SHAME: CAREY MULLIGAN Q & A
LONDON-BORN ENGLISH ACTRESS CAREY MULLIGAN CAME TO INTERNATIONAL PROMINENCE ON THE BACK OF HER ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED TURN IN LONE SCHERFIG’S AN EDUCATION, A ROLE FOR WHICH SHE ALSO EARNED BEST ACTRESS AWARDS FROM THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW, THE BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS AND BAFTA. SHE RECENTLY STARRED IN MARK ROMANEK’S ADAPTATION OF KAZUO ISHIGURO’S NEVER LET ME GO, WITH KEIRA KNIGHTELY AND ANDREW GARFIELD, AND ALSO IN OLIVER STONE’S WALL STREET 2: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS, PLAYING THE DAUGHTER OF MICHAEL DOUGLAS’S ICONIC CHARACTER. SHE ALSO STARRED AS KITTY IN JANE AUSTEN’S PRICE AND PREJUDICE. ADDITIONAL FILMS INCLUDE PUBLIC ENEMIES, THE GREATEST, BROTHERS, WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER AND DRIVE.
Carey has just won the best supporting actress award at the Hollywood Film Awards as well as the Detroit Film Critics Society Awards for her role in the tense drama Shame, directed by Steve McQueen where she plays Sissy, sibling to Michael Fassbender’s character, Brandon. AGENT2 brings you this interview before the UK release of Shame.
Your character in Shame, Sissy, is another fantastic and really interesting part…
Yes. My agent gave me the script. She read it and she told me that there is this insane part of Michael Fassbender’s sister and I read it and I thought, ‘No way on earth will Steve McQueen ever let me play this.’ I thought they would cast someone gritty and American. So I met Steve thinking that there was no way this would come off and he kept on trying to leave! Like ten minutes into our meeting, he was like, ‘Right, okay, thanks.’ And I was, ‘Oh, no!’ And I kept making him sit down again.
What did you say to him?
I just said, ‘Look, Steve, the thing is’, and then I wouldn’t have anything to say. But we did end up talking about The Seagull, which is my big obsession. Playing Nina in The Seagull, I have never really recovered from it and I want to play Nina for the rest of my life, but I couldn’t find a film role that was on the same level, or as difficult or as interesting. Then when I read Shame I thought it was as difficult as Nina and that is what I told him, to convince him to let me do it.
Why is Sissy so close to Nina in The Seagull?
They both have an uncompromising nature. Both of them have the ability to jump without a safety net and they both have really, really high standards for love and for success and yet neither of them can meet them. There is a tragedy in that. When we were rehearsing for Shame, Steve and I talked a lot about Francesca Woodman who was an artist. She was a photographer, an American from Connecticut, and she started taking photographs when she was 15 years old. The majority of them were self-portraits and nudes and she killed herself; she jumped out of a building when she was 22 years old in 1981. I don’t know what it was about her but she had this same thing. She wasn’t afraid. She had no boundaries. She wouldn’t accept less than taking over and being seen and being heard. I don’t know why she killed herself but one of her frustrations was that she was not accepted in her time. People didn’t really appreciate her work and now, of course, her work is sold for thousands.
Tell me how Sissy fits into Shame…
I think Shame is about a man who is trying to control his life and won’t allow people to become intimate with him. He is trying to forget and has a regimented life and part of that is an addiction, his relationship with his sister and the people around him. But the sexual addiction has always been a side note to me, because I think it is more about how he connects with people and how any obsession or addiction informs how you behave towards the people around you. The sexual thing is obviously very specific and it is uncomfortable. I think that is Steve’s intention. It is funny because in the cinema if you make light of sex, or you are crude or you make a joke of it, then it’s fine and acceptable. But the minute you start to talk about it seriously it is unattractive and there is nothing in Shame that is very sexy. It makes you go away and never want to have sex again!
It must have been an intimidating role?
Terrifying. If I had been playing any kind of character, playing a tea lady, I would have been scared, because it was Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender. The standards that they set are so high, so that in itself was terrifying. Added to that the particulars about the character, the music and the singing and all that stuff, it was a pretty big leap.
It’s an intense film, but can you also have a laugh when making the movie?
You can. I didn’t know what to expect because my first meeting with Steve was quite intense. He sort of riles you up. I almost cried! I think I did cry at our first meeting because he stirs up a desire to make art and no one else ever has ever done that in the same way. He really challenges you on why you make the choices that you make — what kind of films you make and why you are doing them. And that was really intimidating and alarming but he also reminds you why you want to act. He would come in when we were doing a take and he’d say, ‘Ah, Michael, you two seem like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’, and it was amazing. You’d be so in awe and at the same time he’d be telling you to do it better. He would be like, ‘It is half time and you are 4-0 up and you have got to be 8-0 up. You can do it.’ Stuff like that. Sometimes it would be very quiet but often he was like a real cheerleader. He can mess around, especially with Michael.
The bathroom scene and the singing scene — was one more frightening than the other?
Singing. The singing was more nerve racking than the nude scene. The nude scene in the end was fine actually. I think I was nervous beforehand. I remember lying down in the bath in that bathroom and I knew that Michael was going to burst into the first take at any point and, strangely, I didn’t feel nervous at all. Whereas with the first take of the singing I was really scared. Steve always wanted it live and he wanted it in one take. So that set of requirements meant you couldn’t muck it up. We were there for about two hours and we did take, cut, take, cut. And the lyrics when you study them are desperate. It was really fun to play. I had singing lessons and a singing coach and she actually played the piano in the scene.
Have you sung much before?
I was in the choir at school. I sang in musicals and stuff but never the big roles and, weirdly, Belle & Sebastian asked me to sing on one of their songs last year. That was very scary. I was terrified. I had no idea. It was so random. They just rang up my agent and asked if I’d be interested and I was like, ‘Yeah!’ It was cool but so nerve-racking. Singing is terrifying. It was the scariest thing. Not the worst thing to do but it scared me to death.
When did you first think you wanted to do this as your career?
The first time I did a play was a musical, The King And I, when I was six in Düsseldorf. My brother was in it and I wasn’t which didn’t go down very well with me. That was the first thing I did. But I don’t think there was a light bulb moment when I thought of it as a career. I just always thought that this was what I was going to do.
And you’re currently shooting Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Is it ever so lavish?
Yes. His style is so unique to him and he is the only person who can do it. It is amazing doing a period film and really walking into sets where the design is so grand. It is perfect. It is accurate. It is so intricate. It helps inform the role. It was the same in Shame. We were in a tiny apartment, literally, much smaller than this whole room and that confinement was so helpful. Michael and I played out scenes in one shot and it was really just the tiniest space and that made you feel claustrophobic. It is the same with Gatsby; the design and the set informs your work and it is so helpful.
SHAME is released in the UK and Ireland on 13 January
Check out AGENT2′s great SHAME t-shirt and DVD bundle giveaway courtesy of Momentum pictures here.
For more information; facebook.com/shameuk or follow @shamefilm
HARPER’S BAZAAR: GREATEST HITS
GLENDA BAILEY IS ARGUABLY ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT WOMEN IN FASHION. SINCE BEING MADE EDITOR- IN -CHIEF OF HARPER’S BAZAAR SHE HAS TRANSFORMED THE MAGAZINE. IN CELEBRATION OF HER TEN YEARS AT THE MAGAZINE, SHE HAS TEAMED UP WITH CREATIVE DIRECTOR STEPHEN GAN TO PRODUCE A COLLECTION OF THE MOST STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHS TITLED ‘HARPER’S BAZAAR: GREATEST HITS’. JENNIFER BUTLER SPOKE TO GLENDA BAILEY ABOUT HER NEW BOOK.
Why did you decide to release a collection of photographs featured in Harper’s Bazaar and why did it seem like the right time now?
I wanted to celebrate the work of all the fantastic photographers, stylists and writers that I have been privileged to work with at Bazaar over the last 10 years. When Stephen Gan and I started at Bazaar a decade ago, we wanted to create a joyful tribute to the world’s best fashion, talent and artistry each month.
How did you choose the pictures that went in to this book? Are they personal favourites?
As I edited the book last summer, I was struck by how many remarkable images I had to choose from. I have so many favourites, but in particular; Jean Paul Goude’s fantastical portraits of Naomi Campbell, William Klein’s portfolio of designers and their team (Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz brought a bus full of people), Peter Lindbergh’s cover of Kate Winslet hovering over the Manhattan skyline, Demi Moore and the giraffe, Marc Jacobs and Winona Ryder recreating ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ and sending the Simpsons to Paris (Marc Jacobs even got a tattoo of his Simpsonized self on his arm)
Why did you decide to realise a book of pictures rather than features of interviews?
We included a feature or interview from each decade in this book, but we had a lot of brilliant work to choose from, which leaves another opportunity for the next book!
What do you look for in a photograph to make it onto the pages of Harper’s Bazaar?
It must be iconic and epic.
What photographer have you been most proud to work with? Did you have any lifelong dreams?
Richard Avedon – I got to meet him on the first day on the job at Harper’s Bazaar, and it’s been a highlight of my career.
Harper’s Bazaar: Greatest hits is published by Abrams and Chronicle and available now at Amazon.
Words Jennifer Butler Images Harper’s Bazaar
LONG X BOY EXHIBITION PHOTOS
AS MANY OF OUR AVID READERS ARE PROBABLY AWARE, WE ARE MASSIVE FANS OF PUNK HERE AT AGENT2 AND THE FANTASTIC COLLABORATION BETWEEN LONG CLOTHING AND BOY LONDON IS NO EXCEPTION!
We just had to bring you these amazing images from a series of shots by London photographer Teddy Fitzhugh that were taken to celebrate the Long x Boy collaboration earlier this year.
The collection focuses around a group of friends whose lives embody a distinct attitude and spirit found in both brands. The photos intend to provide a reflection, not only of their relationships with each other, but also of the distinct connection between the clothing and their lifestyles.
Check out the rest of the series here.
leavetheboyalone.com | longclothing.com
HOLLYOAKS: THE NEW CLASS PART 2
Hollyoaks tends to deal with issues like that in quite a sensitive way. What is it like to be part of a programme like that?
Laurie: It’s really fantastic. You get a sense that you’re helping out because the show does deal with a lot of issues. Sometimes the storylines have to be a bit out there and it’s nice because they set up help lines and support for people going through that kind of thing.
Tosin: Hollyoaks does have a big influence on other kids, they look up to the characters. To be something kids can look up to is really nice.
Lucy: They approach it and they word it in a very sensitive way which is obviously very important. Things like my character being a lesbian and I had that relationship with Esther that was a summer romance. The way they wrote it was really nicely done, it wasn’t too over the top and it really showed a genuine romance that was at its first stage where you’re getting butterflies and you’re really excited when you see each other. It was really nice and really exciting to do that because I have never played a role like this before.
Is that romance going to continue?
Lucy: Oh, no, Esther wants it to but Tilly’s a realist, she thinks things through almost, I think, too sensibly but she always was like it’s not going to happen I need to get my head down and focus and it was what it was. I think Tilly could be a bit of a player. You can tell from her take on relationships that she’s had quite a few and they’ve never been mega serious, they just are what they are. That’s what I like about her.
Is this the sort of thing that you’ve always aspired to do?
Laurie: Acting in general. Just getting out there and working.There are actors out there who aren’t in this position who can’t say that they’re working on a show but it’s a fantastic opportunity.
Steven: We’re very lucky. It’s a great platform I think.
Tosin: I never wanted to be an actor I wanted to be a businessman. Don’t let this fool you I wanted to work in investment banking. I was going to go to university this year but I thought I’m getting work let me see how this goes then I got this and I thought I’m going to stick at it.
Was it intimidating to come into such a popular programme?
Steven: Everyone’s so lovely but it’s a big undertaking in a way. It’s a bit surreal. You walk in and you see Hollyoaks College and then you find yourself walking through the McQueens living room.
Laurie: It’s weird but everyone here is so unbelievably nice. It’s cool, you don’t feel any pressure really.
Tosin: The first day everyone asked which character I was playing, and had a chat. They all made us feel really welcome.
Lucy: It’s really nice because although everyone is really friendly and really welcoming at least we’re all in the same boat and it’s nerve wracking and you’re a bit anxious but it’s really nice we’re working together all the time. We’ve had lots of time to gel and our chemistry is getting really good. All the guys are living together and Scarlett and I are as well so it’s going to improve even more. I feel really lucky that we’ve come in as a group.
Have there been any big arguments?
Tosin: Yeah I had an argument with Dylan about moving the milk, no I’m joking.
Laurie: We had a slight argument because he’s a Manchester United fan.
Tosin: It’s only a bit of football banter.
Laurie: I’m an Arsenal fan so there’s a bit of rivalry and the other guy we’re moving in with is a Liverpool fan.
Steven: I’m any fan just keep me quiet. I just switch to whoever’s the loudest and scariest at the time.
What sort of projects have you worked on before?
Scarlett: Tosin and I did a show called The Switch which was great fun. I used to describe it as a Skins meets Hollyoaks for a younger generation. It was great we filmed all around London as well which was great because we both lived there.
Lucy: I was in Waterloo Road previously to this so I’m trying to get out of my Manchester accent, trying to neutralise it a bit. I’m the black sheep out of them all. I’m the northerner.
Do you have any say in what your characters wear?
Dylan: Yeah a bit, if you’re comfortable in it then yeah but if you’re not and they think its right for the character then they change it until it fits.
Scarlett: I think Maddie and myself are one and the same I have both these items in my wardrobe and they’re mine too. Our stylist is really great because he said if you don’t like it there’s no point buying it because if you’re not comfortable then you don’t feel comfortable on set. He was great he took us to all the great shops like American Apparel, Topshop, Office and Kurt Geiger, it was great.
Lucy: My characters really quirky and really funky and really edgy so he came up with things, we’d start off in Topshop because it has so many different styles all under the same roof so it’s easy to start off there and kind of stamp a trend on what your character’s going to be and then go further afield and go to different stores. He’d pick up things and say try that on that were really clashy prints that I personally would never be brave enough to wear but actually you see how it really works.
Check out the new crew from this week on Channel 4 at 6.30pm. AGENT2 brings you part 1 of this interview here.
Interview Elizabeth Horsfall Video and stills Lucy Sharratt
HOLLYOAKS: THE NEW CLASS
THIS YEAR’S INTAKE OF NEW SIXTH FORMERS ARE ABOUT TO HIT HOLLYOAKS AND THE GROUP OF SIX ARE SET TO BRING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
THERE’S THE BITCH, THE QUIRKY GEEK, THE LONER, THE OUTSIDER, THE JOKER AND THE GAY BEST FRIEND.
Scarlett Bowman, Lucy Dixon and Dylan Llewelyn who play Maddie, Tilly and Jono made an appearance earlier this year when some of the cast took a trip to Abersoch.
New to the show this week are Tosin Cole, Steven Roberts and Laurie Duncan who play Neil, George and Callum.
AGENT2 caught up with the stylish new additions to the cast as they explained how their characters are going to inject some new grit and fashionable flare into the soap.
In your first scene in Abersoch you were all wiped out after a party, is this sort of behaviour going to continue?
Lucy: Well we’ve just started back at school so we’re behaving ourselves a little bit more and focussing on work but the first time my character is seen is at a warehouse party and I’m not meant to be there because I’m meant to be in London with my family and then I end up turning up at the party with my friends and then Esther who I had a little fling with in Abersoch turns up but Maddie’s in before that at college.
Scarlett: Yeah there’s a house party scene before we start back at school in the week leading up to that. Then we need to study.
Lucy: My character is very studious, she’s always reading and learning. I love reading the books when I’m on set. I read a biology text book the other day about whales and it was really interesting. My character rubs off on me a bit.
Scarlett: I’m like the absolute tart because I’m there flicking through Now and Hello.
Maddie’s quite territorial, she knows who her friends are. There’s a drama with Bart which you saw in Abersoch and she’s out to get him back, but she’s got her wingmen so it’s alright.
Dylan: My character’s a bit desperate and he’s very different to me he’s more cocky and confident whereas I’m a bit more shy and awkward. He’s cool, I like playing him I want to be more like him. But he’s a bit too cocky, he gets wacked a bit.
How do these different characters fit in with the present Hollyoaks dynamic?
Scarlett: They don’t.
Lucy: Yeah, it’s a little group on our own. If someone were to be watching our group I don’t think they would think it was the stereotypical generic Hollyoaks, which is, I think what they’re going for with this new look and what I find really exciting because we are a new look for Hollyoaks.
Scarlett: I think it’s really interesting to see how it forms from the old version of Hollyoaks how we slot in as a group. Everyone’s wardrobe’s really cool, hair and make up’s wicked.
Lucy: We’re all really different. My character’s punky, arty, yours is kind of along the lines of 90210 but I would say Kate Moss as well.
Scarlett: My character references are Regina George (Mean Girls) because I’m a bit of a bitch and the girl from Mad Men.
Lucy: So that’s what’s great about it, especially because us two are best friends, we’ve known each other for years and we’re so different we’re like chalk and cheese so that’s what I really like as well.
Are you anything like your characters in real life?
Tosin: We have similarities. Sometimes you do tend to big yourself up when you’re with your friends, you edge it up a little just because you’re around the lads. So in that sense I would say I’m quite similar. In terms of playing football, being a lad, all that stuff. Trying to enjoy your young life while you can.
Steven: George is a good friend and so am I. Although George knows a lot about fashion and I don’t really. I’ve taken a more active interest in it now, I notice it more. My characters outfits are very out there and very colourful, I think they look quite cool. I bought a belt that he wears but that’s it, everything’s a bit too colourful.
Laurie: Since I started playing Callum I’ve started reading a lot of poetry. He reads a lot of Bukowski and I haven’t put the book down for about three days. He’s very dark and very abstract.
Steven: He was reading some to us on set the other day, he’s quite weird, quite cool.
Your introduction to Hollyoaks seems to have a Skins type vibe and they dealt with some really gritty issues. Will your characters be involved in anything like that?
Scarlett: I have wind of a storyline but I’m not sure. I know it will focus on the ups and downs of a standard student between 16 and 18. The stuff people go through like first boyfriends, losing your virginity, exam stress. I don’t think there’s anything really hardcore like Skins.
Lucy: I remember watching Skins and was absolutely hooked for the first two series and then I went back for the third or fourth and I kind of though they were glamourising the wrong things and making things out to be super super cool and you should do which are things that are naughty really which you shouldn’t be doing. I like that that we’re not doing that, we’re not showing that we’re getting wasted every night and turning up to school and not concentrating. We have our fun but at the same time we’ve got our heads on our shoulders, getting our heads down and working which is what I like and I hope that we’re going to be good role models for people of that age. That they can relate to that character and think if she’s going through it and she’s coping then so can I.
Check out the new crew from this week on Channel 4 at 6.30pm. AGENT2 brings you part 2 of the interview from the cool new kids on Hollyoak’s block here.
Interview Elizabeth Horsfall Video and stills Lucy Sharratt
PANDEMONIA PANACEA
IF YOU WERE AT LONDON FASHION WEEK THIS FEBRUARY, YOU’RE PROBABLY AWARE OF PANDEMONIA. AS A 7FT TALL, LATEX COVERED, CARTOONISH CHARACTER, SHE’S SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT TO MISS. ALTHOUGH SHE’S SEEMINGLY EVERYWHERE RIGHT NOW, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THIS SELF MADE CELEBRITY. IS SHE A LIVING HOMAGE TO THE POP ART MOVEMENT, A WAY OF COMMENTING ON CONSUMER CULTURE, A PR EXERCISE IN BRANDING? AGENT2 TALKED TO HER TO SEE IF WE COULD GET TO THE BOTTOM OF MYSTERY.
There’s a huge amount of discussion surrounding what Pandemonia stands for and what you’re trying to say. Are you making a fixed statement or are you open to interpretation?
Discussion is a good thing. Traditionally, art is illusive; does any one know the meaning of Mona Lisa’s smile and isn’t it all ‘in the eye of the beholder’ anyway? Can a person be a statement? Pandemonia is a cartoon reflection of metropolitan life in the 21st Century.
You talk about products being the new celebrities: conversely, how much do you think celebrities have become a product or brand themselves? Is your plastic nature a commentary on this?
Products hold the real power and celebrities are products in the media. Being a celebrity you have to manage your image in exactly the same way as a brand does. It’s only the branding that distinguishes one thing from another.
Presentation means everything and it all comes wrapped in plastic. Who needs content when the surface says it all? Commodities are no longer just things of use: they have become part of what we are. I went straight for that laminated look.
You’re placing yourself in the public eye in a huge way, but remaining anonymous at the same time. How do you deal with this duality and is it a deliberate comment on celebrity?
There’s nothing new about anonymity and being in the public eye. Just look at all the advertising. Those images are flawless, and you can’t get beyond the surface.
I live beyond my self as an act of self creation. I’m a conceptual artist presenting the concept of “A Pop Up Celebrity”. Like an advert, I am another image in the media. Pandemonia is a story with legs and mysteries make good copy.
You’ve talked about being the creation of the ideal female shape – blonde, leggy, thin. Are you deriding society’s obsession with feminine perfection or are you part of it?
I’m just as influenced by the current aesthetics as anyone else. I take everything at face value.
The nature of Pandemonia means that you’ll never age – you’ll forever be shiny and new. Are you therefore the ultimate celebrity?
Yes! I’ve taken it to its ultimate conclusion as another pre-packaged multi platform commodity. I work well in print, web, moving image and reality. Its catch up time for the cosmetics industry, they’ve missed a trick or two.
Would you say that becoming part of celebrity culture is the best way to comment on it, or is your immersion into the ‘it crowd’ just a way of getting yourself and your work known?
Definitely! I place myself in the public eye so that I have a bigger impact on objective culture. News is spread in the market place. Celebrities make good press and people relate to them so being one of them is like giving your ideas a free ride. In the glossiest of magazines my ideas get exhibited right next to their influences. And of course the ready made audience is a big bonus. You can’t just buy PR like that!
Are you ever going to reveal what’s behind the latex?
There’s nothing there; isn’t that the point?
Finally, why Pandemonia?
Pandemonium means chaos. In Milton’s Paradise Lost Pandemonium was a palace of gold built by Mammon. All that glitters is not gold.
Interview Tamsin Worrad
TOMORROW YOU WILL LOVE A DIFFERENT STAR
THE PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE OF KONRAD WYREBEK CONTRAST HYPER-REAL COLOUR WITH TWISTING DARK-DEPTHS. FROM CELEBRITIES AND THEIR MODEL BOYFRIENDS TO A PENTAGRAM BASED SHRINE TO BEYONCE, THIS APPEARS TO BE ART ABOUT IDENTITY IN AN IMAGE BASED CULTURE – UNTIL YOU’RE PULLED BENEATH THAT ALLURING SURFACE.
Though much of your work has a surface edge of celebrity or fashion, it is cut with challenging currents that make it hard to pin down. Would you say there’s any dominant theme at play?
Above all I’m interested in idealised worlds. Many of my works – including the new circular paintings – feature hyper-bright colours that to me represent dreams, targets and ambitions. I think that often these aims are impossible ideals of perfection, so it’s important to me that the zones are faded into each other; elusive. Our ambitions are the same: what we aim for can quickly become somewhere else.
There are shadows in the glamour in though – through use of monochrome and twisted or deformed paint-strokes and also some threateningly ambiguous situations.
In a lot of my work - such as the Paintings ‘Young Slaves’ and the sculpture ‘Three Graces’ – I’m exploring the possibility that the ideals we’re aiming for can enslave us. Our culture places high value on celebrity, fashion, youth and beauty. Super-perfect images and messages – celebrating and advertising these targets – are all around us. I think our attempts to attain at least some of that ‘perfection’, whether through shopping, sex or body transformation or whatever, can trap us in. We can end up in prisons of work, debt and limited ways of thinking.
What’s your process – from inspiration to finished piece?
Well, I work across different practices - painting, sculpture and digital so it varies a lot. But often I use the unreal images of fashion editorial and advertising as a starting point. I search through magazines, papers and online sources like blogs and websites with fashion and lifestyle shoots. Sometimes I get them off Facebook too.
I’m seeking out images that, to me, say something about the times and our culture – that have a potential to open a dialogue and question the nature and value of the world we exist in. As much as I can see a dark-side to the kind of craving and ambition these kind of fashion and celebrity images can provoke I‘m also, like most of us, attracted to them. So in a way, with paintings such as the diptych ‘We are Slaves to the World that Doesn’t Exist’ and ‘Ideal Five Rings Target Circle’ I’m trying to make sense of my interest in them and also investigating the ambiguous meanings in the images. So with ‘Ideal Five Rings Target Circle’ I’m trying to capture the uncertain quality; whether that boy’s S+M mask accessory is trapping him in a magazine page – or someone else’s borrowed idea of a sex prison.
The painting ‘Beyonce Is New Black Madonna’ is the centrepiece of a pentagram installation, that has echoes of Russian constructivism as well as creating an shrine-like impact. Is there a darker meaning to the pentagram?
In European culture and Christian-based society, I read the pentagram as a symbol of anti-religion. But it can also be also read as a new religion – the birth of new beliefs through the negation of an old one. So with that work I built up almost an altar-like installation with an oil painting of celebrity in an iconic pose. She’s a goddess for many.
She’s an icon. The title says the rest.
See Konrad Wyrebek’s work in a show curated by Michael Petry at:
Clifford Chance Collection, 10 Upper Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London E14 5JJ.
Tel: 020 7006 1000. Opens to public 17 June-31 July 2011.
VAUXHALL ART CAR BOOT FAIR
Turps Banana
NOW IN ITS SEVENTH YEAR AND RETURNING FOR ITS MOST CREATIVE EVENT YET, THE VAUXHALL ART CAR BOOT FAIR ANNOUNCES AN ENVIABLE LINE UP OF TALENTED ARTISTS, FASHION DESIGNERS AND FABULOUS PERFORMERS.
This year, just for the day, TURPS Banana – an innovative and highly collectable painting magazine – will collaborate with art world legends Damien Hirst, Marcus Harvey, Ryan Mosley and the Chapman Brothers to present 75 limited edition prints each. At an incredible price of between £200 – £300 for every piece, get down early to secure a coveted piece of art.
Julia Royse, independent curator and director of POSTED will be collaborating with emerging artist duo ‘The Girls’ to transform a Vauxhall postal van into a shrine to our wonderful postal heritage selling beautiful stationery created by artists including Tracey Emin. The editors of Five Dials magazine and Penguin Classics will be collaborating to create their next edition from scratch, live from the back of a fantastic vintage Vauxhall.
Get down early to nab one of Sir Peter Blake’s unique limited edition prints or to be in with a chance of buying works from 2010 Turner Prize winner Angela De La Cruz, being sold by Jane Simpson. Boot fair regular Pam Hogg will be launching her new limited edition tax disc holders for Pretty Taxing: Road Hogg.
Between haggling for bargains, you can join the Cinemoi Can Can Girls and smash some crockery at their Boules in a China Shop or turn yourself into a human snow shaker with the help of Lucy Parker and iconic Vivienne Westwood model Sarah Stockbridge. Artist Marty Thornton will be presenting a deliciously camp and glittery Big Fat Gypsy Fortune Teller, who will be in the back of a van (complete with light-up wedding dress). A new addition to this year’s event is The Art Improvement Clinic, visitors to the event are welcomed to bring along any piece of art they don’t like and have it ‘improved’ by a team of both famous and emerging talents.
Pam Hoggat
The 2011 East London event will include top named talents including, Gavin Turk, Bob and Roberta Smith, Oliver Guy Watkins, Jessica Voorsanger, Pure Evil, Pete Fowler, Jessica Albarn, and Guts for Garters who will all be selling works of art from their own car boots.
Gavin Turk
Browsing for art bargains is not the only attraction of the day, with delicious food and drink available courtesy of St John’s Bread and Wine’s famous ox-heart buns and the Southampton Arms, along with entertainment from the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club and A Band on a Car, plus lots of opportunities to get stuck into some artistic endeavours of your own.
For more information visit; www.artcarbootfair.com.
DIESEL SCHOOL OF ISLAND LIFE
THE DIESEL SCHOOL OF ISLAND LIFE, LAUNCHED THIS MONTH OFFERING DIESEL ISLAND PASSPORT HOLDERS ALL INCLUSIVE ACCESS TO AN EXTRAORDINARY SERIES OF EXPERIENCES INCLUDING EVENTS, PARTIES, AND WORKSHOPS, HOSTED BY SPECIAL GUESTS FROM THE WORLDS OF ART, FILM, POLITICS, MUSIC AND ALL OTHER CREATIVE FIELDS.
With an emphasis on pioneers, new creative communities and inspiration insights, The Diesel School of Island Life will offer a new outlook, where its inhabitants can creatively thrive, express a point of view about relevant social issues and stimulate action.
All events will bring to life Diesel’s ‘Land of the Stupid, Home of the brave philosophy’.
The creative pioneers on hand to guide you through their unique take on the world include: Howard Marks, Goldie, Metronomy, Mr Hudson, Errors, SBTRKT, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Guerilla Gardening, DIY Taxidermy, Last Tuesday Society, Joker, Project Pigeon, Stephen Walters, BUG & Adam Buxton, Optimo and much, much more.
Tuesday, May 3rd kicked off with a DIY taxidermy class from Charlie Tuesday Gates.
There will also be a very special series of talks from one of the most fascinating figures of our time – Howard Marks – who will be sharing his stories and imparting his own unique Island wisdom in three cities across the UK.
Other highlights include geodesic dome-building, creating an Island postal service with pigeons, adventures with subversive gardener Vanessa Harden who will teach citizens how to grow an urban island veggie patch and food foraging expert Jesper Launder who will show you what’s worth eating in Manchester’s urban parks.
There will also be a special trip to the English Riviera to shoot a music video with Metronomy for their next album, with Diesel Island citizens starring as extras.
All aspiring Diesel Island citizens need to do in order to attend some of the upcoming events is head for their local Diesel embassy (store) to pick up a Diesel Island passport or visit facebook.com/Diesel to sign up and unlock this array of life affirming workshops, special guest insights and VIP summer parties. By attending the School activities or making a brave purchase at Diesel stores, they will be given a Diesel Island visa, which will reward them with further Island perks, to be revealed throughout the campaign.
Details for all events can also be found at facebook.com/diesel
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: SAVAGE BEAUTY
NEXT MONTH THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN NEW YORK IS TO HOST ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: SAVAGE BEAUTY, CELEBRATING THE LATE DESIGNER’S EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTION TO FASHION. THE LANDMARK EXHIBITION WILL CHART MCQUEEN’S 19-YEAR RISE FROM ENFANT TERRIBLE TO ONE OF THE LEADING DESIGNERS OF OUR TIME.
Curator Andrew Bolton, working in conjunction with Sam Gainsbury and Joseph Bennett, the production designers responsible for McQueen’s extravagant fashion shows, has organized the exhibition thematically, in keeping with recurring concepts inherent within the designer’s work. “His fashions were an outlet for his emotions”, Bolton explained, “an expression of the deepest, often darkest, aspects of his imagination. He was a true romantic in the Byronic sense of the word – he channeled the sublime.” Rooms, including ‘Romantic Gothic’ and ‘The Savage Mind’, will delve deep into McQueen’s characters, and his obsession with Romantic literary traditions.
The exhibition, which will be held in the second-floor Cantor galleries, will feature approximately 100 pieces designed by McQueen. Signature designs, including McQueen’s iconic bumster trouser, will be on display. Taken primarily from the McQueen archive in London, the exhibition will be supported by garments from the Givenchy archive and private collections. Pieces from longtime collaborators milliner Philip Treacy and jeweler Shaun Leane will also be on display.
The exhibition launch will coincide with the Met’s Costume Institute Gala Benefit, with Honorary Chairs François-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek, a fitting nod to the theatricality that characterized the designer. Thomas P.Campbell, Director of the Museum commented, “Alexander McQueen’s iconic designs constitute the work of an artist whose medium of expression was fashion. This landmark exhibition continues the Museum’s tradition of celebrating designers who changed the course of history and culture by creating new possibilities.”
From 4 May – 31 July 2011
Words Graham Gartside Bernier
