Category: Artist

‘MULTIPLES’
13th – 19th March 2019

Bridgeman Editions is proud to present Multiples, a group exhibition of limited edition prints by both emerging and established contemporary artists. Exploring the different techniques of printmaking from silkscreens, etchings, linocuts to lithography and woodcuts.

Throughout the history of art printmaking has been a fundamental discipline of artistic practice, from Turner to Hogarth, Durer to Goya and Warhol to Hockney – printmaking has made art accessible. Many forms of printmaking involve drawing or painting onto a plate to produce a matrix and then producing prints from that matrix by mechanical processes. One might be sceptical about the artistic significance of such prints, on the basis that only the process of drawing or painting the matrix enables printmakers to exercise intentional control over the features of the resultant prints. This might lead one to think that such forms of printmaking lack artistic significance independent of drawing and painting. In today’s digital age the importance of printmaking as an art form is indisputable, and this exhibition aims to highlight the beauty in printmaking in all its different guises.

This exhibition brings together 4 new works by the Pop artist Patrick Hughes from his Rainbow series, which in the 1970s Hughes’ name became synonymous with, clashing beautifully with the iconic 1969 UFO silkscreen poster by the psychedelic artistic duo HAPSHASH (Nigel Waymouth & Michael English). Whilst Henry Hudson’s psychedelic jungle prints contrast beautifully to the Hockney-esque screenprints of Christabel Blackburn, which in turn bounce off the bold tribal screenprints of Bam Bam.

Tom Hammick’s wood block print Andrez Cabin, creates a distorted and dream-like world with his surprising yet effective colour pairings and simplistic backdrops. This work was specially commissioned to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the NHS, and is displayed in conjunction with portfolio of works entitled Turkish Tulips commissioned by the artist Gavin Turk. Turkish Tulips features a range of limited edition prints by artists including Sir Peter Blake, Yinka Shonibare, Damien Hirst, Cornelia Parker, Fiona Banner, Nancy Fouts and Mat Collishaw.

Published by the Paupers Press is the Bridgeman Folio celebrating lithography and the bringing together the work of 6 acclaimed Royal Academicians Eileen Cooper RA, Cathie Pilkington RA, Stephen Farthing RA, Bill Jacklin RA, Vanessa Jackson RA, and Paul Huxley RA.

Multiples is an assault on the senses through the language of printmaking.


www.bridgemaneditions.com

FAR FETCHED BOTANICALS:
Plants that have inspired Fairy Tales
1st – 7th April 2019

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Stories; fairy tales, folklore and legends have been passed down through the generations and across continents for time immemorial. Once upon a time the heritage of these stories was in the oral tradition, at a time when possibly the nights seemed longer and darker, the journeys slower and longer, and the idea of magic abounded.

With the advent of the Gutenberg Printing Press, during the 15th century, stories became committed to print. In the 18th century as the Age of Enlightenment progressed, spreading out from Central Europe across the globe, greater attention was given to the printed word and images. Natural Philosophy developed as a discipline with people finding greater leisure time with which to consider, document and examine the natural world. During this time writers were becoming aware of the need to preserve the tales from the oral tradition for posterity. At the same time philosophers, artists and scientists were beginning to explore the science and art of colour. Botanists, gardeners and horticulturalists were becoming aware of plants from other continents and seeking the novel and the new. Once about discovery; now about conservation.

Wars, persecution, and famines have always lead to the movement of populations and with them their stories. Seeds harvested and stored travelled with people making new homes in new provinces, countries and continents. Equally adventurers travelled the silk road and the oceans exchanging crops seeds and stories, amongst other treasures, along the way. Plants equally have their mechanisms for transporting themselves across lands and waters in their quest for survival.

This exhibition, by botanical artist Mariella Baldwin, brings together the fairy tale and the plant that inspired the story; delving into the history of the origin of the genus and how it came to influence and shape the tale. Inspiration for the paintings has come from historical herbals which brought plant knowledge to a wider audience during the 16th century. The traditional style of the paintings has been deliberately chosen as an illustrative story of the plant to compliment the fairy tale. Each spring as plants begin to wake up from their dormancy a magical miracle occurs. The life bursting from Pumpkin is magic. The shoot rapidly grows and grows . . . and grows, to the glory of the harvest of a lustrous autumnal globe which can be stored and used over the winter months – but of equal wonder – the dust- like, microscopic seed of Rampion blossoming into a delicate, dancing ….. of bells. Often these plants which sustain us, and the insect world which we depend upon, can be overlooked by the glitz and glamour of our modern lives. Join us at the new Green and Stone Gallery getting down to earth . . .

‘And above all , watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.’ Roald Dahl.


www.mariellabaldwin.com/

‘COMMUNITY MAN IV’

22nd February – 4th March 2019

Adjani was born in Kumba, Cameroon in 1979, and lived there until he was 14. He moved to England, and in 2010 devoted himself to being an artist. In 2012, Adjani was selected by the BBC to be one of twenty artists commissioned to capture the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant. He has had many exhibitions over his artistic career, and he is the leading African-surreal Expressionist painter.

“Adjani Okpu-Egbe is a distinctive voice amongst a new generation of African-born artists. His textured oil paintings have a strong social commentary, describing the artist’s political activism and interest in historical Black leaders, including the Kings and Queens of Africa.” – Knight Webb Gallery.

Adjani’s fourth in the series of exhibitions titled ‘Community Man’ serves to raise awareness and funding for those injured or displaced by the ongoing conflict in his homeland, Cameroon.

The war began by rebels seeking to form an Independent State.
Many Anglophones have been calling for the region’s complete secession from Cameroon to form what is being called the ‘Ambazonia Republic.’ As such, a peaceful protest that began three years ago against the marginalisation of the Anglophone parts of Cameroon quickly turned violent, and the repercussions have been dire; brutal clashes between troops and Separatists, attacks on police stations, reports of mass kidnappings, extra-judicial killings and wide-spread burning of villages. At the beginning of February, a hospital in Adjani’s hometown Kumba was torched to the ground, leaving at least 4 people dead and many missing. The fighting has affected friends and members of his family directly, including loss of lives. As a result of the ongoing violence, the UN figures approximately 437,000 people have been forced out of their homes, with 32,000 fleeing to neighbouring Nigeria. And yet the conflict is rarely covered by British news.

Thus, Adjani’s intention for his solo show is to bring together members of our community, to build an understanding of other communities that they do not have any direct connection to, but nevertheless an indirect link to through consumption. As an example, most of the tea and coffee produced in Cameroon is exported to Britain and apparently one of the Queens favourite teas comes from a plantation near Mount Cameroon, the highest peak in West Africa. Due to the war, the production has now stopped.
Adjani hopes that, even in a “small way,” his work might help create awareness of the war, and raise funds for those people whose lives have changed because of it.

He has been a customer of Green & Stone for many years, and the majority of the materials he uses comes directly from our shelves.

“It is an honour to hold this exhibition of Adjani’s work.

Before Adjani had approached us we already greatly admired his visceral and emotional works so it was without question that we accepted his exhibition proposal. Ever since Goya’s series the Disasters of War and Picasso’s Guernica art has been crucial in bringing awareness to the horrors of war and its victims. Adjani’s exhibition now sits in a long tradition of bringing attention to the failures of humanity. 

This exhibition is especially important in that it seems in the UK particularly little attention has been given to the war in Cameroon. Indeed, I did not know of this war before Adjani had contacted us and it seems the media is failing to provide serious coverage. Hopefully this exhibition and the proceeds it makes will make some difference, and the victims of war, whichever side they are on, will not be forgotten.

However, not everything is gloomy. Adjani has brought to us a style of work uncommon in the UK, and his Afro-Expressionist style is as fresh and as sharp as a lightning bolt, and is thrilling to see.”

— Green & Stone —

http://www.adjaniokpuegbe.com/

Watch to find out more about the conflict in Cameroon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct_SLnAGDuM&feature=youtu.be