The Art of Connecting Communities to Conservation – Laura Coleman

By Mary Stevens

Laura Coleman’s second exhibition at her gallery Onca launches tomorrow. ‘Our Time in Ice’  showcases work inspired by the Arctic landscape as it changes due to ice melt. Originally from Ditchling, she opened the central Brighton gallery in November 2011. The gallery aims to show work on conservation themes, and engage the community in artistic and educational events inspired by those themes.  Five years working in overseas conservation, combined with her background in art, encouraged her to develop the concept.

I visited the gallery and spoke to Laura, to find out more about the aims of the project. First I asked her why Brighton?

“I was planning to move back to Brighton and wanted to combine my conservation experience with my artistic interests. There is already a strong awareness of environmental issues.  There is also a large creative community here, with very few galleries, so it seemed the ideal place.”

“I wanted to create a space to bring people closer to its landscape and the life it supports. “

The gallery is in St Georges Place, outside Brighton’s Cultural Quarter and the fashionable North Laine. I asked if this was a disadvantage.

“There is a high footfall here, and we are deliberately not in the North Laine. I feel that makes the gallery more accessible to the wider community” said Laura. “Also, we knew the owners of the building, which made things easier, and were attracted by the window this space offers, the light and the beautiful original Victorian stained glass”.

Laura’s first exhibition, Ghosts of Gone Birds, Onca proved the unorthodox location an intelligent choice – winning the public vote in Brighton and Hove City Council’s 2012 ‘Dressed for Success’ Christmas window display competition.  An advent calendar of bird boxes was created by young people and artists.The bird boxes were  built in collaboration with City College, and children from local schools and artists created the birds. Onca is already achieving Laura’s vision of bringing together artists and community to further understanding of, and support for, conservation .

I asked Laura about the theme of  Our Time in Ice.

“It is very current, in the moment, reflecting concerns about changes affecting the Arctic. It also links with the forthcoming exhibition at Brighton Museum. The Arctic may feel remote and distant but its changing environment is affecting us all”

Linked to the exhibition is a programme of educational and community activities. The window will feature poems written by children from Balfour Primary School that reflect their understanding of melting Arctic Ice.

The gallery has recently achieved charitable status, and profits from this show are supporting the Unnammaq Children’s Home in Greenland.

‘Our Time in Ice’ is open from 28^th February – 31^st May, at Onca (One Network for Conservation and the Arts), 4 St George’s Place (near London Road), Brighton.

Shoot the Wrx, Jeff Keen, Brighton Museum

By Sarah Jackson

Like many artists, Jeff Keen didn’t want lengthy explanations and theories made about his work. But many of us, I suspect, are at a loss at what to do when confronted with modern art. It feels impenetrable somehow, as though there is a language and a world in front of us that we have been locked out of.

This was the very opposite of what Keen wanted. He was a great lover of pop culture and used it frequently as inspiration but also literally incorporating it into his work. Cut out images from comic books feature in his collage pieces, and his films often used B-movies and stock footage, as well as scenes shot using his friends and family in Brighton.

Pop culture is powerful because it connects us and the way Keen uses it to express his ideas highlights the intimate connection he feels to it. This personal touch becomes more evident watching Keen’s films. Locals will instantly recognise in the rapid fire of images that blaze across the screen landmarks such as the beach and pier, Whitehawk Tip and St Ann’s Well Gardens. This familiarity and even intimacy is reinforced by Keen’s use of himself and his family and friends as performers.

The point of Keen’s art wasn’t just the finished work, but the process of creating it. One of the most exciting things about Brighton Museum’s exhibition is seeing all the different aspects of his work together, something that hasn’t been done much before. It’s possible to watch Marvo Movie (1967) and then see the props he used in the film itself.

In all honesty, I can’t say I fully “get” Keen’s works. But the home-made, DIY aesthetic appealed to me the longer I lingered. It vividly reminded me of being a teenager, when my friends and I used to draw, write and film silly little stories. They were pretty cringe worthy, but I still love those attempts to be creative. It wasn’t the end product that mattered but the process.
“If words fail, use your teeth,” said Keen in the early 1960s. “If teeth fail, draw in the sand”. The energy and the passion with which Keen created his art is powerful and inspiring.

If you’re feeling creatively blocked or listless, I urge you to see Shoot the Wrx at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like Keen’s work, but even if you don’t, maybe you’ll be inspired to grab a camera and some friends and head to St Ann’s Well Gardens to do better. Who knows – you could be the next Jeff Keen.

Shoot the Wrx, Artist and Film-maker Jeff Keen, is open until 21 April at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Entrance is free.

Dave’s Brighton Comedy Festival: Bringing Comedy to a Broader Audience

By Chris Barnes, Nisha Bhakoo, James Dixon and Tom Robinson

The Brighton Comedy Festival is in town again. For the past 12 years, some of the country’s best known comedians have descended upon the seaside city to perform some of their best material to a captive audience. In fact, this year is bringing such names as Ross Noble, Frankie Boyle, Jack Dee and Josie Long to Brighton.

Nightclubbing at a museum

 

By Paul Healey

Eastbourne Towner contemporary art museum held a Museums at Night nightclub event on Saturday 19^th May.

Live music was provided by the Guillotines and the Ken Ardley Playboys – the band of artist Bob & Roberta Smith.

In a UK first, the gallery was transformed into the nightclub event which featured a set from one of Brighton’s Born Bad DJ’s, and a live broadcast from Bob & Roberta Smith’s Resonance FM radio show.

The curriculum for the ‘students’ included a variety of arty and irreverent activities, each activity earning a stamp on a certificate, where all stamps would be collected to graduate.   Attendees were asked to bring along whatever best piece of ‘dodgy art’ they had and if possible a brass instrument to take part in a special exhibition and art performance.

Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Minister for Tourism, Councillor Neil Stanley, said:” What a great idea – the Museums at Nightclub looks set to be an amazing event full of music, art and chance to go back to your student days. It’s very unusual to hear of an art gallery being turned into a nightclub, and with Towner collaborating with an iconic artist to add a really exciting twist to the night; this event will be like nothing the south coast has seen before!”

The choice of location for the event won 55% in a public poll and the exhibition was the idea of the Bob Smith who was judge for the competition.

For more information on the museum the email address is www.townereastbourne.org.uk or they can be reached on 01323 434670.

He’s Gum Mad!

By Evie Purves

What do you think about gum on the street pavements? Disgusting? Dirty? Well, I think the majority of us would agree. But not this man…

Ben Wilson has been brightening up the pavements of London for the past eight years with his weird yet wonderful hobby of painting discarded chewing gum. His tiny artworks are becoming a regular sight in parts of London and he even gets requests from the public! Not so long ago, The Royal Society of Chemistry asked Mr Wilson to paint each of the 118 elements.

Despite his actions receiving a raised eyebrow or two, Ben Wilson has described it as “making something special out of what people find disgusting…people have the right to be creative”.  He has so far created more than 8,000 chewing gum masterpieces.

Mr Wilson has said he has a tendency to “go for the older ones as they have less moisture which makes it easier to paint”. Although just to be on the safe side, Wilson brings along his Bunsen burner to dry out any chewing gum that he deems “too moist”.

This is no quick job though! Wilson spends anything between one hour and three days creating his mini masterpieces, and doesn’t settle for anything less than perfection. He has even appeared on a television programme in South Korea about his strange pastime, which has made him into a minor celebrity. What a legend!

Perhaps more people should get involved? One thing is for sure, Mr Wilson is the epitome of creativity!

Obituary: Brighton artist Mathew Miller

By Jack Deacon

In June 2011 Matthew Miller, an understated but influential figure in the Brighton art scene, suddenly died of a heart attack at the age of 50. He leaves behind a legacy that will long live on.