CHEQUERED PAST

Love the tape on this info obelisk.

Birmingham, 24 / 5 / 2017.

LIFE IMITATES ART

THIS TIME LAST WEEK...

Went to the 20th anniversary of BPN Architects on Thursday. Rebecca, a designer at Stephen Arthur, wore a startlingly familiar skirt while she posed next to my art across the street..!

And finally...

I'd especially like to thank BPN for their openness and genuine enthusiasm in championing local artists. 

Hopefully this will give inspiration for other local companies to tap the huge creative wellspring that resides in the area. It seems that for Midlands artists, real-world opportunities such as this are sadly few and far between, so perhaps it's no coincidence that such a creative-minded company as BPN are celebrating 20 years of being in business. If more companies thought the same way, Birmingham would be known for the creative powerhouse that it could so easily be.

BPN ARCHITECTS: FINAL DAY / DOORS OF PERCEPTION

'There are things known, and things unknown, and in between are the doors.'

- Aldous Huxley

As the end of the project approached, I wanted to do something in the street itself, but we'd spent a disproportionate amount of time adding spontaneous designs in response to the shape of BPN's building.

Having gotten permission from the owner of the building across the street, while Rob finished the designs on BPN's outer wall, I set about sweeping the pavement opposite and then trying to fix black tape to the brick walls. This was a dead-end: The walls were so crumbly and dusty that the tape just fell off as soon as the breeze picked it up.

Instead, I wiped down the green wooden doors, and found that the tape just about stayed put.

Again, I went off-brief, and decided to comment on the state of the building by depicting a series of 'collapsed doorways'.

Rob joined me to complete the final doorway. After two weeks, he was familiar with my core idea - that is, when something looks too uniform, throw in an anomaly, or a 'mistake'. He suggested a single white stripe on each design, which I thought was a great idea.

None of my art conforms strictly to the notion of 'geometric art', because uniformity or symmetry is something I can appreciate, but personally is not satisfying to me. 

Ideally, I'd love the viewer to spend long enough in front of my art to follow where it's going, and then be surprised by something that should not be there. And they would know that the decision was made to put it in deliberately, and I'd want them to ask 'why?'

But I'm also a realist. People will most likely look at the art and not realise that they're supposed to spend a great deal of time on it, and just think 'cool design' and leave it at that. Which is also fine.

The same week also saw the occurrence of a devastating earthquake in Northern Italy, and when seen altogether, these broken portals, along with the general dilapidation of the building, appear to be an echo of that.

A KIND OF BLUE: Birmingham Photo Diary

Art seems to be imitating life, lately...or maybe the other way around. My photo diary from around Birmingham over the last few weeks, with some 'detail' shots of my current abstract painting.

Work-in-progress, acrylic paint on canvas, 101cm x 76cm

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Empty pool below my studio at Custard Factory, Digbeth

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Birmingham Scooterists meeting, Custard Factory, Digbeth

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Bluebells on the Clent Hills, Halesowen

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Graffiti wall next to BOXXED, Floodgate Street, Digbeth

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Closeup of current work-in-progress ( acrylic paint on canvas )

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Wall of engineering company, Floodgate Street, Digbeth

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Graffiti next to BOXXED, Floodgate Street, Digbeth

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The ubiquitous Selfridges Building, Birmingham centre

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Closeup of current work-in-progress ( acrylic paint on canvas )

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Graffiti, Little Anne Street, Digbeth

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'Yeti' watching over his neighbourhood, Little Anne Street, Digbeth