**NEW**

This is the piece which is currently in Surface Gallery.
Do go and see Pile if you find yourself with some spare time, it's such an exciting exhibition... with plenty to see! It's on until December 11th.


Title: Photostrip
Medium: Oil on primed paper
Size: 40 x 202 mm

Sixes & Sevens: Pile

This opens on Friday. I'll be showing a new painting (and it's not a Polaroid!)

SURFACE GALLERY, 16 Southwell Road, Nottingham

19 November at 18:00 - 11 December at 17:00

Private View 19/11/10 6-9pm

Pile is a comprehensive sculpture show that sets out to question the conventions of exhibiting work within a group exhibition. The works interact with each other in some cases becoming ‘piled’ on top of one another. Rather than stand as works in their own right, a sense of autonomy will be lost to the curator’s vision. The collection of individual objects will become one overarching piece, a visual spectacle, where the works act... as the material and start to make the definition between the artist and the curator.

The exhibition will feature works from Nottingham based artists, as well as emerging and more established artists from the East Midlands and the UK. Participating artists include, David Bance, Jonathan Baldock, Lotti V Closs, Sean Cummins, Sean Edwards, David Ersser, Craig Fisher, Dan Ford, Simon Franklin, Lynn Fulton, S Mark Gubb, Frank Kent, Brendan Lyons, Laura McClafferty, Zoe Mendelson, Jock Mooney, Lauren O'Grady, Audrey Reynolds, Lucienne Simpson, Derek Sprawson, Debra Swann, Lee Triming, Gerard Williams, Annie Whiles and Neil Zakiewicz.

Not enough hours. Not enough days.

It's been over a month since I last posted anything. It's been a busy one; trying to sort out things for our house, painting, a huge amount of exhibition openings and events, and, of course, signing on/job hunting. Time seems to have flown by and I don't seem to have a lot to show for it.

Anyway, the big news in Notts is that The British Art Show 7 and the fringe event Sideshow opened with a big (and rather late) bang on Friday. I'm still yet to see what's at Nottingham Castle and I need to look around Contemporary in better detail (it was busy & there was wine...), but I haven't been left disappointed by it. I thought Christian Marclay's The Clock was brilliant, as was Elizabeth Price's User Group Disco - which is surprising as it normally takes a lot for me to become engaged in, let alone like, video pieces. Both are at The New Art Exchange, so it's definitely worth the tram ride up to Forest Fields.

As for other news, I've put a Polaroid painting in Wunderkammer at The Hopkinson Gallery (formally The Art Organisation) near the Train Station, which is open until the 14th November. I'm also going to be in the Sixes & Sevens exhibition Pile, co-curated by Simon Franklin & Craig Fisher. I'm yet to decide on what I'll be putting in, but it'll be something new and I'm very excited about it. Both of these are part of Sideshow 2010 who are hosting a number of events from now until December, so I'll be keeping an eye on what's going on.

Right, back to painting now.

Painting, Packing & Unpacking

So, the exhibition opened a couple of weeks ago, and it went perfectly. The paintings weren't set up exactly how I'd intended, but this arrangement still looked great and I received lots of good feedback.

All the new pieces sold, apart from Blinds - again!

I've also been asked to make some more Polaroids for the university's collection, which is such a compliment. I'm still really shocked by how my work has been received.

I had hoped I was going to post this before my move, but as you can tell from the date, I didn't have the time. I've packed up my stuff, made the move to Nottingham, and unpacked the other end. Our new house is lovely, and it's good to talk about, and also see art on a regular basis again.
Anyway, here's some images of two commissioned paintings I've done, one of which is in Bonington Gallery at the moment. Citroen and Cobweb. (Apologies for the dodgy photos)

This Week

Making The Future opens on Thursday.
Private view: 6pm-8pm

I can't wait to see it in it's entirety, as I've not been involved in any of the set up, and I'm looking forward to hearing what people think of my newest pieces, though 'Pylons' has already been sold, so that's a good sign! It will be great to see some familiar faces too.

I'm yet to document my two latest paintings. As soon as I've done that, I'll put them up.

Also, at last, I have a house in Nottingham, so I'll be back in the city as of the 25th September.

I shall try and take some pictures at the opening, but you should definitely go and see it, it's going to be fab!

Making The Future 2010

It's not long until Making The Future 2010; 'the very best creative and directional work from recent Nottingham Trent University graduates.' The press release has been added to the university's website, and I'm one of the lucky few who has been featured within it.

'Fine artist, Lucienne Simpson, is exhibiting a range of her 'polaroid paintings', a selection of miniature highly detailed images translated from camera to canvas...'

To read more of what is said about my work, and some of the other artists/designers included in the exhibition click here.

Making The Future 2010 will take place at The Bonington Gallery, Nottingham Trent University, and is open Mondays to Fridays (10am - 5pm) from Thursday September 16 to Friday October 15.
The private view will be on Thursday September 16 from 6 - 8pm in the Bonington Building.

Bad Art?

I got home on Monday from the Vintage at Goodwood Festival, where I had some of my old work in the Bad Art Salon. It was a great weekend, and I'm happy to say that my paintings weren't 'bad' enough to win any prizes.. Phew!
I also have some new paintings to unveil; Trees, Pylons and Bunting. However, I've just realised that Trees is 0.25 inches short of the width it should be, so is not actually Polaroid sized. I knew there was something I didn't like about it, how annoying.

Impromptu Travels

It was a spur of the moment trip back to Brussels a couple of weeks ago. I took my paints and sat in my brother's apartment for most of each day painting new Polaroids, which was a nice change of scenery.

I also paid the photography museum a visit, which was housed in a fantastic Art Nouveau building. I stumbled across a fab photographer, Philippe Herbert, and I even picked up a couple of postcards of his photos for inspiration. This one (right) was my favourite. Taken from his Bruxelles Europe series.

I was only home for a couple of days before I zoomed off up north to Newcastle, or South Shields to be precise. I visited family, had fish & chips by the sea, and managed to squeeze in a few hours at The Baltic. If anyone gets a chance to go, I'd definitely reccommend it. Tomas Saraceno's black elasticated web-like installation was as beautiful as ever. I saw a much larger piece by him at the Venice Biennale, and also in New York. However, it was Cornelia Parker's Perpetual Canon that stood out most; 60 silver brass band instruments squashed flat and suspended mid-air, and lit by a single bulb.

Think it's time to stop galavanting, and do some work...

Farewell Nottingham (for now)

It's official. I've gone from graduand to graduate, and it was over in an instant. I had a wonderful week celebrating (again!) my results, I still can't quite believe it.

I've left my lovely house in Nottingham for the summer and moved home to Tewkesbury. Luckily there aren't many distractions in this little town, so I can crack on with all the painting I've been itching to do. Keep an eye out for new Polaroids that I'll be posting on here, I think it may take a bit of time to get going again. FULL STEAM AHEAD.

In other news, some of my work from 1st and 2nd year has been selected for the Bad Art Salon being held at the Vintage @ Goodwood Festival. This takes place from 13th-15th August at the Goodwood Estate, West Sussex. Mary and Norman (below) are in it, if you're going, do go and look!

'Summer'

I've finished a new painting; Thistle.

You can see it in the 'Summer' exhibition at The Crocus Gallery, Number 1 Church Square, Lenton, Nottingham. It opens on the 17th July and runs until 7th August. 11am - 4pm.

What next?

It's officially over now. Had my last tutorial this time last week, and graduations only 2 weeks away. It feels rather strange not to be in the studios, and not seeing the same faces every day. I also said goodbye the last of my sold Polaroid paintings; I did feel a little sad.

So, where do I go from here?

I've been selected for Making The Future 2010, Bonington Gallery, Nottingham. The exhibition brings together a range of works from recent graduates of NTU's School of Art & Design - Fine Art to Fashion to Photography - I'm very lucky to have been chosen. This also means that I'll get to see my paintings again, as I'll be taking them back on loan to exhibit. Making The Future opens in September, so I'll keep you updated on that.

I've also been commissioned by a couple of people to create new Polaroid paintings, and, even better, I've been invited to make work to be permanently displayed in the Newton/Arkwright University building.

Now, time to get out those paint brushes! But in the meantime, go take a look at Tim Gardner's work. They're watercolour paintings, and truly stunning.

Untitled (Parking Lot) 2002
watercolour on paper
6.5 x 5 inches

Degree Show Tripping..

Just got back to Nottingham from a busy week of travelling; Bath, Belgium, Bristol and London. It's been good to see what my friends from foundation have been upto these past three years. You can go and look at their work by clicking on their names below.

Victoria Croker

Vickie Fear

Lucy Rogers

Also, my results arrived last week and I got a 1st Class Honours. Speechless.

P.S. I found these AMAZING magnetic Polaroid frames whilst in Brussels. I had a ridiculous amount of fun taking photos through them... I'm a Polaroid addict!

Polaroids

Now the exhibition's over, here's some images of the work. Nine small paintings blue-tacked to the wall.

Each 3.5 x 4.25 inches, oil on card, and individually titled. In the order seen below; Bridge, Pigeons, Flowers, Car, Sky, Pine Cones, Hanging Basket, Sea and Blinds.
All apart from Blinds sold at the Private View.

NTU Fine Art Degree Show 2010

It's almost over, though there's still a couple of days left. Unlike the rest of the Art & Design courses, Fine Art is open for an extra day, so do come and have a look!

For those who can't make it, check out the website.

This is life

Work, work, work... For the degree show.

5th - 11th June, Bonington Building, Nottingham Trent University.

COME

Artists & Illustrators

My work's been featured in the June 2010 issue of Artists & Illustrators magazine. The article focuses on upcoming degree shows across the country. Go check it out in the newsagents!

Dr Sketchy Nottingham

"Dr Sketchy's Anti Art School is where cabaret meets life drawing."

Held every other month in Escucha, Nottingham.

April 17th 2010 - Saints and Sinners

Zara Ann

February 20th 2010 - Bettie Page TributeAnna Fur Laxis & Fanny Devine
December 5th 2009 - Winter WarmersMissy Malone

Received & Painted, 2010

Each 5 x 7 inches, oil on canvas/canvas board.

Taking my previous work as a starting point, I asked people to send me photos of their treasured items. I reproduced the images in paint, as close to the original as possible, and on a scale very similar to that of a photograph.

Untitled (an ongoing series of objects), 2009

Each 16 x 20 inch wooden box frame, including an acrylic on canvas painting and a 6 x 4 inch postcard.

I sent emails, posted on Facebook, and distributed flyers to invite the public to send me an image of their most prized possession. Alongside the image, they were asked to hand write me a postcard which gave details of what the item was. They could be as informative, or as vague as they wanted, and it was up to them as to whether they revealed their name or not. I then painted each object on a plain background, excluding original contexts, and displayed both the painting and postcard in a box frame.

This work was exhibited in Collector-Mania at The Art Organisation, Nottingham.

Number 1.
'Dear Lucie. I have sent you a picture of a ceramic, black cat bookend with one eye. It was made in Taiwan. It was left behind in a house that my grandparents moved into in Wells, in Somerset and I was allowed to keep it. I have kept it for at least ten years. Vee. x'

Number 2.
'My most treasured object is a brass figure of a ballerina. It was my Great Grandmothers, and she gave it to me before she died as she knew I liked it, and it reminded her of me when I used to do ballet when I was younger.'

Number 3.
'This is a candlestick which belonged to my Grandmother in Belgium. It is over 60 years old to my knowledge. From Nickie'

Number 4.
'This is my amazing Dandy Comic collection ranging between the years of 1993 to 2001! I hope you like it. Jamie Martin'

Number 5.
'This is a seal which is part of a watch chain. I found it in Ogwen Bank River. I saw something shiny and picked it up, it must've been lost on the river bed for years. The chain reminds me of the hills and mountains where I grew up and takes me back to my childhood whenever I look at it.'