I wanted to take a minute to look back on 2018 and shine a light on some of the people and events that really got me pumped on doing the blog. Admittedly I didn't get round to covering as much as I'd have liked or seeing as much as I wanted to but everyone mentioned has come into my sphere through doing the Mood of Collapse blog and I'm always greatfull for the connections made. So who did what in 2018?
I kicked off the year with some urban exploration in a famous city landmark. A site of major contention, the old Richards Textile factory has sat derelict for almost 20 years having been run into the ground by its new owners. Since its closure there's been numerous plans to convert the site into a soul less housing development but thankfully each attempt has been rejected by the local council. I believe the original owners, having met to much resistance sold the site and plans are now progressing for another new development plan. In the mean time massive swathes of the site have been cleared while other areas are left to slowly decay and crumble, require demolition very much in line with the new development plans. It seems to be the way, if you can't knock it down then just let it fall down instead! You can see a few more snaps from my first visit to the site in 2008 and the follow up visit in 2018 here.
February introduced me to the wonderful print and paper work of Jo Mcintosh thanks to the good folks at Parx Café. Jo provided a timely reminder that no matter how well connected you might be there's always gonna be amazing artists out there you haven't met yet, beavering away and making incredible work. So for me to be able to engage with them and share their work is a total buzz. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Jo's creations in 2019!
April proved to be exhausting not only because of Nuart Aberdeen (check it here) but because of a short trip to Coventry to take part in the Shop Front Festival (check it out here) at the behest of Su Hewlett, creator and star of everyone's favourite imaginary soap opera 'Latherland'. I'd first met Su as her TV tat shopping channel salesman alter ego at the Lily & Mim show a number of years before. It's always fun to work with Su and her team and it pushes me to explore more performative and visual arts that maybe take me out of my comfort zone but are definitely not boring! From one festival to the next, Nuart Aberdeen blew in like a whirlwind for the second year running and again I was lucky to help out and support many of the artists during their time in Aberdeen. Some incredible murals were created and the conference side threw up many interesting questions and answers about street art, the culture and where its heading.
As I've been collating work for the MoC x 10 show there's a few names that come up again and again and Jim Ewen is one of them! May saw Jim, founder of the Anatomy Rooms space step out and show off his new body of work in the Anatomy Rooms dedicated gallery space. It was great to see Jim's unique style and aesthetics on display and proved you don't need a huge space to make an impact. You can read more about the show here.
June provided another double whammy with both the annual Gray's School of Art Degree Show and the fourth instalment of the Look Again Festival. Both events are an opportunity to engage with new and exciting artists but also a chance to look at Aberdeen and to see the creative side that so many think is missing. Look Again was set up by Grays graduates Sally Reaper and Claire Bruce, two artists who in their own right have done so much for the cities cultural footprint via Smart and really have put Aberdeen on the map as a cultural destination. 2018 saw them work with a plethora of North East talent along with one of my favourite designers Rob Lowe aka Supermundane. Although I didn't catch everything during the festival I did put together a little run down of the 4 years of events along with their video archive here. I always think things look impressive when you see them all together in one place.
July brought a grandstand show from William Moulding with 'Offshore Fieldnotes' at Peacocks. 2018 was a good year for Willie with work being shown at Jealous in London and completing a huge paste up piece for Painted Doors Aberdeen. I'm always amazed by the work Willie produces and his ability to mix analogue printing techniques and digital aesthetics, creating imagery that seem to jump off the paper and yet have a timeless feel. July also saw us open the doors to Kekun Studio with a special 'Art Hive' event which featured artist talks from my partner Mary Butterworth, KMG Yeah and Throwup Gallery. It was great to welcome friends and new friends into our space.
Although we're having the MoC x 10 show next month, the blogs official 10 year birthday took place in August last year (read what I had to say about it here). I was reminded at the Claire Roberts show at Parx (check it out here) that we have lots of incredible and talented artists and creatives in Aberdeen and despite having spent 10 years trying to decipher and disseminate the art scene there's still so many more artists out there that I have yet to meet. And that's really something that keeps me going with Mood of Collapse, the joy of discovering new work and artists and trying to connect up the dots to build up a positive picture of culture in the North East of Scotland and Aberdeen.
Skate rat surf bum and thoroughly nice lad Jess Connor opened his first solo exhibition of hyper satirical and political works at Food Story café. 'Sponsored Content' looked at various themes and smashed them together and made for interesting viewing. Grays School of Art also served up a nice slice of contemporary art via the Masters Degree show (check it here) which celebrated the achievements of the 2018 masters class. A mixed bag of work indeed from print and painting to sculpture and pottery, it provided some much needed visual treats. Its interesting though because I really enjoyed both these shows despite coming from different ends of the creative spectrum, rigorous academia vs self taught diy. For myself one isn't better than the other as its about the individuals and their work.
October was one of my busiest months but as a result I was too busy doing projects instead of writing up blog posts. But I did manage to squeeze out an interview with English street artist Lost Hills (read it here) who's work has sprung up across Aberdeen in the last two years including his interpretation of the Green Lady above. So what was I up too? We organised the first show at Kekun Studio, 'Little Shop of Horrors' with Corvid Eyes & The Little Bat Club which opened on Halloween (check it here), we undertook a huge commission to paint a new mural for the Sheddocksley Sports centre (check it here) and I finally did my piece for the Painted Doors project (check it here) who've had an amazing year with Mary leading the charge.
I was delighted to be invited back to Grays School of Art to deliver a short presentation about how to network and use the tools at your disposal to build up a creative profile. This included a few tips for various social media platforms and the benefits of each site. But I also highlighted a few of the pitfalls and the potential detrimental effect social media can cause, especially if you're experiencing some mental health problems and I always think its ok to have a break or to get rid of them completely if the negatives outweigh the benefits. I was delighted to be invited to numerous shows after the talk including the 2nd & 3rd Year Painting show (above) which hints towards a fantastic Degree Show in 2019. November also saw Francis Walker return to Peacock Visual Arts with her fantastic 'So Far...' show which collected a number of older and more recent works (check it out here).
December brought lots of incredible creative treats, especially at the Etsy Made Local event and the Aberdeen Christmas Village. I did chuckle as the doom sayers took to social media to rip apart the Christmas Village before it had even been built. Also comparisons to Edinburgh abounded but to compare Aberdeen to the Scottish capital (a city with more than double the population of Aberdeen) is pointless as a bigger city will always have a bigger offering but that doesn't mean its better. With incredible designers like Juniper Press, Leanh La and Small Stories and independent stalls from Throwup Gallery, Doric Skateboards and KMG Yeah I'd say there was a few things on offer that you wouldn't find in Edinburgh or anywhere else for that matter. But its not about who's bigger or better but about appreciating those who are out there doing it and trying to make a difference. And ill always be on the side of positivity and action over shitty throw away comments on social media!
Collectively its been a fantastic year but there's been lots of individuals who've done amazing things in the last 12 months. One such friend is Chris Whyte who found a way to combine his design skills with a desire to do more charitable work. After some initial testing the Chariso Press was born. Combining the classic approach of buy our product and well give the profits to charity, Chris has managed to create something really special which allows him to show his design flex (along with that of his peers) and also to give back to the organisations that are out there, on the ground helping people and making a real difference. By the end of 2018 the Chariso Press had released 13 special edition Riso prints so far and have raised over £2000 for their chosen causes. Here's to a lot more giving in 2019!
Although I haven't posted much about Ade Adesina, he's been incredibly busy this year with numerous exhibitions including an exhibition at the John Martin Gallery in London, a collaborative show with June Carey RSA at Eton College, an solo exhibition in Quebec, showing work at Art Dubai, a collaborative show with David Mach at Bo Lee Gallery in London, showing work at the huge Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition curated by Grayson Perry and Ade provided some highlights to the Aberdeen Art Fair at the Beach Ballroom. On top of that Ade has also been running regular print making classes at Grays School of Art and has a few other projects on going that will come to fruition next year. Ade is one of the most hard working artists I know and its amazing to see his star rise not only locally but internationally as his hard work pays off. You'll catch him at Peacock Visual Arts when hes not cutting epic linos at his studio but hopefully ill be reporting live from the front line with Ade real soon.
Another artists who's pushed hard through 2018 is KMG Yeah. Katie is someone who never seems to stop and I think her roll call of achievements is worthy of celebrating. 2018 started with some new street pieces in Aberdeen and Dundee before completing a commission for the new Dr Martens store in Aberdeen (you can see the piece behind the counter) releasing a collaborative print for the Chariso Press, working with Nimi & RH74 on their huge mural for Nuart Aberdeen, producing a new print for the Nine by Nine Club, building a life size ken sculpture in Berlin for Pictoplasma, live painting at the Inspired Nights events on the Green, painting in Barcelona as part of the travel the wall initiative, doing the Creative Me podcast, designing one of the collaborative twin cities Nuart billboards, painting the Bier Hoose in Edinburgh, making prints for the Dundee Print Collective show, a mural for Figment Coffee, Unit 51 and The Lighthouse in Glasgow, a giant piece on an old police box for Outhouse Manchester, the Sheddocksley Sport Centre mural, numerous legal walls in between and she finally set up an online shop. So eh yeah, I guess that's what Katie does.
Of course its no the volume of work that matters as I find victory in conquering the small challenges. I've had a few in 2018 both personally and artistically but felt quite pleased with the results. I've found myself writing down more ideas than I've executed but I know that sometimes an idea sitting in a sketch book for 10 years isn't such a bad thing as some will never come to much while others can be picked up and dusted off, ready for a second chance. I've often shied away from sharing my own creative exploits on the blog but 2019 will hopefully be a chance to branch out a little more and if current plans pay off ill have a lot more time to focus on the things that are important to me.
And speaking of small battles I'm delighted to be sharing a photo of my friend Dax at work. Around this time 2 years ago he was just coming off life support after going into septic shock and almost dying. After a 3 month stint in hospital down south he returned to Aberdeen underweight and frail, literally half the man he was. Now almost 2 years on he still faces daily battles on his road to recovery but he's put the struggle to good use and completed an incredible series of abstract paintings. Not content with being pigeon holed he's also recently taken up TIG welding and has gained his level 2 certificate with plans to start working on some sculptures for 2019. I'm looking forward to working with Dax and Grand Sublime Collective on numerous projects and hi constantly pushing me to do more!
All in all 2018 was a good year. I managed to meet lots of great people and stuck to my initial plans to avoid drama and people who give off bad vibes and to focus my energy better on the things and people that matter. I never seem to get to that 100% task list complete head space but I can live with that, as long as you're trying when you can. Certainly for me and the blog you'll see bursts of activity where other area's in my life have slowed down and allowed me to focus better. Work load, money, stress, relationships, materials, paint costs, energy, social media, so many factors can effect us on our creative journeys and sometimes you need to be present in whichever sphere needs you the most at that time.
If I can give some advice, don't be too hard on yourself for not finishing something as long as you keep creating and experimenting or make time to pick it up when you can. Also if you're facing challenges with mental health and well being, identify the things that can trigger it, booze and work stress being high on my list. Own your shit, fix or changes the things you need to be better and find a positive path forward. Surround yourself with positive people who make you feel good and bring you up and don't put you down. I'm only doing what I do because of the amazing friends and family I have around me. That's it, here's to a happy & healthy 2019 with big projects and amazing people!
If I can give some advice, don't be too hard on yourself for not finishing something as long as you keep creating and experimenting or make time to pick it up when you can. Also if you're facing challenges with mental health and well being, identify the things that can trigger it, booze and work stress being high on my list. Own your shit, fix or changes the things you need to be better and find a positive path forward. Surround yourself with positive people who make you feel good and bring you up and don't put you down. I'm only doing what I do because of the amazing friends and family I have around me. That's it, here's to a happy & healthy 2019 with big projects and amazing people!
