John Hilliard: Not Black And White at Richard Saltoun Gallery

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//1, 2, 3, 2004. Giclée Iris print on museum board. 91 x 120cm//
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//Black Depths (1), 1974. Black and white print and Letraset on museum board, 2 parts. 72 x 72cm//

Looking forward to Not Black And White, a retrospective exhibition of work by British conceptual photographic artist John Hilliard which opens tonight at London’s Richard Saltoun Gallery.
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The Clash: Rare sketches by Derek Boshier in the Flowers Gallery archive

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//Sketch for songbook cover, 13 x 9″. Derek Boshier 1979 courtesy Flowers Gallery//

While interrogating materials for Rethink/Re-Entry – the monograph of artist Derek Boshier I am editing – I’ve come across many delights, including these sketches in the Flowers Gallery archive for one of the most visually striking documents of the post-punk era, CLASH 2nd Songbook.

Continue reading The Clash: Rare sketches by Derek Boshier in the Flowers Gallery archive

Jim French BC: Before Colt (+ before the SEX shop Naked Cowboys)

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//Johnny Cash by Jim French//

Prior to Jim French launching his homoerotic imprint Colt Studios, the venerable American illustrator and photographer made his bones on Madison Avenue in the 1950s and 60s producing work for such clients as Columbia Records and scarf and handkerchief designer Tammis Keefe.

Now a selection of French’s artworks from this period are going on display in an exhibition at Palm Springs gallery Nat Reed.

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//Frank Sinatra for Columbia Record Club, Jim French//
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//Textile design for Tammis Keefe, Jim French//

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Viennese Season: Feminism – VALIE EXPORT and Friedl Kubelka at Richard Saltoun

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//Genitalpanik (Genital Panic), 1969. VALIE EXPORT. Poster, silk-screen print. 69.5 x 49.5cm. Copyright the artist. Courtesy Richard Saltoun Gallery//
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//Untitled (Pin-Up), 1973. Friedl Kubelka. Black and white photograph mounted on cardboard, 16.8 x 11.6cm//

This week sees the opening of the second of London gallery Richard Saltoun’s two-part exhibition of Viennese art: Feminism presents the work of VALIE EXPORT and Friedl Kubelka.

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//Smart/Export II, 1968/1970. VALIE EXPORT. Vintage gelatin silver print, 60.7 x 40.5 cm. Edition of 5 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Copyright the artist. Courtesy Richard Saltoun Gallery//

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Hawkwind + Barney Bubbles among influences in Le Gun’s exhibition Space is Deep

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//Le Gun’s Planet Frottage, one of the group works featured in Space Is Deep//

Tomorrow sees the opening of Space Is Deep, the latest exhibition from art collective Le Gun.

The show, at London’s Daniel Blau gallery and featuring contributions from fellow travellers such as Wildcat Will Blanchard, Andrzej Klimowski and Will Sweeney, marks a departure for the group; for the first time work in colour is included alongside Le Gun’s trademark monochrome representations.

“We felt the time was right to introduce some colour and started off by making two technicolour free-form ‘nightmare paintings’, says Robert Rubbish, who founded Le Gun in 2004 with fellow artist/illustrators Bill Bragg, Chris Bianchi, Neal Fox and Stephanie von Reiswitz and designers Alex Wright and Matt Appleton.

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“Then we reassessed our approach, fine-tuned our colour pallet and made three space-inspired paintings, taking references from the likes of (horror/scifi comic artist) LB Cole and  Tintin’s adventure Explorers On The Moon.”

Continue reading Hawkwind + Barney Bubbles among influences in Le Gun’s exhibition Space is Deep