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All Posts in Art
Last weekend i went down to the Spezial F.C. exhibition at Circlesquare. Since 2015, the premium sub-line of adidas – which is curated by Gary Aspden – has become renowned for diving into the Three Stripes’ extensive archives, and reimagining heritage styles through a modern lens for each of its collections.
The exhibition, celebrating the symbolic magnitude Adidas has had, both on and off the football pitch - adidas SPEZIAL has been at the heart of football cultures, especially in the North of England.
Comprising both vintage and reissued styles alongside unreleased samples, working prototypes, and a selection of football boots, the exhibition showcases a deep love of the beautiful game.
Check out the rest of my photos on my photojournal
Friday night art fair launch party action down at Manchester Central. Some great artists on display from across the country and beyond.
Highlights for me were the Orbis Community. A not-for-profit Community based in Gateshead. It was great chatting to one of their board members and learning about their collective. I particularly loved the work of Adam Pointer, Rock and Rose and Helen McClafferty.
A few photos from the fair are below, with some more over on my photojournal.
A couple of weeks ago I visited Chatsworth House. Having not been before or for a very long time I was expecting the standard National Trust type old estate, country house experience. I was very much mistaken... The Devonshire Family and the Duke and Duchess particularly, have curated an engaging and interesting balance of their modern art collection balanced with the rich history and restoration of the original house and its features.
Highlights are a gold stripped back sculpture from Damien Hirst, Hockney's hung casually in the corridor (apparently they saw it hanging in the Whitechapel Gallery and bought it straight from the gallery wall to hang in the their living room!), as well as a walk in wardrobe type room filled works from with Picasso and Matisse.
Some of the other highlights are the painted optical illusions as well as the stories from the knowledgable staff throughtout the house.
The gardens are also great, and with both modern and classic artworks dotted throughout.
Check my photojournal for more images from the visit and weekend in the Peak District.
Originally planned for Art Basel in Miami (until COVID continued to create havoc), the second Reebok x Eames collection launch activation eventually took place earlier this year - connecting the art world and with the sneaker community of NYC. One of my last contributions from my time at IMA-Home.
And check out the wrap-up video snippet...
A couple of weeks I took a visit to the Manchester School of Art to check out the latest graduate showcase. Some great and thought provoking work on show from the across the courses.
The show ran until the 22nd June but you can still see the work online.
Some more photos are on my photojournal.
This was a fun one, creating an in-store running activation and retail experience to launch the latest adidas Solarglide running shoe, in the adidas London Flagship store on Oxford Street.
I created a sprint game where consumers tested themselves (and the shoe) in a race - fastest feet first! Smart phone integration allowed for campaign extensions and friendly rivalries to form across social as well as in-store.
I got the chance to visit the Hockneys Eye exhibition at the Fitzwilliam museum over the Easter weekend whilst down in Cambridge and it's one of the most beautifully curated exhibitions I've been to.
Hockneys work is incredible, as expected, but it's been positioned in and around the Fitzwilliam's existing works, playing on both the technical aspects of the artwork as well as juxtaposing themes. All while highlighted against vibrant green colour blocking. Totally unexpected and totally excellent.
Well worth checking out if you are in the vicinity.
Some more photos will be up soon over on my photo journal.
Head down to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 15 March-29 August.
A really cool project to work and lead on... a collaboration between an iconic brand and legendary artist. Below are a couple of the social stories, followed by a couple of key visuals. Each release in the pack has its own narrative relating to each release and the artwork it is inspired by - through the creative concept which turners the consumer into artist and brings the life in front of your eyes, with the shoe becoming part of the process that inspired it.
In the summer of this year the dream brief landed on my desk, to work on the launch campaign for the super exclusive Reebok x Eames collaboration. As part of that pitch win and campaign activation I lead the creative of an exclusive launch event, taking place at the newly renovated Eames Case Study House in the California hills.
The full case studies for the event and also for the retail activations created for END and Footpatrol will hopefully be online soon! Below is a little snapshot...
If you need your shoes with a side of sweetness, look no further than the Reebok x Jelly Belly collaboration that’s coming your way!
The bold and brightly coloured footwear pays tribute to vibrant Jelly Belly flavours and even features scented silicone soles! Our key visual creative takes this twisted cocktail of flavours (sweet, savoury and sickening!) and bring the footwear to life with 3D characters created from the beans that inspired the shoe. The Resulting action is a visual and interactive interpretion of that cocktail through the lens of lockdown and the skillls, tricks and hobbies we've all picked up along the way!
This is includes the party mix, home DJ, the super sour cocktail and its body contorting effect on the new super flexible yogi.
Leveraging the graphic language of old Kung-Fu movie posters, graphic novels and the humour of the film franchise, creating the key visuals for the Reebok and KFP collab was a fun project work on.
Starting with a teaser social story campaign based around Chinese New Year before leading into the graphic poster inspired key campaign.
Finally after nearly going on several occasions I finally got to check out the Design Museum at its current home on the bank of the Thames. There was a great exhibition on cycling, from its first forms through to ultra modern time trial bikes. A highlight was seeing Chris Boardman's gold medal winning Lotus from the '92 Barcelona Olympics.
The other main exhibition was "Design of Year 2015".
Now in its eighth year, Designs of the Year celebrates design that promotes or delivers change, enables access, extends design practice or captures the spirit of the year. Someday the other museums will be showing this stuff.
Some great work on display... and I love the BMW i8.
Finally I squeezed in a quick visit to the Barbican for the "World of Charles and Ray Eames" exhibition. I got there 20 mins before it closed and the attendant advised me it takes 2 hours to see it all. I whizzed round in 15 mins... here are the highlights!
Major artist and cultural phenomenon Ai Weiwei takes over the main galleries at the Royal Academy with brave, provocative and visionary works.
Looking at people looking at art
The exhibition has finished now, but you can check out a full 360 online version here.
It was a beautiful autumn day and my sister was up visiting from London, so we headed for a wander around some of Manchester's finest galleries and exhibitions. These are some of the highlights.
Walking home
