Beyond Words

I will have two paintings in Beyond Words - an exhibition of art relating to the word, in its broadest form, from the printed word to its most abstract representation, taking in artists books, paintings, prints, installations and sculpture. This show of work by artists of the Waltham Forest Arts Club in timed to coincide with Literacy Week and aims to show that communication goes beyond words.

The exhibition will run from the 15th to the 23rd of May, 2010. The opening hours are Saturday and Sunday from 12 till 9 and weekdays from 5 till 9. Opening event on Saturday the 15th from 6pm.

Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street, Walthamstow E17 4SA . A five minute walk from Walthamstow Central on the Victoria line. The exhibition is in The Red Room in the rear of the pub.

Because it is word oriented and will have artists' books you'd naturally think I would have books in this exhibition. But my paintings have story/word-focussed titles: Once Upon A Time and Secret Word.

Hope to see you there!

Vote for policies not personalities

This great website lets you compare policies from the six major UK political parties on a range of key issues: Health/NHS, Economy, Immigration, Europe, Welfare, Democracy, Environment, Education, and Crime. Pick the ones that matter the most to you.

Since you do it without knowing who wrote the policy you can be unbiased. It looks like a lot of people are surprised by their results.

It takes a few minutes if you want to read the policies properly, because some of them sound similar at first. But it is worth the time.

Take the survey at Vote For Policies to find out who you should be voting for.

There are people trying to fix things.

Really great discussion/interview on Art:21- Must art be ethical? I am so glad to hear there are good, intelligent people working on this stuff.

Jennifer Dalton says:
"Here’s a sampling of the ethical concerns that have been raised and discussed at #class:
* Do different ethics apply to the art world than to the rest of the world?
* Is individual artistic ambition compatible with collective artistic activism?
* Is the commercial art system elevating the best art and artists? If not, should we try to change it?
* Should we work to expand access to art beyond the wealthy/well-educated/big-city-residing elite?
* What can be done about commercial galleries who don’t pay their artists?
* What can/should be done about gender inequities in the art industry?
* Should galleries be regulated? Licensed? Would this ensure better business practices?
* How does one define success in art? Is it reasonable that even “successful” artists have day jobs?
* Does anyone benefit from the proliferation of artists getting MFA/BFA degrees aside from the schools?
* Should artists work for free?"

Go read the rest.

E17 Art Trail - Save the date

The dates have been announced for the E17 Art Trail.
The 3rd-12th September 2010.

There will a a launch party on the first evening.

Blackhorse Lane Studios (where I am based) will be participating with a 3-day Open Studios Sep 3rd to 5th. Our launch party will be on the Thursday before: Sept 2nd.

More announcements to come!

I am started to get excited already!