Christmas Open Studios

Saturday & Sunday 3rd & 4th December 2011
Café open both days
Location: Whole Building
Admission: Free

How do you see art and design as it is created? How do you buy art before it is even out there? How do you pick up a cool present direct from the source?

Come to GWS Christmas Open Studios. It is a rare chance to explore Great Western Studios and to meet the artists, designers and craftspeople that inhabit it. This is a unique opportunity to see developments at the cutting edge of contemporary art and design.

Plus this December: A unique sample sale from Orlebar Brown with a preview of their spring season available to buy. An ilovegorgeous sample sale – beautiful outfits for every child. Pitman Tozer and Threefold will be doing their excellent Architect’s Surgery, and there will be a new multicoloured children’s art trail. Sundog – an off spring of the brilliant Penguin Orchestra – will be playing music during the weekend.

A jewellery fest featuring selected stalls will fill the atrium, showing a range of one off beautiful jewellery designs by excellent makers – an ideal gift is in easy grasp. There is a market place of contemporary delights outside. With mulled wine, a BBQ, tea and cakes, and the added excitement of ping pong tournaments in the courtyard, there is something for everyone.

Christmas Open Studios is all round family entertainment. Come and get Christmas ideas, see art and design in the making and have a fun filled Winter Weekend.

The Studios Exhibition
Great Western Studios presents a range of work by studio holders

Friday 3rd December – Friday 6th January
Location: Gallery & Project Space

The diverse nature of the studios means that we are able to have a show including printmaking, photography, oil painting, and watercolour.

The mix of talent in the studios shows – a photograph of architectural work by Threefold, an interior by Affroditi Krassa but also a collection of fine art.

A moon by Charlie Barton shines out, a couple of boxers fight in a ring, painted by the children’s illustrator Bruce Ingman, Sophie Smallhorn shows one of her unique prints.

This exhibition gives an impression of what goes on in GWS.  It is a wide, happening creative community with artists, designers and creatives producing exciting new work.

Artists included are:

1. Studio 55 – Bruce Ingman ‘The Wrestlers’
2. Studio 23 – Katherine Pedersen ‘In the frame of it’
3. Studio 51 – Sophie Smallhorn ’89’
4. Studio 16 – Tommy Penton – Print
5. Studio 215 – Totality ‘The pinnacle city of London skyline’ 2014
6. Studio 109 – The Kavli Advertising ‘Hazem Sannib Seaside’
7. Studio 109 – Gloria Ceballos – Artist Proof
8. Studio 55 – Philip Vessey ‘Sauverterre’
9. Studio 112 – Two Times Elliot ‘Luck is the Residue of Design’
10. Studio 56 – Afroditi Krassa ‘Dishroom Bombay Cafe’
11. Studio 54 – Pip Hackett ‘Untitled’
12. Studio 49 – Emma Woollard ‘Untitled’
13. Studio 21 – Sarah Neale ‘You know I love you’
14. Studio 32 – Sophie Molins ‘Untitled’
15. Studio 31 – Sidonie Sandrine/Style by Definition
16. Studio 60 – Henrietta Molinaro ‘Untitled’
17. Studio 15 – Suky Best ‘The journey home’
18. Studio 104 – ilovegorgeous
19. Studio 33 – Anthony Buck ‘Untitled’
20. Studio 46 – Hilary Dunne ‘Lovers with red ribbons’
21. Studio 48 – Charlie Barton ‘Ganymede’
22. Studio 68 – Shiv ‘Untitled’
23. Studio 13 – Stuart Mackay ‘Baptism’
24. Studio 1 – Claire Coles ‘Tropical Garden’
25. Studio 203 – Threefold ‘Ladderstile House’
26. Studio 46 – Emily Marbach ‘Dog Walking’
27. Studio 17 – Joy Richardson 2007
28. Studio 69 – Liza Campbell ‘Dark box’
29. Studio 52 – Daniel Hopwood – Cushion
30. Studio 18 – Elvan Erdin 2011 ‘1/30’
31. Studio 57 – Tahnee Lonsdale ‘Untitled’
32. Studio 37 – Jimmy Turrell ‘Work and Play’
33. Studio 122 – Bash 2012

‘Written in the Sand’
A film, hats and a journey around Qatar by Pip Hackett

3rd – 18th November 2011
Private view Thursday 3rd November, Film screening at 7.30pm
Location: Gallery & Project Space

This November Great Western Studios will celebrate the exceptional milliner Pip Hackett. Come to an evening of film and photographs – with our GWS vintage usherettes: Popcorn Girl and Cupcake Girl – while Storm models show off Pip’s fabulous hats.

She will be showing a film of her travels in Qatar, where she learnt about its history, talked to people about costume and clothes, and gained inspiration from the landscape. She uncovered the story of the country’s traditional costumes – from the female abaya (black cloak) to the male thaub (white robe).

Through new eyes she examines the heritage of the country.  Everything from the multifaceted sky-line to ancient architecture was inspiration for Pip’s own designs. Pip looked at how traditional clothes were made, how people wear clothes in Qatar – she believes that clothing makes a person.

This journey culminated in the creation of a millinery collection called “Written in the Sand”. A collection of hats, photographs and a montage of images, which was shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and will be shown at GWS this November.

Serious Pictures produced the film and it was broadcast on television in the Middle East and also shown on the infamous airline, Qatar Airways on over a million flights around the world culminating on fan mail from across the globe!

Pip’s hats have graced catwalks all over the world. Each hat, Pip sees as a ‘walking work of art’. This film and the hat collection is a tribute to Qatar and a way of life.

External Link:
www.piphackett.co.uk

Notes on colour
Prints by Sophie Smallhorn

3rd – 29th October 2011
Private View: 11th October
Location: Gallery & Project Space

Sophie Smallhorn has been described as ‘a colour alchemist’ by Building Design Magazine for her famed colour work on the Olympic Stadium.  The prints she is working on for her October show at Great Western Studios, get her back in the studio. Mixing, playing and taking risks with colour and form, the work is both classical and sharp. Although maintained in a formal 400 x 400mm square the varying colour and form are a story of combinations unfolding as brilliant experiments and cool juxtapositions.

This show will be a unique opportunity to see work by an artist renown for her public commissions: including for Commes des Garçon, Canary Wharf, Goodwood Sculpture Park, the City Academy in Nottingham and creating colour scapes for public places.

Sophie Smallhorn was born in 1971 and is an artist and consultant. She exhibits internationally and is commissioned by both private and corporate clients.  This year she showed at Collect at the Saatchi Gallery in collaboration with designer Sebastian Bergne. She is working on a glass canopy for a new building in Victoria and has just finished a 21 colour mural on the exterior of a private house in Basel, Switzerland. All her work explores the relationships between colour, volume and proportion. Sophie currently lives and works in London

Sophie Smallhorn’s prints are a quotidian, back to basics thought process on her preoccupation in the delights of colour. This is a unique return to fundamentals, come and enjoy a tour de force in colour and form.

Cheers 2011 – UK China Art and Design Festival
8th – 23rd September 2011

Private view: Thursday 8th September 2011
Location: Gallery, Atrium, Rooms 107, 206, 220 and the courtyard
Talk: ‘Forgotten and Forbidden Languages – Dialogue between Artists and Designers from China and the UK’ 22nd September 2011

During London Design Festival, UK China Art and Design Association are exhibiting a wealth of work by young Chinese artists and designers at Great Western Studios. This will celebrate Chinese creative energy actively engaged in London’s art and design. The show will span contemporary art, product design, fashion design, spatial design, graphic communication and commercial advertising.

This is a unique opportunity to see a collection of innovative artists and designers under one roof. With more than 70 works the event will give a cross-disciplinary view of exciting developments in Chinese art and design.

Since a pilot in 2009, Cheers has constructed an international window for Chinese artists and designers in the UK. It acts as an incubator for cultivating overseas Chinese creative talents. Cheers 2011 will showcase works that represent important trends, ideas and subjects in this hybrid group of young talent. This show will explore the refreshing artistic impact of UK-China cross-cultural experience on these artists and designers.

Noted participants include architect William Chen  at Foster + Partners;  award-winning textile designer Elaine Ng; Trunk Xu, one of the most desirable fashion photographers in China; Wen Wu, well-established London-based painter; and popular fashion designer Vega Wang with her high potential label from Beijing.

Many of the works look at the integration of an ancient or bygone China into an exciting design future. They all offer an exceptional overview of this country’s rising wealth and breath of talent.

External links: londondesignfestival.com

Presented by: UK China Art and Design Association
info.ucadf2011@gmail.com

Summer Open Studios

Saturday & Sunday, 2nd & 3rd July 2011
Location: Whole Building

Open Studios gives a rare occasion to explore Great Western Studios, and to meet the artists, designers, architects and craftspeople that inhabit it.

If you are looking for art ‘hot off the press’, a unique present, a children’s art trail, or a snazzy fascinator for a summer wedding – there is something for all at Great Western Summer Open Studios 2011.

With artists’ stalls selling jewellery, ceramics, prints, furniture, and other delights; plus music, a BBQ and great creative buzz. This is an excellent way to see what is happening at the cutting edge of London’s art and design practices.

This year’s added extras are…

The 10×10 charity art sale

The perfect opportunity to get a work of art by your favourite Great Westerner for just £50, going to charity. Come early for the most exciting deals.

Architects’ Surgery

Threefold, Moxon, Pitman Tozer Architects are offering their invaluable architectural insights. Book a £35 ½ hour Architect’s Surgery and get the best design ideas for your home.

Art Therapy Workshops

An hours’ group session with art therapist Chantal De Gaudio costs £15.

Look out for…

Illustration workshop with Bruce Ingman… Pip Hackett’s Special Hat Sale… Secret Art Surprise… 3D Hand Prints by Health Cuts Ltd… and the ever faithful Sunday Dog Show!

Music & Barbeque…

In the Canal Courtyard.

Over the weekend…

80+ Open Studios over 3 floors
Children’s art trails
Illustration workshop with Bruce Ingham
Secret Art Surprise
Contemporary sculpture
Outdoor art market
Creative workshops
Music, BBQ, Café
Children’s activities
Pimms & performances

With exceptional stalls and a great creative buzz, this is a proper London art weekend and West London at its best.

Talk: Drink Food Design

Thursday 28th May 2011
Speakers: Julian Metcalfe, Afroditi Krassa and Fernando Gutiérrez.
Location: Gallery & Project Space

As part of Great Western Studio’s talk series Talking Ideas: Drink Food Design – will look at how to design for food and particularly wine and how the commissioning process works. This includes restaurant design, designing cookbooks , designing branding for food outlets and designing wine labels.

The talk will look at designing for the consumable. How does a wine label attract the buyer, signal a particular region, sum up a taste? How does a restaurant brand itself so that the food makes sense with the décor? How does good design make food and wine taste even better?

About the Speakers

Julian Metcalfe is the co-founder of Pret A Manger and itsu. Pret A Manger, now in its 25th anniversary year, has over 260 shops worldwide. Itsu (like Pret) does not have a factory or buy in ‘ready to sell’ food, it’s made fresh in every shop. Metcalfe started itsu with the Chelsea conveyor belt restaurant in 1997. The real breakthrough for itsu came with the opening of its first shop on Hanover Square. Many months of development work created an extraordinary harmony between design, equipment, menu and staff.

Afroditi Krassa studied at the Royal College of Art and then became the first ever female designer to be employed by super-duo SeymourPowell. At 23 she redesigns the bra for Channel 4 documentary and sells 2 million. In 2002, she founds Afroditikrassa Ltd since then she has been working with leading brands such as Cassina, DKNY, Ligne Roset, Innermost, E&Y, and Mourad Mazouz (Momo) of sketch. In 2004, she met Julian Metcalfe, who invited her to conceive his new “baby” brand. Two months later, she came back with itsu, now with almost 30 stores in two continents. Krassa is currently working on taking the itsu brand on to the next stage, as well as branding and designing for major UK and international food retailers.

Studio Fernando Gutiérrez specialises in graphic design. His recent projects include the new identity and design implementation for the Prado Museum, The Goya Foundation in Aragon and The Roman amphitheatre in Cartagena, as well as a number of Spanish wineries such as Compania de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez, Valdesil, Losada and Duraton; and the Italian winery Monte Rosola and the French winery Chateau La Casenove. The studio has also been involved in design projects promoting Foster + Partners, and elBulli, exhibition catalogue design for international artists such as Thomas Struth, Ai Wei Wei and many more catalogue design and exhibition graphics at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, and Design Museum.

External links:

www.afroditi.com
www.fernandogutierrez.co.uk