Hang-Up Contemporary

Meet the Artist: Joe Webb

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:36:00 GMT

Hang-Up travelled to rural Sussex to interview collage artist Joe Webb in his new studio about his up coming solo show 'Pulp Friction'. The exhibition runs from 8th Jun - 21st July 2013, in Hang-Up Gallery.

Your new show ‘Pulp Friction’ will display a varied collection of works ranging from your first original collages to your recent abstract works and larger scale paintings. Why did you want to display such a varied collection as supposed to one particular body of work?
It was just a way of showing a transition of where I started with the more surreal, quirky scenarios in the early works and the way I’ve progressed with the more silhouette-base, dreamlike images in the last year or so - and I’ve got newer collages now which are even more minimal. I think it’s important to keep evolving and changing rather than doing the same thing, but to still have a recognisable look thoughout.

You can definitely see a progression. Your more recent collages are a lot more simplistic and clean as supposed to your early works. Was this intentional?
I’m not sure it was intentional. It gets to a point where you’ve made so many of them that it comes repetitive rather than exploring a new ideal. It’s a natural evolution of a way of working. I try to keep the idea throughout of using minimal materials. It’s just a couple of pictures - two different pictures put together…maybe in a year I’ll have a really elaborate picture with lots of images…

That leads me to my next question: You have a ‘self-made rule’, which is working with only two images. You have stuck to this throughout your practice. Can you expand on that?
It was a starting point. When there’s no boundaries or nothing to focus on there’s nowhere to go with it. It’s like having a brief for a piece of work or graphic design. You can then come up with a finished product. I found that as soon as I did this it became a challenge to marry two things.

How do you choose the two images?
I have loads and loads of magazines. If I see something that I think will work I put it aside and then five months later I might see something else and try and put them together. It’s quite a lucky, random process. Sometimes I’ll spend five hours sifting through and nothing matches. I’ll leave it and go to something else. You’ve just got to keep working on it.

So the stories come to you whilst you are sifting through? Or do you tend to have an idea for the subject matter and composition before you create an image?
There are themes, like marrying the space and universe images with the fifties kids and family based images. The idea of the innocence of them and the vastness of space worked well. I tend to focus on the fifties era because there’s a constant dreamlike look throughout which ties the collages together.

Above: Joe with 'Playing God' original.

Why did your earlier works have more political/humorous connotations?
I thought it would be nice to have work that said something. I find when I visit galleries there’s a lot of work you look at that doesn’t say anything and you think, ‘Am I being duped into believing I’m not intelligent enough to understand this?’ I was frustrated with that artwork and I wanted artwork to say something.

I want people to get a story from it, like my collage of the tribal African guy in a mask dancing on a table in a meeting. These things are going on in different sides of the planet and putting them together takes on a whole new meaning – it kind of mocks the meeting and the serious way we take ourselves.

The original idea stemmed from Sir Peter Blake’s collages, from the Bandaid album cover with the African kids in a Victorian house. That idea stuck with me. You can make a statement on how different things are for different people depending on where they are from. When they are put together it is powerful. It was a way of looking back at the world and examining different cultures. You can go anywhere with it.

Why did you want to name the show Pulp Friction?
The pulp is the paper that I work with and ‘Pulp Fiction’ is the era of the fifties where a lot of the images are from. The friction is the characters. There’s a tension between some of them, like the guy with the monocle in ‘Mono’ (below) is disappearing out if the frame. So it ties in nicely with the work.

What started the initial infatuation with the 1950s romantic/murder mystery era?

It’s iconic to start with – the images have that quality and open your eyes up.

Have you been creative all though your life? How long have you been making work for and what was the initial inspiration? Have you always worked with collage?
I was always drawing as a kid, and went to Art College as it was my interest and that’s where the painting aspects came in. It was my foundation and it was a really good college and I had a few really good painting tutors – I really enjoyed it. Then I went onto my BA, and it was completely different. I didn’t really enjoy it. The students and tutors weren’t as enthusiastic as I was. It was more conceptual and I couldn’t’ relate to it. I still got a lot from it but it put me off art for a few years so I moved away from making art and got more into graphic design to make a living. So I started using computers. Within the last 6 or 7 years I started painting again, then last 3 years moved into collage and found it really works and its been going since then.

Was there a particular moment when you started using collage after your years of painting?
It was a friend actually. He is a collage artist and I thought they looked really punchy. It’s a quick way of working and it was something different to try. Also, Sir Peter Blake’s collages - they’re so graphic and painting can either work or not. It was a new thing for me.

Above: An example of Joe's original paintings taken from one of his earlier collages.

Now you work as a free-lance graphic designer, which means a lot of work with computers. Is your hand-made art practice an act of rebellion?
I was getting really fed up with using a computer. Our whole lives are becoming based on computers now. I wanted to get away from that so in the evenings I could make some art. I wanted it to be something hand-made. So that was one of the first rules; working with that limitation. If I was to use Photoshop they would have looked completely different becuase I would have changed the colour, scale – it would be too polished and wouldn’t be as interesting. The small faults are all part of the hand-made charm. They are almost old artworks already. Even though they have just been made there is still a history behind them. If they were just a print out they wouldn’t have the same effect.

I do feel bad cutting up a nice magazine that’s there’s not many left of…but its better to make an artwork out of it for someone to put on their wall than just have them sitting there I guess?

Where do you find the vintage books and magazines? Are they vintage/charity shops? Worldwide?
When I’m in a new area I’ll try and find a shop I haven’t been in and there’s usually something I can get. There are a few fifties-type places that I know that I go to a lot. I don’t really like shopping so I don’t like wandering around.

I just rescued these (shows me a folder of Seventies magazine cut outs) from a recycling bin from an illustrator friend. They’re like a Google before Google…someone’s made folders of the past. These are more Seventies so they night take me somewhere else…

Are they always vintage/second hand?
Yes, mostly. I tried modern magasines but they’re too glossy and you get into the whole copy right aspect. It’s whether or not you can say something current with an old image and for it to not just be some super commercial, retro thing you see everywhere.

What do you do with them when you’ve finished? Do you keep them?
My whole house if full of these magasines now and it’s getting a bit messy!

Many of your limited edition prints include various reliefs and textures such as diamond dust and the process seems very complex. Is this why you use Coriander Studio to publish your prints? Have you always used them to print your works or was this something you learnt through experience?
I was a fan of their work - the Sir Peter Blake prints and Damien Hirst prints they produce, and they were recommended. They make top quality, collectable prints. I saw them when I went to London Print Fair last year and they really stood out to me. I kept hassling them until they looked at my work and invited me up. I bought all my collages up, including the traditional silkscreen print ‘Kissing Magritte’ (below) that I made myself. I managed to get that into the Saatchi Gallery to display in their new print shop and that sold really well so that gave me confidence to approach them. Luckily they really liked the prints and made four new ones, printing them at high quality with 30 colours, embossed and cut outs to make them like the collages.

It’s nice to push forward with different techniques of silk screening. Each print has a different technique applied to it. It can make them a lot of money but at the same time, if you want to buy a painting you have to spend thousands. Prints are a good way of people getting a piece of artwork for under a grand, and they all retain their own value.

Above: A mixture of originals and prints in Joe's studio.

Do you work together?
It’s a bit of both. We’ll talk about the work and what I want to get across. With ‘Absent Minded’ we decided to cut out the guy almost like someone’s lifted out the picture. We try out different processes. In ‘Daydream’ its embossed, which gave the look of the sky like a lens, which distorted the image and reveals the shape of the guy’s head. With the ‘Antares’ pieces I’d seen some prints of some stars on holographic paper so we used that.

Above: Absent Minded by Joe Webb

Why have you chosen to go back to painting in your most recent work?
I don’t want to be defeated by painting. I’ve been trying to paint for years and always found it quite difficult. Not knowing what to paint has been the biggest issue and has stopped be from working for years. Now I have the collages that have given me my subject matter I want to revisit painting. I set myself a goal of taking this painting studio, working through he collages of the past and getting an idea of which ones work and which don’t. I’m kind of playing catch up with my ideas.

Do you think the painting say something different to the collages?
They use different material, like blackboard paint and chalk, so it adds a different element. So it’s more tactile and maybe a bit more accessible? It’s just a different way of presenting them really. I don’t want to give up on painting but I don’t want it to detract from making collages.

The way in which you work is an incredibly long and intricate process, requiring a lot of time and patience. Are you meticulous in your personal life?
No, not really. I do get compulsive about my work. The artwork is something I can focus on and spend a lot of time on because I enjoy doing it…you can escape into it. Instead of watching TV for hours on end I can sit down and do this.

Are you a messy worker?
Yes – I’ll start with one image and before I know the magazine’s are everywhere and I have this one tiny image and the whole room is destroyed. It’s a bit of a nightmare. I try and treat paintings a bit differently. I pre-mix all the colours and find a way to translate it.

Above: Joe pre mixes his colours by using the same colour wheel.

Is there a particular time of day you prefer to work or are your creations spontaneous?
I still work as graphic designer in the day, so it depends. If I have a quite spell I can make collages and if it’s really quiet I can start painting. Even if I don’t feel like making art, when I have time I have to do it. You can be waiting for inspiration, and sometimes you have to just do it. Treat it like a 9-5 thing.

Do you listen to music whilst working?
Yes usually - sometimes it’s the radio just to have some background ambience. And I’ve got tinnitus so my ear is constantly ringing, so anything would do. I listen to a lot of diffferent stuff. I like historical stuff like blues or jazz.

Who/what are your main influences?
Rene Magritte a major influence. I went to Magritte’s museum in Brussels and was blown away by the paintings. They’re so graphic and so striking. The images just leap out. The surreal aspect of this lead onto my work from two years ago.

Then Peter Blake from the collages aspect. There’s a lot of collage artwork out there but its all complicated.

And you’re also influenced by Mattise?

Yes - his blue nude cut outs. I like associating work with an artist and developing from that. There’s a lot of substance in doing that.

I also really like Peter Doig’s paintings. Seeing his work ten years ago made me want to start painting again. I saw them at the Saatchi Gallery when it was on Southbank and thought ‘This is what I want to do’. I went home and painted a house!

…I try not to look too much at the work. I don’t want to emulate it.

Do you have a favourite piece of yours?
I quite like ‘Daydream’. And the ‘Kissing Magritte’ print – even though its very commercial I like it because it ties up everything: the vintage look, the Magritte influence, Surrealism – it’s got quite a visible story to it and is easily read. It comes and goes though. I always like the latest thing I’ve made.

Above: Joe Webb with one of his favourite pieces, 'Daydream'.

Why did you want to display at Hang-Up Gallery for your first show?
Hang-Up is going to be great because it’s such a nice space. It’s a nice size for the scale of the collages and it’s intimate. It’s going to allow people to look up close. In a bigger gallery they’ll get swallowed up. As soon as I saw the new gallery online I thought I looked like a great space.

I had my work in another gallery and it was quite conceptual and I didn’t feel at home there. Galleries that lead more towards the urban side of art fit my work better, as they’re more approachable. I mean, I don’t think my work is urban – I’m in a field so its actually rural! I want to feel comfortable in a gallery. Hang-Up is a brilliant next step.

Above: Joe walks to his quiet studio in the fields of Sussex.

Do you hang your work in your home?
I’ve got a couple in the house just really for storage. I’ve got other artists on the walls – a few prints and paintings. To have them up all the time would be a bit much. It’s nice to keep it separate.

You were one of the two winners’ of Saatchi’s ‘Showdown’ competition last year and as a result had the piece displayed in their London gallery.
It was a collage showdown. I entered ‘Antares and Love II’. I knew to put that one in as I put it on a blog and it went viral – there were 50, 000 shares all around the world. I put others online but they didn’t do as well. As much as I didn’t want to be involved on line it seems quite ironic, but it’s a good way of benchmarking how things are being perceived. So I entered it and it got through the public vote, then judge vote which included Rebecca Wilson, the director of Saatchi – then the artist judge. Then it went up into Saatchi!

Above: Antares and Love II - the Saatchi Showdown winner, now available to buy as a print with silver leaf embellishing.

That must have been a defining moment as an artist for you. Have you had a lot of interest in your work since then?
It was great - unbelievable. It’s a brilliant platform. From that moment things have taken off. It’s amazing really. I’ve made prints from the original. I also had my contact Rebecca from Showdown so I showed her the ‘Magritte’ print, then those went up in the print shop and did really well, so the momentum continued. The new ‘Daydream’ print is going to go up in the Saatchi store next month so its nice to continue the relationship with them.

If you could own any piece of artwork, what would it be?
I’d love a big Peter Doig painting – the one at the Tate Britain – it’s just massive. When you look up close it’s such a mess, but you stand back and it all makes sense.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I can see myself immigrating to a warmer country at some point- just to get better light…but I feel I might be stuck here for a while.

What lies next? Are you going to continue painting?
I wanted to spend the next few months making paintings and new collages, building a collection and hiring a pop-up space – something quite big. Really try and push myself forward. It’s something that will take time.

Do you ultimately want to be a full time artist?
That’s my aim – to be able to make a living from my art and to support myself and my family. That would be ideal…to develop as an artist and make exciting new pieces that are collectable.

Finally, why do you want people to come away with after viewing Pulp Friction?
I want them to have enjoyed the show and take away the key ideas behind the images. I’d like them to come away being entertained by the humorous images and slight mockery…and perhaps a print under their arm!

Above: The farm where Joe's studio is located.

Michael Craig-Martin on Educating Damien Hirst

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:54:00 GMT

“Half of them have slept with each other,” says Michael Craig-Martin, a professor at Goldsmiths, about the Young British Artists (a k a YBAs), a group of students whose work he helped foster, in a new video by TateShots,“Michael Craig-Martin: Educating Damien.” Mr. Craig-Martin should know. He worked closely with the whole horny and artful bunch, which included Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, who broke out into the art world in the 1988 exhibition “Freeze,” organized by Mr. Hirst.

As Mr. Craig-Martin saunters around Mr. Hirst’s current Tate Modern retrospective, he mentally returns to that period, when he noticed something different about this class of students from any of the other classes he’d taught since starting there in 1973-74. “There was a chemistry, very unusual chemistry between them. They were very fond of each other…it was very intimate.”

And while Mr. Craig-Martin thinks of the spot paintings as “the beginning” for Mr. Hirst, the one he thought was “the most important, most extraordinary work that Damien ever did,” was another. Also, check out the live butterfly that lands on Mr. Craig-Martin’s head, like some trompe-l’œil hat by Elsa Schiaparelli. It’s a fun little film.

Thanks to Tate Shorts for this.

Damien Hirst loans Artwork To Burger King

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:13:00 GMT

Damien and his team have carried on in the foody vein (after the Tramshed Cock and Hen), by now agreeing to loan a piece - with an uber long title i might add - named Beautiful Psychedelic Gherkin Exploding Tomato Sauce All Over Your Face, Flame Grilled Painting 2003 to Burger King, of all places, in Leicester Square. The reason is that there will be a lot of folk down for the olympics in this 'tourist-hotspot' over the coming months and the team/Damien have obviously decided they would like a piece of the pie or cake or burger as well.

It's on the top floor protected behind reinforced glass, if you would like a peek..

17 Leicester Square, London.

ART DRIVE! - BMW Art Collection 1975–2010, Shoreditch, 21 July - 4 August

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 11:13:00 GMT

We thought that we would share this with you as BMW have had numerous big-name collaborators in this long-running project - and it's free!

They include: Alexander Calder, Sandro Chia, Ken Done, Ernst Fuchs, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Matazo Kayama, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Esher Mahlangu, Cesar Manrique, M.J Nelson, A.R Penck, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol.

Following words by the ICA:

'For two weeks only the ICA takes over an off site space in the East End with ART DRIVE! – an opportunity to view BMW’s unique collection of ART CARS for the first time in the UK. The Collection, initiated over 35 years ago, consists of BMW cars transformed into artworks by leading international artists, using the form of the car as their canvas.'

'Renowned for nurturing innovation and new talent across the contemporary arts, the ICA has sought out some of the most exciting emerging names in design from the East End to help deliver this project. We're delighted to be working with Julia and Loop.pH , making a significant and original contribution to the Cultural Olympiad celebrations.'

Free Admission, 21 July 2012 - 4 August 2012

Great Eastern Street Car Park, Shoreditch, London, 12 - 9 pm

Patrick Thomas: Barcelona exhibition photographs + gallery information

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 10:13:00 GMT

If your escaping the British rain and traveling to Barcelona this summer we recommend that you take the time to check out the new Patrick Thomas exhibition in Barcelona at the Otrascosas galley where Patrick has created an amazing body of work.

Its on until 3rd August and is free entrance.

‘Solo’
Exhibition by Patrick Thomas
Otrascosas gallery, Barcelona
Open until Friday 3 August 2012 ‘Solo’
Exhibition by Patrick Thomas
Otrascosas gallery, Barcelona

Presenting a New Charming Baker Sculpture at the V&A, London

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 10:58:00 GMT

The Charming Baker has just collaborated with Sir Paul Smith to produce an uber-sleek alloy track-bike. It can be seen balanced-vertically on a 'little surprise'. We like their style on this one.

Words by Charming Baker:

Six months ago I was approached to produce a work of art for London 2012 Britain Creates, a project designed to celebrate the year of London hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games.

The resulting piece, a collaboration with Sir Paul Smith, is called Triumph In The Face Of Absurdity. It’s a cast aluminium track bike on a Corten steel plinth with a little surprise holding it up.

It shouldn’t actually stand up, but somehow - thanks to some smart structural engineering (not mine) and some special steel designed (not by me) for suspension bridges - it does.

It’s been a pleasure working with Sir Paul who is a generous soul in love with the art world. Triumph In The Face Of Absurdity goes on show at the V&A Museum in London from Friday 6 July 2012.

If you're in London, do stop by and give it the once over. Or twice if you really feel like it.

Bless you

Charming Baker

An insightful and entertaining interview with Sir Peter Blake

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 10:47:00 GMT

An insightful and entertaining interview follows here with Sir Peter Blake...

And he does, indeed, have some wondrous stories up his sleeve.

Intro: When meeting the Godfather of Pop Art; a man who has rocked out most of his life with some of the greatest bands from the last half of the 20th century, you expect someone a little more, well, terrifying than Peter Blake. In celebration of his 80th year, and a new exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall we sat down with the legend himself, and were surprised to meet a family man so lovely that we wanted to give him a big hug at the end. Blake was open, friendly and full of interesting anecdotes, and even told us to send his greetings to our dad at the end.

AW: This exhibition is a celebration of your 80 years, what is your favourite memory from the last 80 years?

PB: Getting together with my wife obviously. A kind of ecstasy was finishing national service. For two years you live a life you don’t really want to do, but you just do it. I went in ’51 and came out in ’53. And I walked from the RAF camp to the station and I sat in my civilian clothes, with the kit bag on the station. I remember it to this moment; the sun was shining and that bit of my life was over. I was about to go into the Royal College of Art and my life was about to start. That was an extraordinary feeling. It was like coming out of prison and going onto something wonderful. But then there was also the Everly Brothers, fantastic concerts with Ian Dury and getting drunk.

AW: You taught Ian Dury for a bit didn’t you?

PB: I did, yes. I taught three days a week; Monday St Martins, Tuesday at Harrow and Wednesday I taught painting. I had this mad principle that I wouldn’t leave the house before 9 o clock. It was not dignified. I had to get a train and three buses so I arrived late at about 11 o clock, with a wicked hangover and was told, “It’s an outdoor drawing class, your class is already out there – go and find them.”. I went into the pub on the way for hair of the dog and three of my students were sitting there. One of them was Ian. Instead of yelling at them I bought them a drink and we wandered up there. I think Ian was quite impressed with that. I was quite sharply dressed back then. I had an American-style four button jacket and button down shirt – he described it in one of his songs. I wasn’t that much older than him and we just became friends. I spent periods of time on the road with him, mostly gigs. I got wounded a few times.

AW: You have obviously created a very accessible form of fine art over the decades. Do you feel it is important for art to be accessible to everyone?

PB: It’s important to me. It’s a principle I’ve always worked by. I always hope there’s something somewhere that everyone could buy.

AW: Do you feel that it’s important that something is visually accessible too? To people that maybe haven’t studied art?

PB: Well originally that was what my concept of Pop Art was. When I described what I wanted to achieve, I said that I wanted to make an equivalent of a pop song. So the person who listened to Elvis would enjoy a picture of Elvis. That was absolutely my intention: to make something that was accessible to a certain area of the public.

AW: Do you ever plan on retiring or do you want to carry on to the end?

PB: Artists don’t retire, they are either brought to a halt where they can’t do it any more, or they die. If they do they pretend. I made a pretend retirement but that was a concept. Duchamp said he’d retire, instead he was making the most important piece he ever made.

AW: Do you still like to party?

Christie (Peter’s wife): As long as the paramedics are there!

PB: Last week it was a pretty hectic week. The week before we went to Oslo, then last Monday Glasgow, and I did a talk at the art school. Tuesday we went to Brighton. Then to the V&A with Wayne Hemmingway, who’s great to talk to. The one I did in Brighton I’ve done before and I had dinner then sat up on a high chair and answered questions. And then we arrived here, and I thought this is an odd venue. Then the lights came up and everyone sang Happy Birthday, and there was a cabaret – a bit like a German cabaret with circus acts.

AW: Are you very self-critical or do you feel very proud of everything you’ve achieved?

PB: I’m partly proud but the process, you have to be self-critical. In fact I’m very self critical, last week I did the cover of the Radio Times for the Queen and I only had two weeks to do it and I didn’t achieve what I wanted and I was a mess, I was morose for about a week. It looked too harsh, technically I had used the white a bit too heavily, it wasn’t what I had wanted to achieve.

AW: Which young artists do you most do you admire at the moment?

PB: I guess my daughter Rose is the one I’m most interested in because she’s my daughter, but I’m not that conscious of very young artists any more.

AW: Do you feel like she’s aware of your shadow over her?

PB: It’s a cross she has to bear and it’s sometimes an advantage, but she’s mostly proud and sometimes annoyed. She’s an illustrator so it’s completely her own world and success within that world. Not many people know she’s my daughter – she’s made her own way.

AW: Are you enjoying later life now and calming down a bit?

PB: There’s a few physical problems but it gets better all the time. Watching Rose grow up, my middle daughter Daisy she’s an actress. I’ve just booked to see Gatz with them, life is extraordinary. I’m here today, tomorrow is my show at the Mal Gallery.

AW: Brilliant. I think that’s about everything thank you!

PB: Nice to meet you.

Peter Blake at 80 is on until 8 July at Royal Albert Hall.

For more information please click here.

Words by Emily Steer of Art Wednesday

Louis Vuitton to Open Seven Pop-Up Shops With Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:56:00 GMT

Spots will be sprouting across the globe this summer as Louis Vuitton rolls out seven pop-up shops to mark its capsule collection with Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama

The first shop is set to open inside the Louis Vuitton boutique in New York on July 10.

The next shops will then spring up in Asia, at Pacific Place in Hong Kong, Ngee Ann City in Singapore, and Isetan’s Shinjuku branch in Tokyo.

Following those launches, Tokyo, the city Kusama calls home, will get a second location in Dover Street Market in Ginza. Then the two largest Kusama concept stores will open at two department stores: an 860-square-feet shop in Printemps in Paris on August 23; and a 1,375-square-feet boutique in Selfridges in London on August 24.

The pop-up outlets will be open for one to two months, offering a range of spotted trench coats, handbags, and other accessories created with the artist for Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton has also recently partnered with three other artists — Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, and Richard Prince - though not on the same scale as with Yayoi Kusama. Marc Jacobs, it seems, has taken a special liking to Yayoi's work.

New Sir Peter Blake Print: Vintage Blake; An 80th Birthday Celebration.

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:50:00 GMT

We are very excited to learn that Sir Peter Blake is releasing a new limited edition print in conjunction with his 80th birthday! It will be a nostalgic take on his famous magic crowd composition and as such will include both his family friends and numerous iconic figures.

Godfather of British Pop Art’ Sir Peter Blake celebrates his 80th birthday in 2012; the year will be peppered with projects and events to celebrate the occasion.

In the Spring Blake unveiled a variation of his magic crowd composition: Vintage Blake: Peter Blake’s 80th Family Friends and Icons that has been created especially for the celebrations around his birthday that are happening at Vintage Festival in July.
The new work will be on display at the festival and features a magic crowd full of the key figures from the artist’s career and personal life, including David Hockney, Damien Hirst, David Bowie, Gary Oldman, Eric Clapton, Ian Dury and many more.
Blake is laid back and typically self-deprecating on the subject of his 80th, ‘I started to be an artist at the age of 14, so it’s been 66 years as a student and then artist, so it’s become a long career.
And it’s had its high points, and it’s had its bad points. I think most of my ambitions have been achieved. Most of the things I’ve wanted to do strangely I’ve done.’

This amazing print is available to purchase here.

Be quick as they will not be around for long....

Jeff Koons - America's Greatest Living Artist

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:57:00 GMT

At Hang-Up we sometimes get asked the questions, 'Who is the most successful artist?', along with 'Who is your favourite artist?' - its always a hard one to them narrow down. Well Flavorpill have just made the case for Jeff Koons to take the title of 'America's greatest artist' in a recently published article on their website. As far as we're concerned - love him, loathe him or just don't really get it/him - he sits at the top of his game, and is firm favourite of all the top galleries and mega-collectors. Furthermore he has assisted in making art accessible to the masses, okay, not from the point of view of ownership, but through an aggressive strategical stance in making art available in all number of venues. I am not sure that we would necessarily agree with Paul Laster at Flavorpill and say that Jeff Koons is America's greatest living artist but he certainly one of the most successful at this time.

Jeff Koons, Monkey Train, 2007. On view at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt.

See the article from Flavorpill below.

Long a favorite of top galleries and mega-art-collectors, Koons is a perfectionist, who creates exquisitely crafted paintings and sculptures that reference ready-made objects — ranging from virginal vacuums displayed over bright lights and celebrities cast in ceramic or carved in wood to inflatable figures beautifully blown-up in shimmering steel and cartoon characters surrealistically captured in paint. With a goal making art accessible to everyone, Koons succeeds — with a little help from his friends — in turning Basel’s Beyeler Foundation and Frankfurt’s Schirn Kunsthalleand the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung into pop culture paradises, chock full of whimsical pieces, through the rest of the summer. Click through to view a whopping selection of our favorite works from all three venues.

Jeff Koons, Titti Tire, 2003 (Popeye). On view at the Liebieg Museum of Sculpture, Frankfurt.

Jeff Koons, Antiquity 3, 2011 (Antiquity). On view at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt.

Jeff Koons, Popeye Train (Crab), 2008 (Popeye). On view at the Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt.

Jeff Koons, Rabbit, 1986. On view at the Liebieg Museum of Sculpture, Frankfurt.

Jeff Koons, Tulips, 1995–2004. On view at the Beyeler Foundation.

Jeff Koons, Bear and Policeman, 1988. On view at the Beyeler Foundation.

Jeff Koons, Hanging Heart (Gold/Magenta), 1994–2006. On view at the Beyeler Foundation.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Dog (Red), 1994–2000. On view at the Beyeler Foundation.

Jeff Koons, Balloon Swan (Magenta), 2004–11. On view at the Beyeler Foundation.

Gavin Turk: SNAP 2012 expo

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:01:00 GMT

Here follows an interview with Gavin Turk, conducted by Dazed. Gavin delves into the reasons for why you'd you want to kiss his granite sculptures and muses on the relativity between half-open doors and eggs! Really, it's not as strange as it sounds.

Dazed:

From tea stains, to giant eggs and cast bronze take-away packaging, Gavin Turk’s irreverent and philosophical work has made him one of the most enduring YBA’s. His witty, pop-inflected pieces challenge the mythology of the artist as celebrity, and playfully confound and confuse ideas of authenticity and perception. Dazed spoke with him ahead of his inclusion in SNAP 2012, an exhibition for Aldeburgh Festival organized by fellow YBA Abigail Lane.

Dazed Digital: How do you start your day in the studio?
Gavin Turk: With coffee. We have a coffee machine, and everyday I think ‘I drink too much’. The next thing is reading emails, but I’m not so good at responding to them!

DD: How did you get involved with SNAP 2012?
Gavin Turk: Through Abigail Lane, and the fact that lots of people that I know were living in Shoreditch and have all suddenly ended up living in Suffolk.

DD: What will you be showing there?
Gavin Turk: Two pieces, the first is a kissing stone. It’s a piece of granite that you kiss and it gives you magical properties. It’s like a religious icon, or something from folklore, similar to the Blarney Stone. Normally in a gallery you aren’t allowed to touch anything because touching destroys a work, but in this case the more it gets touched the better it becomes itself. The other is an old fashioned, well worn, Georgian internal door in a doorframe, open at 45 degrees. It becomes a standalone door in the landscape, almost closed or almost open. It’s all about inside being outside, and all sides being outside. It’s the opposite of an egg. With an egg it’s all wall or all door. I’ve made large egg sculptures before. It’s an architectural conundrum.

DD: Your studio is right next to the Olympic site, are you a fan?
Gavin Turk: I’m worried about the displacement of all the buildings and the real history of that area - it was leveled in order to make this park which seems to have Westfield and a MacDonalds, the biggest in Europe, at its centre.

DD: You’ve been quoted as having loved art school. What impact do you think the arts cuts will have on British creativity?
Gavin Turk: Cut it down a bit! There are different schools of thought. Some people think cuts and hardship are good for art, as artists should suffer and it makes a healthy environment to make art out of and therefore strong art. I am a bit more of the opinion that we should try and celebrate and engage with out creative cultural environment and encourage it. Cuts in education are really negative.

DD: What are you up to next?
Gavin Turk: We are going to Istanbul to talk about doing a show there, and New York. I’m also doing a project, some of which will appear in Selfridges window, for the British Fashion Council with Hussein Chalayan.

SNAP 2012 runs from 9th – 24th June at Snape Maltings, Suffolk.

The link to Dazed can be found here

The Breathless Zoo -The eccentric art of taxidermy explored in a new book

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:37:00 GMT

We here at Hang-up were very interested to hear about the imminent release of this new book. It brings together not just the visual but also the deeper cultural-elements in an accompanying text which hopes to enlighten by series of 'longing narratives'.

Taxidermy has been rising in the contemporary design scene over recent years. The venerable form of animal preservation brings together actual scientific study with an undeniably eccentric taste that has lasted generations. Rachel Poliquin's "The Breathless Zoo: Taxidermy and The Cultures of Longing" delves into this rich history, exploring the motivations behind the art of taxidermy across cultures and the centuries.

Taxidermy, says Poliquin, poses creatures in such a way that presents the "irresolvable tension" of "animal or object" that characterizes the art. One particularly definitive example comes from the 2004 exhibition "Nanoq: Flat Out and Bluesom" at Spike Island in Bristol, England. The author begins the introduction by describing the show as a culmination of Bryndís Snæbjörnsdóttir and Mark Wilson's three-year mission to photograph every single mounted polar bear in the UK. The event showcased 10 taxidermic polar bears in a set of glass cases, after, Poliquin writes, they had been "taken from their native landscapes at some stage of life or death and manhandled into everlasting postures."

The uneasiness of such an aberrant display of specimens is a function of taxidermy itself. Poliquin ventures to outline the many reasons for the motivation to taxidermy species, from science and fashion to a showcase of virility. Poliquin offers "seven incentives—what I call narratives of longing—that impel the creation of taxidermy: wonder, beauty, spectacle, order, narrative, allegory, and remembrance…As the very word longing suggests, fulfillment is always just beyond reach."

Each chapter of "The Breathless Zoo" is devoted to one of these longings and provides historical origins with a fascinating variety of photographs of taxidermic animals. The chapter focusing on "spectacle" as motivation covers Henri Rousseau's famous jungle and savage lion attack paintings, which were modeled after taxidermic displays, and continues to explain the anatomical and cultural aspects of the taxidermic lion. Poliquin's book searches to find and explain truths about an ancient and continuing art that transcends time and place.

"The Breathless Zoo" is expected to be published 17 August.

For details on how to purchase please see here.

Jeff Koons exhibition at Fondation Beyeler

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:34:00 GMT

Jeff Koons brings some of his most iconic and reconigsable art to the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland. A retrospective of sorts, the comprehensive exhibition aims to highlight the progression of the American artist through the course of the last roughly 30 years.

The showcase is broken apart into three segmentations noted by primarily, “The New,” which highlights Koons’ earliest work from the 1980s era. The second section titled “Banality” is a platforms for his porcelain and wood sculptured pieces. The third and final series is titled “Celebration” and aims to present the high-gloss steel sculptures and large-scale paintings from Koons. The exhibition will be on display through September 2, 2012.

Fondation Beyeler Baselstrasse 1

01 CH-4125 Riehen / Basel Switzerland

Source: designboom

balloon dog (red), 1994-2000
high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating
307,3 x 363,2 x 114,3 cm

Polly Morgan at All Visual Arts

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:00:00 GMT

We were really excited to heard to down to All Visual Arts last week for the opening of Polly Morgan's new show 'Endless Plains'. The private view was packed early on with everyone eager to see Polly's new series of works.

It is common for the public to view taxidermy as a dark and disturbing art. So, to the detriment of this demographic, Polly Morgan has taken it a step further in producing an even more surreal and macabre experience, which often features mutant hybrid creatures seeking to challenge the notions of nature.

The works range from drawings of nests with the appropriate dead bird lying atop the frame to a prone fox sprouting octopus tentacles.

One of the two centrepieces is a fallen tree trunk complete with piglets, and birds going about their daily foraging. It all seems so natural, until it occurs to the viewer that the piglets are suckling on sap from the prostrate trunk in the manner that they usually would with their mother.

The shows' lighting complements the works brilliantly by keeping the art under the spotlights and the viewer in the dark. It’s how one might imagine viewing the creations of a mad scientist while in his laboratory.

This exhibition is definitely not for the faint-hearted. However, for those who aren’t put off by the squeamish elements, Morgan will show taxidermy in a bold and interesting perspective. Some will find her art to be disturbing while others will note her sense of humour. Polly Morgan has taken a once-neglected, and now resurgent art form, applied her own take on it, and produced something in the process which is both refreshing and rousing.

Polly Morgan: Endless Plains is on display at All Visual Arts, 2 Omega Place, N1 9DR until 31 July.

To read our last blog on Polly, including links to a full interview, please click here

Skate Moss Art from Jeff Gaudinet

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 09:26:00 GMT

There is no shortage of Kate Moss products and artist Jeff Gaudinet has added yet more and we rather like them. What started with a mis-pronunciation, ended up being an interesting little project for Jeff Gaudinet. Kate Moss became Skate Moss in a conversation with a friend and therefore he started to design skate decks, covered with picture material or the name of the iconic top model.

“This thing started by accident, mispronouncing “Skate Moss” (while talking about both skateboard and Kate Moss with my friend Oniram). So I decided to create this useless / pointless platform.”

Useless for sure, but like many other things online, definitely worth checking out. Have a look