Catch-22 is Marc Atherton. A spray paint and stencil master, who creates futuristic pieces in bold, bright colours, often incorporating the faces of models into his work and uses masking and stencil techniques to bring in the techness! It's all about the shards! His main piece was the Reverb Soundsytsem, brought in and built up in the studio by the boys at Underbar. (see pic above)
This was also used on the opening night of the show to deliver awesome sound courtesy of the dj's who all wanted to get involved. It has since been used in a music video and now sits proudly in Underbar, bringing quality sound to the various club nights they put on there.
Two weeks before the show, we exhibited some of our work in the Winter Gardens in the form of doors which we had painted. (See Catch-22's above)
These were attached together to make a freestanding piece that stood in the middle of the studio, adding extra dimension to the exhibition.
My body of work (as always) consisted of various different pieces, including the Snareophobe album cover artwork which I had finished just before the show, (see above) some skateboard pieces including my first longboard, my first ever screen print piece and a series of painted spray cans which were sold within two minutes of the show opening!
I'm always looking for different ways to show my work and Infect different surfaces and the cans were a new challenge for me. I'd painted a few single ones, but had wanted to do a series of them and the show gave me the perfect opportunity. This lot was the 'Alien Artifact' series, featuring made up hieroglyphics and star charts, painted over colours built up with layers of spray paint to make them look like 'deep space'.
The piece above was actually done a few years ago at my end of degree show in Manchester, but since it depicts two of my logos, I wanted to use it again and besides, most people won't have seen it anyway!
My set of four skateboards (entitled 'Chaos 2 Order') went down well and not long after the show, I sold them all to one couple.
This one (above) was a treat to paint! I've been a huge fan of the 1987 film 'Predator' for a while and found myself drawing its namesake character all the time. I felt it was time to paint a big piece and since I had been using spray paint a lot to build up that deep space look I mentioned before, it seemed only right to get on it.
I'd been looking at Danzig's work online and liked how dark his imagery was. A good contrast to the bright and colourful pieces myself and Catch-22 create, he uses stencil and Photoshop techniques to work his craft. They went down a treat on opening night and I think he sold a fair few on the spot!
Danzig also took part in the Apocalypse Exhibition in Weston Super Mare around the same time, meaning we didn't get to see much of him in the two months leading up to the show. A shame really, as the rest of us built up a strong relationship at Baseline, all helping each other to get things done.
Lowdown. The youngest of the Homegrown Collective, but don't let that fool you. This talented artist creates amazing pieces, built up using stencils and worked into with paintbrushes and his fingers. His subjects are people around him, or bold faces he finds images of on the internet, adding his own little twists. Pigeons feature a lot in his work (there are hundreds of them around us daily on the streets!) and since the show, myself and Lowdown have teamed up to collaborate on a series of one off pigeon pieces made to order. He uses a 3 layer stencil to create the pigeon, then I work over the top of them using bright Posca pens, often making them look digital somehow! (watch this space for pics)
I find his work dark yet beautiful and watching him create them in the studio is a real treat. Seeing what an artist 'goes through' to complete a piece gives you that sense of connection and this has led me to buy one of his pieces.
He Dreamt Mars. This guy is one of the coolest people you could ever hope to meet. His work he tells me, is based upon the notion that we as humans are pillaging and ruining our own planet and will one day be forced to seek out new places to live, such as Mars, or other planets where life could be sustained. This is represented in the teeth, planets and mad landscapes featured in his work, all overseen by his simple yet beautifully drawn 'Angel' character.
Since the show, myself and Mars have teamed up to collaborate on a big piece mixing our illustrative styles to create an insane landscape with techy buildings and looming planets. Watch this space for more of this.
Robin Ross is known around these parts for his past work as a radio presenter and for being the man responsible for Sand, Sea and Spray, now one of Blackpool's biggest events of the year, bringing artists together from around the world to paint various spots in the town and making the place look beautiful! He has his own screen printing studio situated in the Old Rock Factory and this is his craft. Taking images from past and present, he combines them with type and colour to make bold and striking imagery. His pieces went down so well at the show, especially his piece depicting a little girl, beautifully finished off with gold leaf and housed in a bright green ornate frame.
Robin is the mentor figure of the group, often pushing us with our work and helping us gain more notice with his knowledge of the art world and his huge contact list!
The show was a great success and more than just getting noticed as a group of artists, we have since grown as a collective and NW Baseline feels like a home away from home to some of us now. We are currently in the busiest time of our lives and working toward a number of big events, including Upfest in Bristol, Alfresco here in Blackpool and the fantastic opportunity of putting our artwork on illuminations to be seen in lights on the promenade! watch this space for more to come and apologies for the big gap in my blogging posts! Busy is not the word!
Massive thank you to all who came and are supporting us now and especially to my good friend Martin Cocks for his fantastic photos, without which this post could not be possible.