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

Gallery with a drawbridge

October 9, 2014 Matt Bannister

It's been a while between posts, reader. I know that. However, that little part of south London known as Crystal Palace is back on these pages again. I can't ignore the place (but I'm not becoming obsessed, I assure you). This time, I'm writing about a weekend's art exhibition I was part of called 'Inspired by the Subway'. Regular readers know my artist associations with the place, and during Open House Weekend, I was asked to join in with the display in Crystal Palace Park.

The venue was once a concert platform for open air gigs and shows but thanks to a few leaky design errors, it's now unused and derelict. On arriving to set up, I was thrilled to see that I had to cross a drawbridge to get in. The whole venue is surrounded by water! It's known to some as The Rusty Laptop.

To coincide with the exhibition, I created three new works (inspired by the subway, like it says on the tin). These were oil on watercolour paper, with watercolour red added afterwards. Alongside, I showed some of the old favourites too.

Art work showing the Crystal Palace Victorian subway

As well as the art exhibition, other areas of the venue were transformed into a recording studio, a screening room, an immersive piece of sound art and a giant model replica of what the railway, that used the subway, used to look like.

Also, to help with the smooth running of the event and to help any lost stragglers in the park, I did some little illustrations of Crystal Palace landmarks to add to their map:

If you'd like to read more about the design of the venue itself, and see some far better photographs, James Balston has a great post on his blog about the weekend. http://thetrianglese19.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-concert-platform.html

Comedy at the Cafe

July 21, 2014 Matt Bannister

Whilst flicking through some recent images of the Crystal Palace Overground Festival 2014 on Facebook, I came across these great pics. A bizarre selection of faces smiling and gurning at the audience, from the recent "Comedy in the Cafe" evening of stand up at Brown and Green Cafe, Crystal Palace station. I then noticed that the temporary stage for the evening had featured my framed prints as a little backdrop. The jaunty angles the pictures have ended up at, suit comedy I think! The images were taken by Ally at Stonelock Photography, and has kindly let me reproduce them here. Unfortunately I did not attend the event, but Ally assured me that some of the photos that didn't make her final edit were a bit blurred, as she was laughing so much. For more info and clips of the comedians, their homepages are here: John Kearns, Jenny Collier, Dan Green, Beasts.

If you fancy getting your hands on your own print to tell jokes in front of at home, click here.

The Creatures That Keep on Giving

June 9, 2014 Matt Bannister

Dinosaur Wedding

I was approached last year by a couple - Liam and Nasreen - who asked if they could use my 'Crystal Palace Monsters' image on their wedding invitations. A few email exchanges later (and a fee, of course), the were distributed and their wedding was a great success, I understand. They are both fans of the Crystal Palace area, the dinos and my work. Win Win Win!

New cards and packshots

Some new cards arrived from the printers (available now from my website store or in person from Brave Girl Gifts if you live near Crystal Palace). I decided to take them out for a walk and take pictures of them. Residents of SE19 may be able to identify where I took them.

Brown and Green Café

I also popped into the Brown and Green Café with a mission. I decided to swap one of the prints featuring sphinxes with a nice new version of 'Change Here for Evolution'. I really like the image and I think it's much better than the one I removed. Also the 'story' behind the piece is set on one of the platforms nearby. If you are ever in the area, drop in for some lovely food. Here are some pictures to help you find where the new print is. He he.

Joint Exhibition at Crystal Palace Station

August 31, 2013 Matt Bannister

Photographer James Balston and I installed our mini exhibition of prints, this week, at Brown and Green Café, Crystal Palace Station. All the work is related to the Crystal Palace area. My stuff has been inspired by the dinosaur and sphinx sculptures in Crystal Palace Park and the disused subway as mentioned many a time on this blog. James' photos are of the subway itself, and really capture the lovely (if unloved) Victorian brickwork down there. Lucky ballot winners for the Open House Weekend (21st September) will be able to visit the structure later next month. James and I were really lucky to be granted access when we did.

All the works are for sale. My prints can be bought here: bannisterimages.bigcartel.com, and James can be contacted via his websites here: jamesbalston.squarespace.com or thetrianglese19.blogspot.co.uk.

That's not me buying a coffee but if you look, you can see James in the distance behind the cakes.