The Made In The Shade Gals visit the Glasgow Art Fair '09
I've somehow managed to allow the Art Fair to pass me by for the last couple of years. I'm not sure why. I do enjoy it. I remember two things from my last visit.
I remember bumping into Billy Davies from River City. I nearly stood on his toe. I also remember having achey bones when I came across an exquisite silk print hanging from a pretty pole in one of the gallery spaces. I sometimes get achey bones when I really, really love something: people, art, music. I can't quite remember all the details but I think the printing technique may have involved doing something unusual with photocopies. I swore I would recreate my own version at home. I never did. I'll get to it someday.
Clare and I arrived at the opening of the Glasgow Art Fair '09 at George Square with our tummies full of pizza and our hearts a-fluttering with anticipation. Feeling a little bit like slo-mo pin balls in a gaming machine, we negotiated our way through an excitable scrum of fair goers gathered outside the big white marquee. Visitors tottered around the foyer as they tried to agree the best route round the show/tried to establish where the free bar was located. Bypassing the hullabaloo, Clare and I headed without hesitation to find Krista Blake and the latest incarnation of nomadic pop-up shop come art installation, Narrative.
Since the oh-so-sad closure of their previous venture, much loved retail project Hitherto, Krista and fellow Glasgow-based creative Stuart White have worked to revive their innovative indie shopping concept. They launched Narrative in Glasgow in 2008 and wowed customers last winter with a festive pop-up shop (pop-up shed actually!) in the CCA. Selling a collection of limited edition artwork, giftware, stationery, DIY kits, homeware and accessories by local artists and designers, Narrative plays a crucial role in the promotion of emerging talent and DIY culture in the UK.
This season, the structure of the Narrative store is built entirely from Irn Bru crates. Blue plastic boxes are stacked and secured with cable ties to fabricate a walled structure. They are effectively (though temporarily) upcycled to become ideal display cases. How swell that the very containers used to transport Scotland's favourite soda pop are currently housing the work of some of Scotland's cherished local artists. When the Art Fair ends and the big Art Fair tent is dismantled, the Irn Bru crates will set off again on their merry way, carrying bottles of ginger around the country.
Clare and I oo-ed and aah-ed our way around the Narrative space, browsing the fabulously off-beat collection of work by Glasgow-based designers and makers therein. We were particularly taken with the 'Noses of the Great and the Good' handkerchief (£14) and Stuart White's selection of illustrated sketchbooks/notebooks (£4). Every now and again little squeaks of delight escaped from our hearts as we added items to our imaginary shopping lists and composed mental pictures of how wonderful a set of log art portraits (£80 each) or fancy illustrated plates (£140 for a full set of 6) would look in our respective D-Town apartments. Hmmm... which log would fit best? The one with the cowboy on? Or the one featuring the demented woodland creature?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3480/3470006859_58b52bc44c.jpg - Harrow Ladies Luncheon Club Plates available from www.narratively.eu, £140 for a full set of 6
After stealing a few moments with Krista to thank her for inviting us into the magical world of Narrative, I made the leap from cash conscious window shopper to pretty-thing addict. I purchased an embroidered Hank Williams 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry' cushion by Trente Trois Tours. I couldn't help it. I'm a country gal and I'm proud enough to say so through my choice of soft furnishings! We bid Narrative farewell and began our trail through the maze of gallery units in the sprawling tent, giddy and inspired.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3470778320_02e710d004.jpg - (Very) limited edition Hank Williams cushion
Neither Clare nor I proclaim to be members of a high-brow brigade of art lovers, but we do have a penchant for challenging design and beautiful artefacts. With little knowledge of artist biographies and an ignorance of the intricacies of inter-gallery politics, we weaved our way through the walkways and display nooks, wide eyed and open-mouthed. We clapped our hands. We smiled. We clicked our heels together. We stared and we returned time and time again to our favourite paintings. We were moved and we were inspired. We were pissed off that we didn't get a free glass of wine. We were pissed off that we didn't get a free glass of wine and that some cheeky blighters were managing to sip three at once.
I won't bore you with the details of how, about half way through the night, my hip began to seize up and the pain from the stupid nerves in my stupid back meant that walking was off the agenda and the 2 centimetre foot shuffle was on. I'll skip the bit where I wept in the seating area because I thought I was destined to be stuck in the Art Show marquee forever. I'll definitely not mention Clare's suggestion that we contact the Red Cross and request a wheelchair to get me to the bus stop.
Favourites
Elisabeth Lecourt's papier art was of particular interest to Clare and I. Clare works with collage a lot in her designs and I have a rather peculiar stationery and paperware fetish! Elisabeth has meticulously cut and folded and pleated and layered her materials to fashion beautiful garments from sections of vintage maps. From man-sized shirts to cute summer dresses, the pieces draw from a design trend that utlises and upcycles vintage ephemera and takes influence from artistic interpretations of cartography. Maps are beautiful. (I am not wearing a cardi with suede elbow pads).
Visit www.elisabethlecourt.com for more.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3470821370_9b6aa03d82.jpg - 'Chelsea Girl' by Elisabeth Lecourt.
I was immediately drawn to the vivid colour and subtle humour of Willy Rojas' (Villa del Arte, Barcelona) work. Rojas arranges compositions of realistic situations using miniature figures, food and domestic objects. My favourite images are 'Melon' (a playful group of miniature swimmers enjoying a dip in the flesh of a watermelon) and 'Fried Egg' (a professional diver explores beneath the surface of the soft egg yolk as a back up team of experts look on). My husband uses tiny architectural models in his photographic work too. My house is overrunwith skelf-like post boxes, little women with raincoats on and itty bitty lumberjacks! He and Willy ought to collaborate!
Visit www.willyrojas.com for more.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3608/3470777568_2084ecdf0b.jpg - Willy Rojas (Villa del Artes, Barcelona)
Richard Heeps. Richard Heeps. Richard Heeps.
Despite having to hobble my way round the marquee, yelping all the while as the debilitating pain shooting up my left side intensified, I'm glad I persevered. If I'd admitted defeat and given Clare the signal to alert the Red Cross man to my predicament, we wouldn't have discovered Richard Heeps. As we learned from the gallery curator, Richard Heeps has been photographing hot rods, vintage interiors, burlesque beauties and Americana in the UK and the USA for over ten years. The piece that caught my attention in the first instance is called 'Anita' – a colour print of a lady wearing a red polka-dot headscarf sitting at the wheel of a 1950s automobile. Conscious that I had already blown my pocket money budget for the next week on the Hank Williams cushion from Narrative, I could not afford to take 'Anita' home. However, we enjoyed flipping through the stacks and stacks of work (I believe I may actually have said 'woweee' and 'golly gee' outloud!) 'Dressing Table', 'Bedside Lamp' both from Heeps' Prefab collection and 'Nylons' and 'The Mirage' from his Man's Ruin collection emerged as particular favourites. Although print buying was not a sensible option according to my inner finance manager (I hate her), the hardback book of Richard's 'Man's Ruin' series was within budget! I bought a copy. Clare did too. It is my new favourite thing and is displayed proudly in my living room. We fully intend to get in touch with Mr Heeps. Perhaps we might interview him for MITS @ The Skinny sometime. You don't get more 'vintage lifestyle' than this guy. Richard Heeps – where have you been all my life?
Visit www.richardheeps.co.uk for more.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3575/3470776584_3f7fa2bed0.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3469965303_c4b30f9a0f.jpg
Richard Heep, Mans Ruin available from Richard Heeps' website, £25
Clare and I enjoyed a swell evening at the Glasgow Art Fair 2009. To read more about the exhibitors and to keep up to date with event news, visit www.glasgowartfair.com. Oh – and keep your peepers peeled on the Made In The Shade blog @ The Skinny for more from Krista Blake and Narrative. We'll be chatting to Krista aout her creative endeavours next week. Check back on Monday 4 May.
Plum flattery!
Oh – and thank you to the curator of the Villa del Arte galleries at the Glasgow Art Fair '09 for paying me the most fabulous compliment at the point in the evening when I looked and felt my very worst. Muchos gracias senor.