Culture 24 – Eight of the Best
October 2014
Article featuring Ellie Davies on Culture 24:
Frieze 2014: Eight of the best limited edition prints for art collectors on a budget.
All eyes are on Frieze Art Fair this week, with serious art collectors digging deep into their pockets. For those on a more modest budget, Axisweb have handpicked a few limited edition prints from their UK artists.
Jessie Brennan, A Fall of Ordinariness and Light (The Enabling Power) (2014)
Commissioned by the Foundling Museum in 2014, the work is a response to the social housing estate Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar, designed by Peter and Alison Smithson in the late 1960s and due to be demolished in 2015.
The limited edition print is from a series of four graphite drawings that visualise the anticipated demolition, symbolising the fall of social ideals of progress.
To buy: Visit Jessie’s profile on Axisweb, click the ‘contact Jessie’ button and use the subject ‘Print purchase: A Fall of Ordinariness and Light (The Enabling Power).
Orlanda Broom, Kew Trip (2014)
The artist’s paintings and prints offer, in her own words, a “hyper, rose-tinted view” of the natural world. This limited edition print combines the fine detail of a botanical drawing with a Japanese-style colour palette and a surreal intensity of focus.
To buy: Visit Orlanda’s profile on Axisweb and click on the ‘contact Orlanda’ button.
Carl Rowe, Deprecated Location (2014)
Rowe considers himself a “hapless commentator’ on the big political and economic issues of the day.
Watch out for the culinary references too: this print is the result of an internet search for Serbian paprika and incorporates a half-toned image of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
To buy: Visit Carl’s profile on Axisweb and click the ‘contact Carl’ button.
Paula MacArthur, Who’s to say that I’m Unhappy 1 (2012)
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Or are they? MacArthur’s paintings and prints of gigantic gemstones throw an uneasy light on the desires and obsessions we invest in these precious jewels and the fragility of the romantic ideals they represent.
To buy: Visit Paula’s profile on Axisweb and click the ‘contact Paula’ button
Abbi Torrance, Bermuda Triangle (2013)
Look closely at the delicate formations in Torrance’s painting and prints and you’ll find that they consist of interlocking human figures.
She is endlessly intrigued by the relationship individuals have with one another and with the larger social structures that govern all our lives in an increasingly globalised and interdependent world.
To buy: Visit Abbi’s profile on Axisweb and click the ‘contact Abbi’ button.
Mustafa Sidki, Ramadan (2014)
Sidki’s work reveals, quite literally, the imprint of his Islamic background.
Using traditional relief printmaking methods and typographical imagery, he explores the words, ideas and symbols that informed his strict religious upbringing and remain deeply embedded in his consciousness.
To buy: Visit Mustafa’s profile on Axisweb and click the ‘contact Mustafa’ button.
James Winnett, The Rise and Fall of the Grey Mare’s Tail (2013)
Glasgow-based Winnett made this letterpress print, in the style of an 18th century Romantic engraving, as an offshoot of his commission to create a gravity-powered fountain in Galloway Forest Park in 2013 – a remarkable feat of hydro-engineering that also posed questions about environmental sustainability and artistic re-presentations of nature.
To buy: Visit James’s profile on Axisweb and click the ‘contact James’ button.
Ellie Davies, Between the Trees 1 (2014)
For the past seven years Davies has been making photographs about the woods and forests of the UK, captivated by their beauty and the place they occupy in our collective psyche.
What is a forest, she asks? Is it the trees or the space that exists between them?
To buy: Visit Ellie’s profile on Axisweb and click the ‘contact Ellie’ button.
The article on AxisWeb:
http://www.axisweb.org/features/spotlight/limited-edition-prints-eight-of-the-best/