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

Crystal Palace Overground Festival - Inspired By The Subway

August 25, 2014 Matt Bannister

Back at the end of June, I joined the masses at the Crystal Palace Overground Festival, and helped out on the Friends of Crystal Palace Subway 'Inspired By The Subway' stall.

Regular readers of my blog will know my interest and artistic connections with the Victorian subway at the edge of Crystal Palace Park. The stall was there to promote the existence of the structure to people and also as a small platform for artists to sell their artworks inspired by the wonderful arches down there.

Despite the odd downpour, I found it great fun working with the other artists and volunteers throughout the day. Some of the artists selling their wares on the day included photographer James Balston, Sinead Taylor and Julian Davies.

I found being able to meet people who like your work face to face was really inspiring, and not something you can appreciate if you sell work via the web (or through other shops).

One of Sinead's prints. Photo © Jules Hussey.

Thanks to everyone who let me use their photos, including Joel Antunes who took the black and white shot of me on my own. Keep your eyes peeled for some Subway related art at the forthcoming Open House Weekend in September 2014. More details can be found on the Friends of Crystal Palace Subway website. If you can't wait until then, you can always visit my online shop: bannisterimages.bigcartel.com

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.

Please Use Other Footpath

July 9, 2014 Matt Bannister

Are there too many people in central London?

This new image was inspired by that feeling I get sometimes when London isn't quite as fun as it should be. All it takes is a stuffy tube ride, a cancelled train home, feeling travel sick on the bus, etc. and even the most loyal Londoner thinks it might be healthier to live by a babbling river in the Oxfordshire countryside. This is not peculiar to Londoners, I'm sure. All modern (and historical) city dwellers have bad days when they wished they had the streets to themselves.

The apparent onslaught of quickly built skyscrapers is due to arrive any week now, if you believe what you read. We may all like the shining pinnacles when they are complete, but I think it is a genuine worry for people. They don't seem to be for anyone other than rich corporate boardroom goers. Architecturally, it could end up as a pissing contest - my urban erection is bigger than yours!

However, despite all this, my image ended up being quite pretty with a low sun, dramatic shadows and warm colours. Hopefully it bodes well for the future: even glass and steel can look attractive in the right light. I call it 'Please Use Other Footpath'.

Pick and Mix People

July 1, 2014 Matt Bannister

A combined post, methinks: incorporating a couple of different but both figure-based images.

Tattoo 123

illustration of the backs of three nude women

I felt that I should do something with the life drawings I've been producing in the last year. This was one of my favourites - the back of a woman drawn with a charcoal pencil. To liven things up, and to create interest, I've added scans of some old textured paper and experimented with colour. So many people have tattoos these days, so I tried to think of unlikely subjects for a back 'stencil'. There are a few hints of consumerism, London life, ageing, and the labelling/branding of people within this if you look.

Regent's Park Sketch

I had a Saturday afternoon to myself the other day, so on a scorching June day I headed up to Regent's Park, north London for some people watching. I found a friendly bench, plugged into a BBC Radio 4 Ray Bradbury drama, and relaxed. Actually, it was a bit too warm for concerted drawing, so I only managed this page of my sketchbook. The main problem was that except for the woman sitting on the floor, everyone else was moving. I had a few seconds to choose them, take a mental photo and start drawing. The little dog with the ball was definitely the hardest of all! At one point, a little group of rowdy 11 year olds bounded over asking what I was drawing. Comments ranged from "Are you an artist??", "How do you do that? Are you just looking and drawing it?" to a chorus of "That is sick!": sick being the current word for cool / good / well bad / ace / top / skill depending on how old you are, reader.