Tuesday, 26 January 2010

LONG TIME NO BLOG

Disgraceful:that's what adding running a gallery to an already busy schedule does for you.
Our next show starts on sunday!


DARK TOWN
Throughout February the PRESS Gallery
at 151 High Street will have
An Illuminating Exhibition
of new work
from the
Legendary Jonny Hannah

Loads and Loads of Lovely Printed Stuff –
silk-screened books and prints,
lino-cuts, cards, T- shirts and
his unique hand painted cut-outs on board,

Featuring Luscious Lettering
with a range of very reasonable prices
and guaranteed to bring some joy
and razzmatazz to a dark month.

We will also have some very unusual
Valentine Cards!

THE TOM PAINE PRINTING PRESS & PRESS Gallery
151 High Street, Lewes (opposite the Bull House)

It looks better like this.....


but you might not be able to read it
Anyway it should be a really great show.

We kept Dmitry's work for ages as it was so popular and we have quite a range of little private press and Artists Books for sale now and people seem very interested in seeing what we have. The Press is up and running and Peter gathered up some more type over christmas. We've got card toy theatres and artists cards, specialist books on lettering and typography; and plans for more interesting shows throughout the year, including lettering used in paper cuts, lettering and ceramics and something Carnavalesque for Lent.

I'm playing around making woodcut valentine cards at the moment based on 17th century Emblem Books to get back into work again after too much chocolate and long walks in the snow

However I did fulfill my resolution and make a pilgrimage to the Green Chapel on New Years Eve (daytime!)to help get me in the mood for this year's Perceval book.
The Green Chapel, home of the Green Knight, is reputed to be in Staffordshire in The Roches at a place called Lud's Church; a cleft in the ground where the persecuted Lollards of the 15th?? century used to hold their services apparently.
Despite heavy snow on hills around, making many of the small roads impassable ( near Flash - one of the highest villages in England) - this valley was miraculously green and we toiled up a hill not knowing what to expect, when all of a sudden we plunged into the chasm - which was spectacular and scrambled for what seemed a very long way before emerging into the woods again.
An extraordinary place.
And the Green Knight himself clear as clear on the rock face - the camera homed in on him immediately itself.
There must be some strange magnetic forces around as my camera card immediately failed and unformatted itself, so the following pics are courtesy of my son Will:


You have to imagine the icicles and ferns and green gloom.....

Apart from this the year has got off to a good start with lots of plans and feelers stretching out into the year; some book fairs coming up - of which more news anon; some good discussions with Victoria at Kaleid Editions, with Tereza Buskova at an event in a soon-to-be demolished block in Soho, with Ruth at Illustration magazine - and all sorts of possible interesting projects
as well as the ongoing books I am working on.
I'll try and put out some more details next month.

Really enjoyed the Dark Monarch exhibition at the Towner - I could see no way to get to St Ives in midwinter so was so relieved to find it was coming so close to home - highly recommend it.
Ditto the Kienholz Hoerengracht at the National Gallery.

Friday, 27 November 2009

First Exhibition at PRESS , 151 High Street, Lewes






We put up the exhibition of prints and books of Dmitry Sayenko today, with the help of Peter Flanagan who also took these photos;many thanks Peter.
Last tidying up to do tomorrow...
The show will be up for 2 weeks until 13th december, when we will take down anything sold and reorganise with new stock until christmas.

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Saturday, 14 November 2009

Oxford Fine Press Fair and after





The UK Fine Press Book Fair at Oxford Brookes University last weekend was a happy event as usual. For a very good resume of the state of the art read Sebastian Carter's excellent full page article in October 30th TLS ( no.5561 ) ( where he was also kind enough to give me a mention).
There seems to be a good feeling of moving forward within the association and a good variety of books on show. I was very happy to be awarded one of the Judges prizes for my large And Other Fairy Tales - in itself a recognition that 'arty-er'types of hand-made books are being welcomed on board and that all kinds of aesthetics can co-exist happily.
My personal favourites were as usual - Shanty Bay Press from Canada, and my dear friend Dmitry Sayenko - Nikodim Press from Russia ( who again managed to share Lewes Bonfire with us just before the Fair).I forgot to photograph Shanty Bay's stall this year ( tho they are in the middle of producing another large pochoir book still unfinished - Walter's monoprints are also beautiful) and I'm afraid all the photos are rather blurry as it was dark in the hall, and I found half way round the M25 at 6 a.m that I had forgotton my glasses and a hastily purchased pair of reading glasses failed to really do the biz...
here is Dmitry's stand..





Our other news is that we have taken on new premises in Lewes at 151 High Street - near the Bottleneck traffic lights at the top end of the town.
Primarily a new dry home for the Tom Paine Printing Press ( the shop is right opposite the Bull House where Tom Paine lived and worked as Customs officer and tobacconist for 6 years, which is an ideal position ) it will be Peter's workspace for his letterpress and where he can give classes for those interested.
The Tom Paine Press is an educative and non-profit making enterprise to promote Tom Paine's profile in Lewes and show a hands-on approach to printing, but we need to pay the rent so we will also be putting on small shows of prints, printed matter and Artists Books..
starting with a show of Dmitry's prints and books at the end of November ( once the press is completely up and running again - it moved in in pieces last week )and a special display of small stocking fillers for Lewes Late Night Shopping on Thursday 3rd December - watch this space...
Peter will be printing broadsheets - he produced some for Lewes Bonfire - a few still remaining, plus some Tom Paine pounds...and working with poets who would like to produce single sheets or small pamphlets of their work, with or without images

and I will be able to make use of his skills as well...
The 'shop' will be called PRINT






I will shortly be exhibiting at Kaleid Editions

The grand Plasto-Baader-Books
2-24 December 2009
On the 1st of December 2009, KALEID will be
transformed into a cavernous assemblage of unique
artists’ books selected for their originality and
conceptual response to the book form. Curated by
Deeqa Ismail and Aylin Kunter, the group show will
involve an international network of artists working
closely with KALEID editions.
In 1920 Johannes Baader erected Das Grosse Plasto-
Dio-Dada-Drama as part of the First International
Dada-Messe. “It looked like the aftermath of an accident
between a trolley car and a newspaper kiosk” . Inspired
by this original architectural feat, Ismail and Kunter will
select artists to show individual or collections of unique
artists’ books during London’s festive season.
KALEID is a contemporary artists’ books project and
retail space located on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch
close to Artwars Project Space, Trolley Gallery, Maverick
Show Rooms, Museum 52, the Boundary and
Shoreditch House Members Club.

Unit 2, 23-25 Redchurch Street,
London. E2 7DJ
0785 213 825
deeqa@kaleideditions.com
www.kaleideditions.com
Wednesday to Saturday, 12-7pm
Late night Thursdays and
informal Sundays

I will also be showing in Brighton at
SIX
Judy Stevens' Open House
6 Clifton Street Brighton
BN1 3PH

( very near Brighton Station )

weekends 28/29 November
5/6 December
12/13 December

12-6
watch this space for more details...

Monday, 28 September 2009

Book Fairs

I was going to put an image or two of my stand at the Whitechapel Art Book Fair,
but for some reason I can't upload them at the moment...
but the important thing is that the NEXT fair is the
Oxford Fine Press Book Fair
at Oxford Brookes University - Gypsy Lane Oxford
- 7th and 8th of November ( 11-6 saturday, 10-5 sunday )

I'll be there, alongside 70 other private presses from the UK and overseas

www.fpba.com
and click on Fairs for all the details

Friday, 4 September 2009

Proper Details



Apparently late means about 9 o'clock on friday night; don't forget to RSVP to the Whitechapel if you want to be at the PV.

Meanwhile, I'll be at another weekend of our Open House tomorrow....Paul and Michelle, who I got to know last weekend, have put a kind comment on Paul's blog...
http://www.paulsartblog.co.uk