December News

Six weeks after the big move we opened up the doors to visitors for our very first Open Studios. The new studios looked brilliant and attracted many visitors who viewed and purchased from the artists. The Great Western Choir performed their excellent Christmas repertoire, getting everyone present into Christmas mood. Photos of the Open Studios will be posted on the January blog.

One of Amy Sharrocks' live art pieces, Keepy Up, took place an evening last week. Up to 30 people at the same time were keeping thistles up in the air by movement and breathing. This art work has also recently been featured in the book, Artsadmin 30, created to mark Artsadmin's 30th birthday in 2009.



Mole Browne, Great Western's verre églomisé artist, is currently exhibiting her one-off mirrors at the Belsize Health Art Gallery. The show will go on until February 2010.



If you're going over to Europe in the beginning of the New Year you'll be able to see Cristina Rodriguez's work at the Stuttgart Art Fair. If you're staying in London you can see her paintings at the London Art Fair in January 12th- 17th, 2010.



Perfectly timed for Christmas, Jay Burridge has launched a new patch for Lucky Seven's caps. If you haven't finished your Christmas shopping and know someone who is in to the classical 80's film The Karate Kid, visit www.luckyseven.tv to find out more about the cap with a Cobra Kai patch and others.



Tamar Zaig's Costume Boutique has styled Jamie Oliver and his family and friends for Jamie's Family Christmas, which started on Channel 4 Tuesday 15th. If you've missed it, all episodes are repeated on Thursday 24th December, shown back-to-back from 4.10pm.



Katy Moran received positive reviews in the Evening Standard for her pieces in the exhibition Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real at Parasol Unit, running until 7th February 2010.



Culture website CultureLabel.com has been featured in a range of newspapers and magazines lately. Click here for Financial Times article on culture retail or see below for tips on culture shopping.

November News

Great Western Studios has moved to a new purpose built studio complex, only 50 metres from our old building. We have always been under threat to vacate due to the creation of Crossrail and the new building will secure the future for our artists. After weeks of packing, the move took place the first week of November during four hectic days. However, everyone successfully managed the transit via the scaffolding ramp built between the old and the new building. The whole move was documented by Great Western Studios own Angelo Plantamura.











However, the move isn't all that's been going on this month.

Olivia Musgrave had the opening of her exhibition on November 5th and there was also an article about her and her exhibition The Seven Deadly Sins in the November 11 issue of Country Life Magazine.





Darren Almond is exhibiting a piece called TIDE - 600 digital wall clocks registering the relentless progress of time, at the Royal Academy of Arts as part of GSK Contemporary exhibition Earth:art of a changing world. The show opens on Wednesday 2nd December.



Tarka Kings is showing her work in a two-person exhibition Wy.Work together with Kate Atkin at 52 Hoxton Square between November 24th and December 8th. The two artists met on a recidency in Wyoming and were both influenced by the landscape and inspired by specific shapes.



Kat Campbell Pedersen's exhibition at 7 Marshall Street together with photographer Anne Clements has been extended until the end of November. The two ladies were invited to exhibit by Westminster Council and Sing London after they painted pianos for the summers Street Pianos project.


Yukako Shibata is in the group exhibition In Two Minds curated by Rowena Chiu at Eleven Spitalfields. The show runs from 13th to 29th November and open Thursdays - Sundays 12-6pm and by appointment.



James Bigham will exhibit three of his pieces from The London Bus Project at the Barbican Art Gallery Shop over Christmas.



Cristina Rodriguez has been invited to participate in the seventh edition of the "Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea" in Florence, Italy from the 5th to the 13th of December.



Vivianne Westwood is presenting a one night only performance of Active Resistance to Propaganda at the Bloomsbury Ballroom on December 4th. Prior to the performance there will be a special exhibition inspired by the manifesto which is curated by Sanja Sakic.



The first Open Studios in our new building will take place on the 12th and 13th of December, 12-6pm both days. Join us in our new home at 65 Alfred Road, London, W2 5EU. You will be able to meet and buy from the makers themselves, painters, sculptors, designers, illustrators, jewellers and many more.

October News

The October News from Great Western Studios will be the last written in the Lost Goods Building. In November we'll be moving in to the new purpose built Great Western Studios on Alfred Road. However, the artists are keeping busy all the way up to the move.

Estelle Thompson is having a solo exhibition at Purdy Hicks Gallery on South Bank until 9th November. She is also represented in a new Tate Britain/Tate Modern Booklet, Autumn 2009 Collection Highlights Guide with different artists giving their view on a piece of art in either of the museums. Estelle's contribution is about Kasimir Malevich's Dynamics of Suprematism which you can find at Tate Modern.



The cover of the November issue of Dazed & Confused and an article in the magazine features model/actress Lily Cole illustrated by Jo Ratcliffe.



Katy Moran is in two shows during October/November. She is having a solo show at Modern Art, 16th October to 14th November. Katy will also be part of a group show, Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real, at Parasol Unit that runs from 25th November to 7th February 2010.



Pip Hackett has launched a new website for her fabulous hats, www.piphackett.co.uk. One of them could also be seen in the September Issue of Italian Vogue.



John Martin Gallery is hosting Olivia Musgrave's exhibition The Seven Deadly Sins, showing her bronze sculptures from 5th to 28th of November.



Blue Curry's degree show has been ranked as one of the top ten this year by former Editor of Art Review, Catriona Warren. She is particularly impressed with Blue's bull shark jaw from which 567 hours' worth of shiny cassette tape pools on the floor. You can read more at murmurART .



Both Cristina Rodriguez, represented by The Art Movement and Jan Coutts, represented by Quantum Contemporary Art, were part of the Art London Fair which was on 8-12th October at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. Jan is also exhibiting at the Affordable Art Fair, at Battersea Park, 22nd - 25th October and at a charity event for Art of Giving at The Queen's Elm Gallery, running from 15th to 18th of October.





Cristina Rodriguez is also showing her work at the exhibition Imaginary Journeys at Museum of the Estense Castle in Ferrara, Italy between the 24th October and 1st November as well as participating in Westminster Arts Open Exhibition at the SW1 Gallery. Also exhibiting are Catherine Parkinson, Laura Jacobs and Yukako Shibata.

September News

Neal Tait is currently exhibiting at White Cube, his show Les Toits de Parise shows paintings made over the last year that are diverse in theme, suggesting many fragmented narratives. The paintings in this exhibition, executed in both oil or acrylic and tempera on canvas are influenced by early Modernist painting. The show opened on 1st September and will run until 3rd October 2009.



Julie Goldsmith has been commissioned by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to take part in an Artist trail, Streetlight '09 opening with an Artist led walk through the trail on the 15th October. Julie says she regularly scours the neighbourhood for treasures and materials that she uses in her work. For this piece she has taken inspiration from the writer Wilkie Collins (now buried in Kensal cemetery), who walked the Notting Hill and Kensal streets with Charles Dickens at the turn of the 20th century. You will be able to view Julie's work in the window of The Cloth Shop, 290 Portobello Road from 15th October - 15th November.



Tamar Zaig's Costume Boutique have been invited by Covent Garden London to join in with the Fashion Fete to be held in the Covent Garden Piazza as part of London Fashion Week, 19th September 2009. They will be providing a dressing up box just for the fun of dressing up in fab costumes and having your picture taken, and there will also be exclusive accessories for sale.



Blue Curry will participate in a show held at Peacock Projects Art Space. Blue is one of 12 artists showing their work in the exhibition RIP 19th April 2009 'In Response to J G Ballard's work' curated by Iben la Cour. The show runs between 18th - 22nd September.




Katy Moran features in the article 'Ten painters you should meet' in the latest issue of 10 men magazine, out now.



Florian Wupperfeld is co-founder of CultureLabel.com, which is featured in the October issue of ELLE Decoration. CultureLabel.com is an online platform which curates and showcase artist-designed and limited edition products from over 60 leading galleries, museums, artists and culture institutions.



Jo Ratcliffe has provided the illustrations of the contributors for October's edition of Wallpaper Magazine.



Alex Uxbridge has a private view of his upcoming exhibition on 24th September, 6.30pm - 8.30pm at Boundary Gallery, 98 Boundary Road, London. The exhibition features recent paintings & drawings and will show from 25th September - 17th October 2009.



Sarah Dwyer is currently showing her work in her most comprehensive exhibition in London so far at the Josh Lilley Gallery. The show is named Hands Stuffing a Mattress and runs until 8th October.



The Great Western Singers sang at the Big Chill Festival earlier this summer performing their greatest hits set to great acclaim. Over the weekend they did guerrilla singing around the festival site and also performed in the Body and Soul area and on the Crap Stage. Their final gig of the season is at Summer Sunset this weekend following which they will be embarking on new Christmas inspired songs.

August News

Let's start with an item I missed in last months newsletter, The Sunday Times Style Magazine's article featuring Tamar Zaig from July 12th. The article discusses the expanding interest in fancy dress and Tamar's Costume Boutique could be the place to turn to if you feel the need to see yourself as Björk in her infamous swan dress.






A large group of GWS artist are exhibiting their work at Gallery 6 by Imperial Wharf. Lynn Parotti has curated the show, Alter World, which also featyres Claudia Carr, Tessa Macgregor, Catherine Parkinson, Lynn Parotti, Holly Parotti, Yukako Shibata, Paul Vanstone, Felicity Warbrick, Mole Browne, Tommy Penton and Shiv. The exhibition runs until September 25th for those who have yet to see it.



Katherine Lubar and Kathrine Campbell Pedersen are both featured in a new exhibition titled The Noice of Art which runs between the September 3rd and 20th at the East End Arts Club in Shoreditch with the private view on the 3rd from 6 to 9pm.





The graduation shows are continuing coming up. In September, Valerie Gladwin Montgomery is featured in the City & Guilds of London Art School's MA Fine Art degree show. The private view is on Wednesday 9th September 6-9pm and the show runs the 10-13th September.



Having appeared at Gracelands in NW10 and then Open Studios in W9, Liza Campbell's Dark Boxes have now made their way to the dizzy heights of W2; they are now for sale at Viola, Sara Lachlan's new shop at 25 Connaught Street, W2 2AY.



James Bigham's exhibition, The London Bus Project, was previewed in last months newsletter and has since been featured in Time Out and also the London Paper.