Piero Gilardi

Born in Torino, Italy in 1942, and currently living in Nottingham, Piero Gilardi influenced the development of Arte Povera (poor art) in Italy in the late 1960s. He was the most politically engaged artist of this art movement, always creating social relations through art, and from 1963 to 1985 he collaborated his work and ever since his work has always consisted of interactive sculptures and his creative work is influenced by social and political movements. Recent sculptures and work Gilardi has produced, explore anti-austerity and environmental campaigns in Italy, revealing him as an important precursor of participatory and socially-engaged art practices today.
His exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary features his interactive sculptures based on natural motifs, including his celebrated Nature Carpets. Gilardi’s Nature Carpets are highly colourful, realistic sculptures of slices of nature made from carved and painted foam. Gilardi encouraged people to use them, to pick them up and to lie on them, which goes against the norm of the strict 'Do Not Touch' rule in every gallery I have been to. He does this because he wants his work to offer new ways of thinking about an individuals interaction with his or her environment. He created the 'nature carpets' in 1965 thinking of them as examples of the interior décor of the outside, and foam to Gilardi felt welcoming and interacted with the body for its light playful function. Even though other early sculptures were designed to be worn as clothing but they are now too delicate to be physically engaged with but visitors are invited to interact with a few similar recent works in the exhibition. Being able to handle his work almost felt wrong. I still felt a pang of guilt, and at first I was double checking to see if it was really okay to touch Gilardi's work. This interaction combined with the theatrical stage-like appearance of his work, enhances the idea of being involved. Being part of the performance, as in the late 60's, at a time of great political turmoil in Italy, he left the art world altogether, becoming a “creative facilitator” of street theatre and demonstrations for a range of radical causes – workers’ revolution, the anti psychiatry movement, radical youth groups, and the rights of indigenous people around the world. This work took the form of making sculptural props and choreographing actions, which you can see in his current work he produces today out of his favourite cheap material; foam, carved and painted. The interactive material combined with realistic replicas of natural objects, I believe Gilardi truly exorcizes the death of nature.

John Newling

John Newling studied at North Staffs Polytechnic doing Fine Art and Sculpture. Then he went to Chelsea to do an MA. He was given a fellowship at Wolverhampton in the 70's for 3 years. Newling has always been very lucky, discovered in London by well known art critics. This recongnition gave him the opportunity to live in America for 9 months where he produced work on the streets. Currently based and living in Nottingham, Newling is an international acclaimed installation artist and pioneer of public art, exploring the natural world and heavily inspired by the social and economic systems of society – such as money or religion. So the way in which Newling works and what ideas and materials he works with, he aims to combine radical new thinking with practical action to deliver positive social change.

The first section of the exhibition plays with these two ideas, exhibiting replicas of high street cash machines made in copper, large glass bowls stained with the dirt and debris cleaned from the surface of 50,000 two pence coins and glass cabinets that confine items inside which relate to the act of taking communion in the Christian church.

His second section features new artworks inspired by the natural world and its ecological systems. He grew and harvested over 80 cabbages, and used these to create sculptural artworks through horticultural processes. These can be seen to change physically over the course of the exhibition, as they dry and harden, which is one of the reasons Newling became interested in their use value, they don't stay the same forever because it is a living breathing object. This is perhapse what he is trying to suggest in this piece to the right; the cabbages metaphorically represent a pair of lungs, and are presented on a lightbox on the wall, suggesting an x-ray. His message is probably trying to show the environmental issues of today; we are destroying plant life, and plant life is what breathes oxygen into the world. See, the leaves overlap and have dried out by the time I had visited this exhibition in Nottingham Contemporary, suggesting the death of oxygen as we continue to destroy trees and the environment, whether it be an increase in CO2 emissions or urban development. There is less oxygen. The lungs are shriveling up as a result. The work of Newling is inspired by and clearly deals with current issues of today such as social, environmental and economic systems of todays society, expressing through very simple sculptures and framed pieces. I think the simplicity is what strikes the audience, but for me, I personally like the idea and the message Newling is trying to show. It does make you think really hard at first to understand what this message is. Then I suppose sometime art isn't supposed to be understood or got, it is supposed to touch you, to move you. But I am not moved by the work of newling. I find his work to be too much of a scientific experement than a finished piece of work. Though the lungs on the light box have reason to be there, they have significant purpose. It does make you think and the message touches me. For the rest of his work, it failes to interest me and I just didn't take anything away from his work, but the pair of lungs.

agnes-cecile

Like pages of a diary, Agnes-cecile's portraits are a collection of memories, only she refuses to express the very thought of these moments, rather defining the emotions and not the story. Aesthetic simplicity breathes, flutters and rushes across the page, painting intensified expressions that bleed into each other and fall like rain drops. Washy abstract aspects in her paintings are mixed with a strong realism, which even those who are not interested in the abstract are suddenly attracted to Agnes-cesile's work, because the recognisable figure in each painting acts as an anchor. The abstract in her work is an extension of the subject. However, the hidden meaning of each painting is expressed through her recognisable technique, represented through colour and the body language of the figure, but her message is just her inner thought, a memorandum just for her. But the heavy use of colour and the technique combined almost confines her personal experienses and feelings that inspried each painting, that the meaning is versitile, interpretated differently to who looks at her work. Provoking a contrast in emotional response to each individual. That is exactly what the Italian painter strives to achieve, she wants the paintings to speak to people, to mean something to them rather than what it means to her. She says "If I wanted to talk about important messages to the people, I'd write, not paint." As a self taught artist, based in Italy Agnes-Cecile uses watercolour and varnish in her pieces, using the materials to create striking images that steal your attention, creating mixed responses with the expressions of the subject, the realism contrasted with abstract elements, her work is appreciated by a wide audience. People who can relate and understand, or thoes who are intreuged by how raw the the pain is in the figures eyes aor how the shame is painted so harsh. There is no reason why Agnes-ceciles emotionally infused paintings shouldn't connect with everyone.

Gillian Lee Smith

Gillian Lee Smith is a mixed media artist based in Nottingham for the past 6 years. Born and raised in Scotland she relies on galleries to sell her work and is best known for her little sculpted melancholic dolls, as well as her series of drawings, paintings, costumes and textile pieces. Her work is inspired by memories and and stories of peoples lives, particularly story telling from the elderly. Often, Gillian works with dementia sufferers, using objects to stimulate their memories, as she finds the stories they tell her fascinating, and  helping people with dementia remember parts of their life is truly a magical feeling for her, motivating her work and her thoughts, some stories happy and others traumatic. She says "one elderly man was telling me about when he was a little boy, evacuated during the war. He was too young to understand, and he thought he was being taken away from his parents. Just imagine how distraught and confused he must have been." This reflects in her paintings and dolls, often lonely characters isolated in an echoing world of emptiness. Perhaps she is so enchanted by the stories of the elderly and the sick from her time as a nurse, and her work so heavily influenced by time gone by that she left nursing to study Costume Design at Edinborough College of Art, to push her ideas and creative thoughts down more of a theatrical avenue, expressing and exploring reminiscences in a whimsical manor. I believe this qualification gave her an insight into creating a character using a script (or a memory) which she does naturally, expressing emotion and ideas clearly. Gillian said her dolls have had such a successful response, and she has manage to sell more than she thought, though I know she should be charging a lot more for these small characters as so much thought, detail and time has one into each delicately hand crafted doll.
Gillian's drawings are built up using a variety of media such as oil and soft pastel, acrylic paint, oil paint, and ink. The pieces are "very personal," she explains, "they show what is inside us, what we try and hide." They are an illustration of peoples inner most secrets and fears. Gillian is currently focusing her time on painting rather than sculpture and textiles. She is enjoying experimenting with different media to create her 2D work. She says money isn't the reason for why she is concentration on painting and moving away from her dolls, but she advises that "paintings are seen differently to sculpture." She realised through noticing the price her dolls would go for, but her paintings are sold for a much higher price, "paintings are seen more valuable. I think people find it easier to connect with paintings than they do with sculptures." I understand what she means by that, very much in fact. Her paintings seem to have a depth to them, they have a much more expressive look to them, the way the characters fade into the background. They almost don't exist, like a lost memory trying to find its way back.

Iain Simons

Based in Nottingham, Iain Simons is the director of Game City Festival, which he founded in 2006, where Richard Jacques performed a candle-lit piano recital of hit SEGA tunes. The main aim of this free event is to engage technology and culture, involving people in a screen based art, bringing video games to life, even by setting up scenes from games with the help from theatre designers. Game City involves a wide variety of professions in the creative industry such as musicians, designers, stage light technicians, theatre/costume designers to name but a few. "A lot of people think our event is basically a big arcade, but it's a lot more than that" he says, but you don't have to be interested in video games to come along to this event.
 He  is a very interesting man when it comes to his C.V. His first job was as piano player in a pub, which he goes on to advise that music is an extremely important skill to have in the game industry as a lot of musicians are needed in games. He then worked at McDonald's on the grill, he laughs, "well, the opportunity was there. And I was really fast." He landed at a theatre next, working as a casual technician which gained him some decent skills and an insight into production. In 1994 he graduated from university then took part in directing events and continued as a musician for a while. He basically continued to jump at any and every chance he got in the game and directing industry, performing, taking part in holding workshops and even wrote a few books, "just write a book. It doesn't even matter if it isn't any good, I have found that if you have written a book people suddenly start listening to you", Iain advises, "get involved in summer camps or theatre, you learn a lot more about production than anywhere else ." Iain began writing about video culture to a range of audiences in magazines and so on, and worked as a programmer and designer before becoming a part time lecturer as he realised it was time that he needed to make a steady income and get a bit of money behind him, later becoming a company director/creative director which gave him the essential skills for working as a game critic, event producer and of course, his current role as a festival director for Game City. Other projects Iain is working on is Game City Nights, Game City Prize, Woodthorpe Grange/ Takahashi Playground, National Video Game Archive and Save The Video Game

Iain's Advice For the Creative Industries:

1. When you first start out, you will have to 'volunteer' and do a fair amount of unpaid work for people. However, when you begin to gain experience and you can finally tell your contacts that you have wrote/been mentioned in a column for this magazine and that magazine, or produced a music video for this band, directed this and that event, performed here and there, designed the costume for this theatre production and so on...START CHARGING ASAP! It is very important to get paid for what you do as soon as possible, or you won't get anywhere very fast, because "if you are paid for something then you are a professional."
2. "Writing an invoice is not the same as being paid." You may still find yourself having to keep reminding the person or company to pay you, because at first, very rarely is it done and dusted when you send of an invoice.
3. "Look after your contacts." It is really important that you "keep them happy." These are the people who pay you," and talk about you to other useful people.
4. "People are surprisingly simple."
5. "Write a book. It makes you look valuable!"
6. "It's easier to apologise than to ask for permission." Just ask people, and if they turn your work down, ask another person. He says don't worry if you make a mistake or get turned down, "you might actually be surprised," he goes on to talk about his own experience on emailing the editor of a games magazine, he asked for permission to write a column in their magazine, and they were more than happy to let him.
7. "Be nice. It really is that  simple. Don't get drunk and write something horrible about your contacts, as tempting as it is, you must protect your contacts. They are everything."
8. "Get good at apologising." then it will be so much easier when you make a mistake.
9. "Most people are frightened in case they fail." fear of failure will get in the way of your success, you might be surprised if you just try, "but prepare yourself to fail." 
10. He advises to always share your ideas, "they are the most valuable thing," even if you think your idea sounds stupid, "not everyone else can have the ideas you're having."

Take a look at Game City!!!

Sarah Turner

We know that recycling is a current issue today and so does Award winning Eco-artist and designer Sarah Turner, who works with plastic bottles, giving them a new life and a new purpose by reincarnating them creatively to make decorative lighting. She says she is "Completely obsessed with making beautiful, functional items from waste materials" Born in Essex but currently based in Nottingham, Sarah graduated from university in 2008. While Sarah was at university, she worked in a coffee shop where she noticed a lot of plastic bottles were thrown away, so she began collecting them to use for her sculpted pieces that she still creates today. Even as a child she had an obsession with raw material and she finds it hard to throw something away that could be useful. Her work is inspired by organic objects which heavily and obviously influence her work. The idea of recycling and manipulating waste material into organic objects seems perfectly fitting, personally suggesting to me that waste plastic bottles are an environmental threat, so by combining the two together this message is communicated.

Sarah sandblasts the bottles to turn the translucent plastic into an opaque material, diffusing light and transforming the cheap object into something that looks and feels reasonably high quality. Some of her pieces are even dyed vibrant colours which I think widens her target audience from modern interior design to even a suitable light for a child's room. Then intricate craftsmanship comes into play to turn the sandblasted plastic bottles into delicate individual decorative forms. She hand cuts the plastic bottles with a pair of scissors, measuring the cuts by eye. This is of course the tricky part, requiring skill and great hardship, but Sarah thrives off the challenge that raw material sets her, as they are less malleable than new materials, but this restriction  leaves her feeling more than satisfied with a finished piece. In fact, the plastic bottles have been that manipulated that you almost don't recognise that it was once just an  empty plastic bottle. Sarah believes that "just because a product is made from rubbish, it doesn't need to look like it does" and that is exactly what she has proven.
Sarah's eco-lights have been an incredible success and have been exhibited in a selection of famous galleries in London, Milan, Paris, LA and Nottingham.

Sue Bulmer

Sue Bulmer was born and raised up on a farm in the North-east of England and this is where the inspiration for her work comes from, as she developed a love of nature ant art at a young age. She would particularly sit and draw the chickens on the farm as a child, even now her work is mainly a collection of beautiful stylistic birds perched delicately on pretty decorative trees and birdhouses. Currently, Sue is based in Nottingham and has been for the past 23 years, however, she Attended the University of Nottingham to study Pharmacy. Her passion for art never went away though, and after 15 years of being involved in the sciences, she went back to her artistic roots. She enrolled in a Foundation course in Art and Design, which she believes gave her the extra boost of confidence and allowed her to explore a variety of media such as print, stitch, watercolour and drawing skills. Since completing that course she has continued as a self-taught artist.

I Carry Your Heart

Sue's work is clearly inspired by nature and the countryside, forever stimulated by her upbringing. She is a lovely down to earth lady raised in a very close loving family, and through her work her humble nature is seen with the simple, sweet illustrations reflecting sentimentality, peace and love. An ink pen is simply all she uses to create these bold dreamy illustrations, though she has created some work using watercolour and even textiles. Perhaps she chooses to illustrate nature because this is her sanctuary, and no wonder she feels at ease in the countryside when the world we live in today is almost completely man made. We are living in cities and towns deprived of nature and the once fresh air is thick with fumes from vehicles and factories. Her illustrations are a vision of her life, cherishing what we still have left of the natural world. Sue believes her work is "unpretentious" and that she does what she does because it is simply "the things I like, things I love and things that move me."She states on her website "My work is very subjective and fluid, I let my mood, feelings and current interests dictate what I do."Motivated by the outdoors and the natural world, her quirky little illustrations warm my heart and remind me what really matters. Her style emits a sense of tranquillity, that no matter what gets in the way of my happiness, I can still fly to the top of the highest tree, breathe in the fresh air  and just let go of everything for a little while. Her work comforts.

You can find out more on Sue Bulmer's website and contact her here
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Philippe Pasqua



Philipine 2010

Philippe Pasqua was born in 1965 in Grasse, France and began painting at the age of 18. He is a contemporary self-taught painter and sculptor, based in Paris painting huge scale pieces on canvas of nudes and portraits of adults and children that he has known for a long time, or only just met. His sculptures are created from materials such as human skulls and dried butterflies. All of his works seem to highlight the ugliness or the pain behind a person. He has an incredible distinct technique with his medium of oil paint, applying layer upon layer of unrealistic colour, pasting on frantic brush strokes of harsh colour and building up intense shadows. In fact, he concentrates so closely on the face to the point of the exclusion of detail, which immediately cuts you. This style goes hand in hand with his selection of subjects, painting disabled individuals, the blind, down's syndrome sufferers, and transsexual candidates. Pasqua clearly captures what is most vulnerable on his canvas, magnifying obscenity and a struggle. He paints the tension between what can be shown and what can be 'tolerated'. Perhaps to show what is socially repressed or concealed. He wants to disturb and shock the viewer, and through the use of representing the human figure with the intensity of colour and expressionism, that is exactly what he has done. We can feel the tension. The mood, the emotion and the suffering.  The damage done. And the pieces are so large that they can't possibly be ignored, which only accentuates the agony.  Because when I look at the portrait of 'Philipine', I feel vulnerable. I can almost feel the pain spilling from the darkness of her eyes and I almost believe it is my fault. Her eyes look down on me unforgivably  but powerlessly. The blue and and the red contrast so harshly suggesting her sadness and her torment, where as the red dragged and splattered against the coldness of the blue makes the portrait excruciating. It hurts. It is so sharp and emotionally intense that it physically hurts, almost, because the slicing brush strokes are dancing with raw brutality, wounding the viewer.

Pasqua in his studio, Paris.