Never-before-seen Paintings by Keith Cunningham Come to Hoxton Gallery in Exciting Exhibition

Coming soon to Hoxton Gallery is Unseen Paintings, 1954-1960, a thrilling survey of works in oil by the late British artist Keith Cunningham.  

This will be one those exhibitions where perhaps the story is just as fascinating as the works themselves. Keith Cunningham was one of the most promising artists of the 1950’s, graduating from the Royal College of Art, studying alongside Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, even being approached by Beaux Arts Gallery and showing work with the prestigious London Group. For all intensive purposes, Cunningham was going to “make it.”

Selection of works by Keith Cunningham. Courtesy of Bobby Hilson and Hoxton Gallery.

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HIX Award Winner Announced!

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.

Danny Rolph comes home: ‘East Central’ at CNB Gallery

British painter, Danny Rolph, comes to London with East Central thanks to CNB Gallery this September. The exhibition is made up of four large-scale paintings, all of which have been inspired by the areas of London in which Danny grew up, namely EC1, EC2, EC3 and EC4. As a child he would stand in the kitchen of his parents’ high rise flat just off the City Road staring at the city below, and in these works, which unite painting with collage, he has recreated those memories in abstract forms.

EC2, 2016, Mixed media on Triplewall

Of the works, he says: ‘I grew up in the sky, one hundred foot above City Road. The view from our kitchen window contained sunset and sunrises of the type that Tiepolo imagines populated by architectural silhouettes of St Paul’s, the Old Bailey and the Post Office Tower.’

The MASK Prize. Creativity Competition with Prizes for Young People and Schools in Africa

 

ArtAttack continuously follows current Creative Art Competitions within the Global Art Industry. Our most recent attraction is to The Annual National Creativity Competition in Africa for schools and young people under the age of 25, which is the renowned ‘MASK Prize‘, endorsed by Kenya Ministry Of Education.

The 2016 Mask Prize is an initiative of the Mobile Art School in Kenya that seeks to promote creativity and innovation among the young generation. This is another chance for young artists from Kenya, Africa and its diaspora to show the world what they’ve got. Currently in its 4th year, the MASK Art Prize has been able to award and mentor a myriad of Kenyan and African artists through its competitions and expose them to the global art world. Next year, The MASK Prize will collaborate with Turner Contemporary, which will be very exciting!

This year’s theme is “Young People-The Creative Nation”.

Artworks are submitted online in a variety of media and reflect innovative ideas. All entries were in one of the following forms:

• Paintings, Drawings, Collages, Sculpture, Installations and Prints.
• Graffiti Art.
• Digital/Computer Art.
• Photographs and Photojournalism.
• Singing, Dancing, Performing Arts and Playing Musical Instruments.
• Entrepreneurial/Business Ideas.

Part of why ArtAttack is introducing you to The MASK Prize is due to the 2016 Award Ceremony that takes place this week on the 23^rd of June at the Michael Joseph Art Centre in Nairobi and some selected works will be exhibited in the UK at the Saatchi Gallery, University for the Creative Arts and Turner Contemporary.

For further information and interest in the juding panal, click these links: http://mobileartschoolinkenya.org/mask-prize/index.html http://mobileartschoolinkenya.org/mask-prize/how-to-enter/judges.html

ArtAttack are thrilled to show you the incredibly creative works of the 2016 Winners and Commended Artists.

2016 Mask Prize Winners –

 

1. Churchill Ongere, 23 years old, Untitled

2. Gitahi Kariouki, 21 years old, Embrace

3. Louis Nderi, 25 years old, Family Tree

4. Sidney Wanjiku, 23 years old, Women Power

5. Edwin Lyra, 19 years old, Chorwa

6. John Njeru, 21 years old, Abstract Love

7. Onesmus Omakar, 21 years old, Untitled

8. Edwin Wainanina, 19 years old, From The East Heavens

9. June Wambua, 22 years old, Black Leaf

10. Peteros Wasinde, 19 years old, Heart And Brain

11) Kennedy Kimani , 24 years old, Market and Beyond

12) Claire Njeri Kuria, 15 years old, Karen

2016 Mask Prize Commended –

1. Alan Madegwa, 19 years old, Thoughts

2. Lee Wanjiru, 19 years old, Untitled

3. Steve Wanjau, 22 years old, Untitled

4. Caitano Mbati, 21 years old, El Doret

5. Sam Mulwa, 19 years old, Mother Earth

6. Isaac Muraya, 23 years old, Nairobian Girl

7. Samson Lerosion, 20 years old, Leafy Samburu 

 

8) Bilha Simwenyi, 23 years old, Kakamega

9) Selina Onyando, 19 years old, Chai

 

10) Victor Mutua, 21 years old, Strength of an Eagle

 

11) Alvin Njuguna, 17 years old, Beginning of April

12) Ron Lukes, 21 years old, Devine

13) Joseph Makau, 20 years old, Swampy

14) Kibet Kirui, 22 years old, Ride and Die

15) Viva Mugambi, 20 years old, Old love

Cultural Connection: ArtAttack Gets the Inside Scoop on the Incredible National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan

‘…At the National College of Arts (NCA), we imagine a world. Not one world, but many. One for each of us, one from each of us, with these we write the autobiographies of our times, in objects, in lines, in mortar, and in perishable clay. In tracing ourselves, we leave traces. These are the traces that make our cities. Turn us inside out like pillowcases with that remembered smell, like shed skins. These are the traces that populate our nights, and from these traces we dare to dream again…’ – Excerpts from NCA teacher-students conversations

The National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan is a global centre for creativity, talent and artistic tradition. Originally founded as The Mayo School of Art in 1875, and rebranded the NCA in 1958, debate and discourse are encouraged amongst the students and faculty here, and this leads to a culture of understanding, individuality and tolerance. The art that comes out of this incredible place is some of the best in the world, the training exceptional and the diversity of the students in background, identity, ideology and language a major strength.

Teachers at the NCA nurture and push their students so that each one rightfully values his and her creative ideas and pushes their artistic practice to reach its height.

All this happens in a country who’s value is often overlooked by the international community; a country who’s goodness is glossed over for its’ bureaucratic corruption and troubled political history. It is easy to forget, if your only connection to Pakistan is watching the news, that this country, one of the cradles of civilisation, actually has an astonishing cultural and artistic history practically unmatched in the world. The NCA connects all their students with this rich history, as we hope the following interviews will connect our readers with it as well.

We are honoured to have had the chance to speak with three outstanding female NCA alumna, Class of 2016, Amani Iqbal, Sameen Agha and Komal Tufail, about their time at this esteemed institution, their artistic practice and their future goals within the art world. Suffice to say, these are powerhouse women and we can’t wait to see what incredible strides they take!

ArtAttack Launch Exhibition Artists Announced!

 

Massive congratulations to the 7 artists officially chosen for the ArtAttack Launch Exhibition from our #HangInChelsea competition.

The artists are:

1. Massimo Agostinelli. American-Italian, but London-born artist, Agostinelli, is known for his ‘Word Play | Text Art’ works which have been exhibited in galleries in London and New York and are held among collections in major cities across 5 continents.

2. Samin Ahmadzadeh. This Iran-born artist and CSM graduate’s background in street       photography is combined with a passion of expressing her personal views on sociological and cultural matters of her country. Her practice continues to evolve with a specific focus on archival collections of her family’s cultural history.

‘It is a little like a partnership working together with the ink’ – ArtAttack Interviews Bridget Davies

As you may have seen, ArtAttack has been interviewing a number of fantastic artists discovered at this year’s The Other Art Fair, London.

Bridget Davies, who’s interview follows below, drew us in with her elegant and evocative ink works of glamorous women, which in many ways feel reminiscent of another era.

We spoke with Bridget to discuss her artistic practice and delve a bit deeper into what has inspired her very specific and recognisable style.

‘Marlene’

The 2016 SOLO Award Shortlist Has Been Announced!

It’s official: WW Gallery‘s SOLO Award 2016 shortlist has been announced!

The following 17 international emerging artists have made the cut this year, selected from an original 2,850 submissions and then a long list of 63:

1. Olivia Bax
2. Ezio Cicciarella
3. Alicja Dobrucka
4. Damien Flood
5. Ian Healy
6. Adam Hennessey
7. Victoria Lucas
8. Karolina Magnusson Murray
9. Antonio Marguet
10. Holly Muir
11. Milly Peck
12. Giovanni Termini
13. Tom Verity
14. Sonja Vordermaier
15. Relli De Vries
16. Ziling Wang
17. Mary Wintour

The overall winner, announced mid-June, will receive the exceptional prize of a solo stall at the London Art Fair  2017, a truly rare and unique opportunity.

Ezio Cicciarella – ‘Untitled’, Sculpture in pitch stone. 

Ian Healy – ‘The Miracle’, Oil on paper.

PREVIEW: Ally McIntyre ‘The Sun Popped’ Opening Tonight at CNB Gallery

After winning last year’s prestigious HIX Award, Canadian emerging painter, Ally McIntyre, is back in London with a solo exhibition at CNB Gallery.

The Sun Poppped, which opens 25 May, challenges the age old concept that there can be a ‘perfect’ in painting, blending traditional genres, iconographies and artistic processes to create an alternative mythology in a new painterly age.

Ally McIntyre, Robespierre, 2016 c. Ally McIntyre. Courtesy of the artist and CNB Gallery

The paintings on view present an alternative to traditional heliocentric (male/patriarchal) worship, instead making nature, animals and the cosmos the receivers of praise and the central figures of faith. And whilst the theme and vibe of the work itself is very much mythological, it strongly alludes to the contemporary feminism, as well as the protection of nature and animals.