quite extraordinary, filling the canvas with symbols and figures that tell stories of our world within the greater context of mythology. Each tiny element he chooses to include says something powerful. No iconography is wasted.
Thanksgiving, 2017, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 200 x 200 cm
The artist’s main practice is history painting as he explores historical and mythological subject matter juxtaposing it with the harsh realities contemporary Western society. Within each of the epic paintings he presents the viewer with poignant psychological insight into his own life and heritage; Al-shammaa is half French and half Iraqi, and so has found himself straddling two oft-opposing cultures throughout his life.
Recurring themes across the young artist’s paintings include consumerism, war, love, lust and political oppression, as well as the opposition and even conflict of Western and non-Western culture and ideals. In the body of work on view, Alshammaa depicts everything from iconic myths like that of the Tower of Babel to mythical iconography such as Mother Earth, all within a present-day context.
ArtAttack contributor, Franzi Gabbert, had the chance to interview Al-shammaa in regards to his upcoming exhibition as well as his general practice.
Monday 24th April sees the private view of Brains & Lip Takeover at East London’s emerging art hotspot,CNB Gallery. The all-woman exhibition, which showcases the work of nine fantastic artists, is curated by Claire Orme and Alice Steffen, the creative duo behind Brains & Lip.
Controversial, brash and witty, the artworks on view challenge and reclaim what it means to be a woman in contemporary society. The subversive painting, illustration and sculpture that feature in the exhibition explore discourses of identity, sexuality and female empowerment, resisting the restrictive expectations of the elitist, patriarchal art world.
Jess de Wahls, Consent, 2016
We were thrilled to be able to speak with the two visionaries behind the ‘takeover’ in advance of next week’s exhibition.
Camden-based artist BenEdge talked to us last week about his debut solo exhibition, FolkRenaissance – an ode to the detail and craft often found in Folk and Naive Art as well as the traditions of religious Renaissance painting – which opens March 13th at CNB Gallery in Shoreditch.
Edge’s paintings channel Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s allusion that “Man can stand anything except a succession of ordinary days.” By doing so, Edge’s work investigates and celebrates the ‘other’, presenting the viewer with a critical and psychological insight into the human story.
‘The Life of Peary’ | Courtesy of the Artist and CNB Gallery.
Impulsive, daring and intimate, his work champions the illicit; portraying people who live beyond accepted social and cultural norms, whether they are artists, arctic explorers, circus performers or musicians. By reversing the belief that out of folklore comes contemporary culture, Edge not only turns unsung heroes into icons, but also transforms the orthodox portrait into a poetic metaphor for the friability of life.
2nd December marks the opening of the much anticipated, 4th annual Colombo Art Biennale (CAB), the world’s largest and most significant celebration of contemporary South Asian art and culture.
Attracting over 2,500 visitors in its last edition, this year’s CAB, which is themed ‘Conceiving Space’ is curated by Alnoor Mitha and seeks to reimagine traditional concepts of the ‘spatial’ in relation to boundaries and engagement. It will focus on emerging talent, including over 60 international and local artists, among them Faiza Butt (UK/Pakistan), Cristina Rodrigues (Portuguese) and Chila Kumari Burman (British/Asian).
Dr. Priyantha UdagedaraAbdul Halik Azeez
The event itself, was founded by gallerist and cultural ambassador Annoushka Hempel in 2009, its mission being to raise the profile of artists in this fast developing market. We are so happy to have had the opportunity so speak with Annoushka about the upcoming edition and to have her insight on what is certain to be among the top cultural experiences of the year!
Huge congratulations to Joshua Raz, Newcastle University grad and official winner of this year’s prestigious HIX Award.
Joshua Raz, Indoor Outdoor Tropics, Oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, 2016
Launched in 2013, the HIX Award was conceived by famed restaurateur Mark Hix and the director of CNB Gallery, Rebecca Lidert. It is specifically designed for emerging artists in the hopes that it can be their first step towards a career after university.
After following the progression of this year’s SOLO Award since the competition was first announced, we are so thrilled to share that a winner has been selected!
Hopefully, you had a chance to view the incredible shortlisted artists’ works on our ArtAttack App, which we were honoured to exclusively showcase on the ‘Curated Art’ page. Well, one of these talented creatives is now the big winner! We are thrilled to introduce Victoria Lucas!
Victoria Lucas, ‘Lay of the land (and other such myths,’ Detail of installation, Dimensions variable, 2016.
Victoria is a Sheffield-based artist represented by Mark Devereaux Projects. She received her BA (hons) in Fine Art (Sculpture) from Norwich School of Art and Design in 2004, followed by her MFA Fine Arts from the University of Leeds in 2007. Currently, she is a Fine Art Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, Preston.
Victoria’s artworks are often initiated by a physical encounter with a place, site or landscape. By concentrating on these contexts and their current or former inhabitants, she develops conceptual narratives that subvert and categorise events and myths using a site’s materiality as a catalyst.
We had the chance to speak with Victoria about her SOLO Award victory and greater artistic practice.
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