Vibrant Exhibition Catalogue by Art Number 23

Art Exhibition Catalogue

Vibrant Brian Bishop Francesca Busca Cian Carroll Barrie J. Davies Martha Ellis Charlie Hurcombe Ekaterini Koliakou Konstantinos Leloudas Georgina Maxwell Grace O’Malley Wayne Sleeth Flora Sopa Fiona Stanbury Ali Thompson Claire Willberg ​ Installation by: ​ Aria Kiani ​ Performance by: ​ Émilie-Christine P. Newman

March 2018 V.23 - The Old Biscuit Factory 100 Clements road, Block F, SE16 4DG

info@artnumber23.uk / www.artnumber23.uk

INDEX Ekaterini Koliakou 1. Brian Bishop 2. Francesca Busca 3. Cian Carroll 4. Barrie J. Davies 5. Martha Ellis 6. Charlie Hurcombe 7. Konstantinos Leloudas 8. Georgina Maxwell 9. Grace O’Malley 10. Wayne Sleeth 11. Flora Sopa 12. Fiona Stanbury 13. Ali Thompson 14. Claire Willberg ​ Installation by: ​ 15. Aria Kiani ​ Performance by: ​ 16. Émilie-Christine P. Newman

www.ekaterinikoliakou.com / messageart@ymail.com

Ekaterini Koliakou

Represented artist by Art Number 23 Ekaterini sees her paintings, drawings and video work as the process of a diary. Working both figuratively, abstraction and words she gives a sense of intimacy and yet they are never confessional. In various techniques from using brushes to using her hands, the painted surface shifts between articulated brush strokes to playfully primitive impulsive mark makings. Her subjects are often naked to allow a sense of honesty and equality. Her work is sensual and cynical, provocative but gentle.

Ekaterini started her studies in 1987 in Vakalo Art and Design college then continued with black & white photography at Focus Athens, Greece. She moved to London for the foundation course of Art and Design in Kingsway College until 1993 and then continued at the Fine Art Academy Aldo Galli Academy in Como, in 1995 Acamedy of Fine Art Brera in Milan until she finished her studies at theFine Art School of Athens and practiced her Erasmus in the Fine Art School, Utrecht in 2001. She graduated with a distiction.

Vib ra brianbishop68@hotmail.com / www.brianbishop.info

Brian Bishop

Brian Bishop studied at Bournemouth Municipal College of Art & Design and the Royal College of Art. He trained within Sculpture, Ceramics and Painting. Since then he has been a Visiting Lecturer in Sculpture at Goldsmith’s School of Art, Winchester School of Art and Southampton Institute of Art. More recently lecturing at the Arts University Bournemouth.

His work is to be found in both private and public collections both in the UK and the EU. “My work is an attempt to explore images by removing narrative and moving into pictorial space, an area visited by, not only the painter but also the architect, sculptor, composer and dance choreographer.

The work is developed from several sources, contrast, duality, history, literature, mythology, poetry, love of colour/texture and structure.

The works are of a non-figurative nature combining selectivity of memory, so allow your imagination to explore them in the way that you would listen to music.”

Zootie Acrylic on Canvas 80 x 80 cm

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www.francescabusca.com / info@francescabusca.com

Francesca Busca

Torn between optimism and surrender, Francesca is haunted by the idea of mankind’s imminent self-destruction. Yet, she believes in a future for humanity of resourceful innovation through reusing, recycling and upcycling. She is fascinated by both artificial and natural elements, which she hunts for in everyday life and plays with in new combinations, pairing and contrasting noble material with rubbish. Her aim is to prove how rubbish is a relative definition and how it can be turned into something useful, fun and even beautiful. She thoroughly enjoys working within both the ethical and the material limitations which this choice entails.

Crash Slash Mosaic: mirror, glass, smalti, plastic, metal and fabric on wood, direct method 30x30 approx. (uneven shape), 2017

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ciancarrollartist@hotmail.com / @ cian_c123

Cian Carroll At this current time, I am predominantly working in sheets of aluminium and recently I have been experimenting with sheets of copper. I first cut into the metal, then prime each side and layer up with spray paint. I use the paint to decorate the pieces in such a way that certain folds in the metal are almost dulled, contrasting with other deliberately complex folds. After drying I fold and bend the sheet metal, mainly by hand, to achieve structural and linear objects resembling flowers. One of the main concerns of my work is to give the illusion of a flower bud blossoming over time. Surface decoration and colour also play a big role in the work.

Fruit Loops Zoanthids 1 Sculpture, Spray Paint 17.5cm x 9cm x 13cm

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www.barriejdavies.info / barriejohndavies@googlemail.com

Barrie J. Davies Barrie J Davies was born in Wales and is currently based in Brighton. Barrie has been a practicing artist for over seventeen years and has had up to eighteen solo exhibitions, as well as over hundred & fifty group exhibitions worldwide. His artwork is owned by well known comedian Noel Fielding and has also featured in the second series of Channel 4 Comedy “Raised by Wolves� written by Caitlin Moran. In paint he uses a provocative, colourful psychedelic and humourous approach to expose the human condition: notions of success, money, glamour, love, death, sex, gender & religion are picked at with dry comedic use of tragedy meshed with absurdity.

Hocus Pocus , mixed media on canvas 90cm x 90cm, 2016

V. 2 3 4

Vib ra marthaellisdesign@yahoo.com / www.marthaellisdesign.com

Martha Ellis

Martha Ellis is inspired by the challenge of showing the world in positive/negative space. All her pieces start with pencil and paper as she spends hours drawing from life in her sketchbook creating a composition. On the computer she turns the line drawing into either a positive (what will be left) or negative (what will be cut away) space, painstakingly adding more and more detail until she is finally happy with the piece. Using laser technology, Martha cuts out bold, eye catching and intriguing pieces which depict a range of landscapes. Her unique wooden laser cut designs can be hung directly onto the wall and cast beautiful shadows which change with the light. The contrast between the bright yellow and the dark burnt edge of the wood gives the work an interesting sense of depth as it floats away from the wall.

Moorland Flowers Laser cut drawing o MDF 37/38cm

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hurcombecharlie@gmail.com

Charlie Hurcombe Kit Brown

Throughout my practice there is a concern for the construction and fabrication of sculptural structures, the manipulation of materials and visible methods of assembly, which in turn references not only production and manufacturing but also the hand-made. Often the seemingly simple act of transforming 2D flat sheet material into 3D volumetric form is a significant aspect of the creative process. Particular emphasis is placed on the coexistence of disrupted forms and reflective lustrous surfaces and makes reference to both sculpture and painting.

‘Baroque, Barraco, A jeweller’s term: an irregular shaped or flawed pearl.’

(The Return of the Baroque in Modern Culture, Greg Lambert, Continuum 2004).

The “Flat Funk Baroque” series is seemingly a departure from earlier 3D freestanding sculptural work being a wall mounted relief form, however it continues to present and reflect certain on-going artistic concerns. The reliefs (and useof the term ‘Baroque’ ) reference an interest in expressive Counter Reformation aesthetics which are offset against material and surface aspects more commonly associated with aspects of Minimalism.

‘Flat Funk Baroque #1’. 44 x 46 x 5cm.

Wall mounted sculptural relief. (each consisting of plywood, aluminium, Perspex, acrylic, vinyl, Formica and screws).

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kleloudas@gmail.com / www.leloudas.com

Fumi Konstantinos Leloudas My work explores the increasing problems created from the modern ways of living in big cities . I am attracted by the power that objects and materials have. My practice produces and uses everyday objects and materials, like plastic objects, scrap materials or other insignificant objects. Moreover, I experiment with the scale and size of everyday objects in an attempt to give them different meanings and raise their importance.

My artworks aim to depict such objects and materials in a playful and ironic manner, giving them a unique form with distinctive meaning. Furthermore, I aim to stimulate the viewers to think about things that they take for granted. Reflecting these issues, I create sculptures by plastic, discarded materials and wood.

Bloom, Sculpture, mixed media, 2017

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www.georginamaxwell.org / gmaxwell1460@gmail.com

Emilie-Christine Georgina P. Newman Maxwell Pioneering eco-artist Georgina Maxwell responds to the plight of ancient cetaceans and other ocean inhabitants in their struggle for survival in a plastic-addicted, desensitized global society.

Maxwell’s art practice on this subject spans over two decades when she relocated from London to Cornwall. Walking her dog on Gwithian beach she noticed the amount of marine plastics strewn along the tideline day after day.. the genesis of her ritualistic need to carry huge, full rucksacks back to her studio each evening to create artworks. As others saw ugly rubbish, Maxwell delighted in the jewel-like quality of these objects in the shimmering sunlight of the South West.

Through her research she became aware of the environmental catastophe these manmade objects were causing to all ocean life and the finite amount of water they inhabit.

She has exhibited widely over the years, with work in permanent collections, appeared on BBC2, held radio interviews as well as being featured in magazines, newspapers and books.

Bellybutton Blues ocean plastic/ rubber 36cm x 25cm x 5cm

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Vib ra graceomalley1994@hotmail.com / www.graceomalleyart.com

Grace O’Malley

Grace O’Malley’s painting responds to an intimate moment with nature. The painting was drawn from her memory of a time spent hiking in Santa Monica in 2015. Here, Grace’s sense of colour and form works to portray an abstract moment where a monarch butterfly, for less than a second, lands perfectly on her shoulder.

Grace O’Malley graduated from Limerick School of Art and Design in 2016. Here, she achieved an honours bachelor’s degree in Fine Art and Art History with a specialisation in Painting and Mix Media. Straight after her undergraduate degree, Grace attended Trinity College in Dublin where she achieved an MSc in Management. Currently, Grace is on residency in Iceland for 3 months working on a new series of paintings. For more information, you can visit her website graceomalleyart.com or follow her on Instagram graceomalleyart.

Abstract oil painting Santa Monica, 2015 Oil on canvas 28inchs by 28inchs

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www.waynesleeth.com / studio@waynesleeth.com

Wayne Sleeth Lisa Lavery

At a tangent to 3 + years of painting reappraising and re-interpreting the work of Claude Monet, here l left the finishing touches to my two children to a canvas directly-inspired by some of Monet’s late waterlily paintings, those where his sight was failing and infirmity setting in, hence the title ‘early and late’. There is, ultimately, little difference in the resulting canvas, where colour and gesture reigns.

Early / Late acrylic markers on printed canvas 33 x 33 cm

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sopa_flora@yahoo.com / www.florasopa.com

Flora Sopa Dawidek Malgorzata Born in 1991, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Studied at the University of Art and Design (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) École Européenne Supérieure d’Art de Bretagne (Rennes, France), completing with a master’s degree at Haute École des Arts du Rhin (Mulhouse/Strasbourg, France).

Flora is an experimental artist who gives serendipity and theories of Synaesthesia important roles in her artistic practice and the creation of her work.

The exhibited piece is part of her sound-colour correlation study, in which colourful lines imitate the movement of the sound (as seen by the artist).

Vibration waves no31 Screen printing 40x53cm

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lefkosiagirl@hotmail.com / www.fionastanbury.com

Fiona Stanbury Tom Hogan When I was three I went to live in Lagos, Nigeria. The shapes, light and colours influenced my love of colour.

At the age of twelve I became very interested in Chinese landscape painting. This was the start of my interest in the immediacy and life of calligraphic brushstrokes.

Living in Cyprus for 14 years was also a deep influence, in particular the abstract power of colour and patterns.

Paint, colour and brush strokes inform the direction of the painting. The imagery is open ended and ideas emerge and evolve from the magic of the materials.

I have exhibited in London, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Belarus, Malaysia and China. Following a painting residency at the Mark Rothko Centre in Daugavpils, Latvia, my four paintings are now in the Mark Rothko Centre’s permanent collection. I had paintings accepted for the 6/7 th Beijing International Art Biennale 2015/2017.

Dream Landscape acrylic on canvas 50 x 40 cm

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Vib ra alikhumbu@aol.com / Fb. Ali thompson@Abstract.Art.

Ali Thompson

My inspiration has been directed by my professional background in midwifery and neonates, as it supports my interests in new life. Human or organic, nature has amazing structures in place to protect and develop fascinating new forms right up to their delivery. I had a training in surface pattern design, but soon found that I needed a direction towards an abstract discipline ...so now, I do find that I will start with a concept and an idea of a composition,and then consider how cells are developed, supported and linked. From these new beginnings the painting will then take onboard a life and direction of its own, mirroring the new and developing form.

I have been success fully exhibiting with contemporary galleries in the North of England for the last three years. Some of my work is now in America, New Zealand, and Germany.

I also have work in The Art House Gallery in Dubai. Currently I’m continuing to explore new life, but also I’m working with an acclaimed short story writer, Alex Reece Abbott. This is a new direction for me.

We are working on a collaboration of work which involves evoking each other’s work. A response in art form to the narrative, and vice versa. I’m very excited with this as we work towards an exhibition, a small collection will pilot in NSW at the end of the year entitled e vo| ca | tion series.

Vital Energy Acrylic on 12 oz canvas. Deep edge.

Each piece 80 x 60 cm. overall 130 x 60 cm.

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www.clairewillberg.com / clairewillberg@btinternet.com

Claire Willberg

Claire Willberg is a practising artist printmaker based in London. She graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in sculpture and later completed an MA in printmaking at Camberwell College of Art. Since 2011, she has been a member of the Slaughterhaus Print Studio in South London and has exhibited widely in the UK. This recent body of work takes inspiration from observing, collecting and recording the discarded small-scale plastic objects that are found whilst walking through London streets. Her work reflects on temptation,exploring the way we consume and look at the world, and tries to focus on the forgotten. Shelf series brings together a collection of objects, allowing them to regenerate and adopt new identities, detatched from their previous use and rather characterised by shape and colour.

Shelf 10, (1 from series of 25) Relief Print 97 x 67 cm, unframed, 105 x 72 framed 14

k-aria@hotmail.co.uk /www.ariakiani.wixsite.com/artwork

NofarKiani Aria Horovitz Sensory artist working with perceptions of realities, challenging the eternal truths to create new modes of questioning and understanding, in hopes they can be applied elsewhere. Often working with drawing, print, light, installation and sculpture I create interactive viewing pieces within the spectators mind, calling their sense certainties into question.

RGB VRTX light, drawing, aluminium frame. aprox 190 x 90 cm

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www.emilienewman.com / christinepnewman@gmail.com

Émilie-Christine P. Newman Mai Osawa Synthetic Decay - Corruption is a performance piece that employs the process of the artist’s ongoing Synthetic Decay body of work which explores the rebirth of dead or inorganic materials through the rendering of an artificial semblance of decay. Instead of applying encaustic to an inanimate object, Corruption will see it applied to living human skin in front of a live audience. Flesh will be given a rebirth in decay as vibrant encaustic wax is applied to its surface over the course of the opening night.

Synthetic Decay - Corruption Performance / Encaustic Sculpture, 2018

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Vibrant Art Exhibition - March 2018

V. 2 3 V.23 - The Old Biscuit Factory, Block F, SE16 4DG