Desdemona McCannon portfolio cv 2014
DESDEMONA McCANNON Senior Lecturer, Contextualising Practice MANCHESTER SCHOOL OF ART Email: d.mccannon@mmu.ac.uk mobile: 07791 757689
Portfolio Website http://cargocollective.com/lemonmerchant Current Positions MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY (2011-present) Senior Lecturer (.5 ) Contextualising Practice , teaching L4, L5 and L6 students. UAL CAMBERWELL (2012- present) Associate Lecturer, teaching B.A. Illustration contextual studie Previous Positions GLYNDWR UNIVERSITY 2003- 2011 Senior Lecturer Visual Culture (2008-11) Programme Leader BA Design for Decorative Arts (2009- 11) Award Leader MA Illustration (2004- 11) Programme Leader BA Illustration for Children (2003-4) Professional Practice I have been a practising illustrator since graduating in 1991. Since 2001 I have been a balancing my illustration practice with teaching and writing about Illustration. Clients include: Oriel Wrexham, Bloomsbury Books, Bloomsbury Children’s books, Penguin Books, Random House, Chronicle Books, Carcanet Books, Conde Nast Magazines (World of Interiors, Good Housekeeping), The Oldie, Francis Lincoln. Between 1997-2000 I lived and worked in Tokyo. I was represented by the Amana Corporation based in in Shinagawa and The Artworks illustration agency in London. Clients included- Japan agriculture, development work for Sony, and various Character design commissions. There was a 6 page interview and feature of my work in the Japanese publication ‘i-magazine’. I became very interested in anthropomorphism and character design during this period, which led to becoming involved with the ‘Pictoplasma’ archive and conference in Berlin in 2005.
Education
Registering for PhD within MIRIAD (completion date 2020) An Enquiry into the relationships between contemporary Illustration Practice and ‘Folk’ art forms in the UK MA Sequential Illustration and Design, University of Brighton, (1997) BA Graphic Design/Illustration (First) Liverpool John Moore’s University (1993) BA English Literature (First) Bristol University, 1991 Selected Research activity and membership of organisations, editorship etc. ILLUSTRATION RESEARCH- http://illustrationresearch.co.uk I am a founding member of this international network of academics involved in promoting the study and cultural relevance of Illustration. JOURNAL OF ILLUSTRATION (Intellect) - Principal Editor ISSN: 20520204 MIRIAD (2011 to present) I coordinate the ‘Folk’ research strand within the Design Research Group which has members from across the faculty. I have been the recipient of two MIRIAD research bids. WIRAD (2009-11) Creative Pedagogies Group THE ASSOCIATION OF ILLUSTRATORS I write regularly for Varoom Magazine and was invited to write the introduction for the Childrens’ Award section for the Images annual in 2010. I am also involved in peer review for VaroomLab. THE DEPARTMENT OF ILLUSTRATION http://thedepartmentofillustration.co.uk/ I curate this online resource for Illustrators HISTORY OF ILLUSTRATION PROJECT I am part of a small team developing a large scale publishing project with Oxford University Press, made up of predominantly US academics. I am lead writer for ch
Selected Published Peer Reviewed Papers and Journal Articles •McCannon, D. (2012) The Source, 9 Mythologies of Polish Illustration, Varoom, London •McCannon D (2012) Liverpool Broadsides Project, 6th Global Visual Literacies conference, Oxford •McCannon D., (2012) A Brief History of Street Literature, Varoom Magazine, London, •McCannon D., (2011) Lacking Vision, Varoom Magazine, London •McCannon D., (2011) Children’s Book Award Introduction, AOI Images Annual •McCannon, D., (2011) ‘Folk Art and the Illustration of British Identity’, Fifth Global Conference in Visual Literacies, Oxford (proceedings forthcoming Sept 2013) •McCannon, D. (2011), ‘Towards the hybrid essay: The ‘Visual Essay Project’’, Journal of Writing in Creative Practice 4: 2, pp. 131–140, doi: 10.1386/jwcp.4.2.131_1 •McCannon, D. (2011), ‘To Artacademics: A Manifesto’’, Journal of Writing in Creative Practice 4: 2, pp. 261-272, doi: 10.1386/ jwcp.4.2.261_2 •McCannon D., (2010) Character Based Learning, Design for Children Conference Proceedings, Mumbai, •McCannon D., (2010) Rediscovery of ‘lost’ or undervalued haptic design skills fostered through encounters and events staged in empty retail spaces in Wrexham town centre by students of Design at North Wales School of Art and Design. Sustainability Now! Conference, Bangalore •McCannon D. (2009) AHRC Wales Productive Relationships Curriculum Development at North Wales School of Art and Design BA ‘Design for Decorative Arts’: An outward facing course designed to embrace available technologies and traditional skills in Wales •McCannon D. (2009) The Private Life of the Doodle Varoom Magazine, London •McCannon D. (2009) ‘Visualising the Essay - Using information graphics to facilitate critical thinking within an art school.’ Third Global Conference in Visual Literacies, Oxford •McCannon D., (2009) Folk Art and Illustration Varoom Magazine , London •McCannon, D., Thornton, S., Williams, Y. (2008) Writing and Illustrating Children’s Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, London •McCannon, D. 2007) Visual Allegory: Creating Character-Based Learning Materials for Children, First Global Conference in Visual Literacies, Oxford
Selected Conference presentations and professional talks •McCannon, D. (2013) The Jobbing Artist as Ethnographer: Documenting ‘Lore’, ‘Enid Marx and her Contemporaries’, Compton Verney, Warwickshire. •McCannon, D., (2012) Arne’s Progress; a Contemporary Broadside, Illustration Research Symposium ‘The Function of Folk’, Krakow, Poland •McCannon, D., (2012) Contemporary Broadsides and Chap Book Makers, Broadside’s Day, Cecil Sharp House (invited speaker) •McCannon, D., (2011) ‘Illustration and Gnosis’, Second Illustration Research Symposium: Illustration and Writing, MMU •McCannon, D., (2010) ‘Towards a Visual Poetics: Illustrating Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’’, First Illustration Research Symposium: Shadow Play. Swansea •McCannon D., (2010) The Visual Essay Project, Writing PAD Wales conference Swansea •McCannon D., (2009) SCBWI France, invited speaker, Parson’s School of Art, Paris •McCannon D. (2007) Panel Convenor: Characters and Communication, Pictoplasma, Berlin •McCannon D., (2006) SCBWI Tokyo Characters in Search of Science
poster for Women in Print, MMU Special Collections
Postcards and programme for Enid Marx event at Compton Verney
Collaborative RISO chapbook Project for Women in Print
ORIEL WRECSAM (2013) Promotional Material for Oriel Wrecsam, North Wales client: Steffan Hughes-Jones
Selected Exhibitions, Events and Zines ‘The Function of Folk’, (2012)
Ethnograpahic Museum, Krakow, Poland. I co-curated and exhibited in this international group show with Yadzia Williams and Ewelina Lasota, including work by Andrzej Klimowski, Jonny Hannah, Mireille Fauchon, Alice Patullo, Peter Lloyd and Iro Tsvala amongst others. The Ministry of Frogs (2012) I edit and contribute to this zine which celebrates folk culture and contemporary visual culture. http://theministryoffrogs.bigcartel.com/ Arne’s Progress (2012) Exhibited at MEK, Krakow, Poland
Arne’s Progress (2012) Broadside (newspaper format) collaboration with poet Eleanor Rees sold at Cairn Street Market, Toxteth, Liverpool and online http://www.newspaperclub.com/Desdemonab/newspapers/18905arnes-progress Magic Theatre (2011) Group show MMU Holden Gallery (part of Illustration Research Symposium ‘Illustration and Writing’) Enid Marx and her Contemporaries: Women Designers and the Popularisation of ‘folk arts’ 1920- 1960 (2013) This event was organised as a collaboration between Compton Verney in Warwickshire and MMU. I was the instigator and lead for this team project working with colleagues from the Art History programme and the curator Penny Sexton.
Upcoming Projects
Ministry of Frogs 2 Zine with work by Paul Bommer, Ed Kluz, Alice Patullo, John Broadley, Lotte Beatrix, Rose de Borman and others. ‘And Also’ : An exhibition of contemporary works by artists and illustrators inspired by folk art in and for the home. Oriel Wrexham, October 2013- January 2014 Contributing artists: Cornelia O Donovan, Alice Patullo, Lotte Beatrix, Laura Knight, Sian Bailey, Rose de Borman, Desdemona McCannon. Yadzia Williams. (Subsidised by Arts Council Wales). Myself and co curator Yadzia Williams have been invited to speak at a seminar called ‘The Role of Tradition in Contemporary art practice’ 21/11/13 and will run artist –led workshops related to the exhibition.
‘Victorian Bacteria’ (2010) Solo exhibition of prints, ceramics and repeat patterns at Mersey Bio, Science Incubator, University of Liverpool
JOURNAL OF ILLUSTRATION Launch October 2013 Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford Part of the ‘Science, Imagination and the Illustration of Knowledge’ Illustration Research Symposium. A Manchester launch is planned for December 2013. ILLUSTRATION RESEARCH INDIA (2014) I am developing the next Illustration Research event with colleagues in Central St. Martins and Hyderabad, the intention is to hold the fourth IR symposium in India in 2014.
Arne’s Progress (2012) A collaborative ‘Broadside’ with the poet Eleanor Rees. Sold at street markets in Toxteth and online
‘And Also’ Exhibition flier Oriel Wrecsam (2013)
http://cargocollective.com/lemonmerchant