Collaborative Project

Exhibition runs: 2nd – 7th July 2013
Private view: Thurs 4th July 2013
Location: Gallery and Project space

The beautiful bus garage on the way to the off-licence, the mysteriously compelling corridors of the local clinic… We all know the excitement of encountering the assertive, elegant spaces of London’s postwar social building programme, but we often pass them by.

The RCA History of Design and Interior Design MA programmes have collaborated on an exhibition to convey the essence of these interior spaces. Combining the strengths of interior design and history of design, the students exchanged ideas and perspectives to ultimately produce an exhibition to relay the social, physical and sensory experiences of moving within the walls of 7 selected sites: Aldgate Subway, Kensington Central Library, Barking Station Booking Hall, Swiss Cottage Library, Hornsey Library, the Elephant and Rhino Pavillion at London Zoo, The Dell restaurant and the Crystal Palace Sports Centre.

Orsola de Castro in conversation with Lucy Siegle Inside Design

Tuesday 18th June 2013 7 – 8pm

Issues of fashion, issues of how clothes are made, issues of how to make ecological decisions when buying clothes. Orsola de Castro and Lucy Siegle will be discussing the inhumane and environmentally devastating story behind the clothes we so casually buy and wear. The focus will cover urgent themes such as Rana Plaza in Bangladesh – one of the deadliest  catastrophes in the history of the garment industry, with the death toll  exceeding 500.

The discussion will also explore the success story of From Somewhere, started in 1997 by Orsola – a revolutionary label that was the first to address this issue of pre-consumer waste and earnt her the title of Upcycling Queen.

Orsola discovered the delights of pre-consumer waste when she visited Miles, one of Italy’s best known high-end knitwear manufacturers; she  immediately focused on the remnants and surplus as a source of material for her designs. This pre-consumer waste became gems for her to play with. From Somewhere collaborations include upcycled collections for Jigsaw, Robe di Kappa, Tesco and Speedo.

Orsola is a regular lecturer for many universities including the Chelsea  College of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent and Falmouth University as well as being a guest speaker at Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins.  Her awards include 2004 winner of Green Apple National Bronze Prize For  Commerce and Industry; 2008 winner of both Designer of the Year and  Innovation Re:use awards at the RE:Fashion Awards and 2010 winner of the Observer Ethical Awards, fashion and accessories category.

Lucy Siegle is an Observer Columnist, feature writer and a TV presenter, primarily on The One Show BBC1. She is co-founder with Livia Firth of The Green Carpet Challenge and has written extensively on sustainable reform of the fashion industry. She is author of To Die For: is fashion wearing out the world? (Fourth Estate) and visiting professor to University of the Arts London.

Further information:
www.reclaimtowear.com
www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk

Orsola de Castro

Exhibition runs: Tues 11th – Wed 19th Jun 2013
Private View: Tues 11th Jun
In Conversation with Lucy Siegle: Tues 18th Jun
Location: Gallery & Project Space

Orsola de Castro, creative director of From Somewhere, the revolutionary label she started in 1997, and the first to address the issue of pre-consumer waste and reproducibility in recycling for the fashion industry, is known as the Upcycling Queen.

Orsola’s Inside Design exhibition will celebrate her visionary and ethical approach to clothes making. The exhibition will be about the design process and about what is important to her: touch, colour, how dresses fall and how clothes fit. The show will explore how fashion has responsibilities and yet must look great. This exhibition will also celebrate with the launch of the new From Somewhere website.

Orsola discovered the delights of pre-consumer waste when she visited Miles, one of Italy’s best known high-end knitwear manufacturers, and she immediately focused on the remnants and surplus as a source of material for her designs. This pre-consumer waste became gems for her to play with. From Somewhere collaborations include upcycled collections for Jigsaw, Robe di Kappa, Tesco and Speedo.

Inspired by both punk and hippies and also interested in the free flow of ideas between high and low fashion, Orsola found herself designing an Oscar dress for Livia Firth, wife of Best Actor norminee Colin, in March 2010. From Somewhere has also collaborated with Speedo, reusing and upcycling obsolete swimwear and fabrics to create new items, such as the Unity dress designed to celebrate the 2012 Olympic spirit.

In 2011, Orsola together with partner Filippo Ricci founded Reclaim To Wear, an organization that brings designers, producers and distributors to create upcycled capsule collections. Reclaim To Wear collaborations have included Livia Firth and Central Saint Martins, as well as Topshop Reclaim To Wear, a bestselling capsule collection which launched in June 2012 and is still ongoing.

Orsola, together with Filippo Ricci, is the co-founder and co-curator of Estethica – the eco-platform at London Fashion Week showcasing sustainable designers since 2006.

At the private view, look out for exciting goody bags provided by Pachacuti, People Tree, T&T Nottinghill, Vinceremos, Ginger People, By Hand London and   Very Magazine.

Further information:

www.reclaimtowear.com
www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk

Chelsea Fringe at Great Western Studios

Exhibition runs: Tuesday 28th May – Tuesday 4th June 2013
Live music open event: Saturday 1st June 11am – 3pm
End of show viewing: Tuesday 4th June 2013
Location: Whole Building

Now in its second year, the Chelsea Fringe sees gardens, community spaces, galleries, artist studios and local businesses open their doors to the public to delight them with a huge variety of horticulture themed events.

Garden courtyard

The exhibition begins outside the building with Innovation Imperative’s Tetra Shed – a unique garden office – that enables users to be both surrounded by nature and yet separate from it.

The path then continues into the studio courtyard transformed for the Summer by Danny Wootton, and Landscape Designer Mark Lutyens.

The outside area of the studios will also be home to the work of the renowned milliner, Pip Hackett, whose sculptural hats were also part of the Cultural Olympiad in the summer of 2012. Joining her in this space will be Margarita Trushina whose current installations use complex lighting technologies and deal with the conflicts of indoor and outdoor space. Lastly, the courtyard will hold a number of sculptures by internationally acclaimed sculptor, Emily Young who has drawn comparisons to that of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

Studios

From this point visitors will also be able to explore the studios and works of two artists. Catherine Parkinson works with mosaic, a medium that is one of the few that functions both in interiors and out of doors and Felicity Powell whose artistic process uses wax to create images on the reverse of mirrors.

Atrium

The trail then leads to the Atrium of the building where visitors will be greeted by the work of Raya Jallad Sadi whose sculptures of animals fuse the versatile mediums of mosaic and sculpture. Olivia Musgrave’s magnificant sculptures will also populate the Atrium space drawing inspiration from Greek Mythology. Visual artists such as Henrietta Molinaro – whose work is inspired by nature, eclectic objects and rediscovered forms – will also be on display. Elena Tsoka will create a new piece about nature using mixed media on canvases to express emotions, realities, ideas and stories. Limited edition scarfs by Claire Coles will float majestically in the Atrium space with Julie Goldsmith merging the worlds of the natural and the imagination in her mixed media mythical creations.

Clifton Nurseries is supporting the event by supplying folliage and trees for the atrium transforming the space into a tropical paradise.

Gallery

The path finishes in the gallery space where a selection of artists deal with the theme of nature in different ways.

Chantal de Gaudio, painter and life coach explores the order and beauty of the natural world focussing and expressing her creativity, making art that moves and energetically inspires.

Sophie Molins works closely with all things ecological and has created a series of photographs in which trees are depicted with such character that they are reminiscent of portraits.

Richelle Rich’s mixed media works look at the human side of nature, particularly Mother Nature and the maternal.

Natural form is also the focus of Desrie Thomson-George’s work, her sculptures will populate the gallery space.

Traditionally a painter, James Bigham has moved away from this medium and has created a series of works in which he has focusses on journeys and travel by mapping the routes he has taken.

Wendy Bain is a colourist who has produced a series of works which focus on the brilliance of nature by using vivid colour and gold and silver leaf.

Assisting with the exhibition, Hatty Davidson is both a curator and arts writer.

This is the first year in which Great Western Studios has taken part in the event – the cluster of 104 studios, covering 8 creative sectors and 36 disciplines lend themselves perfectly to this assorted event.

Notes to the editor

Designed as a great range of public & privates spaces, Great Western was built in 2009 on the plan of an old paint factory. Its public and private spaces were designed to replicate the ranges of scales and textures found in the city.

We have the intimate domestic scale of the garden courtyard, the entrance courtyard under the urban intersection of the Westway, the stunning modern 45m long 12m high atrium, the industrial Canal courtyard under the Westway and finally the Grand Union canal fronting the studios with its ironic  ‘rural estate fencing’ enclosed lawn – a very public, part landscape & part post industrial canal wharf setting.

Welldoing workshops

Workshop: Sat 25th May 2013
Location: Gallery & Project Space

Executive coach Chantal de Gaudio, and Mindful Productivity coach Michael Townsend Williams have combined their skills to create a new program called WELLDOING – WELLBEING FOR PEOPLE WHO DO.

This working session gives you an opportunity to clarify where you are at in your life and how to make your ambitions attainable now.

Participants will leave with a stronger awareness of themselves, new tools that can be used in every day life and a defined bespoke plan of what to do next.

This workshop is for successful people who find themselves stuck in old habits and patterns and have a desire to break free and create a new way of being.

This is a one off discounted Great Western Studios promotion, so book now and take advantage of this juicy offer at www.welldoing.co.uk

Inside Design with Bethan Gray

Exhibition runs: Fri 26th April – Thurs 9th May 2013
Inside Bethan Gray’s Designs – In conversation with Johanna Agerman of Disegno magazine Wed 1st May 7pm – 8pm
Location: Gallery & Project Space

Welsh designer, Bethan Gray, will present Inside Design, an exhibition of her work at Great Western Studios, the West London hub for the creative industries.  The second in a new series of exhibitions exploring work from a range of designers, it will explore Gray’s emphasis on understated luxury and longevity, highlighting the importance of high quality material and craftsmanship in her practice.

Alongside well-known pieces such as the Brogue Table, nominated in 2012 for the Elle Decoration Awards, Gray will showcase previously unseen pieces. Currently being developed with a world-renowned stone specialist, a first-time range of home accessories made of stone will be debuted.

The exhibition will provide visitors with an insight into Gray’s approach to her craft. By deconstructing the design and manufacturing processes that go into the creation of each piece, Gray will reveal the rich, intricate details so typical of her designs.

Gray’s strong Welsh roots are at the core of her passion for working with natural materials. Her great great-grandmother was a cabinetmaker – an extremely rare role for a woman in the 19th Century, and her grandfather worked as a forester. These strong family influences, combined with a childhood in Wales, can be credited for nurturing a love of crafting objects carved from wood and natural materials.

Following her graduation from DeMontfort University, Gray was awarded a Habitat New Designers’ Award by Tom Dixon in 1998. This marked the start of a career spanning over 15 years during which she has designed for some of Britain’s best-loved retailers, including Marks & Spencer, Conran Shop, and Habitat, where she was Head of Furniture Design. Noah, her 2011 collaboration with John Lewis, is now one of John Lewis’s best-selling furniture collections, helping to re-position the company as a high street leader in contemporary and affordable designs.

Last May, Gray launched G&T, her own brand and furniture collection which, with its clever use of materials including leather, marble, and wood, is a true reflection of her design attitude. Combining intriguing details with historical features common to Welsh cricket tables, the Brogue and Carve tables are not only functional but a celebration of the finer details presented in Gray’s work. Bethan Gray’s typical warm and contemporary approach to furniture has made her one of the UK’s most celebrated designers.

Argentine Tango at the Great Western Studios every Monday night

Location: Gallery and Project space

You can walk, you can tango. Everyone welcome.

No sequences to be remembered, no need to come with a partner.

Relaxed drop-in lessons by Argentine teachers Eleonora Simoes & Diego Calarco.

Simply turn up, by yourself or with friends.

You are welcome to join as many lessons as you wish.

For further information and bookings, please contact Eleonora Simons – 07908 845162,  online at www.tangology.org or eleonora@tangology.org

A Journey

Exhibition runs: Mon 11th – Fri 17th Mar 2013
Location: Gallery & Project Space

Youmeus presents a story about the design and development of kMix, an iconic Food Mixer for Kenwood.

Kenwood has long been regarded as one of Britain’s most well-known food preparation brands. Working closely with Kenwood’s design, engineering and marketing teams, Youmeus provided the external impetus to help them define and shape new product category with the introduction of the kMix Food Mixer.

Youmeus explains the journey from initial thoughts through to design and production. The exhibition provides an insight into the workings of the design process, showcasing a collection of drawings, visuals, models and prototypes. The project encompasses industrial design, packaging design, brand and product positioning, naming together with sales and marketing tools aimed at helping Kenwood engage with the consumer in new and exciting ways.

Inside Design with Bill Amberg Studio

Exhibition open 22st Feb – 6th Mar 2013
Private View 21st Feb 6pm – 9pm
In conversation with Libby Sellers 28th Feb 7pm – 8pm
Bill Amberg talk 6th Mar 7pm – 8pm

See the video from this event here.

In the first of a new series of exhibitions to be held at Great Western Studios, Bill Amberg will bring to life in the project space the story of five different artistic collaborations in leather. He will exhibit a Charge bike (with customised leather pan saddle, handle bars, rat traps and mud flaps), a herring-bone parquet floor, a wall-mounted shelf table (using the same techniques that were developed for the Shard reception desk), a pair of paneled doors and, finally, a table top desk showing various material combinations.

Look out too for the Wagamama design project, showing the work in progress behind the design of their take-away packaging; plus a unique Johnny Walker Blue Label bag which will included leather maps, casing and full design process description and materials. A visual treat and an exploration of design at its finest, these design stories will be told through a combination of materials, sketches, tools and objects.

Amberg has an encyclopaedic knowledge of leather – the texture of different types of skins, how they feel and how they can best be used to create everything, from the 300sq/m floor in Selfridges mens’ shoe department to the lift interiors at the Shard, the perfect bag for cycling, or a myriad of stylish storage solutions for pens to computers. This is where his design genius lies. Amberg will explore his ethos of developing a product successfully through the process of making it.

This exhibition will also look at the importance of craft and how vital it is in the development of a design.

By way of background, Amberg grew up in Northampton, the home of the British shoe and leather industry. His mother – a maker and an architect – would buy scraps of leather from the market for her son to transform into his very earliest creations. In Australia, in the early 80s, Amberg met the inspirational mentor and leather worker, Gay Wilson. It was there that Amberg acquired his fundamental belief in craftsmanship and a respect for leather as a multifaceted material.

During his long and illustrious career, Amberg has worked with many great designers and architects – Paul Smith, Donna Karan, Romeo Gigli, David Chipperfield, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano – to name but a few. In 1986 Amberg created his first leather floor for an architectural practice, quickly becoming the master of bespoke leather in interior design. He has completed a variety of exceptional commissions from leather panelling the Maltese Falcon super- yacht to the stunning, leather-lined fumoir bar in Claridges.

Whether via his classically designed bags or inspirational interiors, Inside Design will illustrate the secrets behind Bill Amberg’s unique vision.

Further information: www.billambergstudio.com

The Art insider presents… How to get ahead in the art world

Seminar: Every first Tuesday of the month
Next session: Tuesday 7th Jan 2013 6.30 – 8.30pm
Location: Gallery & Project Space

The Art Insider is a brand new forward-thinking company providing bespoke mentoring, group seminars and a comprehensive range of associated services for visual artists.

It is run by a friendly team of practicing visual arts specialists, dedicated to facilitating the professional development of artists and supporting the progression of studio practice.

The Art Insider provides artists with the knowledge, skills and confidence to navigate successfully within the fine art industry. The Art Insider exists to bridge the gap between studio practice and successful commercial enterprise.

This session provides a better understanding of the marketplace, of appropriate representation and looks at generating interest in order to make a living from the commercial art world.

Areas Covered:

– The ability to talk about your work
– The ability to engage in professional relationships within the arts
– A basic understanding of how the art industry works – know what you are operating within.
– The range of opportunities available to artists – Where to look for sources of information – Identifying your aims and objectives
– How to create a workable and realistic schedule of activity
– How to create income streams and activities to spread over a workable time frame
– How to plan strategically for financial gain

School for artists| professional development for artists | The Art Insider

Professional career development for artists . London based School for  Artists advising on marketing, exhibitions, web design, photography  video and jobs in art.

Further information: www.theartinsider.co.uk
info@theartinsider.co.uk / t.02082799916