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Re: Latitude additions - Stephen Frears, Lightspeed Champion, Glen Wool and more!
Latitude’s woodland, lush green fields and winding lake are the perfect backdrop for displaying inspiring, individual pieces of art created specifically for the festival. Lavish artists have created some of Latitude’s most iconic images including the 200 multi-coloured sheep that graze lazily by the lake and the tree-hung paintings deep in the woodland. This year Lavish artists have conjured up yet more incredible pieces that will be displayed all over the festival site. Their extraordinary pieces will create fabulous little surprises and treats waiting at every turn. Exhibited within the woods, painting from award-winning artist Jake Clark will delight festival goers as the already scenic footpath is made even more beautiful with a series of paintings. Clark ’s works are populated with images of vaguely remembered holiday exploits of family groups; sketchy staged bodies in sports gear and action; and the burning clarity of gaudy hallucinated Lidos. Tableaux of organised leisure, they trigger historical associations with sports culture in the period of modernism after World War I, and critically engage with the related concept of ‘utopia’. The garishness of the paint and the fragmented nature of forms imply looming disaster rather than fun. The recent paintings depict bungalows sitting within seaside resorts, acting like modernist blocks in the landscape. Jakes & his work have been featured in many publications including The Independent & the New York Times. In the Cabaret Arena, Giles Walker will present ‘Peep Show’ – an astonishing show of two fully animated exotic pole-dancers. As a founder member of the guerilla-art group The Mutoid Waste Company Giles Walker has worked with robots for over 20 years & started building kinetic sculptures & robots from materials found in various scrap-yards around Europe . In 1993 he created ‘Antibody’ a robotic rock’n’roll band consisting of fourteen robotic musicians and in 1994 he worked with the legendary Ian Dury on a project, Ruby Throat; a combination of performance, music, and a radio-controlled, robotic, lead vocalist. Inside the Lavish Lounge you’ll findone of the most influential graffiti artists there has ever been; Mode 2. A founding member of one of Europe's first serious graffiti crews, the Chrome Angelz, whose paintings had pride of place in Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff's Spraycan Art, he moved to Paris where he painted throughout the 90s, with Parisian graffiti outfit 93 NTM. Mode 2 is one of only a few people who successfully bridge the linguistic and cultural divide that separates the two cities. His lettering and crisp character paintings are world-famous, and Latitude are proud to welcome him back for the third year running, where he will for the first time be painting live at the Festival! In the dank and murky midst that is the mind of Neil Antcliff’s Foundry, eclectic material is collected and fused under high temperatures and once molten the viscous liquid poured from the pot into the casks producing perfectly imperfect forms. Although Neil utilises a variety of media he is still drawn to the inherent qualities of aerosol. A medium that has been used in the earliest forms of cave painting (spraying chewed pigment from the mouth) and one that is essentially controlling particles of paint. What happens to those particles between the can and the surface is predictably unpredictable. Using the can as a mere tool to control the paint, a tool that allows you to move from microscopic pondering to macroscopic movement. From the faint cackle of a partially blocked skinny cap to the foaming gasp of a fat cap as paint flatly coats a surface……bulges……then slowly bleeds downwards…… mmmmmmmmm paint. Paul Burgess will produce portraits of some of the key artists and performers at Latitude, such as Grace Jones, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Pet Shop Boys and these images will be completed live during the Festival using paint/collage on wood/found objects and situated within the woods. Since graduating from Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London , Paul Burgess has worked as a freelance illustrator for many different clients including: The Guardian, Sex Pistols, Rough Trade Records, Pulp, Top Shop, Vintage Books, MTV, Penguin Books, Island Records, The Observer, Wolff Olins, Greenpeace, The Independent, Sunday Times, The Delays, and many others. James Stephens has created ‘Gladys & Me’ an Interactive Art trail located In The Woods. Things are never quite what they seem in James’s world, and those things we do recognise divide, dissolve, blend and fuse to create uncanny visions that are partly new, partly familiar, but always unique, witty and challenging. The way in which James will be lifting these characters outside of the limits of their frames by replicating and wearing the costumes and characteristics of these bizarre characters himself - within the context of the festival - will also explore the barriers between people, animals and things, art and life, normal and abnormal. James’ unusual exhibit will be in the form of an interactive trail which will be great fun for guests to take part in. As the sun sets over Latitude Festival the site takes on an altogether different look with illuminated trees and projections courtesy of Tim Simmons who presents ‘Intervention’, an ongoing series of immaculately crafted images. The culmination of 20 years’ experimentation in illuminating the landscape he instinctively seeks out texture and form, coaxing out the physical peculiarities of a place through the careful introduction of artificial light. The resulting images are tableau of places at once familiar and unknown, imbued with an illusive, beckoning quality, which pushes them to the brink of recognition and into the realms of fantasy. Found at the Magic Faraway Tree near the Cabaret Arena Maria Slovakova brings her colourful creatures to Latitude Festival. Her playful installations include coverage of vehicles, large scale murals, as well as short animation films and design in form of stickers, badges as well as cross stitch kits… Her hand painted sneakers are currently travelling with Sneaker Pimps tour! Maria is an internationally acclaimed artist, who has, in last number of years, exhibited her artwork worldwide in both galleries and alternative locations. Going by the principle: 'Go full coverage', she does not limit herself to a particular surface but always finds interest in exploring new ways of applying her images...this includes digital design, acrylic paintings on canvas and wood, animation, as well as working in both interiors and exteriors on large scale murals and installations. Adorning the trees and bushes of Latitude’s fairytale forest area will be a series of works by famed artist Gabi Swiatkowska. Having studied at New York ’s prestigious Cooper Union, the highly selective art and engineering school, part of the beauty and, frankly, the fun of Swiatkowska's art lies in her exceptional skill as a painter and her references to Old Masters. Her intricate drawings of random objects, weird creatures, and strange-yet-familiar seem to channel some combination of Rube Goldberg and Hieronymus Bosch. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Art, cult British artist Johnny Cole specialises in the production of small black & white comic books that hold fantastic stories and illustrations about his daily life. Ranging from the poignantly insightful to the downright hilarious, these illustrative masterpieces often cover entire walls, and his covetable pocket-sized editions are fast becoming collector’s items. Johnny will be working in situ again this year on giant comic book pages, drawing on his experiences of the festival and its guests as he proceeds; so if you head down to the woods today, you may just find yourself eternalised in one of his storyboards…or invited by him to join in! Tamsyn Adams is our youngest exhibiting artist this year at just 15 yrs old & she lives on Henham Estate. For Latitude Tamsyn will be roaming the site and painting live during the festival creating a piece depicting Henham & how it is complete, not only the festival in full swing as we all see it but as it is for the rest of the year as well. Tamsyn has just left school & will be going to Sir John Leman college in September to study A level Art, English, Science, BTEC performing arts and BTEC Media. Emma Hart & Dia Jenkins join the open art exhibition this year with ‘Pay And Display’ an incredible piece of conceptual multidisciplinary art presented in the Cabaret Arena. An ordinary looking car with opaque windows is mysteriously parked up, reminiscent of an illicit meeting, a secret tryst. As dusk falls the windscreen becomes illuminated - becoming home to a back projected series of art films made specifically for the car. Once a night, chance passers by become voyeurs to ‘Disco Kissing’ a simply dazzling display, eminating from within the car, of coloured light projections, silhouette and shadow play, choreographed to a sound track. 3 films have already been made by the artists for the car that run continuously on a loop after the hours of darkness. Hart and Jenkins propose to create a 4th ‘Latitude’ film for the programme, created onsite and involving the Festival audience. Located at the Welcome Entrance and In The Woods Caroline Wright explores the four principles of the ancient rituals of The Japanese Tea Ceremony with stunning neon installations. Interested in the nature of human interaction, exploring the way we create habits, rites and communal actions, ‘Untitled’ (believe) is focused on the way, in the 21st Century the urban Japanese culture is shifting as it absorbs and adopts western ways and young people challenge age-old boundaries. The ancient Japanese tea ceremony is in danger of dying out, as young people choose not to learn how to host a tea ceremony, an undertaking that can take over ten years. In the tea ceremony, which is influenced by Taoism and Zen Buddhism, powdered green tea, or matcha, is traditionally prepared and served to others in the ‘way of tea’. Each of the four principles of tea - Harmony, Respect, Tranquillity and Purity - underlines the different ritualistic elements of the formal procedure. Untitled (believe) proclaims the four principles of a now dying tradition in today’s visual language of the young. The vividness of the message delivered by the bright green neon asks the audience to consider the influence of western life and consumerism and instead think of traditional ways, heritage and the principles of life Following on from their success at Latitude last year artists SNUB & Defacto return as this years featured artists. Once again they have designed & produced stunning work to feature within the Cabaret, Comedy, Music & Film, Poetry & Literature Arena’s. The work of SNUB23 & DEFACTO (who form a part of Grafik Warfare), has been integrated not only into the 6 Arena Facades but also within the tents this year. You can also see the work of these Featured Artists by the lake on large letters. SNUB23 & DEFACTO & Grafik Warfare are a street art collective who are bringing colour back to the streets and anything else they can get their paints, stickers and paste-ups on. Most recently part of 'The Cans Festival' in London (organised by Banksy), the pair bring a slice of Grafik Warfare's internationally renowned talent to Latitude lovers. Within the Lavish Lounge Louise Gray will host ‘In conversation with Artists’. Following extensive research Gray together with a panel will tour the festival site on Sunday morning and then take part in 2 timetabled ‘panel’ discussions in the intimate environment of the Lavish Lounge on Sunday afternoon. Artists exhibiting in Open Art are programmed to appear on stage ‘In Conversation’ with Louise & the panel in 2 separate groups, all coming together in the final section. Gray will lead the live discussion, where the audience will have the opportunity to hear the artists talk about their work in general, ask questions, and for the critics to comment on the pieces at the site. The discussions will extend further to talk about Latitude Festival as a new model context for making and viewing contemporary visual artwork: how it influences the nature of the work, how artists and curators can use the potential for reaching new audiences, how it sits with the music & performance program and festival vibe. Quotes from the discussions will then be compiled and posted on the Latitude website. This will be the first of these discussions to take place at Latitude. Gray is an arts and performance writer whose work has appeared in The Wire, New Internationalist, Museums Journal, The Independent on Sunday, Art Review and Art Press. Her book, The No-Nonsense Guide to World Music, was published by New Internationalist in April 2009. The panel consists of Ben Borthwick a curator at the Tate Modern and specialist in sound-related practices and large scale installations & Anne Hilde Neset, deputy editor of The Wire magazine and co-founder of Electra Productions. Elsewhere, the very best in film, theatre, comedy, literature, poetry, dance, art and cabaret will be pitching up at the fourth edition of Latitude Festival. Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Opera House will be showcasing stunning performances on The Waterfront Stage; Royal Shakespeare Company, The Bush, National Theatre, Paines Plough, and nabokov plus more will all be coming to the Theatre Arena along with the English Touring Theatre presenting Latitude’s first musical ‘Been So Long’. Also for the first time is the dynamic orchestral brilliance of Britten Sinfonia performing in Latitude’s outdoor spaces. The House Of BlueEyes collective will be presenting a stunning fashionrock n’ roll circus over the lake at sunset plus stellar poets Andrew Motion, Brian Patten, Jackie Kay and Simon Armitage will be in the Poetry Arena. The Cabaret Arena welcomes Pippa Evans, Ida Barr, Dusty Limits, Johnny Woo, Timberlina, David Mills and Watson & Oliver plus 4 stages dedicated to a full range of music from established iconic performers like headliners Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Nick & The Bad Seeds, Doves, Editors, and Pretenders as well as emerging artists like Little Boots, Ladyhawke and Bat For Lashes. Weekend tickets £150 plus booking fees • Day tickets Fri, Sat, Sun £60 plus booking fee. Weekend tickets prices include car parking and camping • Days include car parking only.
Comment Posted on: June 30, 2009, 09:37 PM
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Latitude additions - Stephen Frears, Lightspeed Champion, Glen Wool and more!
Latitude additions - Of Montreal, Sky Larkin, Lykke Li & more