Art-o-mart

Muhammad Ali: The Champ

Muhammad Ali: The Champ is a fantastic exhibition currently running at Proud Chelsea gallery until 3 October 2010. Taken by award-winning photographer, Michael Gaffney, the collection documents the public and private life of Muhammad Ali from 1977 to 1978 when he worked as Ali's personal photographer.

"the result of this phenomenal year will reveal Ali the fighter, the friend, the father and the inspiration through the eyes of a true confidant".

It's a rare opportunity to see natural images of such an iconic figure, but if you can't make it down there to see them in person don't despair, you can view the full exhibition online here.

Images copyright Michael Gaffney, taken from Proud Gallery website.

Charley Harper Federal Building Mural

I've read about the Charley Harper mural in the Federal Building Cincinnati, but had no idea it was still in existence until I saw these pics on Visualingual.

The mural illustrates American wildlife in Harper's unique style, easily recognisable even when created in mosaic tiles. In fact his style seems to really lend itself to this discipline.

It's so great to see it in such detail, so huge thanks Visualingual for going down there and then sharing your pics.

PS. Tomorrow is the last day to catch the Charley Harper exhibition at Castor + Pollux, Brighton.

Images copyright Visualingual.
Via NOTCOT.

Lillian Bassman at The Wapping Project Bankside

Some work from the ionic fashion photographer, Lillian Bassman will be showing as part of 'Group Show' (a collection of work from all the artists represented since the award-winning gallery opened it's doors in October 2010) at The Wapping Project Bankside.

Lillian, now 93, is renowned for her stylised black and white fashion photography (above and below) that graced the pages of Harper's Bazaar during the 60's and early 70's.

During the 70's she left Harper's and fashion photography altogether, it was only when a stash of her images was found in the 90's that interest in her work grew and Lillian returned behind the camera after a 20 year break.

Her images are beautiful and feminine, yet strong and contrasty - a combination that works perfectly, they're exaclty the kind of images I love. The exhibition starts on the 17 August and runs until the 4 September. There isn't anything about it yet on their website, but I found more information here.

Images copyright Lillian Bassman.
Via Cool Hunting.

Crisp Packet Exhibition at the De La Warr Pavilion

You may have read in the press this week about Dave Valentine and his £10,000 crisp packet collection! Well those of you lucky enough to live near Bexhill-on-Sea will have the opportunity to see the collection in it's entirety at the De La Warr Pavilion's, Collectors' Corner this Sunday (15 August).

Dave has been collecting the empty crisp packets since 1984 when he was 6 years old. Now 32, he has a collection of over 250 different examples (according to the dlwp, but 2 other sources say over 500!) many of which are no longer produced.

"The designs are so retro and cool. Crisp bags these days are a bit boring in comparison. People love the nostalgia of looking at the old packets - it takes them back in time and they get a real kick of that."

The collection will be available to view from 2.30pm onwards along with local artist Louise Kenward's collection of charity shop sourced ceramic figures.

"Louise has been collecting ceramic figurines for a number of years. For her, the significance of the figurines is their association with times past, commonly referencing the Victorian era and notions of nostalgia."

Some of their previous Collector's Corner exhibits can be seen here and if you have a collection you want to share find out how to appy here.

The De La Warr Pavilion in all it's modernist glory is worth a visit anyway on a sunny weekend, but add in an exhibition and their fabulous cream teas and it's a no brainer!

Top images copyright dlwp from their blog. Other images screen grabs from CBBC footage.

Blisters Blackout Submission Call

Print Club are now accepting submissions for their December show, Blisters Blackout - "40 Illustrators. 40 Edition and hand signed prints. 40 Pounds each".

All entries must be new work, and for the 'blackout' must have an element of glow-in-the-dark. Throughout opening night the exhibition space will be blacked-out revealing the glowing bits of the designs.

So get your skates on, the closing date for submissions is 30 September 2010 after which time 50 posters will be selected for the show.

For more information and to see work from previous Blisters shows visit Print Club London.

Roman Cieślewicz Retrospective

London's Royal College of Art are exhibiting the first major UK retrospective of Polish designer, Roman Cieślewicz's work from Friday (16 July) until 17 August.

"Cieślewicz was - alongside Fernando Arrabal and Alejandro Jodorowsky - a member of Panique, the 'last' surrealist group in France. At the same time he was a brilliant art director at Elle, and a contributor to Vogue. Remarkably prolific, he also worked closely with figures from the worlds of advertising and fashion including Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton.

Extraordinarily talented as an image-maker, Cieślewicz’s tools were not the pen or the brush but the scalpel and scissors. Working with collage, he produced compelling and original images by reworking familiar icons such Che Guevara or Mona Lisa. “I always go for the maximum picture and the maximum information. You need to stimulate imagination to the maximum” - he once said in an interview."

The exhibition will include 150 pieces of Cieślewicz's diverse work including the iconic magazine covers created for Opus (above top & middle) and the poster he designed for Hitchcock's Vertigo (above bottom). The collections on display are from the National Museum in Poznan, the Museum Art in Łódź and the private collection of Cezary Pieczyński.

See other posts about Roman Cieślewicz here and here.

Images copyright Roman Cieślewicz from 'Roman Cieślewicz: Master of Graphic Design' by Margo Rouard-Snowman. Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. London, 1993.
Quotation from the Polish Cultural Institute.

Charley Harper at Castor + Pollux

The Charley Harper private view at Castor + Pollux on Friday night was great, the vintage prints looked fantastic framed and mounted up together and I noticed lots of red dots, so if you want one I would get down there sharpish. We are now the proud owners of the Trumpeter Swan (above) which I absolutely love and can't wait for the exhibition to end so we can bring it home (huge thanks Mike)! From memory the following were still available:

As well as the vintage prints on display they also have a selection of limited edition giclee prints and few of the posters Harper designed towards the end of his career (below) which are huge and great value for money at £35-45 unframed or mounted on board for an additional £30.