Visual Arts Exhibition 2013!

Student work: Robert Bragg

Our BTEC National Art and Design and A Level Graphic student Robert Bragg spent 2012 creating a drawing a day! It's an amazing collection of work and to celebrate completing he's exhibiting his work at Mine Gallery in Carshalton. The exhibition is open from 19th January - 26th January, you can find out more information, HERE. If you can't make it to the gallery you could always check out his new drawings - he's creating for another year of drawings for 2013 and this time his documenting them on his blog! You can see the drawings day by day, HERE.

Trip: New Blood and New Designers

Last week we visited the New Blood and New Designers exhibitions with our BTEC L3 Art and Design - both shows were brilliant and the students had a great time! 

Student Work: Visual Arts Exhibition 2011/12

Well done to all of our 2011/12 Visual Arts Graduates! Last night was our private view and they presented an incredible exhibition of work! You can view pictures of the show on FLICKR. The exhibition is open to the public by appointment till the 22nd June so if you'd like to visit it get in touch!

competition: graduate fashion week

Graduate Fashion Week is an annual event which showcases the best upcoming fashion designers graduating from degree course from across the country - normally it's just a chance for graduates to showcase their talent but this year they've got an open call looking for talent of any age! 

They are currently looking for writers and photographers to contribute and work with them in the run up to and during Graduate Fashion week + they're looking for illustration submissions to be used across social media networks!  so if you want to get involved get in touch - you can see all the details HERE. 

If you want to see what they've been doing so far check out tumblr, twitter and facebook. GOOD LUCK!  

Student work/Exhibition: A2 Applied Mini Exhibition

Our A2 Applied students have designed and installed their own Mini Exhibition. The exhibition showcases some of the wonderful work they have created this year and has helped them prepare for the final end of year exhibition - the mini exhibition looks great so the final exhibit is bound to be amazing! You can see pictures of the mini exhibition on FLICKR. 

Trip: V&A British Design 1948-2012 and The Science Museum

On Monday 23rd April 2012 we visited the British Design: 1948-2012 exhibition at the V&A and The Science Museum with our BTEC L2 Art and Design students. We had a great time and there was some wonderful stuff on display, particularly at the V&A.  There's a whole range of graphic design, film, fashion, textiles and more in the British Design Exhibition and we think other students would enjoy it too! You can find out more about the exhibition and get some insider knowledge from this video by the V&A. 

Exhibition: Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing, Self Portrait at 17 Years Old, 2003, Framed C-type print

Whitechapel Gallery are currently exhibiting Turner Prize winning artist Gillian Wearing's Photographs and Films that explore the public and private life of ordinary people. The exhibition includes work from 'Signs that Say What You Want Them to Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You to Say' (1992-3) and her first feature length film 'Self Made' 2011. You can read more about the concepts behind the work here. If your looking at  Portraits this term this exhibition is well worth a visit!

Where: Whitechapel Gallery

When: March 28th-June 17th 2012

Cost: Free!

Exhibition: OLEK

This week is your last chance to catch the amazing Olek exhibition at Tonys Gallery 'I do not expect to be a mother but I do expect to die alone'. Olek is famed for her crochet rooms and we've posted about her brilliant work before here on the blog! For this exhibition she has taken inspiration from her experiences living in the UK, you can see this reflected in the work which includes a crocheted black cab. It's going to be a fantastic show and is well worth a visit. Have a look at the website to see some great photos of the show and watch the video below to see Olek in action guerilla installing some work onto the wall street bull in New York... 

OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.

Where: Tonys Gallery, Shoreditch

When: till Friday March 23rd

Cost: Free 

Exhibition: Oldnewburrowedblue

Since last year The Photographers Gallery have been collecting wedding pictures through the decades submitted by members of the public as part of the Old, New, Burrowed and Blue Project. As well as being able to view the entire collection online there will also be the opportunity to see a selection of photos at Rich Mix in Bethnal Green this month - this is a must see for those of you who may be looking at weddings/rituals as part of your exam unit! You may also want to get involved to extend your project a little further, we did previous post about getting involved here. 

Where: Rich Mix
When: 8th - 19th February
Cost: Free

Exhibition: Front Line

This week is your last chance to catch the Front Line: A year of Journalism and Conflict. The exhibition will be particularly relevant if your looking at political themes within your work as it focuses on some of the major news stories of 2011: The Egyptian revolution, Syria, the Libyan conflict and the UK riots and includes photographs, news footage, maps and timelines. The exhibition closes this Sunday so make sure you don't miss out!

Where: Embankment Galleries, Somerset House 
When: now till Sunday 5th February
Cost: free!

Exhibition: David Shrigley - Brain Activity

As from today David Shrigley is presenting his first major retrospective show at the Hayward Gallery. Shrigley is best known for his humourous drawings and text that makes witty and sometimes dark humour at everyday life. His works on show include drawing, animation, painting, photography and sculpture. I am so excited to see his taxidermy "I'm Dead" puppy again! The last time I saw this was at the 2010 frieze art fair, where he was also incidentally drawing on people's bodies in one of his famous tattoo sessions, so the opportunity to see an even more substantial collection of his work should definitely not be missed!

The exhibition is split into four categories - Death (see picture and explanation above), Misery, Characters and Misshapen Things. There will be a total of over 175 different works on show including a new piece for the sculpture terrace and a new large wall painting. Go see it!

Where:  Hayward Gallery

Date: 1st Feb - 13th May 2012

How much: £6 student or £5.50 if your 18 or under.

Opening Date...

... for the new building of The Photographers' Gallery has finally been announced. On 19th May 2012 they will open their their new seven-storey building in Central London that will showcase the best of international and British photography. The new building will play host to three dedicated floors of gallery spaces and an education floor which will encompass talks, workshops and events as well as a study room for you to go work in. Edward Burtynsky will be one of the first to exhibit there showcasing over 30 large-scale images from his photographic series OIL. The exhibition will be Burtynsky's first major solo UK exhibition exploring the impact of manufacture on our lives, culture and environment. In the meantime, why not still make the most of going down to their temporary location in Central. It's also a great excuse to go take photo's of the city!

Links: image source                                                                                                                                    

                                                      

Exhibition: Golden Spider Silk

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On display from today at the V&A is this amazing silk shawl - it's the worlds largest piece of cloth made from spiders silk. The silk shawl is made from the silk of over a million female golden-orb weaver spiders, a spider native to the highlands of Madagascar and the vivid golden yellow colour is in fact the natural colour of the spiders silk. The piece was created by artist Simon Peers and designer Nicholas Godley and took over 8 years to create. There's are article on the Guardian here and a BBC news feature here which discuss the piece in further detail. The exhibition itself will also feature background material and a short film showing the process of creating such an incredible piece!

When: opens today until 5th June 2012 

Where: The V&A

Cost: Free 

Coulsdon Artist of the week - Gary Hume

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The artist, Gary Hume at his recent exhibition.

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An exhibition called ‘The Indifferent Owl’ of new paintings and sculptures by Gary Hume, opens tonight at the White Cube Gallery in London.  The exhibition spans across two of The White Cubes Galleries, in Mason's Yard and Hoxton Square. 

Coulsdon Sixth Form AS Fine Art students has been looking at Gary's work recently, as part of their 'Intersections' painting project. 

The White Cube talk about the exhibition on their website, saying: 'Over the past twenty years, Hume has developed a distinctive visual language of bold, simplified forms to create paintings that engage the viewer with their pleasantly irresolvable quality. The exhibition, his first in London for over four years, brings together a large and varied body of new work' 

The online arts magazine Artinfo, also has an interview with the artist, where he talks about the exhibition and his current work.  

 

One of Gary Hume's new canvases, that go on display tonight

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Event: Digital Print Design with Casette Playa

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This weekend the British Museum are hosting a great free event 'Digital Print Design with Cassette Playa'. The event is taking place twice this Saturday 7th January at 11 and 2.30, it's completely free you just need to book online beforehand. Cassette Playa is a contemporary fashion designer whose worked with people like Dizzie Rascal and MIA and regularly shows her work at London Fashion Week. 

Exhibition: British Design

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It doesn't open till March 2012 but the British Design exhibition at the V&A looks like it's going to be fantastic. The V&A facebook page is great - they post behind the scenes photos, like the ones above, of upcoming shows which gives a great insight into the amount of work and preparation that goes into these exhibitions! It also means you get a sneak peak of what's going to be in the exhibition - I recognised the original Jamie Reid 'Sex Pistols' poster straight away but theres also original posters for the film 'Blow Up', the 1951 Festival of Britain, Saatchi's 'Go to Work on an Egg', a 1978 Anti-Nazi League poster and the exhibition poster for 'this is Tomorrow' at the Whitechapel from 1956. 

You can read a bit more about the exhibition and what's going to be on show here. I can't wait for it to open, it's going to be great, roll on March 2012! 

Exhibition: Donna Wilson at YSP

We wish we was in Yorkshire! We don't often feature exhibitions this far our of reach but Yorkshire Sculpture part are currently showcasing this fantastic piece 'Endangered Species' by knitwear designer Donna Wilson and we love it! The piece is made up of knitted trees and creatures using her trademark patterns and we think it looks fantastic.  The exhibition also includes a range of ceramic pieces and limited edition screen prints and hand-drawn illustrations. If you can get to Yorkshire to see this I think it would be well worth a visit. Donna Wilson is great her work is clever, playful and fun - how great are the photo shoot pieces we've featured above for her items? For more information on Donna Wilson have a look at her website, blog or flickr. For more information about the 'Endangered Species' exhibition visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park website. 

Where: Yorkshire Sculpture Park 

When: now till 26th February 2012 

Cost: Free (if you can get to Yorkshire!)

If you can't make it up there why not watch this great video which gives a virtual tour of the exhibit and has Donna Wilson herself being interviewed in the space... 

Donna Wilson at Yorkshire Sculpture Park from Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Vimeo.

Exhibition: Terence Conran 'The Way We Live Now'

The Design Museum are marking the 80th birthday of Terence Conran. Terence Conran was the founder of Habitat and played a huge part in the transformation of the British home. The exhibition will explore Conran's impact as well as looking at his design approach and inspirations. The exhibition traces his career from postwar austerity through the decades to the present day. 

For more information about the exhibition have a look at the press release, a feature on the Tate Blog and the Design Museum website. 

Where: The Design Museum

When: now till March 4th 2012

Cost: £10/11 

Student Work: A2 Applied, The Craft Fair

Well done to our A2 Applied Art and Design Students who ran their own stall at the Croydon South Rotary Craft Fair on Saturday! The stall looked great! You can see the full set of photos, here. The students were selling Christmas Cards they designed as part of a live brief along with decorations, gift tags and wrapping paper. You can see the full set of cards designed here. Thanks to everyone who made it along to the fair on Saturday - if you didn't they'll be another chance to come along and buy the cards right here at college in December - details coming soon!