From the street to your space…
“They looked at the view; they looked at what they knew, to see if what they knew might perhaps be different today. Most days it was the same.”
Virginia Woolf (1941)
In the wake of the publication of photographer Simon Roberts’ monograph ‘Merrie Albion: Landscape Studies of a Small Island’ flyingleaps is extremely pleased to announce the nineteenth artists’ poster print: ‘Between the Acts, 2018’.
The iconic image of the white cliffs at Birling Gap coupled with the haunting quotation from Virginia Woolf’s posthumously published work ‘Between the Acts’ conjures vertiginous feelings of both awe and trepidation.
Roberts took this photograph on 29th March 2017, the day Theresa May signed Article 50 triggering the two year period of negotiation that takes the UK out of the EU. Visitors to the site are warned not to approach the edge as it’s unstable.
However, when faced with an abyss – whether natural or manmade – it’s difficult to resist staring into it. The girl in the red coat epitomises bodacious courage, fittingly perhaps as it’s her generation who will be living with the consequences of Brexit be that hard, soft or ultimately overturned.
Between the Acts, 2018 Simon Roberts
Simon Roberts’ large format photographs can be seen at Flowers Gallery, Kingsland Rd, London E2 8DP until March 10th.
A longer text on his work is available to read soon in the Spotlight section of the www.flyingleaps.co.uk website.
Second Class (2018) Heath Kane
SECOND CLASS
A second artists’ poster treat is in store in the form of a brilliant new work by artist Heath Kane. Already known for his very popular ‘Rich Enough to be Batman’ that combines Elizabeth II with Gotham City’s finest, for flyingleaps Kane has produced ‘Second Class’ (2018).
Resembling a giant postage stamp ‘Second Class’ promises to be extremely impactful on the streets of London, Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol… A portrait of privileged calamity. Of course, those with plenty of cash and connections to power are going to be able to withstand the winds of change more comfortably than many of us.
The price of a second-class stamp has gone up but looming also is the rising cost of living precipitated by the vote to leave the EU and current Brexit botch-up being messily ‘delivered’ by Tupperware Theresa and Co. The May/Queen’s face in Kane’s work is a vaudevillian post-pratfall expression and one that also says ‘that’s another fine mess you’ve got me into’.
The image is at once striking but also contains delighting subtleties. Kane’s work often proffers those visual moments that cause a ‘smile in the mind’ of viewers. ‘Second Class’ prompts thoughts and feelings aplenty but one idea that keeps occurring: when is the @NPG going to stage an exhibition of alternative monarch inspired portraits?
Michael Peel (1940 – 2017): Artist, Educator and Campaigner for Justice
‘Michael Peel In Memoriam’ (2018) flyingleaps poster raising funds for people living with Parkinson’s disease…
Based on an alternative version of Michael Peel’s ‘Agitate’ (2106) artwork for flyingleaps and informed by some of his key concerns: Supporting Public Services and the NHS, exposing the myth of venal privatisation that is PFI as well as denouncing War and the Arms Trade.
Shards of self-serving politicians peddling hate and division as political tools… It’s clear from the pages of his final notebook – kindly shown to flyingleaps by the artist’s widow Jane Peel – that, despite his own increasing debilitation caused by Parkinson’s and its effects, to the end Michael was on many levels more vexed by the state of the Nation’s ‘health’ than his own. He will be sorely, sadly missed.
Page from Michael Peel’s notebook.
‘Michael Peel In Memoriam’ (2018) flyingleaps
www.flyingleaps.co.uk are making available and edition of 100 ‘Michael Peel In Memoriam’ posters. All proceeds going to support people living with Parkinson’s. Michael Peel’s name appears in facsimile on the sticker on the reverse of the ‘In Memoriam’ 30”X20” posters and they are numbered 1 – 100.
The artist’s flyingleaps ‘Agitate’ (2016) poster is still available though, due to his passing, this too is now limited in number. Usually, in the first instance, flyingleaps artists sign 100 stickers at a time so the original Michael Peel poster availability is limited to the remainder of the first 100 signed posters.
What a Jeremy Hunt by Dr D
TALKING DR. D
flyingleaps’ will be talking about the inimitable Dr. D at the ICA, London on March 21st at Art On The Streets II: Art as Intervention http://www.artonthestreets.org.uk And Nuart Aberdeen 12th – 15th April 2018 http://2018.nuartaberdeen.co.uk
