The Illustrator’s Art

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Prints by Andrzej Krauze, Lynn Hatzius and Matthew Pagett
Craft Case – Books by Kaho Kojima and Chisato Tambayashi
9. Screenprint 2012 Andrerzj Krauze
The Illustrator’s Art celebrates the work of Andrzej Krauze, Lynn Hatzius and Matthew Pagett, and explores the influence of narrative and figurative expression transferred from illustration to fine art through printmaking.

Lynn Hatzius experiments with a combination of collage and printmaking. Her recent work, inspired by the anonymity of found material, alters the physicality of her portrait subjects by adding images of nature, to suggest loss, growth and completeness.

RCA graduate Matthew Pagett received the 2012 New Graduate Award at londonprintstudio. Using new techniques at the studio, he has been evaluating new ideas through printmaking.

Andrzej Krauze, a leading political cartoonist in his native Poland, became known for his extraordinary illustrations in The Guardian. A master of producing wry, ironic, sometimes scary images, the bold paper-cut images in this exhibition represent a radical departure from his normal line-drawing style.

Craft Case

Two londonprintstudio artists Kaho Kojima and Chisato Tambayashi will be exhibiting their exquisite hand-cut, embossed and pop-up printed books in the craft cases.

Events

Free artist talk
Sat, 28 Sep, 1 – 2.30pm
Meet John Phillips from londonprintstudio to find out more about the studio and the work, inspiration and techniques of the exhibiting artists. No need to book, just turn up.

Free family printmaking workshops
Sun, 11 Aug, 10.30am – 12.30pm and 1.30 – 3.30pm
Families can try a range of simple printmaking techniques in these fun workshops led by Medway Fine Printmakers. Suitable for accompanied children aged seven years and over, free but must be pre-booked.

Adult printmaking workshops
To complement the exhibition, Medway Fine Printmakers are conducting printmaking workshops at their Rochester studios.
More information is available on www.medwayfineprintmakers.co.uk

Medway Fine Printmakers are the only open access printmaking studios in Medway, recently formed when Printed Wonders and Coalshed Press joined forces to share equipment and ideas. They provide workshops and training in silk-screen printing, lino and wood-cut block printing, solar and traditional etching and letterpress printing and fabric printing.

This exhibition has been curated with londonprintstudio a leading artist-led print studio and one of the longest established professional print studios in Central West London, known for its work with leading artists, and with different communities.

Advance booking is essential as places are limited. Phone 01634 338319 or emailarts@medway.gov.uk

For more information about Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case please visitwww.medway.gov.uk/arts phone 01634 338319 or email arts@medway.gov.uk.

Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case, Medway Visitor Information Centre, Ground Floor, 95 High Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1LX.

Moment to Moment – A Pilgrimage

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A touring exhibition of sculpture by Randy Klein

On display daily in Rochester Cathedral 3rd – 26th August

Free entry

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The Artist

Randy Klein is an artist with an international reputation; with works in collections such as at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York,the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Tate, and the Brooklyn Museum. He has exhibited widely in the US and Europe, with solo exhibitions at the Midland Arts Centre (MAC) and the European Academy.

Randy Klein’s work is narrative in nature, and explores the themes of transformation and transcendence. Klein’s work casts an ironic eye on daily life and our attachment to the physical world while suggesting a bridge into the world of spirituality. In his simple modern fable ‘il supermercato’ (a work presently in the collection of the Tate and the Museum of Modern Art in

New York) a journey down the aisles of a supermarket leads to a discovery of spiritual grace. In the touring exhibition ‘Images Out of Dante’. Klein explores Dante’s vision of heaven and hell in sculpture. The 10 ft. ‘Poetry Angel’ from this exhibition was acquired by the city of Ravenna, Italy, and stands in the courtyard of the ‘Classense’ next door to the Tomb of Dante.

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Moment to Moment – a Pilgrimage

Moment to Moment – a Pilgrimage is a collection of more than 100 sculptures which together make up a single narrative. The work has been seen in public venues in Italy, first in Savona and most recently at the Palazzo Vernazza Lecce, where it was very enthusiastically received by both critics and the general public. Seeing over 100 sculptures in the heavy, worldly materials of bronze, steel, and copper gives great tactile enjoyment, whilst at the same time the journey the exhibition describes and the sheer number of the works included creates a sense of something beyond the physical world. All with a sense of irony and a lightness of touch.

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Moment to Moment – a Pilgrimage is a journey which transforms the playful depiction of the ‘stuff’ of daily life – the exuberance of childhood, family, relationships, as well as cars, trees, the doors and windows of home – into a spiritual awakening. The pilgrimage proceeds to a tranquillity, floating above, in a higher world.

Triplets

LitFest Garden Party to cap a BIG Weekend for Medway

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Medway’s Big Weekend is upon us! http://rochesterlitfest.com/the-garden-poetry-party-2012/

Jaye's avatarRochester Literature Festival

The weekend of Friday, July 12th to Sunday July, 14th will see Rochester and the wider Medway come alive for what’s being termed Medway’s Big Weekend.

RLF Garden Party poster 2013

Having made a fantastic debut at Eastgate House Gardens last year, we’re holding  our Summer Garden Party on Sunday 14th July, at the Good Intent Pub in John Street, Rochester, between 12noon and 4pm. Join us for a delightful cultural mix of performances, open mic, storytelling and a special edition of Seasonally Effected.

For the first time, the RLF is a part of the Medway Open Studios and Arts Festival, which begins on Saturday, July 13th. If you’re out and about on the Sunday, pop in to the garden of the Good Intent on your travels between the artist’s studios in and around Rochester.

We’ve ensnared those lovely folk, the ME4 Writers, who will be in situ in a new Word…

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The currency of blogging: Blogger awards

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Linking is the currency of blogging. If you want to get yourself  ‘out there’ one of the best ways to do so is to start blogging and then like and follow fellow bloggers.

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A fellow blogger recently gave me the ‘Very Inspiring Blogger Award’ – thank you Petrel. It’s a great way to connect and grow and while it may seem a little obvious, it’s still just nice to get it. Someone bothered: This is why I love the blogosphere.

It can also feel a little mercenary but that’s the world we live in. I wouldn’t have landed my first paid writing job if I hadn’t been blogging and developing an audience, and more importantly, understanding why that audience developed the way it did. Which was mainly through the connections I made on line, blogging.

In the same way that to gain more Twitter followers you have to follow more Twitterers, to grow your blog’s audience you need to do the same with other bloggers.  It’s a reciprocal thing: Don’t expect others to share your stuff, engage with you and follow you if you’ve no interest in doing the same with them. Twitter is a prime example. The micro blogging site has grown because the vast majority of its clients/customers/audience love to share stuff and to connect with new people who share their interests.

So, in the spirit of the award, my most inspiring fellow bloggers are (in no particular order):

Ripplestone Review

Write So Fluid

Quillers Place

The View Outside

Klahanie

D C Relief

Three Beautiful Things

Julie’s Quest

Do check them out and say hello 🙂

Artists in the Woods: Gunpowder Works, Oare

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The Half – the in between world the audience never sees

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“A single moment, captured in time” became Simon Annand’s inspiration for a now 28 year old project, begun as a boy on his first holiday abroad.

At the behest of this young boy, a stranger gladly photographed the holidaying family “marking the moment”. The result of this initial foray is, many years later, a collection of profound theatrical culture, beautifully shot.

The first subject in this stunning collection known as ‘The Half’ was encapsulated while Simon was working in the bar at the Lyric Theatre. Griff Rhys Jones was starring in a production of Charley’s Aunt when Simon asked for permission to take some photos. An ebullient character on stage, Rhys-Jones was more introverted and melancholy off it.

It was the start of a journey giving Simon unprecedented access to the greatest actors in solitude and capturing the different energy felt in the dressing room; the audience is exposed only to the character the actor wishes them to see: “They bring in with them what they’re thinking and feeling that day.”

According to Simon, every person is in the collection for a reason: to reflect what’s happening in theatre, be it in the West End or on the fringes. This short film, commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum to accompany the exhibition, provides insights into the tensions and personal rituals they undertake on a nightly basis.

‘The Half’ is a theatrical term for the tense 35 minutes actors endure in their dressing room before ‘Curtain Up’. With the backstage area cleared of all but cast and crew, Simon’s photographs offer the audience a rare glimpse at the actors preparing to step into someone else’s shoes. Find out more about him here.

Meet the founder of Canterbury’s most eccentric music festival

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It isn’t just happening in Medway – Kent is pretty much ruling the South East right now!

subversivepress's avatarSubversive Press

Last year, a group of friends set up a series of music festivals with a twist. Today, their last gig has attracted fans from all over Canterbury and beyond. Subversive Press asks its amicable founder, Heatha Akosua, what makes for a successful DIY concert.

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When I talk to Heatha, she has just finished packing away four years of her life into boxes. After graduating from the University of Kent, she is now moving back to London to leave her musical stamp there too. It is safe to say that Canterbury’s concert lovers will miss her dearly.

Acting as the driving force behind a series of mini festivals this year, Heatha Akosua’s events have attracted students and young people from Kent and even further afield. The last in a series of sessions rounded off last week with a bang, boasting eight artists and bands, barbecue food, henna tattoos and, according to…

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But will it be on the jelly box?

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One of the most exciting programmes to hit Medway and Swale in recent times (quite a statement when you consider how much is going on) is Creative People and Places: Swale and Medway, a project determined to let local people shape their arts provision and give them the opportunity of taking part in activities they wouldn’t normally think were for them. Check out the awesome video and read on …

Great news then, that the first round of funding – the Small Experiment applications of up to £2000 – will open on June 17th. This is not your traditional project funding, mind, so you must be very clear about what you want to test and why, and how it will inspire a broader range of involvement from, and collaboration with, local residents and community and voluntary groups.

To find our more about the application process and eligibility, sign up at CreativePeoplePlace.info (scroll down to add your details, and to nominate a community catalyst or three) and drop in to one of the two informal events taking place this month, so you can meet new Creative Enabler and Programme Director, Steph Fuller, plus some more of the team.

Medway: Tuesday, June 18th from 7pm – 9pm at Gillingham Library, High St. ME7 1BG

Swale: Wednesday, June 26th from 7pm -9pm at Pulse Café, 29 Park Road, Sittingbourne. ME10 1DR

No booking required is required and some refreshments will be available.

If you can’t make the above dates, some one-to-one sessions with Steph will be available across Swale and Medway until at least mid-July. Check her diary and email to say “Hello, how lovely it will be to meet you.”

Creative People and Places: Swale and Medway was awarded funding by the Arts Council, after both areas were identified as having low arts engagement within their communities. It’s an action research programme aiming to engage and re-imagine the arts as a valued and integral part of local people’s everyday life.

So, if you’re a local resident, part of an arts organisation or a member of a community or voluntary group and have the motivation to make interesting things happen locally, they want to hear from you.

I’m ready for my close up …

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A new cultural event in Medway has been gaining lots of friends recently, with its eclectic mix of any and everything.

photo (35)

Seasonally Effected, produced by the tireless Roy Smith, occurs on the last Wednesday of the month in Rochester, usually in the Dot Cafe but last night, sad circumstances required a switch of venue to coFWD – how well did they adapt to an extremely last minute request? With their customary awesomeness, of course.

The theme of this cultural open mic is to be the time of year, interpreted any way you like. A highlight last night, for example, was the ‘Mollusc Mayday’ film – complete with maypole dancing snails. It’s an image I won’t forget quickly for its brilliance – kudos to Chris of Hand of Stabs for that one.

I made my debut at the mic, with a tiny piece about the first Oscars ceremony and first all-colour talkie, On With The Show, both premiering in May 1929, and linking in a video from the film. This I followed with the official Skyfall teaser trailer and the collaborative, much more professional home made version by coFWD (which I’m in and have shared with you before). Then I showed Richard De Soussa Silva’s Sunny Day video (which I’m in and have shared with you before!)

And that’s when I thought I could sit down and relax. But Mdhamiri decided to show his short film (which I’m in but can’t share yet, due to competition rules he’s entered into) and then up popped Stuart Turner of The Flat Earth Society with his new song and video, The Making of Landscape. And guess what? Yes, I’m in it and I can share, since it’s already out there on Youtube! The zombies come courtesy of Mdhamiri and Roy, who were making a film called Zombocity (I’ve shared a couple of photos and a very short trailer previously, see the Sunny Day link above for that) which sadly, suffered a bit of a malfunction and is now in a dry lab hopefully being recovered. Anyhoo, here’s the video:

And you’d think that would’ve been quite enough showing off for one night, but no. 2013 BBC Writer’s Prize winner, Sarah Hehir, asked if I could play one of the parts in her short play (impressed by my earlier performances, clearly ;)) so I ended up in the final piece, rounding off a cracker of an evening.

Another wonderful aspect to the night was having artist Nigel Adams respond with live art as the event unfurled. The image at the top of the post is his work from Part One; this is Part Two:

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A massive thanks to Roy for instigating this rapidly growing cultural must – check out the Seasonally Effected blog for pod casts of each event  and dates for the next. The hasty venue change means we may not have the pod cast for this month, but don’t let it stop you enjoying the rest. A full list of last night’s participants will appear there shortly too.

Famous Authors’ Handwritten Outlines for Great Works of Literature

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This is why I never throw away any notebooks or post its 🙂