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Production Shots from Hide and Seek:

Confirmed Artists for the Hide and Seek accompanying exhibition:

CRYSTAL BROOK

Artist

“I graduated from Camberwell College of Arts (University of the Arts London) in the summer of 2006 with a BA (hons) degree in Painting.
I am predominantly a landscape painter and like to incorporate a variety of different media in my works, such as resin, household gloss paint and gold leaf.
I am constantly producing new pieces for sale and exhibition, but am also very open to suggestions and commissions, so please do not hesitate to contact me if you have an enquiry.
My influences include: Otto Dix, Paul Nash, George Shaw, Chris Ofili, Glenn Brown and Nigel Cooke.”

http://www.artbreak.com/crystalbrook

GEMMA CUMMING

Artist

“My work centres around notions of failed perfection, utilising postcards to explore primarily imagery that sells places; which in reality don’t fulfil our expectations. It is this idea of the perfect holiday that I’m interested in, both from advertising and the way people are persuaded to visit places and through my own personal memories of childhood holidays in Britain. I looked at the Art of Travel by Alain de Botton (2002) and was very interested by his notions of anticipation. He believes that the images that we are presented with persuade us to go on holiday, but that no place can live up to the image we create of it. The anticipation of a holiday is the best bit because we can only ever be disappointed by the real thing.
I use postcards because they are tourist images that have ideas ingrained into them because of the things people write. Notable influences are John Constable and the Romantics, their work making places seem nicer than they are. It reminds me of other English tourist memorabilia like chocolate and fudge boxes. More recently Malcolm Morley’s expressionistic paintings from tourist imagery also link by making a beautiful image look hazy and unreal.
The postcards I paint have to include certain elements, including sky that I then replace with imagery of more apocalyptic and threatening skies to subvert the idea of beautiful places. These skies must work with the rest of the image and have most impact when their hue and tone contrast with the originals most prominent colour. I also change other elements in the postcard which are often more subtle than the sky.
These cards must also contain people, as it is their non reaction to the strangeness of their environment that creates questions like, ‘Are they really enjoying themselves?’, ‘Is this the perfect holiday?’ The photograph series Last Resort by Martin Parr(1986) include people for this reason. Their holiday venue is a shabby seaside resort, which Parr shows in high detail with high-saturated colour. The photos connotations are beautiful but you can see all the grimy little flaws.”

www.gemmacumming.com


HOLLY FREEMAN

Artist

My passion is salvaging from the cities and the sea.
My inspirations are from nature and what I find, and can dictate what I make.
I love to improvise and play with the making process of my pieces. I exhibit my work as well as working to commissions.
Artists influences: Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, David Smith, Alfred Wallace...
First Solo Show: 'Once Upon The Street' at Voila! Gallery, Turville St EC1: May 28th-4th June.

www.hollyfreeman.com


ANNA HILLMAN

Photographer and Environmentalist

“Especially when living in a city, it is easy to feel isolated and disconnected from nature. It leads us to forget, neglect and even destroy the environment we ultimately rely on.
Yet we are never isolated from nature – not only do we live wholly and totally within it, but we ourselves are part of it.
We are subject to the same systems, processes and cycles - such as those of decomposition and growth, and cycles of water and carbon, as are animals, plants, soils, rivers and rocks.
Wherever we are, however built-up an area is, there is always sky above us, small plants growing in between walls and tiny animals going about their daily lives.”

Anna’s solo exhibition will be at the Viewfinder Photography Gallery in Greenwich from 30th May to 7th July.

http://www.annahillmandesigns.co.uk/
http://www.amazingness.co.uk/


EDWARD LLEWELLYN

Artist

"Two of my projects are a response to how people don't take responsibility for the environments around them if the do not own them. The other is about how we take things for granted that are so important to us and barley even give it a second thought, i.e. water.
We seem to appreciate so little around us that nature provides us with. There are so many derelict, decrepid and disused pieces of land and buildings in every corner of the world. Instead of rejuvenating them as guardians of the earth should. We simply leave them and move on to the next piece of land, like a disease slowly spreading and destroying the earth."