James Dean Bradfield - Even in Exile

I just posted this over on ‘Happening Now’ then realised it should really be a blog post, so here it is…

It’s finally out of the bag so I can shout it from the rooftops, but I’ve spent the first half of this year working on the artwork and design for a new solo album by James Dean Bradfield of the Manic Street Preachers. As any of you who know about my life-long obsession with rock music will appreciate, it’s pretty much a dream gig for me.

You can preorder the album in its various formats from today HERE

If you want to hear some music from the album there are several tracks available on the usual streaming platforms, or you can watch this great moody video below, directed by Kieran Evans, for my personal favourite, ‘There’ll Come a War’.

The album is inspired by the Chilean singer-songwriter-activist, Victor Jara, who was murdered in the first days of the Pinochet regime, with lyrics written by Patrick Jones. If you want to know more, a great documentary popped up on Netflix earlier this year about Jara, called ‘Massacre at the Stadium’.

The Murenger and Other Stories

One of the things I’ve been working on this year is imminently being release on the world, in the form of a book cover and some images/illustrations inside the book.

Earlier this year I was apparoached by the writer Jon Gower who asked if I’d be interested in making some work in response to a new series of short stories he’d been writing. I’ve known Jon for a few years and was excited, in part, by the proposition of working with him, but also in using the site of a book as a space for which to make work. Things moved pretty quickly in the end and the book is already ready to be released.

It will be launched at The Murenger House, Newport, on Wednesday Dec 4th at 7.30pm. All are welcome and it will be a chance to buy copies of the book, which I’m sure Jon may even sign for you. I’ll be there too.

If you can’t make it to the launch, you can buy the book from various bookstores and also direct from the publishers - https://threeimpostors.co.uk/

Building Proposals (and Kate Nash)...

Just released by Nick Davies is a new project that I’m really proud to be part of. Nick is a really interesting artist, focussing most of his energies in to making publications. As such, he often flies a little under the radar, but if you look at the work he’s produced over the years it’s a growing body that anyone would be proud of.

This latest one is called ‘Building Proposals’ - made in response to the 50th anniversary of ‘Fantastic Architecture’ by Nick Higgins and Wolf Vostell (if you click their names it should you take you to a PDF of that publication. Not sure if it’s hosted legally or not, but it’s well worth a look).

Nick’s publication is a boxed work containing responses by 22 artists and 1 architect. The list of folks involved is pretty impressive - Chris Agnew, Sovay Berriman, Ricardo Bloch, Simon and Tom Bloor, Paul Carter, Stuart Crewes, Ryan Curtis, Nick Davies, Polly Gregson, S Mark Gubb, Gabrielle Hoad, Evy Jokhova, Scott King, Sean Lynch, Alex Murdin, Emily Speed, Simon Starling, Mark Titchner, Charlie Tweed, Paul Unett, Ian Watson, Bedwyr Williams, Sam Venables.

He’s only produced it in an edition of 69 (after the year it came out) and you can buy them for £25 through his website. I’d move quick if you want one as I imagine wit will sell out pretty fast.

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Secondly (and absolutely nothing to do with Nick or the publication), I wanted to flag up the Storyville documentary about Kate Nash - Underestimate the Girl. I’d not heard about it until yesterday when my friend, Kelly Best, told me about it. We were having a conversation about art and the art world (Kelly is an artist too) and the self-serving nature of the industry that surrounds you as an artist, and this documentary came up in conversation. I’ve just watched it today and it’s superb.

I’m a total sucker for music documentaries anyway, but this is a really interesting study of the reality of being a ‘successful’ artist, which could apply across pretty much any field - the struggle to retain integrity and the freedom to pursue your art on your own terms.

Watch it, it’s really good: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p07ctstz/kate-nash-underestimate-the-girl

Joe Wicks in a Tin Foil Hat

At the start of the year I was invited to make a new work for a, primarily, online project space called Tail of the Pup. The invitation said it could be anything I wanted really and that people often approached it as a space to show something tangential to their practice or drawn from their research.

I thought about it for a while and kept coming back to a slight obsession I’ve had with a memory from Eastenders back in the 90s, of the character Joe Wicks wearing a tin foil hat. I won’t say much more as it’s all contained within the project itself, but go and take a look. There’s a specially produced downloadable PDF and everything.

For my project on their site, click HERE!

...and they're open! Gubb + Boshier at Mostyn, Llandudno

So, the shows are finally up and open. It feels like it’s been a long time coming and, at last, other people can enjoy the fruits of mine and Derek’s conversations that began back in 2016 and have culminated in these shows. I'd never call myself a curator, but have throughly enjoyed the extended conversation and opportunity to engage with such an extensive, and well known, body of work in an attempt to draw out something new.

I’ll be adding a proper section to this website just as soon as I find some time and space to do so, but in the meantime, below are a few images of the shows, taken by the excellent Jamie Woodley. The show itself runs until the end of June, so you’ve plenty of time to make a trip to North Wales and enjoy the chips and Victorian splendour of this seaside town.

There’s also going to be a publication containing some of the images you’ll see below. Watch out for an announcement through social media when that arrives with the gallery.

Thanks to all involved, particularly the gallery staff and their excellent tech-team, Robert Fraser’s Groovy Arts Club Band, Gazelli Art House, Arts Council Wales, The University of Worcester and the wonderful man himself, Derek Boshier