Ladybird By Design

We visited the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea for the free Ladybird by Design exhibition. It has lots of original illustrations on display - they are beautiful and present an idyllic version of a way of life that just doesn't exist any more. It is well worth a visit but isn't open for much longer - it ends 10th May. 

De Le Warr have made a film to accompany the exhibition about the appeal and success of Ladybird books. Check it out.

Pick Me Up 2015

At the weekend I went to Pick Me Up at Somerset House. Having been every year I was a little disappointed with the overall feel of this year's fair in comparison to previous years. Usually I spend ages looking round everything but it seemed like there was just less to see.

My favourite section, this year, was Pick Me Up Selects.

Zoë Taylor

 Jack Cunningham's dinosaurs
 

Jack Cunningham's GIF animations

Jennifer Argo

A great edition to the Selects exhibition was a display case containing sketchbooks and paper models. It is really interesting to be able to see the development and I have always loved noseying at other sketchbooks. 

 Laura Callaghan's sketchbook
 

 Hattie Newman's sketchbook
 

 Hattie Newman's paper model

100 Trees

100: Making of Trees was an exhibition at ONCA (One Network for Conservation and the Arts) in Brighton. It consisted of 100 artworks by local artists on display for 100 hours. Each artwork was for sale; the money raised will pay for 100 trees to be planted around the London Road area.

Wood by Helen Cann

They Said A King Once Ruled The Forest by Lizzie Thomas

Swag

Always planned to go to ELCAF (East London Comics and Arts Festival), finally made it this year and much money was spent.

Circus Street Market

From June, a few photographs of the University of Brighton's Architecture Degree Show in the Circus Street Market. The building is really interesting but is due for redevelopment.

My favourite of the show was Allotments of Indigenous Produce from Latin America by Lily Carver

Way Back In May

It has been an extremely busy Summer, here are a few photos from way back in May.

The British Library by Yinka Shonibare was an installation which filled the shelves of the Old Reference Library at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery with colourful books. Each book spine adorned with a different name. The names were of immigrants to Britain who have made a contribution to British culture.

Delaine Le Bas's exhibition Local Name: Unknown Gypsies? was at the Phoenix Gallery.

Tangled Feet performed the physical theatre piece entitled One Million at the Black Rock. One Million represented the approximate one million unemployed aged 18-25.

William Forsythe's Nowhere & Everywhere at the Same Time No.2 was at the Circus Street Market. The installation comprised of hundreds of swinging pendulums which the audience could walk between.

Sound in Motion by Zimoun was at the University of Brighton Gallery and consisted of a series of sound sculptures created from motors, cardboard boxes and ping pong balls.

Pick Me Up 2014

Saturday we went on a jolly to Pick Me Up, the graphic arts fair, at Somerset House. Now in its fifth year at the embankment galleries, the fair showcases work by illustrators, graphic artists and collectives. As always there was lots of beautiful and interesting work to spend some pocket money on.

 My favourite artists from the downstairs exhibition Pick Me Up Selects (16 artists selected by a panel) were Thibaud Herem's very detailed drawings of buildings including one of St Pancreas station and Andrew Groves' hand carved wooden spoons.

 Edward Cheverton collage called Choo Choo.

Two other illustrators, whose work I already loved, Julia Pott and Isabel Greenberg were also exhibiting in Pick Me Up Selects. I think Isabel Greenberg's comics are fab and I am currently midway through her book The Encyclopedia of Early Earth and I ended up buying her comic The Snow Queen too.

Isabel Greenberg's The Encyclopedia of Early Earth

Upstairs at the fair, it was work by Skull Paradise and the returning Puck Collective which caught my eye. We also overheard a little bit of the talk by the creators of Rastamouse. They were teaching the audience how to speak like an inhabitant of Mouseland. Wagwan!

It was a bit of an odd experience leaving the Fair, as outside there seemed to be some sort of protest - a never ending line of women reverends walking past the galleries. At the time we did comment that it was the quietest and well mannered protest we had ever seen; we later found out it was a celebration of 20 years of women priests. 

The Inner Life of Objects

Just found these photos, which are from an exhibition in October/November at Brighton University Gallery about Jan Svankmajer, the surrealist film maker. The exhibition titled The Inner Life of Objects, showed some of his films accompanied by sets, posters and puppets.

I hadn't seen much of his work before but absolutely loved the exhibition especially Historia Naturae, Punch & Judy and the clips from Alice.  I have added the film Alice to my Christmas wishlist!

Press and Release and Other Exhibitions

We visited the Press and Release exhibition at Phoenix Gallery. It is an exhibition of artists' book and turned out to be one of the best shows I have seen at Phoenix.  It is really worth a visit, the show continues until the 9th June.

Here are few images of the books that caught my eye.

 Jonny Hannah

Booklyn Artists Alliance  

Inside shot of the fabric book "Composition"

Borbonesa

Deborah Boardman

 My favourite book of the whole exhibition was "The Octopus Would Like To Put A Stop To Us" by Otto Dettmer (below).  I love the humorous narrative, the bold colour and how it has been made.

Otto Dettmer

Spread of "The Octopus Would Like To Put A Stop To Us" by Otto Dettmer

Spread of "The Octopus Would Like To Put A Stop To Us" by Otto Dettmer

Otto Dettmer

Otto Dettmer 

These painted boxes by John Bently (below) were also really interesting. Each box has been made to look like a book with a face painted on the front and inside a descriptive note about the person.

John Bently

John Bently

John Bently

We also had a look at The Air Itself One Vast Library by Mariele Neudecker which is at Lighthouse and The Blue Route, a show by Kaarina Kaikkonen at Fabrica (below).

Kaarina Kaikkonen