Take a look at AEROSOL, our new exhibition inspired by street art, music and popular culture…
Summer 2016 is here (we think?) which means it’s time for Liverpool to be filled with all things creative and cultured as events across the city unfold.
From Liverpool Biennial to LIMF (Liverpool International Music Festival), summer in the city is always jam-packed full of things to see and do. These internationally renowned events give Liverpool’s thriving arts and music community the platform to showcase the best of local home-grown talent.
If you have been out and about exploring the 2016 Liverpool Biennial, you may have come across a number of #BiennialFringe events which have been lovingly curated by The Double Negative and compiled in a newly published Hidden Gems newspaper by Liverpool Artist’s Network (both of which can be found at our gallery!
From 15 July until 3 September, our #BiennialFringe exhibition, AEROSOL, will be open at dot-art gallery on Queen Avenue. It features work by three dot-art Artist Members whose work employs the use of spray paint and explores the range of styles, imagery and subjects encompassed by the medium.
United through their shared expertise of mixed media, the exhibition showcases abstracts, landscapes and graphical artworks created with spray paint by the three featured artists. Influenced by the medium’s movement, style, culture and function, AEROSOL’s exhibited artworks are bold, vibrant and contemporary compositions influenced by music and popular culture.
We take a closer look at each artist and how music has influenced their work…
David Andrews
While Pop Art is always an inspiration for David, this is the first chance he has had to combine it with his graffiti style to create a series of new contemporary screenprinted portraits. This series focuses on some of the best musicians the world has ever known, who all tragically died aged 27; Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain & Amy Winehouse. Most of the screenprinting positives have been painted or drawn, then printed and finished by hand in a Cyan, Magenta, Yellow & Black colour scheme. This method delivers a combined outcome which is joyfully expressive in its mark-making with the neatness and meticulous attention to detail of a digitally-produced, graphic design. Limited edition prints are available both framed and unframed.
As the causes of the featured musician’s deaths have been outside factors such as drugs, suicide and alcohol, David will be donating 10% of his sales to the charity Help Musicians UK. They recently launched their mental health campaign, which aims to break down stigma and start conversations for the first time within the music industry about depression and other conditions linked to mental and emotional wellbeing. Working alongside the University of Westminster and MusicTank, the charity will reach out to stakeholders across a broad age and genre range in pursuit of a more inclusive and holistic reflection of the state of musicians’ mental health and industry practice.
To find out more about the project, click here.
‘Joplin’, ‘Winehouse’, ‘Hendrix’ and ‘Morrison’ part of David Andrews ’27 Club’ series
Jessica Arrowsmith Stanley
Jessica’s exhibited work has been influenced by her recent explorations of Catalonian culture in Barcelona. From the colours to the culture and the patterns in between, Jessica combines Liverpool’s iconic architecture and monuments with the Catalan spirit of north-eastern Spain. In a recent interview with Rex: The Concept Store about our partner event, AEROSOL Live, Jessica was asked whether there was a song or album that she enjoyed working to? She answered, ‘I can’t listen to an album all the way through. I think my attention bounces around a little too much for one set of songs to hold it, I need a little bit of chaos elsewhere so I can concentrate’. This concentrated chaos is evident in her most recent works which are collisions of colour, pattern and media.
‘This Is Where I’ll Be’ and ‘This Must Be The Place’ by Jessica Arrowsmith-Stanley
Nathan Pendlebury
Nathan’s selection of paintings for AEROSOL span from different parts of his portfolio and were painted between 2012 and 2016. They are connected by two colours; red and blue; which feature in every one of the paintings chosen. They are also connected by the image of a cloud, something which features heavily in his recent work. Works include a limited edition fine art print taken from a recent commission for a Jake Bugg album cover, a transcription of a Constable painting, as well as landscapes and faces which relate to neo-expressionism as much as urban imagery.
In a recent interview with Culture 24, Nathan commented, ‘I always painted square paintings as a homage to the music scene. Being such a lover of music, it was a way of me putting something I love into my work.’ Whether it’s the vibrancy, soul or places where music can take you, Nathan’s powerful and poetic abstracts will charge you with the same energy that comes from your most favourite song.
To watch Nathan and Jake Bugg discuss the cover art for new album, On My One, click here.
‘Amaranthene’, ‘Happy Go-Laughey’ and ‘Upside Down Smile’ by Nathan Pendlebury
AEROSOL continues until Saturday 3 September.
Visit dot-art Gallery on Queen Avenue, Monday – Saturday, 10:00 – 18:00.
To see more from the exhibition, Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
#AEROSOL16
#BiennialFringe
Photos courtesy of Sam Phillips