Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from around the North of England and the rest of the UK – and loads of it’s free!

Monday – Isobel Campbell 8pm @ Liverpool Philharmonic Hall – £19/£16

It’s almost two decades since Isobel Campbell left Belle & Sebastien, and almost as long since her last solo album, but this Friday sees the release of ze newie, There Is No Other.  “The main thing with this album was to find my own voice…” says Campbell, “a record without reference points. Any influences were sub-conscious. Even if what came up was strange or odd, it was just me.” Tonight’s show sees the Glasgow-born singer-songwriter and cellist play the Phil’s Music Room before a spate of further UK, then European, dates.

Parasite + satellite Q&A with Bong Joon Ho 6pm @ selected cinemas, nationwide – Prices vary

Freshly minted at last night’s BAFTAs as Best Foreign Language Film as well as Best Original Screenplay, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is previewed in cinemas this evening with the added bonus of a satellite Q&A. Those familiar with the director’s 2006 picture The Host (in which dumped military pollutants foreshadow sightings of a mutant amphibious creature) may be forgiven for assuming that this is a sequel of sorts. But, commenting on engrained social strata, the film is more satirical suspense thriller than ecological sci fi. Wherever it fits, it’s a fair bet that those BAFTAs won’t be the last of the awards garnered by Parasite. If you miss out tonight, don’t worry, it’s on general release from Friday.

Tuesday – Mishka Henner 11am @ the Whitworth, Manchester – FREE

When he was exhibited at the Open Eye Gallery in 2013, we called Mishka Henner’s Precious Commodities a must-see show. Known for his work with digital technologies, Henner pushes the bounds of what has traditionally been considered photography – in a good way. Using images drawn from the Internet, satellites and television, he collects and collages together the semiotics of the 21st century, questioning the value of photography and often exposing the traumas of late capitalism in the process. Catch him in conversation today.

Wednesday – Re-considering Kazan: An Illustrated Talk by Geoff Andrew + A Letter to Elia 6.10pm @ BFI Southbank, London – £13.75/£6

A director, producer, writer and actor, for a significant period of Hollywood History, Elia Kazan’s name was (and, in fact, remains) a byword for quality. Involved in the industry from the late 1930s, Kazan’s films as director include On the Waterfront, East of Eden and Baby Doll. Collecting Oscar nominations and wins with ease, tonight’s talk and screening of Scorsese’s 2010 doc kicks off a season of dedicated programming under the banner Elia Kazan: The Actors’ Director.

Thursday – The Drawing Show at The Bridewell 6pm @ the Bridewell, Liverpool – FREE

Drawing. As children, it’s something we all do and take pleasure in. Then, as adolescence, a bad experience with a teacher or something else gets in the way, most of us – almost inexplicably – stop. For those who don’t, it might become a starting point or an avenue elsewhere – painting, or sculpture, for instance. For others it is a means to an end, as evidenced by the opening tonight of Bridewell Studios’ latest exhibition, The Drawing Show. Including some of our own favourites such as Penny Davenport, Mike Carney and Jon Barraclough (above), we’re very much looking forward to how different practitioners respond to the ‘works on paper’ brief. For a double dose of Merseyside based visual art, stay local with OUTPUT OPEN 4.

Friday – Refractive Pool: Contemporary Painting in Liverpool Symposium from 9.30am @ The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool

Founded in 1957, September this year marks the latest edition of the biennial Liverpool John Moores Painting Prize. It is apt, then, to closely consider painting in the city the prize calls home. This is where Refractive Pool comes in, “a project exploring contemporary painting based practice in the Liverpool city region”. With presentations from Liverpool based artists James Quin, Joana Oliveira Guerreiro and Gareth Kemp as well as a panel discussion and intro from Refractive Pool’s own Josie Jenkins, key points up for discussion will be “environment, platforms to show work, audiences and relationships within the artistic community”.    

Yelena Popova ‘The Scholar Stones Project’ @ the Holden Gallery, Manchester – FREE

Last seen by us in Paradise Works’ impressive group show Buffer Zones, artist Yelena Popova is back in Manchester with The Scholar Stones Project, an exhibition exploring the connections between the nuclear industry, landscape and the passage of time. Including painting, installation and large-scale tapestries, Popova has said: “I took a traditional Asian scholar rock concept (a stone for contemplation and an early form of engagement with abstraction) as the catalyst for my project: travelling around nuclear sites, learning about the decommissioning process and attempting to find a stone which represents the local landscape and my encounter with it.”

Saturday – The Work of Art in the Post-Human Age 10am @ Tate Liverpool – £5/£3

The future of art has likely been pondered since the dawn of art itself – certainly by generations long before our own. Today, though, it isn’t so much what medium, movement or discipline – rather, what happens to art on the cusp of the ‘post-human’ of this conference’s title. The event uses Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (from 1935) as its starting point to open lines of enquiry around originality, genius, beauty and politics.

Sunday – Horror Legends: Tobe Hooper from 1pm @ Stockport Plaza, Manchester – £23.50/£7.50

A day dedicated to the films of influential horror director Tobe Hooper. Comprising The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Salem’s Lot, the best of Hooper’s oeuvre, it seems, is to be found in Stockport. Staving off the Sunday blues with what former head of the BBFC James Ferman will no doubt have referred to as “an exercise in the pornography of terror”, we can only say bravo.

Mike Pinnington

Images/media from top: Isobel Campbell, Hey World; Mishka Henner (courtesy Mark McNulty); Jon Barraclough; Yelena Popova, Keepsafe (I and II), design for two Jacquard woven tapestries (2019)

Our pick of this week’s arts, design, film and music events from around the North of England and the rest of the UK – and loads of it’s free!

Monday – This Grief Thing With Fevered Sleep @ The Whitworth, Manchester, until Sunday – FREE

We’ve all experienced not knowing what to say when faced with someone who’s lost a loved one. You freeze, often say nothing. This Grief Thing “pushes against this, by opening up conversations about grief and making it visible”. For people who have experienced grief, and those who haven’t, the Whitworth plays host to a series of workshops in which people can get to grips with the conversation, and perhaps discuss why we’re so averse to talking about the subject of death.

Tuesday – Manchester Animation Festival @ HOME Manchester – Festival pass £90/day pass £40

The UK’s largest animation festival dedicated to the celebration of the art form, MAF returns this week to Home Manchester. Across three days, expect UK premieres, a welcome screening of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs – with Head Painter Roy Bell and animator Tim Allen on hand for behind-the-scenes insight – director Q&As and industry panels.

Suspiria Preview 6pm @ FACT, Liverpool – £10.40/Concs

That lurid colour palette, the elemental fury and Goblin’s pulsating score all combined to make Dario Argento’s Suspiria an intense and foreboding sensory experience. Early screenings of Luca Guadagnino’s remake – reimagining? – seem to have split the critics; from “a gorgeous, hideous, uncompromising film” to “bloated fantasy”. Whichever it is, the wait will soon be over, and you can make your own mind up. Starring the magnificent Tilda Swinton, here’s hoping it’s the former.

Wednesday – Object of the Month: Science Fiction with Mark Olly 1pm @ The Atkinson, Southport – FREE

Part of the Atkinson’s Object of the Month strand, writer, historian and TV presenter Mark Olly draws on books, films and other ephemera to discuss the history of Science Fiction. Where to start, and where would you end? For fans, and those wishing to dip their toe alike, it should be a fascinating dive into the genre. 

Kevin Gaffney: Far from the reach of the sun + Q&A 6.30pm @ FACT, Liverpool – FREE

Timely subject matter from artist/filmmaker Kevin Gaffney, whose latest – Far from the reach of the sun – posits a near future world in which a drug can alter your sexuality. Raising questions of identity and abhorrent gay conversion therapy, Gaffney reflects on the real-world interference in the lives of LGBT communities. The screening is followed by a Q&A with Dr Michael Birchall, Curator of Public Practice at Tate Liverpool and Senior Lecturer at LJMU.

Thursday – Exhibition Opening: Wake Up Together 6pm @ Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool – FREE

With Liverpool Biennial over for 2018, galleries across the city are reverting to their own programming, and if Open Eye’s latest is anything to go by, we’re in for some exciting palette-cleansers. The first of this week’s Homotopia-related events, Wake Up Together pairs the late Ren Hang’s explicit, fearless work with Robin Hammond’s Where Love is Illegal, which tells the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people who risk punishment and oppression for no reason other than being themselves. 

Friday – Tabitha Moses presents The Lives of Others Symposium 11am @ Edge Hill University, Ormskirk – FREE

Photographer Tabitha Moses presents this day-long symposium which investigates the way people’s stories inspire creative responses from artists, writers, film makers and musicians, to performers and activists. Considering “modes of storytelling, the right to authorship and the fine line between empathy and exploitation”, The Lives of Others asks pertinent questions about artistic appropriation.

Hinds 7pm @ Arts Club Liverpool – £14

With a host of stellar reviews for their latest and second album, the charming I Don’t Run, Spain’s Hinds doubled-down on the lush garage-pop of debut Leave Me Alone. This Friday sees them continue their UK tour in Liverpool, before heading to the Netherlands in December. 

Saturday – Scottee: Fat Blokes 7.30pm @ The Unity Theatre, Liverpool – £12.50/£10.50

Another hit from Homotopia this week, as new touring show from award-winning artist Scottee – coinciding with his tenth year of performing live across art, theatre and cabaret – Fat Blokes “is about the confusing headspace of what it means to be a fat person”, including people commenting on your weight, being judged for eating in public, and being made to feel much bigger than you are. Expect protest, complex questions, dance, and a company of other artists and stage newbies getting their kit off.

Sunday – Burgerz by Travis Alabanza 6pm @ Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool – £10/Concs

“I was called faggot 60 times last year. 15 different men tried to follow me home. A woman told her child not to sit next to me on the tube. And I hit the headlines after being thrown out of a changing room.” Directed by Sam Curtis Lindsay, Travis Alabanza’s show (again, brought to Liverpool by Homotopia) confronts the reality of life for the trans community, asking pertinent questions such as “What does the trans body do in order to survive?”, and “how can one become a protector, rather than a bystander?”

Mike Pinnington

Images from top: Manchester Animation Festival; Object of the Month: Science Fiction with Mark Olly; Ren Hang 任航 (1987-2017); Hinds on Instagram

As their new selecta, The Collection, is admired at design studios across the land, we take a peek behind the scenes at the G. F. Smith factory in Hull: a monument to quality, the finer details and hard graft…

Think G. F. Smith, and you think of really good, thick stock; the kind of paper used by the best artists and designers. And we’re not alone: the company have been providing exceptional paper for — and supporting the endeavours of — design industry giants and pioneers for over one hundred years. Their fans and collaborators include The Typographic Circle, It’s Nice That, the Design Museum and Barcelona’s Hey Studio.

Perhaps more importantly, the company’s representatives — including our tour guide, Northern Paper Consultant Jane Crowther – pride themselves on seeking out and supporting small start-ups. Crowther is an unstoppable force; she has seemingly endless amounts of energy and enthusiasm for ambitious, creative projects, like Manchester’s With Love Project to our very own Liverpool Culture Diary. It’s infectious.

“Unfortunately we cannot support every project that comes to our attention”, explains Crowther. “We have to look at the bigger picture, including what message our collaboration sends to the creative industry. For the North-West, all projects tend to express the creativity and sense of collaboration and community within my area, thus promoting the area’s atmosphere and our commitment to it.”

Knowing that G. F. Smith’s new selecta was about to drop — a regular unveiling of new papers that design studios go crazy for — we travelled up the M62 with Crowther to have a good nose around the factory, meet some of the staff and hear more about the history and legacy of the company.

One thing we realised upon stepping through the steel doors is that G. F. Smith is inextricably linked to Hull’s economy and creative culture. Based on the North Humberside docks since 1885, founding father and Hullian George Frederick Smith wanted to establish an international merchant company that would reflect his personal admiration for artisan paper, and the expertise of the printers and publishers who used it. According to company legend, Smith travelled the world ‘with an almost obsessive energy’, seeking out the very finest paper manufacturers of the Victorian age. His efforts won business in Europe and America, and laid the foundations for a small-town business that has lasted 130 years — surviving two World Wars (some of the bomb-surviving cast-iron printers are still working hard to this day), economic depression and the rise of new technologies.

Indeed, G. F. Smith has carved a niche for itself in an electronic world: spear-heading a hand-made renaissance, where distinctive brands embrace physical materials. Their dedication to driving things forward have won them countless accolades, including a big one last month: Made Thought agency’s ’1885 onwards’ rebrand for the company won a coveted D&AD Black Pencil Award for GroundBreaking Creative Excellence.

Bright Red: 1 of 50 Colours from Colorplan from GFSmith on Vimeo.

And they still travel the world, as the Victorian George Frederick Smith did, spreading the good word of quality paper. Crowther told us of her recent trips to New York’s design studios for G. F. Smith, to meet new artists and establish further business links: “We were on many occasions reintroducing the design community in New York to our amazing Colorplan… forming strong bonds and encouraging a similar networking structure that we have in the UK.” They have just come back from Semi-Permanent design festival in Sydney — adorning the venue in bright blue stock – and won new fans closer to home at Sheffield Design Week. With all this and Hull’s looming 2017 City of Culture Award in mind, our visit seemed timely: a nod to the past on the summit of something new and exciting.

Out of 200 employees across the UK, 140 work in the G. F. Smith factory in Hull. And boy, is it big. Split into what seems an endless amount of Willy Wonka-style spaces, our tour took in the Small Orders Room (a stationary-lover’s dream, filled with hand-crafted birthday cards, prints and paper art sprouting from walls and tables); the Samples Room (where customers can order any paper from the entire range through next day delivery — the team send out 200-300 packages per day); and the Retail Room (where specialist products are made for Paperchase, Rymans and HobbyCraft).

An almost addictive attention to detail is clear here, in the way that staff discuss their work. In the Book Room, for example, we learn that G. F. Smith used to be the biggest maker of photo albums in the UK. Now specialising in hand-crafted books for customers who want something special, we see people’s wedding pictures being bound by hand; transforming memories into tactile, heavy, lovely objects. It’s not cheap and the finished product is glorious and completely unique to the buyer.

Channelling our inner nerd, highlights include travelling to the top of the seven-storey warehouse shelves with forklift driver Adrian, that was, he assured us, equipped with abseiling equipment just in-case we got stuck (honestly). One of our favourite rooms was the Envelope Room: we met five female staff sat around a table, laughing and joking, whilst hand-glueing and folding envelopes with an unbelievable amount of accuracy and speed. Each envelope took the mini-production line under six seconds to complete. To much amusement all round, our effort was rubbish: one envelope took us about 2 minutes and was completely wonky.

Hand-making remains valued in the factory; whilst machines are used for many tasks (including high-tech rollers, cutters, and the afore-mentioned cast-iron antiques which remain efficient at cutting envelopes to size), many jobs are just better finished off and checked by a skilled human being. As Crowther puts it: “Thus ensuring quality service and commitment to every order, no matter how big or small… which has been lovingly specified, processed and delivered.”

And this includes G. F. Smith’s new selecta, The Collection: all the company’s papers (including weight and embossing options) have been catalogued, indexed and packaged here in Hull into a glorious multi-coloured block, to be used as reference in busy design studios. It could also be used as brick to build a house, it’s that hefty (or crack a floor). The Collection is “a celebration of paper”, according to Joint Managing Director John Haslam, that is “full of stories”. And it is: flicking through is like taking a whistle-stop tour with the people, places and adventures that have been part of a 130 year-old story.

Turn to page 173, for example, and you’ll find the history of Heaven 42: ‘acknowledged as one of the only truly pure white coated papers in the world’, and made by German manufacturer Scheufelen, who have a similar company story to G. F. Smith (established on the banks of the River Lauter in 1855). This paper company, the selecta tells us, have produced stock for the Vatican and for NASA’s Apollo 12 lunar mission. Who knew paper could be so groundbreaking?

In a way, G. F. Smith’s New Collection sums up what the company is all about: quality, skill, the finer details and hard graft. And long may they reign.

Laura Robertson

Find out more about G. F. Smith here or follow on Twitter: @GFSmithpapers

“Ignore any doubts and get on with it”: our new Artists of the Month and print fair pioneers share pearls of wisdom on doing what they love in parallel to making a living…

Emily Briselden-Waters and Holly Gleave are young freelance designers with a commitment to supporting their peers. Starting up Inprint Liverpool just before graduating in 2013, in a response to a lack of places to sell their work, the fair has now travelled around the UK and Europe and is returning to Liverpool this Sunday.

Outside of Inprint, Briselden-Waters and Gleave make work that ranges from art installations to brand identity. Briselden-Waters currently works as a designer at the National Football Museum, Manchester; you can see her work in NFM – Out of Play – Technology and Football (from 19 June-19 July 2015) before she leaves to embark on an Information Experience Design MA at the Royal College of Art. Gleave is a commercial designer at High Speed Two (HS2), London; her personal projects include Disposable Diary and The Manual For Useful Art, stocked at Whitechapel Gallery’s bookshop.

We caught up with the designers to discuss their friendship and subsequent business partnership, how Inprint has evolved, and the best advice they’ve been given so far…

The Double Negative: Hi guys! How did you both get started in design? Did you always want to be illustrators/graphic designers?

Emily Briselden-Waters: Being shy (when I was younger) and also dyslexic, I always found visual communication a lot easier than verbal or written. I feel I come at design with more of a fine art look – I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a graphic designer or illustrator — I think I try and blur the lines between exhibition design/ curation/ graphic design/ art-direction. The whole experience is what matters to me and especially in the current creative climate, I feel you have to do a bit of everything!

Holly Gleave: I think since studying art and design at school I was always interested in more creative subjects. It sounds pretty clichéd but I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything else. We (me and Emily) actually met at Leeds College of Art when we were both there doing a foundation course and lived in the flat across the hall from each other. We weren’t so driven back then and used to skive off to watch Jeremy Kyle and eat potato waffles! After Leeds I moved to Liverpool and Emily moved to Manchester for university so we stayed in touch.

Inprint is three years old this year, and was set up as a platform for a blossoming print scene in Liverpool. I am interested in what your first impressions of the scene were in 2012 and how you think it has evolved now? Especially as Inprint has grown?

HG: We decided to set up Inprint in the first place because we felt there was a gap for this kind of networking and social event as much as an opportunity for people to sell their work… I think because of Inprint I am much more aware of how many creatives/collectives/studios there actually are in the city. I have noticed with our upcoming event that there are more and more new people coming forwards to sell their work… One of the great things about the events is that we can use ourselves as a platform for people from all different backgrounds whether they are students, or established designers and illustrators.

EBW: The way in which Liverpool has welcomed us and let us grow is amazing! Over the last three years we have held events in some amazing spaces and collaborated with partners like Tate, The Bluecoat and also an exchange programme with Anhault University. Getting to hold our event in an original Bauhaus building in Dessau was a pretty fantastic feeling, and the fact that the opportunity came as a result of Inprint was really special.

Can you tell us about any new artists and designers you’re excited to feature in Inprint 2015?

HG: The group of sellers we have for Inprint 2015 is by far the largest and most diverse we have ever had — there really is a serious amount of talented people joining us! One of the people who stuck out for me was Dan Howden: he uses linoprint to create really detailed scenes. His use of colour and composition are really special – I particularly like his selection of Cape Cod prints.

I am also especially excited to see what the guys at Funf studio will be bringing with them. They are a collective made up of illustrators, designers, printmakers who are all super talented and creating a lot of exciting work.

EBW: Also Hot Bed Press from Manchester and Chella Quint from New York/Sheffield. They are both great professionals in the print world and we are very excited to have them on board. We have also had a lot of support from G. F. Smith for this event; we would like to thank Jane Crowther for all the help (and paper)!

How hard is it to get the balance right as a professional designer between commercial and creative projects?

HG: Well firstly, I don’t think my work at HS2 and Inprint could be more different, although saying that they do both influence each other in their own way. After graduating, I really didn’t see myself at such a large organisation and especially not such a controversial government project, but I have learnt so much in my time at HS2 and it has been really eye-opening. I think one of the reasons I have personally always been keen to continue Inprint is that it works so well as a creative outlet, especially in comparison to some of the more corporate design work I create.

As Emily and I are essentially the creative directors of Inprint, it means we can have complete creative freedom on the work we put out, whereas at HS2 the brand is a bit less flexible! It is hard at times to keep a balance, especially in the build up to events; it means working on Inprint before and after my normal working hours which at times can be quite hard work… [Inprint] gives you chance to pursue interests that you might not get to in a more commercial workplace and I think overall this makes you more well-rounded as a designer.

Are there any artists/designers that you look up to and learn from? 

HG: There are a lot of cool agencies and designers creating amazing work, but I think one person who I especially admire would be Gary McGarvey, aka Horse. When we started our events at The Shipping Forecast we were using the space upstairs, which at the time was also Gary’s Percy Gullivers Print Shop. I don’t know what he was thinking letting us come and take over the space, but he was so helpful to us especially for the first few events when we were still finding our feet. His work ethic is off the charts and the quality of work he produces is always to such an amazing standard — I think he could easily be a great influence to many of our current sellers and most of the creatives in Liverpool!

EBW: Morag Myerscough is up there as one of my favourite designers. I love the scale and colour of her work. Also Manchester-based Soup Collective, who I have been lucky enough to work with on various projects, do some incredible film/ projection work within museums and galleries.

What is currently on your radar in terms of influences?

EBW: I have always found the link between medicine and design very interesting – and more recently mental health and experience design. The challenge of how to visualise something you can’t see. We are also both avid feminists and are really excited to have Queen of the Track and Chella Quint at this event. I have recently co-curated  an exhibition on the male muse in Manchester that was received well; there is a lot of room to push this further… It gives feminism a different and fresh voice, allowing it to propel further and reach a wider audience.

What’s the best piece of design advice you’ve had so far — especially for setting up your own business?

HG: I think one of the best pieces of advice I received was from Jim Quail, one of our visiting lecturers at university and who worked with me in my final year when I was working on ‘the print project’. At the beginning, I doubted whether or not to produce a video documentary because I had no video skills and no video equipment. His advice was to: ‘Just do it anyway’; to ignore any doubts and get on with it. I think this is great, because even though it is quite a simple idea, it is often so easy to get bogged down in questioning what could go wrong and what if you fail. With Inprint we had no idea what we were doing and didn’t know that it was going to work or go anywhere, but we just did it anyway.

EBW: Take every opportunity – my tutor Liz at university said this to me when I graduated – and this is what I have aimed to do! I feel you don’t know if you don’t like something until you have tried it – and some strange pairings can work! I would never in a million years thought I would be working at the Football Museum.

Laura Robertson

Catch Inprint Print Fair this Sunday 31 May at Camp and Furnace, Liverpool, 12-5pm, free entry — come say hi to The Double Negative and G. F. Smith at our stall!

See more from Emily Briselden-Waters and Holly Gleave

Ahoy hoy! Our latest Artist Of The Month unveils his Simpsons-inspired artwork for No Homers Club, his successful Secret 7″ submission and demystifies the reason behind his alter-ego. What’s not to like?

What comes to mind when you think of The Simpsons? Millhouse’s glasses, Krusty burgers and DUFF blimps? Blinky the three-eyed fish? Spider-pig or Max Power? In a series so rich with creative ideas and a ridiculously strong visual identity, it’s surprising that there aren’t more exhibitions dedicated to the most popular family TV programme ever made.

Cue No Homers Club: a curated collection of Simpsons-inspired artwork – with a healthy dose of creative licence — submitted from around the world, and opening at Constellations, Liverpool, tomorrow night. Promising pop-up donut stalls and American diners, live screenprinting, tattooing and face-painting (a Marge makeover, anyone?), an in-house pop band and embroiderer (one for the residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle?), it’s an “exxxxcellent” (sorry) homage. But how exactly does an artist do justice to such a popular creation? Where do you start?

One exhibiting designer and our new Artist of the Month, 27-year-old Spudgun, knew exactly what angle to approach the commission. Revealing a sneak-peek of his Simpsons artwork exclusively on TDN — an A1 print of his favourite Springfieldians – he told us the process wasn’t easy.

“I’ve created portraits in the past, so I thought it was fitting here as there are plenty of characters from The Simpsons to choose from. The idea was to sort of replicate a school photo album, all characters face-on. It was a challenge with some to get a good enough likeness, as they don’t tend to be shown face-on in the show. I had to work with reference images of toys, figures and my own initiative to make each of them easily recognisable.”

Selecting Spudgun for the exhibition was a no-brainer, recalls No Homers Club co-curator Michael Fowler. “We loved the distinct symmetrical style and quiet humour in his work. At first, it all seems pretty minimal, and I suppose at a glance it is; but as you look more closely, his pieces are actually quite intricate. The screenprint he’s made for No Homers Club will have been incredibly difficult to create; he designed 18 different Simpsons characters for it and it’s absolutely massive.”

Graduating from a Graphic Design BA at Leeds College of Art in 2012, Spudgun confesses that he only developed his particular style in mid-2013. Initially creating work purely for his own enjoyment, the Spudgun alter-ego developed as a way of separating two “completely contrasting” design styles, and not wanting to over-complicate his professional portfolio. “We couldn’t be more different”, he admits.

With work reminiscent of Chris Ware and Craig and Karl, it’s fair to say that Spudgun’s oeuvre is fairly playful in tone yet working within strict design parameters. But is he a fan?

“I bought Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth a couple of years ago and still haven’t finished it. It’s mind-blowingly beautiful but a complete head-fuck to read. I’ve restarted it three times, as I’ve put it down for too long and simply couldn’t get back into it. I’m aware of Craig and Karl’s work, but I would never look at their work again, because there is that urge to imitate. I’m not saying they haven’t influenced me subconsciously, but my work certainly falls within that ‘category’ of style.”

Describing a technique derived from having “a great appreciation for iconography”, Spudgun loves simplicity, clean lines and symmetry, which transfers into both his design and everyday life. “I’m a perfectionist. I find myself correcting objects if I think it’s slightly out of place. Aligning my shoes, or arranging my desk at the end of the working day as if it’s being photographed for a blog. It’s all to please myself. All of that spills into my work. I want everything to be perfectly aligned, and have equal spacing, down to the pixel.”

Perhaps this perfectionist characteristic is to thank for his inclusion in this year’s highly competitive Secret 7″ exhibition – a critically-acclaimed music and art project, inviting international creatives to design record sleeves for some of the best contemporary musicians – which Spudgun describes as “amazing news”. Spoiler alert: you can get your hands on his secret design on 4 May when all the sleeves go on sale.

Laura Robertson

More from Spudgun at emptyspudgun.co.uk and @emptyspudgun

The No Homers Club exhibition opens tomorrow at Constellations, Liverpool, Friday 17 April 2015, with a special opening party 6pm til late (£8 OTD), and with workshops (Saturday 18 April) and a print fair (Sunday 19 April) (free entry). Exhibition continues until 1 May

This year’s Secret 7″ exhibition continues at Somerset House, London, until 3 May 2015. All 700 sleeves are exhibited and then sold for £50 apiece on Monday 4 May. You don’t know who created the sleeve, or even which song it’s for, until you have parted with your cash — the secret lies within. All proceeds go to charity

The devil is in the detail: our new Artist of the Month is as skilled at intricate architectural drawing as he is at sensitively rendered portraits. Laura Robertson catches up with the young designer at his current solo exhibition to find out more about his practice, influences and work ethic…

The first thing that strikes you about graphic artist and designer Malik Thomas’s work is just how refined it is. Having been highlighted by his tutors as a ‘one to watch’, we met at his graduation show last year at the Liverpool School of Art and Design (Liverpool John Moores University). His Pompidou drawing loomed large: an intricate black and white depiction of the parisian art gallery, incredibly detailed, and printed on a 6ft board. Here were all the pipes, escalators and air-ducts, the glorious inside-out architecture, as we’d never seen it before.

This huge drawing was part of a wider project called The Cult of The Training Shoe — a beautiful hardback book on the history, science, evolution and downright idolisation of trainers. Nearby, ridiculously detailed Anatomy drawings were displayed in glass vitrines.

As Thomas himself admits, he puts fine contrast — often working in black and white lines — and attention to detail at the forefront of his practice. Thomas’s work is really good — polished, quiet and carefully considered — the result, we came to discover, of a serious work ethic and a love of research.

It’s probably not surprising that this hardworking young designer has had an unusually successful post-university year. Working with a few high profile clients — including the UCAS event Design Your Future – he tells us: “It’s not easy being a graduate, but I think it’s important to stick at it and keep making work, even if you’re not getting paid. I believe that you only get back from what you put in.”

Which is exactly the attitude that bagged him a residency and solo exhibition recently at the National Football Museum, Manchester. Hand-picked by curator John O’Shea during a university project set by the museum, O’Shea challenged Thomas to work closely with their collections team. Specifically, Thomas had to research and respond to 10 key figures featured within the third floor Greater Game exhibition, “which looks at some of the forgotten stories and myths to do with football and World War One.” The result is currently on display: a small and poignant exhibition that aims, as Thomas puts it, “to show a different perspective on football and bring forward some of the personal stories that are often overlooked.”

One such story is that of Tottenham player Walter Tull, who was the second person of mixed race to play in the top division of the Football League, and the first to be commissioned as an infantry officer in the British Army. Thomas depicts his childhood home, sports career and eventual death in 1918; killed in action at the age of 29. His body was never recovered. Although mentioned in dispatches for ‘gallantry and coolness’ whilst leading his men on a raiding party into enemy territory, Tull was never formally awarded for his bravery. Thomas has added a peace dove carrying a small Victoria Cross to the portrait; a quiet act of recognition.

In continuing his residency at the National Football Museum, you can expect to see more of Thomas’s work in a new upcoming exhibition on technology’s role within football. Watch this space.

When asked about his influences, he cites Studio Muti – “They produce graphics that seem to cross boundaries between disciplines, which is something I really admire” — as well as information graphics and technical diagrams — “I find it interesting to see how different objects and messages are presented visually so that the average person can understand them”. Thomas has found himself naturally drawn to the field of graphic design.

“Two of my main interests have always been technology and art so I think it came naturally to want to study design. There’s something enjoyable about turning one of your ideas into a visual and actually creating it from scratch.

“I remember being in school and buying those Computer Art’s magazines that came with a disc full of tutorials and I was hooked. It really opened my mind to what could be achieved by using digital tools to produce work.”

We think it’s apparent that his process usually starts off on paper, by hand; in producing a hand-drawn sketch, which is then scanned in and worked on digitally, the end result is a clean, black and white final image that somehow retains a fluidity of line and mark-marking whilst avoiding any feeling of sterility.

We wonder: what’s the best piece of design advice you’ve had so far? ”When approaching a project always be true to yourself. If you’re making a piece of work because you think that someone else will like it then it can come across as insincere. I think it’s important to keep this in mind when making an image so you don’t get carried away. I try to make work that’s authentic to my own practice.”

Laura Robertson

See more of Malik Thomas’s work at malikthomas.co.uk

See Thomas’s residency exhibition, as part of The Greater Game: Football and the First World War, at the National Football Museum, Manchester, until 6 September 2015 — £1 admission charge for adults

We discuss Jimmy Stewart, doodling for fun and getting lucky (!) with emerging graphic illustrator David Baddeley…

You may recognise the work of graphic illustrator David Baddeley from Motel, a small grunge/Americana-themed bar on Fleet Street, Liverpool. David’s work is everywhere: flat, 2D, black and white drawings of actors and musicians, with straggly hair and droll, long faces, staring disapprovingly at the customers. Cinematic quotes litter his work: ‘SLEEP IS THE BABY MAMA OF DEATH’; ‘MY WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN MOVIES AND RELIGION. THAT’S IT. NOTHING ELSE.’

This is the first major project for the hardworking 27-year-old, and, he confesses, a project that’s come his way through a major stroke of good fortune and a heap of drawing. Usually more familiar with zine-making and magazine illustration, David’s drawings have given this new venue a very distinct character, and his story embodies the importance of developing your own style, building up a portfolio of work, and well, drawing for yourself and for fun.

Graduating from Interaction Design for Entertainment Media (International Centre for Digital Content, Liverpool John Moores University) in 2008, David learnt to create interactive installations for galleries, museums and art spaces, dabbling in some stop-motion, but never with drawing. He started doodling in lessons for fun. It turned into a full-time distraction as a graduate; completely unsure of what career to pursue, he has over the last few years combined working at IKEA and at restaurants, with volunteering at Liverpool art spaces like Open Eye Gallery for experience when he could, and living in Warrington with his parents. “I spent a lot of time on that Warrington-Liverpool train drawing, improving my skills!”

Two things pushed him into drawing seriously: watching documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) — “he’s just an inspiring guy” – and finding Good Grief zine in Afflecks Palace, Manchester. “It was just a simple zine about Tom Cruise going mad, and I really thought, seriously, for the first time, ‘I could do that’.

“I just started drawing, trying my hand at it; I remembered as a kid I wanted to be a cartoonist… I started making zines and got the odd bit of drawing work from that in magazines and for bands.”

That, and selling zines in the old FACT gift shop, combined with posting drawings on his blog (and a fair dose of luck) all paid off. One day checking his emails, he had a message from Rob Gutmann, the man behind a string of Liverpool-based bars and clubs including Korova, Alma de Cuba and Babycream. “It said ‘re: possible work… I’d like to work with you; your work reminds me of a lot of things that I like.’ He didn’t even know which country I was based in; he accidently saw one of my Kenny Dalglish drawings online and realised I must be in Liverpool!”

Having never worked on a full branding campaign before, he found the process surprisingly easy, describing a relaxed professional collaboration rather than an intimidating client brief. “We both share a love of film; we both love the same music. We bounce off each other. Going through my back catalogue of work, Rob would say what he liked… I’d also draw something new and send it over occasionally.

It was all very last minute. “We were opening the next week and we were still picking artwork.” Deciding that this project was more important, David left his job at a local restaurant to go work full-time with the Motel team.

The result is a rough, DIY aesthetic: drawings behind cages, bare brick walls, neon text art, flyposting, hand-drawn portraits and text on walls, and an evident homage to American culture. A self-confessed cinephile, David’s work heavily references US film and TV — Jim Jarmusch, David Lynch, Scorsese, Seinfeld, Kubrick (the Motel logo is taken from a scene in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), where Jimmy Stewart gets hit on the head and his eyes roll back) – as well as US musicians, artists and writers – Tom Waits, Dylan, Daniel Johnson, American Splendor’s Harvey Pekar, Robert Crumb.

“With Korova he used a whole design team; [at Motel] he took a big risk, he didn’t even know me… Rob had definite ideas of what he wanted, he’s got a good vision.

“I found a kindred spirit in Rob… He saved my life. Without him I’d still be working in a restaurant not knowing what to do with my life.”

So what’s on the horizon for Baddeley that we should be excited about? Apart from continuing his artistic vision at Motel, he has a regular comic strip in Lowdown Magazine, is working on a zine on serial killers and their favourite cereals  — “Ted Bundy’s would definitely be Shreddies” — and is currently working on a large top secret project coming up at another venue, which he can’t talk about, despite us prodding.

It’s all very positive and proactive; he’s a hardworker, is constantly looking for new projects to work on, is open to collaboration and new ideas, and he enjoys what he does. We find, after talking to David, that we take away that old adage of sticking to your guns. David’s advice to other illustrators keen to get more work? Keep on doing what you do best, in your own style; draw for yourself; and work hard at producing a portfolio that, when shown, screams ‘you’. You never know what’s round the corner.

Laura Robertson, Editor

Follow David on Twitter: @Dave_Baddeley 

davidbaddeleyillustration.blogspot.co.uk

Artist of the Month Penny Davenport talks outsider art, the violence of Goya, and why her drawings aren’t at all that scary…

Textured, scratchy, atmospheric: Penny Davenport’s claustrophobic depictions of creatures and dark spaces seem to hit a nerve with us. It’s like a dream, or nightmare, revisited: animals morph into humans; mist-covered landscapes roll and drop into the distance; goofy looking things with black, wet eyes dance on the spot, or simply stand there, looming into view. The most uncomfortable part is imagining that maybe they’ve been there all along, lurking in the shadows…

Penny laughs when we discuss this. “My characters are really nice sometimes and would never hurt you! They’re not familiar to you because they don’t live here, but that doesn’t mean you should fear them or let them unsettle you.”

We ask Penny where she thinks this dark or unsettling angle comes from when creating the works and the figures within?

“A lot of people say they’re pretty dark. I don’t think dark things are necessarily nightmarish, though… it’s the fear of the unknown. I do like dualism and I’m interested in this; we can’t understand good without having a concept of bad e.t.c.; nature is dark, [but] the people who live round the corner are probably far more disturbing than my drawings, I bet.”

That element is what makes Penny’s work so good, that ‘unknown’ ingredient; we like very much the way she uses a perplexing blend of animal and human within her characters, and the way sometimes the faces aren’t really drawn in properly, leaving a blankness there instead. 

There’s an easy comparison here with Goya’s etchings; Penny’s drawings has that similar textured, atmospheric quality, with that familiar ‘blankness’ in places. We discuss his The Disasters of War series; the structure, line-work and content. “There’s an incredible violence to the work,” she admits; “the subject matter and the contrast of light and dark, negative and positive. The faces sometimes look smashed or smudged; like a nightmare.”

Penny refers to a huge variety of influences: dream-like painter and sculptor Max Ernst, French painter and printmaker Odilon Redon, symbolist Max Klinger, Russian animator Yuri Norstein, Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer, Mexican surrealist Leonora Carrington, photo-montage artist Hannah Hoch… “The Dada people, surrealists, photography too, masks, films, Ted Hughes. [I'm influened by] Everything, [even] Stains on walls…”

We talk eagerly about Outsider Art: especially American recluse Henry Darger and the mentally-ill Adolf Wölfli. Darger is well-known for creating the Vivian Girls series (pictured, centre), collages of young girls either inhabiting idyllic landscapes or being tortured and massacred (you can see how the Chapman brothers would also be inspired by his work). Wölfli, a draughtsman and composer of the most surreal and detailed work, spent the majority of his adult life in a Swiss psychiatric hospital, and is cited as the first outsider artist. We talk about self-expression, and that ‘pure’ or unconscious way of working that most artists aspire to.

“Outsider art is outside the system, the norm, the bloody self-congratulating art world. A lot of outsider work seems like an obsessive outpouring, unconsciously done perhaps. No great exhibits or round of applause at the end, no desire for that either. Just a need to ‘do’.”

The artist has a great way of talking about her work; as we leaf through drawings, she describes to us each character or scene, and where the ideas came from. We especially enjoy talking through the process of drawing; Penny points out hazy spots on the paper — a mixture of accidental and deliberate rubbing-away of the surface with the pen.

“I like drawing until the paper starts to rub away sometimes, the obsessive lines and scratches are what I get sucked into. I do it sometimes to a rhythm or a beat in my head, and they change the characters and scenes, so nothing is permanent or decided or fleshed out, anything can happen.

“The ideas don’t really come from anywhere; I‘m not thinking about much while I’m doing it; then I’ll become quite involved with a character in the drawing, and I’ll be looking at them like they’re looking at me, and there’s a communication, which sounds a bit psychotic! I don’t mean it to be. It doesn’t happen a lot, just now and then. I laugh at them sometimes. The drawings are the ideas visualised! There you go.”

So what’s next for Penny? We’re keen to hear about the children’s book she’s working on; a showcase for her own writing and illustration, and from what we’ve heard, a return to real, traditional folk stories of tragedy and horror. Deliciously entertaining, whilst also managing to teach the principles of right and wrong. We discuss one of the stories in development that, according to Penny, “is about about jealousy, loss and self-proclamation”; a bird steals the feathers of all the birds around her, to make a more beautiful coat, making all the other birds very cold and naked.

Here are real morals to be explored: if your way in the world is to make others feel small, you may in some ways feel grander, but eventually you will become more alone. These are fairy tales of the darkest order that wouldn’t be out of place in a Brothers Grimm reissue: Charlie and Lola it ain’t. What a breath of fresh air.

Laura Robertson, Editor

See more amazing work from Penny Davenport here

Gorillaz, caricatures and music magazines: we see what our latest Artist of the Month is made of…

When we first noticed Gareth’s work, the thing we immediately latched on to is an unavoidable comparison with Beano and Dandy; it’s that ruddy, cheeky ‘Boy’s Own’ style that charmed us as kids. Mud pies and getting into scrapes with the neighbour, slingshots and muddy trainers. He is an illustrator with a real eye for character.

So much so, the Widnes-born, Liverpool John Moores Illustration graduate (2010) chose to debut his latest character with us, especially for this feature. It’s someone he’s been working on for a while, and who now emblazons the banner slot on our homepage.

“His name is Rex, He is a 10 year old boy that dreams one day he will become a pilot like his granddad was. The hat he is wearing belonged to his granddad and refuses to take it off. Also he likes lollipops.”

Influenced by a range of artists from comic books to graffiti to illustration, Gareth cites his all-time top role model as Jamie Hewlett. “From his Tank Girl days to Gorillaz, his line work and character design are the two things that stand out to me and I have often tried to replicate in the development in my own style.”

Others include colour expert Todd James, as well as comic and caricature artist Jack Davis. “A big thing for me is try to push the artwork and develop the style constantly, from the content to the process… at the minute I am looking and thinking about injecting more movement and a fluidity that would give the drawing more emotion, which I think Jack Davis has down to a tee.”

It was a graphic design internship at Halton Council in 2011 that really sparked a desire to pursue a career in illustration. Having to engage young people in designing and painting public murals one minute, to designing logos for council initiatives the next, Gareth thought hard about potential day jobs and realised that designing full-time, on his own terms, was the way forward.

He started to draw for friends’ magazines, going on to seek out more and more magazines for ideas. Sending examples of his work to publications that he liked, he soon started getting commissioned to regularly illustrate articles in music magazines Loud and Quiet and Bido Lito, and Italian design magazine Creazina.

It’s fair to say Gareth is at the beginning of his career, and still seeking to make this pay a full-time wage (like many illustrators out there at the moment, he has an unrelated day job). He is looking to get involved in interesting projects, exhibit his work (he’s just been in his first group exhibition in London), meet other illustrators, and just keep on working hard for people he respects.

When asked where he wants to be in five years (a horrible question, sorry Gareth), he is honest about how hard it’s going to be, but determined to be pursuing a career in design his way and in his style. “I ideally want to be making art and making a living from it, but trying to diversify from illustration into toy design, to anything that comes my way. If it’s suited to my artwork, I’ll be well up for it.”

Part of the plan is currently identifying potential new clients. He admits he has written a massive list of publications and galleries he wants to contact.

“The list is still going on (laughs), so I’ll have to spend more time on that. It’s just trying to get out promotional stuff for agencies, galleries, stuff that’s actually printed… my next illustration for Bido Lito is on how to help young musicians get on the ladder; I made a little teenage rocker on an A-frame ladder, just starting to climb to the top, surrounded by musical instruments…”

An apt image for many of us, trying to get on and ascend that metaphorical ladder.

Laura Robertson

garetharrowsmith.blogspot.co.uk

@GarethArra

Snow monkeys, volcanoes and Google+; our new Artist of the Month Alex Mathers has forged a career less ordinary…

It’s the colour that you first notice about Alex Mathers’ work. His illustrations are joyous, bursting with crisp forest-greens, hot pinks, ocean-blue hues. And boy, does he love a good landscape. “I tend to refer back to landscapes, mountains a lot, especially cross-sections, isometric stuff, I reckon a lot of that is rooted in my Geography background.”

It might be hard to believe but the London-based illustrator and writer is completely self-taught; originally studying the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere.“It’s a funny one. I was always interested in drawing and doing art, and at school I did AS Art and stopped at A level, because I thought that doing something like English Lit and Geography and German was a bit more sensible, and guaranteed of later success, and a salary.

“I ended up studying Geography at UCL (graduating 2006). I then found myself not knowing what to do with Geography … it’s such a broad subject, and covers anything from politics to farming to volcanoes.”

Being further distracted by a Masters in Real Estate (!), Alex was finally drawn back to art, tentatively uploading new illustrations to iStock, with the aim of making pocket money. Over 2006-9 the trainee illustrator uploaded around 350 vector illustrations, until it eventually started paying the rent. Ironically, this decision to get back in touch with his creative side started making sense as a full-time career; he currently has a portfolio of clients including Google, Wired Magazine, The Washington Post, Sony and Barclays.

It was seeing the jobs coming through, and realising that companies wanted to commission him, that made Alex think of his playful illustration much more seriously as a career option.“It only really started as a decision made on a whim, and grew into this bigger project.”

We all know that there’s much more to launching a successful creative career than just being talented; we wonder what were the key things Alex did to get his name out there and secure paid freelance assignments?

“It’s hard work … there’s so much more to think about other than the creative work … The most important element of doing well in illustration is to know how to be commercial – as anti-art as that sounds, it was really handy to be uploading tons of stuff and seeing what the response was to the art.

“A lot of the work I submitted to iStock was really poor and got rejected; it didn’t download or didn’t sell. So it was that process over two years, making tons of art for that site, that really honed my skill … It was from that process that my style evolved.”

As a result of becoming self-employed, he’s in demand by creatives for advice. He’s pooled all this into his side-project, Red Lemon Club, which essentially shares ideas for creative entrepreneurs. “It’s hugely fulfilling, it’s really what keeps me going as a creative. I could’ve given up a long time ago, as it’s taken a lot of time, work and a lot of thought, but whenever I get an email from an artist who says that they’ve been helped by a blog post they’ve read, it keeps you spurred on … I like to think Ape on the Moon [a contemporary illustration site collaboratively ran with illustrator Philip Dennis] as promoting artists too … illustration can be solitary so it’s nice to have something extra going on too.”

Alex’s defined style comes from only using the smooth tool and the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator – “I just use the basics” – which is showed off beautifully in our homepage banner, named Urban Geo Block. It’s “a vector illustration that is part of a series of landscape ‘blocks’ showing different types of landscape cross-sections, often of fictional worlds and places. This one shows an urban area and the underground areas beneath, including an underground system with trains. This is the geographical side and influence of my work coming through!”

So what’s coming up? Apart from helping his ‘Red Lemons’ with creative advice, he is working on top-secret illustrations for Google+ as a freelancer, and plans to live abroad again after a fruitful experience living in Japan. “I would recommend every creative to do a stint of travel, even if it’s just a week here and there, and bring your sketchbook. You can’t beat it. If you’re spending all week in your room, it can be very, very stunting; you’ve just got to keep getting out and experiencing new things.”

See more of Alex’s work at alexmathers.net 

For creative tips head to redlemonclub.com, and for some awesome contemporary illustrators apeonthemoon.com