“Over and Over (Again and Again)” – Fresh layers, new growth, star growth, Starz. Acrylic on canvas, 50cm x 40cm (April 2018)
“Over and Over (Again and Again)” – Acrylic on canvas, 50cm x 40cm (April 2018)
Daily Conclusion 423 (59/365/2018 – Feb 28th). On recycled cardboard
The notion of a smaller painting brought to a completed conclusion on every day started back on January 1st 2017, not a painting started and finished on the same day, just one of the many paintings that tend to be happening and evolving in the studio at all the same time brought to a completed conclusion (right now there’s around twenty half finished smaller paintings as well as several much larger ones here in the studio). The notion was originally to end on December 31st, somehow it didn’t, it was originally a year long challenge I set myself, I rather enjoyed the discipline of having to do it though, so until it stops being a positive thing and starts to become a burden then on the notion will go on. I need to draw or paint every day, a day is not complete until paint has touched canvas (or wood or vinyl or…).
Daily Conclusion 408 (44/365/2018 – Feb 13th). On a recycled piece of fridge
And I do rather like the mass-production pop art aspect of it all, I do like the idea of producing so much work that there’s very little monetary value in any of it, that a piece of art can be on sale for little more than you’d pay for a much-loved CD or a cake and cup of coffee or a couple of pints, I kind of like that people can enjoy buying a small piece of art without it being about money and the value and the big price ticket, I like that some of them can be left on the street for people to take or that the pieces can be on sale (of course paint costs money and bills need to be paid so if you do see a piece you like and it isn’t in the shop, then do please ask, I may still have it here in the studio). Today I am mostly working on a big canvas piece that will hopefully be part of a solo show of larger work later this year….
Daily Concluded paintings, Jan 2018
#365ArtDrop18 – 49/365, a leaf left hanging on The Strand, London,
Bridges over the Thames, Chip shop walls, abandoned tube stations, the year-long #365ArtDrop18 piece of work goes on, there been 53 of the 365 paintings left out for people to take now, there would have been quite a few more but the weather so far this year really hasn’t been favourable in terms of leaving art hanging on walls. Last week pieces were left down by the Thames, indeed a piece left on a bridge over the Thames. pieces were left all over town…
#365ArtDrop18 – 53/365, a leaf left hanging by a bridge over the River Thames, London,
Pieces were left on The Strand, outside the old and now abandoned Aldwych tube station (or Strand station as it says on the front of the now bricked up building). A piece left hanging on the wall of an East London chip shop was soon claimed by a little girl in red boots (almost as soon as I hung it, she got her dad to get it down for her). The interaction is a big part of the piece of work of course, the use of the hashtag and the hope that we hear about where this year’s pieces have got to is a very big part of the year-long piece, the photos of people with their pieces and such…..
#365ArtDrop18 – 46/365, a leaf left hanging in East London, and quickly claimed…
We know that of the 53 pieces left hanging in London so far, that pieces have been found and taken to Belgium, Portugal, Germany, as well as various parts of the United Kingdom. Alas this time, people are telling us they’ve found them via private message or by leaving comments under photos we’ve posted on social media, or by sending in very bad photos of just the piece of work and with no real context, I thought this was the selfie generation? Come on, let’s see you with the piece, or go hold by a sign for your town or at least your cat, where have those pieces gone? Tell us the stories…
Click on an images to enlarge or ot run the slide show of some of the recent pieces left…
“The Luck of a Thousand Stars” – Acrylic, brushwork, spray paint, marker pen, gloss varnish on recycled wooden board in a recycled found Ikea frame – for when a frame is thrown out leaves and stars will grow in it – 55cm x 75cm, (March 2018)
Fresh star growth, new layers in a found frame (and when a frame is thrown out and left on the street then things will grow in it). This frame was found on the Hackney street a couple of weeks back, the Spring growth and the new layers have been evolving in the dark of the studio here in East London ever since – “Stargrowth”, acrylic, gloss varnish on recycled hardboard in a found frame, 68cm x 55cm, (February 2018).
“Stargrowth”, acrylic, gloss varnish on recycled hardboard in a found frame, 68cm x 55cm, (February 2018).
#365ArtDrop18 – 365/16, a leaf left in East London
Another #365ArtDrop18 piece – 16/365 – A leaf painted, the 16th of 365 artdrop pieces that, all being well, will happen in 2018, a 16th piece painted on and in a recycled found frame, a small red frame that had a photo in it and the glass still intact when I found it and pulled out of a skip and hopefully rescued from landfill. The frame is now black, the glass cleaned up, a leaf has grown inside it and…. And last night it was left hanging on a wall under another bridge in East London, left there on the way home from a rather impressive Lennie Lee exhibition, left hanging next to a Thierry Noir piece for someone to take should they wish to. The hashtag is on the back, will it be taken? Will the hashtag be used? Will it find a home or will it end up in landfill anyway? The hashtag is important, we would like to know where these pieces go, I believe part five is now somewhere in Belgium?
#365ArtDrop18 – 365/10, a leaf left in East London
Part ten, a pieces painted on a block of wood, was left under a different railway bride a few days back, part fourteen was left by a cash machine in East London on the same day. Part thirteen, fifteen and seventeen are still in my bag waiting for the right time and place, there’s a couple of dozen finished pieces waiting to be numbered here in the studio, waiting for the spring to kick in and weather to be more in line with the notion of hanging art out on the street without it being blown away. I anticipate an outburst of drops as soon as Spring arrives (I can’t move in my studio).
Click on an image to enlarge or to run the fractured slide show
#365ArtDrop18 5/365 – A leaf left, the 5th of 365 artdrop pieces of 2018
One piece of work in 365 parts, a year-long piece of work and the notion, once more, of 365 pieces carefully dropped. 365 things picked up off the street, things saved from skips, piece of wood, frames, unwanted canvas, pieces of vinyl too scratched to play, and when things like that are thrown out then leaves will grow on them. Another 365 Paintings on things found, things recycled, painted on, and then left back out there on the street again for people to take should they wish to.
A #365ArtDrop piece from 2016 found
This year the hashtag on the back of the pieces is #365ArtDrop18 and once again as it was with the year-long piece in 2016 the hashtag is there for people to engage with the piece of work. Once again people are encouraged to post photos of themselves with the pieces they choose to take, encouraged to post on social media and use the hashtag, we’re looking to see where the pieces have got to this time and the photos of people with their pieces are very much part of the year-long piece again . In 2016, pieces left most in London ended up hanging on walls in homes, bars, galleries and more all over the globe. Why do it again? Well why not? the 365ArtDrop piece is 2016 was extremely rewarding, engaging, I found it exciting, I think others did as well, the e.mails and message suggest to us they did. There’s a certain pleasure to be found in hanging art on the street rather then in a gallery, why only do it once?
This year’s piece is under way then, pieces are being hung, never dropped, always carefully hung, placed, it isn’t one piece a day, it might be that several “drops” happen on a particular day and then nothing for a week, we’re not going to leave pieces out in the win and rain, I expect an outburst of pieces out there once winter starts to finally give way to spring, there’s a build up of pieces painted in January waiting for a decent day when they can be hung out with being blown away. Some of the pieces will be newly painted pieces, some of the drops might be paintings from last year, some will have been painted on the same day that they’re dropped, all will have been painted on material picked up from the street, material recycled, things that were heading for landfill. A year-long piece of work then, a piece of work in 365 parts, please do use the hashtag, the engagement is an important part of this piece….
Click on an image or to fun the slide show…
