Brian Sal Corral is the Painter, Illustrator and Fine Arts Writer for everyone. After establishing myself as an American East Coast Artist I am now on my way to becoming a true International Artist. Follow my artist adventures as an American Artist in London.
Real art lovers look beyond the extravagant flare of fame and into the unrestrained outpouring of the infamous. That is what I am going to see this Friday at Dirty Cop in the Old Police Station Galleries in Depfort. The exhibition is a festival of what is real in art. One night a month different unknown artists openly and unrestrained share their visual muses with the world. This experimental platform for the exhibition of new work including music, film, fashion, performance and visual art, Dirty Cop Friday presents a social and informal opportunity to produce, exhibit and test within the expanding artist network of South East London. The Old Police Station is a DIY Art Centre and cultural headquarter for the area comprised of project spaces (PoSt Projects and Volume), galleries, an on-line radio station (OpticalRadio.net), residencies, 40 artists’ studios and a fantastic café/bar.
For my first art show I am entering a flip book animation art exhibition, about the process/progression of my work from start to finish. I was so excited to start I had 3 ideas sketched in 10 minutes, then it hit me,” Where am I going to get a light box?” Presented here is my “Redneck Lightbox” (I’m from the South so I get to say that).
Materials: Clear flat plastic container at least 8cm deep (3in), Bendy desk lamp or torch (flashlight), Large piece of white paper, Cardboard box close to the same depth as the plastic container.
1. Dump out contents of a clear flat plastic container 2. Set the plastic container on the white piece of paper with the flat bottom side up and with several centimetres (inches) of paper out to one side 3. Set the light source to point into the container on the side with extra paper 4. Set the cardboard box on the opposite side from the light (this seems like it is not needed but you will thank me later)
Thanks to the BookArtShop in N1 London for hosting the d a u n m a n k i n o - t h u m b c i n e m a, exhibition!
QUEST: Visit 2 Museums, Art centres (centers) or Art events a month. (I am visiting 2 London venues a month, you should too!)
QUESTION: How do I find art events in London?
One of the benefits of living in London is the numerous high quality free museums, galleries, art centres and events. It is time to take advantage! A lot of information is available online, so I have below my TOP 3 list/calendar sites divided into 2 Categories: 1) All Around Lists 2) London Art List
ALL AROUND LIST
Wozzon With a name like that you know it is going to be good. Wozzon’s best feature is its visual simplicity, and that is why I am listing it first. To many search sites become bogged down with information, and the user is lost before they have begun. The other benefit of using Wozzon is the extensive lists resulting from the self-customized search, including a word/subject search.
AllInLondon AllInLondon is probably the most frequented event search site. A query for an event or location of interest on a search engine almost always leads to AllInLondon The benefit of this site is the user reviews. No one wants to show up at the place "that guy" said was super just to find out "that guy" was NUTS.
LondonIsFree If you haven’t figured out why I like this site yet I will spell it out for you London is F-R-E-E. There are a couple of sites that list occasional free things to do under a pile of other options, but LondonIsFree is designed to make free, easy.
LONDON ART LIST
LondOnArt Art is actively flowing throughout London and LondOnArt is the way to find the best places to jump in. LondOnArt has and is gathering artists and art venues, who then post their work, events and “other things” for participation from artist and art lovers. One of the best and worst qualities of using this site to find out about events is its copious contributors and information. User should be prepared to filter through the first page(s) before finding that perfect pearl, but to much is better than to little.
Artlyst The Artlyst is thematically very much like LondOnArt, but they are newer and offer a more personal feeling for connecting with local artists. Additionally, the site is much easier to navigate.
ArtSlant A TOP 3 list of sites that are based off of artists and art venues would not be complete without ArtSlant. ArtSlant gives news on art events and artists in the great art cities of the world and helps connect artists with the contemporary art scene at large. This wonderful site only has one problem. It is so large that it is easy to miss the dirty underbelly of art where all of tomorrow’s great artist are waiting to slap you in the face and yell HEY IM AN ARTIST!
I am a strong believer in work before pleasure, and job interview 2 out of 10+ applications was a SUCCESS! Now I am free to be free with my painting and drawing. IT IS TIME FOR ART, London here I come! Well, actually I have been here a month already, but now it is action time, really. Each CV (resume) took hours because I am such an awesome Artist, Educator, Writer, Marine, Warehouseman, Fitness Guy, Mr. Fix It (jack of all trades master of none anyone). And if you think about it no one wants to know all that...except for this one post for the Art Technician for Ealing Hammersmith and West London College. As I took the tour last Thursday I kept thinking, “I would be perfect for this job”, Everything including all the fun extras that I usually remove from my “gigantor resume” to make a finalized resume will contribute. Knowing me I will be there more than the required 3 days a week, but this will still give me ample time for some art shows and exhibitions. Now lets go kick-up some art!
Music is not efficient. Visual artists and architects went the efficiency route in the 19th century, FAIL! No one falls in love with fictional literary characters after only reading the jacket of a book (most of us anyway). To artists the 4 syllable word ‘Efficiency’ is as cruel as any 4 letter word banned from public use. Luckily, today I was capable of avoiding it entirely.
I set out this morning for each of the 3 art galleries, within 3 blocks of my apartment, apply for a job and turn in my artist portfolio. What I got was: A nice conversation with Doug Jones (a rising London based artist) at a gallery that was NOT on the list; a really informative list of London Galleries; a free “special invitation” to maybe the biggest annual art show of galleries and artist in London (thnx Purdy Hicks Gallery); and I found the best art books store in London right next to the Tate Modern (Marcus Campbell Art Books) they were not hiring either. So I successfully achieved NONE of my goals, and you know what…I feel enormously overjoyed.
Just a quick update. It has almost been 1 week and everything is going great! So far I have: - Made one drawing - Reunited and taken care of my sick wife - Run from our room to the 3 biggest/closest museums - Visited half of the Tate-Modern (it is that big) - Applied for a job at one of those 3 museums - Researched a lot (banks, jobs, galleries, coffee shops) - Almost finished opening up a bank account - Started the process for my National Health Insurance Number - First day next week, I will run to all the nearby art galleries then clean up and submit my work for admittance
Did the Marines make me this crazy or was it all the Paint fumes?
I’m looking at my “Get To London, To Do List” with a wide wide grin. Everyday for the last 3 months I have been adding new task and erasing those completed, then reorganizing the list according to a priority color scheme (if that doesn’t say type A artist I don’t know what does). Red is for Urgent/1st; yellow is for Priority/2nd; green is for Basically Done/Last. What is the grin about you ask? Well, the list has shrunk down from 4 pages to 8 lines, but that isn’t it. The real reason I am so happy is that only one more red task remains, and it makes me smile the same way I did when I realized the last thing in my freezer before leaving Roanoke was a red Freezy Pop. See you soon London.
London offers an endless array of art experiences, and Brian Sal Corral is going to do them all. Enjoy insightful experiences and hopeful meanderings on future events as the Painter, Illustrator and Fine Arts Writer from America stumbles, explores and succeeds in the streets of London.
