Lazarides

http://newcastle.lazinc.com/

A friend informed me of this lovely little gallery in Newcastle, knowing my interest in photographing graffiti and love of Banksy.

Welcome to Lazarides 77 Quayside, the first permanent Lazarides gallery space outside of London. Situated in Newcastle upon the banks of the river Tyne, facing the Sage Gateshead and Baltic, the gallery sprawls over 5 rooms on 2 floors.

Lazarides is the primary source of work from artists Banksy, Antony Micallef, Faile, Jamie Hewlett, Stanley Donwood, Mode 2, Paul Insect, Kelsey Brookes, Conor Harrington, Invader, Ben Turnbull, Miranda Donovan, 3D, and Mark Jenkins.

Lazarides exhibits a diverse range of established, emerging and often controversial artists. Defying simple categories like ‘graffiti’, ‘pop art’ or ‘graphics’, our artists create works that engage people on all levels.

Lazinc has been operating from the gallery in Greek Street, Soho and previously on a less formal basis for several years and our already-established customer roster includes art dealers, major celebrities, school kids and a plumber. Lazinc has also publicly displayed the work of its artists in temporary venues around the world and will continue to provide a loose programme of similar events in the future.

Whilst all work is for sale, the gallery is completely open to the public and we encourage admirers of our artists to browse the art at their leisure, exhibitions rotate approximately every six weeks. We aim to create an informal atmosphere where anyone can feel comfortable viewing art or sheltering from the rain.

I visited the David Cho Murderous Hearts exhibition

David Choe, brave, bold and vulgar US artist has teamed up with the Lazarides Galleries in both London and Newcastle to show a series of powerful new works called ‘Murderous Heart’.

Choe’s ascent has been as rapid and diverse as his output, and his award-winning work can be found pretty much everywhere, from comics to magazines, trainers to films, toys to t-shirts. For his first solo show in the UK, Choe has created works that have become paintings through the art of wanting to kill. Large and small, powerful and cheeky, these canvases are made with typical Choe-style panache using water colours, acrylics, spraypaint, ink pen, pencils and oils. Beautiful girls with manga lips and jutting breasts wrestle for space against violent, guerrilla machine-men wielding street weapons. Yet out of the chaos comes a thoughtful kaleidoscope of colour and clever technique, creating a body of work that is like Choe himself – challenging, and playful.

Choe’s antics are almost as well known and loved as his art. Whether banged up in a prison cell in Tokyo for four months or facing death in the African jungle, he is always creating. In jail, he used his urine and soy sauce as materials for his art; in the wilds he kept hypnotic diaries as records.

Choe hasn’t hitch-hiked his way around the world for nothing – the more the troublesome thrill-seeker wanders, the more of his angry energy is transposed into art. The result is a mind-blowing combination of skill, hardcore experience and a zest for being alive. Instead of using his angry energy to destroy things and people, Choe has destroyed the notion that a rebel has no cause.
(http://www.artdaily.org/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=23435&b=moca)

These are some photos i took of Choe's installation in the basement of the gallery in Newcastle...







I will definitely be re-visiting this gallery in the future.

Baltic

I am lucky enough to live near the Baltic, which presents a dynamic, diverse and international programme of contemporary visual art.

These are a selection of past exhibitions that i have particularly enjoyed...

This exhibition was very appealing to me as I love Dazed and Confused and Andy Warhol. I always find it interesting to discover other artists influences and how they approach their work in relation to their influences. I feel this helps me understand creative processes other artists go through and how i might apply this to my own research and work. The video below interviews some of the artists who are featured in this exhibition and how they have been influenced by Andy Warhol.

Check out this video: Dazed & Confused Vs Andy Warhol



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Rankin

From his iconic shot of Kylie lying naked and prostrate, which graced a million bedroom walls, to the Queen smiling enigmatically in front of the red, white and blue, Rankin’s iconic, intimate portraiture style, and his mischievous eye have gained him a reputation as one of the world's leading photographers.

Photographer, publisher, and most recently film director; Rankin established his reputation when he launched Dazed & Confused with his business partner Jefferson Hack in 1991. Completely new in its approach, the magazine fused the pair’s editorial vision with Rankin’s photographic talents to present the faces of the time in a less mediated way. Right at the heart of London’s creative explosion that gave rise to the Britpop phenomenon with bands like Blur and Pulp and the accompanying fashion boom and stylists Katie Grand and Katy England and designers such as Alexander McQueen, who have gone on to dominate the industry, it is Rankin’s commitment to publishing some of the most ground-breaking magazines of his generation and his support for young photographers that has further earned him a reputation as a leading cultural and trend opinion former. As well as magazines Rankin has produced a string of highly successful exhibitions, ad campaigns and books. He has shot front covers for German Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Arena and GQ.

An infamous workaholic, Rankin has photographed subjects from Kate Moss to the Queen from Tony Blair to Oasis. Looking at his body of work it is also clear that celebrity holds little allure for him, some of his most outstanding images are from a series of nudes featuring ordinary people who answered an advert in Time Out asking how they would like to be photographed. He consistently seduces with his images, by drawing out individual personality, while considering and commenting on broader ideas.

Rising to every challenge, Rankin has never shied from portraying difficult subject matters, addressing issues from domestic violence to body image in both his personal work as well as charity and commercial projects. He made headlines again with his campaign for Dove showing women who differed from the usual stick-thin advertising stereotype. He has shot charity campaigns for Amnesty International, Everyman, Special Olympics, Refuge, Women’s Aid,The Teaching Awards, Women’s Aid, Women’s Vote, Breast Cancer Awareness and Youth Music.

Not content with still images, he has turned his lens to filmmaking. The short film he directed for Film Four, ‘Perfect’, was one of the few shorts shown at the Los Angeles, Raindance and Edinburgh film festivals. His first feature film, ‘The Lives of the Saints’, a darkly comic morality tale written by Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and starring an all-British cast, is now available on DVD. Distributed by Tartan films, the film been shown in numerous festivals this year, winning the grand jury prize in Salento.

Rankin has published several books recently. In December 2006 he published the book ‘TuuliTastic' - A Photographic Love Letter’, featuring an exclusive combination of commissioned fashion, advertising and editorial images of Tuuli, Rankin’s favourite model and muse. In January this year Rankin published ‘Beautyfull’, a book that brings together the most photographed women in the world in a powerful display of beauty. ‘TuuliTastic’ and ‘Beautyfull’ were both accompanied by an intimate exhibition at a central London based Gallery as part of ‘The Series’ – a six-month program of exhibitions that ran from November 2006 to summer 2007. The other exhibitions ran under the titles: ‘Eyescapes’, ‘Me Me Me’, ‘Erotica’ and ‘Polaroids’.

Rankin also published a retrospective book in 2007 called “Visually Hungry”. The book documents his extraordinary career drawing together over 400 images from two decades of work. From his first shots as a student, to his most recent self-portraits and everything in between, the book is a selection of the artist’s favorite pictures. He exhibited a selection of these works at the International Photo-festival Knokke-Heist in Belgium

In September 2007, Rankin held his debut American solo show in Los Angeles at the Fahey/Klein gallery, entitled, “Eye Candy.” Of the show, that features some of his favorite female nude images shot throughout his career, Rankin says simply, “There’s no point in dressing it up, I love women and I love taking photos, it’s more like a fantastic hobby than a job."

Rankin has already kicked off 2008 with prominent exhibitions in Moscow and Paris, and has no less than eight books in the pre-production.

Rankin lives in London and has a twelve-year-old son, Lyle.

http://www.rankin.co.uk

Like Rankin's portraits, always interesting, good lighting.

Francis Lawrence

Francis Lawerence, an American music video director is responsible for one of my favorite music videos...



This is the link to the extended video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9JcjVwb5Zk

Lawerence also directs commericals and films. Constantine was his deubt film release in 2005 followed by I am Legend in 2007.

David LaChapelle

Described as "The Fellini of photography" (New York Magazine), David LaChapelle holds a rightful place as one of the most high profile, spectacular and respected photographers of the day. Working mainly in the field of fashion and celebrity, countless VIPs have gone before his hallowed lens, including Britney Spears, Madonna, Naomi Campbell and Paris Hilton, while magazines Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair and The Face have used his fantasy imagery and viewer eye candy on their pages for the last decade.

(http://www.guyhepner.com/content/content.php?loadartistid=7)

I love David LaChapelle's unique style and fantasy like images. His photographs always always tell an intriguing story with striking imagery and vivid colours.

Possibly the most original and surreal adverts for a t.v series. I love that it gives almost nothing away about the series simply leaving the viewer intrigued. The final promo for series one did include voice-overs which supplied a little more information.

Nick Knight

Nick Knight is a Fashion Photographer who has inspired me a great deal this year.

Nick Knight is among the world’s most influential photographers as well as being Director & founder of SHOWstudio.com the fashion & art internet broadcasting channel. He has won numerous awards for his editorial work for Vogue, Dazed & Confused, W magazine, i-D, and Visionaire, as well as for fashion and advertising projects for clients including Christian Dior, Alexander McQueen, Calvin Klein, Levi Strauss, Yohji Yamamoto and Yves Saint Laurent. On the 24th October 2006 Nick Knight was awarded the prestigious Moet Chandon Fashion Tribute for 2006, which he celebrated by throwing a masked ball at Horace Walpoles Gothic revival treasure, Strawberry Hill.

As a fashion photographer, Nick Knight has consistently challenged conventional notions of beauty. His first book of photographs, skinheads, was published in 1982. He has since produced Nicknight, a 12 year retrospective, and Flora, a series of flower pictures. Knight’s work has been exhibited at such institutions as the Victoria & Albert Museum, Saatchi Gallery, the Photographers Gallery and Hayward Gallery and recently The Tate Modern. He has produced a permanent installation, Plant Power, for the Natural History Museum in London.
(http://www.nickknight.com)

Article from Observer Fashion Supplement Issue no.3: Summer 06...




Nick Knight's style and use of post production is something I very much admire. I feel developing my post production Photoshop skills to a high standard is essential for my progession as a photographer and where i see myself in the future.

Glen Luchford

Glen Luchford is a British Fashion Photographer. These are a few of his images that inspire me.

Luchford’s work to date has been mysterious and suggestive of stills from a film where the motivations of the central characters must be unravelled and completed by the viewer. He prefers to work in the studio using elaborate lighting set ups to create his evocative and cinematic images.
(wikipedia + vam.ac.uk)

I would like to try and adopt some of these lighting techniques in my own studio work. They make the images more dramatic and striking, and theatrical.





Article from the BJP (14/06/06) - Glen Luchford

He is inspired by films - explains the cinematic lighting
Very controlling with light, never shots in daylight
experimental - blue from tv - something to consider in my work