Jo Mama gives away her art away free of charge at A Side B Side Gallery

The First 26 people to attend Jo Mama's Alphabet Show at Mare Street's A Side B Side Gallery were given a free artwork...

For more info about the Alphabet Show: Art Council Art News Carpe Diem news Art Rabbit news

Westland Place Studios Open Weekend

In 1993 when Westland Place Studios opened its doors just a stone’s throw from Old St. Roundabout there were said to be more artists per square foot and more artists studios in the area than anywhere else in Europe. The presence of these artists helped rejuvenate what was then a run down, semi derelict backwater of the city and in doing so they laid the foundations for the extraordinary transformation that followed. 25 years later the streets surrounding what is now known as “Silicon Roundabout” have changed beyond recognition. The artists who were instrumental in reviving the area have all but gone, forced out by ever-increasing rents. Against all the odds Westland Place Studios has managed to weather the storm of development and on the first weekend in November will celebrate its 25th anniversary. To mark this event and acknowledge its achievements the artists will be opening their doors and inviting the public into their studios. Housed in the evocative spaces of an old tobacco pipe warehouse Westland Place Studios are home to an eclectic mix of established and internationally renowned Painters, Photographers, Sculptors, Printmakers, Filmmakers, Ceramists, Illustrators and Designers. In the past year their work has been exhibited in Venice, New York, Berlin, Paris, Tallinn, Brussels,Turin, Beijing. Lima Hong Kong and of course London. 25 YEARS OF WESTLAND PLACE STUDIOS OPEN WEEKEND 3-11 Westland Place London N1 7LP www.westlandplacestudios.com Free admission, no booking required

Opening Times: Thu 1st November 2018: 6-9pm Sat 3rd November 2018: 12-6pm Sun 4th November 2018: 12-6pm Tube: Old Street (Northern Line) (3minute walk) Local buses: 243, 55, 43, 214, 205, 76, 21, 141 Participating Artists: Susan Austin, Gordon Beswick, Augustine Carr, Michael Czerwinski, Harumi Foster, Edith Gubbay, Michael Hutchison, Tyler Mallison, George Morris, Teresa Narduzzo, Sheila Ogilvie, Mary Oley, Maureen Otwell, Claudia Puntoni, Pietro Reviglio, Emma Ronay, Richard Sharples, Edit Toaso, Barbara Tong, Simon Williams. For further information and high resolution images please contact: tucktite@gmail.com Image above: Magic Mountain by Gordon Beswick

A bit of a chat with Lady Lucy

Lucy Woollett, also known as Lady Lucy makes paintings, drawings and moving image. Her work is strongly informed by her interest in the social function and value of her activities as an artist and more specifically as a painter. She seeks to find meaning and political application in the process of painting and draws on the art historical lineages of collaborative art practice and portraiture. She told The Rebel magazine that, "Lady Lucy" is a name she started using when she first moved to London in 1996. She was doing performances, fanzines, writing and DJing. She sees it as a youthful gesture, born through a feminist intention, which stuck and has continued to be of use. "For more info visit: here A painting by Lucy features in a group show at Mare Street's The A Side B Side Gallery next week. The painting is called, 'Rrroadrunnerrrroadrunner' and the exhibition is called, Jo Mama's Second Alphabet Show.

The Rebel: What can you tell me about the work you've got in the Alphabet exhibition? "It is one of a series of paintings I have been making for a couple of years where I paint directly onto off cuts of loose linen or canvas. Some of them are collages. All of them are designed to hang in various ways."

The Rebel: Do you have a favourite single or album by Jonathan Richman? "Cornerstore" from Jonathan Goes Country" (1990, Special Delivery Records) listen

The Rebel: Would you rather own a red car or a blue car? "My Dad has a Datsun Red Z"

The Rebel: The Alphabet Show takes place at A Side B Side in Mare Street? Are you a fan of Hackney? "I live in one part of Hackney and my studio is in another. My studio is in Praxis, a Co-op and it may well be the last standing studio in Stoke Newington. I don't like what's happening in Hackney with various communities having being forced out due to gentrification. Of course the artists contribute to that process. so we should think ethically about how we work."

The Rebel: What's the best exhibition you've seen this year? "Flo Brooks - Is Now a Good Time Cubitt Gallery."

The Rebel: Who was the best art tutor you ever had - what was special about them? "Ellen Cantor at MA Chelsea College of Art and Design. Ellen waltzed into my studio and started role playing the New York School, she told me about some amazing painters and I was so enlightened. Years later it was so sad to hear of her passing."

The Rebel: Which painting of your own are you most proud of? " Probably the group portraits I have made such as Volunteers at Southbank Centre where I spent 3 months meeting and painting 60 Volunteers working at Southbank Centre over the 60th Anniversary of the Festival of Britain. I am also very fond of a series of drawings World Filmography 1968. It showed as a Drawing Installation in quite a few galleries across 2006 / 2007 including The Drawing Room, London International 3, Outpost Gallery, Phoenix, Brighton and The Unit 3 Gallery which was part of London met building opposite the Whitechapel Gallery."

The Rebel: If you went on Mastermind what would be your specialist subject? "POST PUNK"

The Rebel: Are you more of a cat person or a dog person? "Cat"

The Rebel: Do you rate the films of David Lynch - do you think he's made any great films? "Yes, and one of my Chelsea MA show works was a text piece that made a giant redacted script out of all the sentences in Twin Peaks containing the the name LAURA in them."

The Rebel: What projects / shows have you got coming up after the Alphabet show? "Finish My PhD. I am working with my fellow residents where I live on Herbert Butler Estate to make some portraits."

Jo Mama

"I’m not the first artist to do a show based around the alphabet and I wont be the last." (quote taken from Jo Mama's press release for her show at the Studio One Gallery in Wandsworth in October of this year). Part Two of Alphabet show opens on Thursday 1st November at The A Side B Side Gallery in Mare Street, Hackney at 6.30pm. There are 26 different artists who have contributed to the show including; painters such as Jasper Joffe, Martin Sexton, Peter Lamb, Neal Brown, Mimei Thompson, Jackie Clark, James Johnston, Chris Tosic, Jock McFadyen, Adrian R. Shaw, Lady Lucy, James Lawson, Sandra Turnbull, Jono Ganz, Kate Murdoch, Loretta Wall, Sarah Sparkes, Harry Pye and Kes Richardson. photographers; Richard Barr, and Andrew Petrie, and sculptors; Joseph Paxton, and Paul Wye. Jo Mama is an artist and curator currently based in Whitstable in Kent. The show features some of her personal possessions as well as artwork made by people she admires. Generously Jo is giving away 26 of artworks she made free of charge.

The first 26 people to visit Jo Mama's Second Alphabet Show will receive a free A5 sized artwork by Jo Mama worth £30

Above: Artwork 8

Above: Artwork 10

Above: artwork 11

Above: Artwork 12

Above: Artwork 13

Above: Artwork 20

Above: Artwork 22

Address of A Side B Side Gallery is: 352 Mare Street, London E8 1HR. The opening party for the show is Thursday the first of November: 6.30pm till 10pm

Funny Business at The Shortwave Gallery

'Funny Business' is an exhibition featuring the work of Sadie Hennessy, Jasper Joffe, Kate Lyddon, Harry Pye, and Geraldine Swayne is coming to The Shortwave gallery, Clements Road, Bermondsey, SE16 4DG. The opening party will be on Thursday 8th Nov and the show will close on Tuesday 27th Nov.

Geraldine Swayne is an artist and musician. This year she was the winner of the Royal Academy Summer Show’s Sunny Dupree Jury Prize. Paul Carter-Robinson of Artlyst magazine has described her as the best portrait painter in Britain. For more info on Geraldine visit: here

Harry Pye is an artist, writer and curator. He is the editor of The Rebel magazine. He has exhibited work and organised events at both Tate Britain and Tate Modern. For more info on Harry visit: here

Kate Lyddon is a painter and sculptor and occasional curator. She won the Mark Tanner Sculpture Award 2014/15 and has exhibited at Jerwood Space, Zabludowicz Collection and Tate Modern. She was runner up in the Marmite Prize for Painting 2006. For more info on Kate visit: here

Jasper Joffe is a painter, writer, curator and publisher. He was the founder of the Free Art Fair and Joffe Books. For more info on Jasper visit: here

Sadie Memphis Hennessy is a “Mature Lady Artist” and Screen Print Fellow at The Royal Academy. Trevor Neal (of Trevor & Simon) has described Sadie as being a genius. For more info on Sadie visit: here