Imaginary Menagerie

This exhibition took place at the text/gallery, a very small space but I feel like it was perfect for this typographic exhibition as all the works were very subtle. I guess that's the beauty of typography, it has a big impact in every day life but no one truly notices the small details in typefaces. 

As a viewer I was able to wonder around the exhibition in any direction, there was no particular way of viewing works or maybe there was an intention of leading viewers in a certain way but in a non obvious way.  There wasn't very much information provided about the pieces, so I had to research the ones I liked most online after the visit, despite that it was still a brilliant exhibition.  

I really liked all the works on display, the two that stood out most were pieces by Graham Bignell and Beatrice Bless called Mikado, this piece was screen printed the same typefaces in three different colours on top of each other and off set on purpose. I feel like it kind of relates to my own work, printing in four colour separation. Another piece was by Polina Pakhomova called promises, I thought the hand written type made this work much more personal and very strong as she layered sheets of paper on top of each other to create a three dimensional effect. 

After viewing this exhibition I was inspired to produce similar pieces to Pakhomova's work, that's where the text layering experimental piece came from in my sketchbook.

"Mikado" Graham Bignell & Beatrice Bless

"Promises" Polina Pakhomova

RA X: 10 years of Resident Advisor

This exhibition took place at the Kemistry Gallery, which showcased screen printed posters produced for an electronic music event in London by ten different artists. The space for this even was reasonably small, but there was no need for anything bigger as it created an intimate atmosphere between the viewer and these design pieces. I thought that all posters had an element of abstraction to them, there to represent the music and lure you in to attend the event. What was great about them is that they were all the same format, with exact same minimal layout the only parts that changed were rectangles in the middle. I think that small detail like the layout is a great way to tie a series of works together. All artists used screen printing as a way to produce these posters, which gave them this great feel of being one off and precious a limited edition of a kind.

One of my favourite pieces from this show was ‘RA X’ by Simon Cook , the use of layering left me examining the poster for a while and vibrant colour caught my eye straight away. As an event poster it definitely does the job of catching public eye. Another piece was ‘RA X’ by Michael Cina, also some very great detail and layers of bold black and perfect thin lines of colour; I still don’t know how he achieved such perfection. However I thought this poster might not of been as eye catching as the other one, but the craftsman ship was brilliant.

I have been inspired by some of these works to incorporate layering in my screen printing project, because it makes a piece of work look so much richer in tone and colour.

"RA X" Simon Cook 2011

"RA X" Michael Cina 2011

Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990

I visited this featured exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was great to see so many different artist works of postmodernism in one huge gallery space. As a viewer I felt blown away by the amount of different objects there were in this space, from flat 2D works such as posters to household objects, abstract sculptures, video and 3D simulations. The gallery space itself felt very postmodern, dark walls and dimmed lighting with neon signs leading the public from one room into the other. I think it’s really important to get the space itself right, to suit what is exhibited and V&A got it right spot on!

 There were soo many works that I liked it was hard to just pick a few to write about. An amazing poster by Paul Scher ‘The best of Jazz’ was one of them, my liking of typography and passion for the constructivism posters has drawn me to this particular piece. I like the simplicity of it, use of only three colours to screen print and the way it has been mostly concentrated on the type positioning of this promotional music poster. Another piece of work I like was ‘Orchid’ by Robert Mapplethrope, which is a ceramic plate with a black and white Orchid photo print. The perfectly round and thin plate it so elegant and minimal, seems like less is more when it comes to this piece. I also like the way photography has been taken out of its original context and has been applied to tangible object.

Overall I thought the exhibition gave me the real feel of postmodernism and I saw a lot of works that were new to me. Where some works were great I felt like others were a little over the top and there was too much going on at once. I think in the future I would like to try using some sort of untraditional media to display my work, for example traditional printing method transferred on to a tangible object which would never be associated with printmaking.

"The Best of Jazz" Paula Scher 1979

"Orchid" Robert Mapplethorpe 1989

Mark Titchner: Three Minute Wonder

David Mushegain: Don't Call It Cool

During the summer holiday I have visited Paris, and thought it would be a crime not to visit at least a few exhibitions during the short time I was there. 

This was a single photographers exhibition held in a well known spot to the younger crowd called Colette, this place is popular for selling exclusive streetwear brands, unique designer clothing as well as art and design books. This three floor space is like a melting pot of young culture, with a small gallery space tucked in right at the top of it all. I thought the atmosphere was perfect for this type of exhibition. As I was admiring these photographs I realised there was actually no information about who the people were and what this exhibition was all about until I reached the very end of it, where a small table stood with all the information leaflets. It seemed like the photographer wanted the viewer to make their own assumptions on who the subjects were and why they were photographed. And I was right, David Mushegain uses photography to document the people he meets on daily basis, people he finds fascinating and beautiful. 

For me the photograph that stood out most was with a man covered in tattoos, because more then likely that each piece of art on his body has a story behind it. I find it very interesting the way some of us choose to record certain events/ memories through out our lives in text and image on our own bodies. Its great the way he uses black and white photography to focus viewers concentration on the persons features, faults and perfections.

Over all I think this was a great exhibition, Mushegain has managed to capture each persons personality in one shot. Its also great to come across someone who can see each individual for what they really are, unique, in their own way beautiful human beings. 

David Mushegain, Unknown 2010-2011

David Mushegain, series of photos 2010-2011

David Mushegain, series of photos 2010-2011

Erika Lakatos: Roman Icons, New York - Budapest 1996 - 2011

This was another exhibition at the Hungarian House of Photography, single artists exhibits. All the work was displayed very simply, due to the complexity of the art itself. As a viewer I didn't feel informed well enough what the work was about, I had to do my own research on the techniques used to produce the images. The photographer works with polaroid images and applies a fine art touch to them by enlarging photgraphs and applying paint using a colourful pallet. Even though Lakatos work didn't appeal to me and left me feeling confuse, I still quite like the idea of working and re-arranging photographs by using different type of media on the image, creating unusual effects. Perhaps its something I could experiment with over the summer. My favourite piece of work out of the whole set was the image below, mostly because of its beautiful earthy colour scheme and soft marks of distortion. 

Erika Lakatos Untitled, 1996-2011

Hungarian House of Photography: Róbert László Bácsi

This exhibition was showcasing works of five different Hungarian photographers, Róbert László Bácsi, András D. Hajdú, Dénes Mártonfai, Simon Móricz and Márk Simon, who reflect on social and political issues through Fine Art Photography. This exhibition was based on the top floor of a very old building, which is a photography gallery. Works were clearly displayed between three rooms/corridors, I felt like the best pieces were shown to the viewer first. As an observer I felt a little confused about some works as the text explanations around the gallery were in Hungarian, but I think most photographs speak well for themselves. 

I particularly admire Róbert László Bácsi photographs, who gives the viewer an insight into gloomy and grey Armenia. All of his photographs look very interesting, because of their dull and misty atmosphere. I have never been to Armenia myself but it is kind of what I imagine it to be like, and the photographer has done a very good job at visually communicating the county's state to the viewer. 

These photographs are not the kind you glance at and think "oh that's a lovely picture", they show us a country that used to be part of Soviet Union and who is still facing difficulties to this day. I think works like this need to be exposed a little more, so we get a better insight into smaller countries around the world.