Solo Art Exhibition at The Brook, Wallington, South London

October 6, 2016 Matt Bannister

Compact solo exhibition of Croydon-inspired art and illustration by Matt Bannister at The Brook, Wallington.

I currently have a small solo exhibition at The Brook, in Wallington, Surrey. The display contains brand new and familiar art and illustrations of mine, all responding to the sights, characters and architecture of Croydon.

I have created two new acrylic paintings specifically for the exhibition, each featuring a different view of Croydon sprinkled with a few local characters. The people in all the works are inspired by the shoppers, children and commuters I've seen in the town.

Here's the bio blurb that I wrote to go alongside the paintings, drawings and prints:

"Matt Bannister is a Wallington-based illustrator and artist: obsessed with the quirks and shapes of architecture, people, and everyday objects. He creates bold, hand-drawn work full of detail and character. Be they city skylines, streets full of pedestrians or an illustration about the threat of cyber crime, his images are loose and graphic in style. Recent commissions include illustrations for innovation charity Nesta, two large bus sculptures for the TFL bus trails in London, covers for The Croydon Citizen, and branding illustrations for Universal Music. Prints and other products featuring his designs are sold through various outlets, including his own online store. “I take as much inspiration from a trip on a stuffy bus, as I do from a windy walk along the river. From Victorian brickwork and noisy markets to silent museums and sticky poundshops - all will have something that will catch my eye and give me an idea or three.”

There are pieces inspired by Croydon to be seen (and purchased). In addition to the framed originals and giclée prints on sale in the café, limited edition digital prints of some of the work are available to buy here.

The Brook is located at 84 Manor Road, Wallington, Surrey, SM6 0AD and is a great little place to relax with a coffee/cocktail/acoustic guitar/vegan meal. The exhibition will be up until the end of October 2016. Extra info about the exhibition can be found on my Twitter and Instagram feeds.

South London Art and Illustration Exhibition

June 20, 2016 Matt Bannister

The first solo exhibition of south London inspired art and illustration by Matt Bannister at Cafe Adagio, Croydon.

Matt Bannister's South London art exhibition poster

I'm pleased to say that I currently have a solo exhibition, called 'Rounded Corners', on the outskirts of Croydon, at Café Adagio. The display contains new and older art and illustrations of mine, all responding to the sights, characters and architecture of south London.

I created six new acrylic paintings (and some pen and ink illustrations) specifically for the exhibition, each featuring a different view of Croydon sprinkled with a few local characters. The people in the works are inspired by the shoppers, children and commuters I've seen nearby, so you may even recognise someone if you live in the area! The other pieces are influenced by a diverse range of south London places: brutalist architecture in Southwark, hungry shoppers in Borough Market, Victorian arches in Crystal Palace and brand new shiny tower blocks on Wellesley Road, Croydon.

Some of the framed Borough Market illustrations in the show have featured before on this blog, when I completed them back in September 2013. I still go there to ogle all the food.

Here's the bio blurb that I wrote to go alongside the paintings, drawings and lithography:

"Matt Bannister is an illustrator and artist obsessed with architecture and people. He creates bold and hand-drawn imagery full of character and is regularly inspired by the urban landscapes of South London. After studying fine art at university, he worked for the BBC for 13 years but has recently picked up the pen/brush/pixel and returned to creating his own work. Recent successes of his include two large bus sculptures for the TFL bus trail in Croydon, covers for The Croydon Citizen, and illustrations for Nesta and Universal Music. His imagery inspired by Crystal Palace is a popular favourite in the SE19 area too."

There are pieces inspired by Southwark, Crystal Palace and Croydon to be seen (and purchased). In addition to the framed originals on sale in the café, limited edition digital prints of some of the new Croydon work are available to buy here.

Café Adagio is located at 227 Lower Addiscombe Road, Croydon, CR06RB and is a great little place to relax with a coffee. The exhibition will be up until at least 29th July (but may be extended). More info about the exhibition can be found on my Twitter and Instagram feeds or by using these links:

cafeadagio.uk

facebook.com/cafeadagiouk

instagram.com/cafeadagio

Nesta's 10 Predictions For 2016

February 18, 2016 Matt Bannister

A new commission for innovation charity Nesta got my mind racing, recently. Every year, they publish a list of ten trends, social movements and technological breakthroughs that they believe will impact people's lives over the coming twelve months. I had to create an illustration for each, along with a wide banner image incorporating elements of all the predictions. The subject matter, though fascinating, was quite complicated and coming up with options for every one really made my brain itch! Here are all the illustrations, with a couple of screenshots of the webpages when the campaign was released. You can read the full predictions in detail here.

On the night of the launch, in addition to inviting lots of informed/informative/informal people, the Nesta team had printed up my banner design for the wall of their communal space. In addition, there was a rather slick booklet produced featuring all of the predictions (with my pics, naturally).

Helen Goulden, Executive Director of Nesta

Stone Lithography Printmaking

January 13, 2016 Matt Bannister

In an effort to help the artistic brain cells keep growing, I enrolled on a stone lithography printmaking course at The City Lit, near Covent Garden. Taking inspiration from a photo I'd snapped underneath a flyover near Croydon, I'm pretty pleased with my first piece, entitled 'A23'.

We were the first class of its kind to run at the City Lit, and our tutor for each of the three weekly sessions was artist and printmaker Simon Burder. He guided us through the alchemy of the process, and with a lot of help and enthusiasm from him, I managed to create something quite loose and expressive compared with my normal illustrations.

Here are some photos that Simon took during the final day (featuring me!). These were posted on the City Lit Printmaking Facebook page.

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My first output using stone lithography. #lithography #stonelithography #croydon #urban #printmaking #citylit #architecture #ikea #concrete #a23 #art #southlondon #london #stonelitho
A photo posted by Matt Bannister (@bannister_images) on Dec 9, 2015 at 10:55am PST

More of my explorations into the world of printmaking can be found here.

Croydon Citizen Covers

January 6, 2016 Matt Bannister

In the last few months, I have been commissioned by a local newspaper to create two illustrations for them. The Croydon Citizen produces web content as well as a free hard copy each month. The first commission was for an article called "Is Croydon Fair?". They came up with the rough concept of the old weighing scales, and suggested local landmarks and services to fill the plate with. The image was used on the front, and inside with the feature.

My new cover illustration for the latest issue of the Croydon Citizen. #illustration #Croydon #SurreyStreetMarket #southlondon #newspaper
A photo posted by Matt Bannister (@bannister_images) on Nov 11, 2015 at 4:12am PST

Here's the 'clean version' without text, followed by some of the initial drawings of elements to go in the dish:

A few months later, I was asked to do a cover image for their Christmas issue, this time highlighting the concerns some Croydonians have had about the temporary closure of the Fairfield Halls.

They, again, had an idea that they wanted bringing to life: the Fairfield Halls in a half and half state of open and closed.

Here's the final version, without text, followed by a drawing of an early version featuring two contrasting trees (that we decided not to use in the end, as it might have hindered the lay out).