Hasta La Ideas

A city forever changing, dotted with many historic attributes: A resort location starting in the mid-1850s near enough to New York City and Philadelphia, the longest continuous boardwalk in the world, the East Coast’s original gambling capital, further popularized by television culture. Of…

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“Everybody has yellow inside. For us it’s a very spiritual color. It’s something that happens very naturally when we work in the studio, when we are drawing. Everyday we go to work in the room and it’s yellow because of the lights that come in the window. Sometimes in the house of my mother, we take one room and use it as our studio. All our drawings from this time are orange, yellow, red, hot. The night is too cold outside. All the colors you see are how we feel. When you feel the night knocking on your window, you need to be yellow, keep yellow. All the colors you see are improvised, everything we do is improvised. We never know which color we going to put on the clothes or character, it just happens.”

-Brazilian artists Os Gêmeos in an interview with Paper

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Hey, Hey Mobile 1965, Illustration for London Life magazine

Ian Dury’s promising early career as an artist and illustrator is celebrated in More Than Fair, a show at his former college, the Royal College of Art, in London

Dany Bubbles c1963-66, Pencil and acrylic (framed) 29″ x 20″

Before he became a much-loved and brilliantly witty singer and songwriter with, first Kilburn and the High Roads and, later, The Blockheads, Ian Dury showed a great deal of promise as an artist and illustrator. Dury studied Painting at the Royal College of Art between 1963 and 1966 where he was taught by Sir Peter Blake. During his time at the College, Dury developed a unique Pop style that combined text, bold colour and photorealist elements to reference a growing culture of music and celebrity.

Lee Marvin 1968, Pencil (unframed) 30″ x 22″

His work is celebrated at Ian Dury: More Than Fair – Paintings, Drawings and Artworks, 1961–1972, an exhibition at the RCA (above) which is on until September 1. The show was put together by Dury’s daughter Jemima who spent two years assembling her father’s collection of paintings and drawings, and garnering financial support for the exhibition both through a Kickstarter campaign and donations from amongst others, the actor Andy Serkis and singer Robbie Williams.

Tony Bennett 1965, front cover for London Life magazine

Regular CR readers will remember that we featured Dury’s work in our piece on London Life magazine. The short-lived 60s weekly was put together by a ‘dream team’ of contributors including David Bailey, Jean Shrimpton and Davd Puttnam. It was art directed by David Hilman who brought Dury (then still a student) in to contribute occasional illustrations.

“He was a friend of Brian Love, who was one of those multitalented people,” says Hillman. “They were at the Royal College together. Brian used to do stuff for me at the Sunday Times and said ‘I know a very nice young guy who could do some things for you’. This hairy monster came in and muttered ‘Alright Dave’. He did a couple of jobs on London Life and a bit on The Sunday Times but he’d already started a band. I thought it was a great shame because he was a very talented illustrator but I’m sure he made a lot more money being a pop star.”

Read the full feature here.

Jemima Proust, 1969 , Aquatec, sequins and varnish

Sir Bernard and Lady Docker 1966, pencil and pastel (unframed) 24″ x 32″

To commemorate the opening of the show, Sir Peter Blake has produced ta limited edition print of Dury which is on sale for £200 at www.iandury.co.uk. All proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Support, Graeae Theatre and Kids Co.

Ian Dury: More Than Fair – Paintings, Drawings and Artworks, 1961–1972 is at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU until September 1. Open 11am–6pm; Sundays: 12–5pm. Closed Mondays

What’s better than making sandcastles? Watching artists make sandcastles while enjoying summery snacks and refreshments! Our friends at Creative Time are heading back out to Far Rockaway, Queens on Friday, August 9th to host the organization’s second annual artist sandcastle competition. A group of selected artists and their teams will gather on the sand near the Beach 86th Street boardwalk to battle it out for special prizes from esteemed judges. The free-and-open-to-the-public day of fun will kick off at noon, with castle-building starting at 2:00 p.m. A post-awards party is planned for that evening at Rippers.

While you have your calendar out, circle October 25th and 26th, the dates of this year’s Creative Time Summit at NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. The freshly expanded conference, titled “Art, Place, and Dislocation in the 21st-Century City,” will bring together artists, activists, students, critics, curators, and other culture vultures for more than 30 presentations by the likes of Vito Acconci, Lucy Lippard, Rick Lowe, and Rebecca Solnit (and maybe you?) as well as on-stage debates, short films, and regional reports by leading curators. A new “pay-what-you-choose” ticket pricing structure ensures that the event will fit your budget. continued…

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Sheffield Printmakers are looking for artists from South Yorkshire and beyond to take part in a one-day Sheffield Print Fair in November.

The fair will take place at St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane on November 16 and applications are open to anyone using digital or hand printed techniques.

“As far as I know, no-one has organised a dedicated print fair in Sheffield but there’s definitely a growing interest in printed art in the region,” says Sheffield Printmakers member and co-organiser James Green.

The group is looking for at least 32 artists to take part and is hoping to host live printing demonstrations throughout the day.

“A lot of people are interested in printmaking but don’t really know how the processes and machines work, so we want to show visitors a few different techniques,” adds Green.

Sheffield Printmakers is a group of 30 full and part-time artists formed after members took part in an exhibition for charity Water Aid last year. With no dedicated print workshop in Sheffield, group members work from their own homes and studios, but are planning to set up an open access space in the city.

“We’re in talks about opening somewhere that people can pay to use by the hour and attend print making workshops. We’d also like to curate more events and exhibitions – and run another art fair next year,” says Green.

Sheffield Printmakers will be accepting print fair applications until August 30. For details and to apply visit sheffieldprintmakers.com

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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.