I saw the outrageously visionary Patrick StPaul last night with his genius mix of dead but delightfully constructed art. A man so dedicated to his creations that he came home from his honeymoon bearing a new wife and sheep's carcass he found up a mountain. A legend in waiting. Patrick StPaul that is, not the dead sheep.
I've been invited to participate in a global art project highlighting the danger of extinction to future generations of birds. The exhibition called Ghosts of Gone Birds is a unique collection of originally commissioned artworks, literature and music from contemporary artists, writers and performers. I’ve a donated a painting called One Day We Will Reach A Point Where Are Past Will Be All There Is To Look Forward To, a sister piece to one that appeared in my recent London show. Ghosts of Gone Birds runs from 2nd-23rd November at Rochelle School in London's Shoreditch.
The legend that is Edward Lucie-Smith came down to see the London show and I spent a wonderous hour with him. This man knows more about art than most of the art world put together (mainly because he's written most of the books that are in the art world). A lovely man and sharp as a Stanley knife.
My new show opens in London on July 8th. It's in an old banana warehouse - smell it! - in Covent Garden. Along with the new paintings there will be a collection of bronze busts and the genius ink monkeys at Jealous Gallery will be setting up camp on site to sell six new limited edition Charming Baker prints. Jealous will also be doing live printing sessions at the weekend. The show runs from 8- 31st July from 11am-7pm daily. The address is 16 Mercer Street, London WC2 0HQ. The nearest tube station is Covent Garden. Click here for a location map
This brought a geniune lump to my throat. A customised version of Half Pint (The Panda Boy) raised £4,900 for Comic Relief on Ebay. Every single penny, bar the bit that Ebay nicks, went to the charity. Thank you world of bidders. And thank you winner who lives in New York. That is generosity with bells on.
Opening night at the London Art Fair. The man on the right with the flicky-up collar is Dario from Jealous, one of the genius ink monkeys responsible for producing my prints. The painting with the holes in it is called Love Is Never Thinking It Might End Before We Do. It’s the last rabbit I'll ever paint and certainly the last painting I'll ever shoot. Dario and I retired to a nearby hostelry for some much-needed refreshment. The rabbit went off to a new owner in America.
Had a fantastic night out at the opening night of Postcards From Vegas, a show by Rob and Nick Carter. A wonderful mix of neon and kitsch, I absolutely love what these guys do. (Nick is in fact a very lovely lady). See more of Rob and Nick's work here.
Fresh back from NYC. Bit of business, lots of pleasure. Friday, got invited up to the Lever House offices on Park Ave by the lovely Alberto Mugrabi who introduced me to his world-class collection of Warhols, Koons, Hirsts and Basquiats. Even more flattering to discover he’s got one of my paintings up on the wall up alongside the big fellas. There's now talk of me doing a whole show at the Lever House. That was a pretty good start to the weekend.
I have four new signed prints ready to be released into the wild. The prints are from the "Love Is…" series of rabbit paintings I had shot for the New York show earlier this year, hence the bullet holes. All the gory size and price details are here on the website.
I ran into my friend, legendary hip-hop photographer Jonathan Mannion, in New York recently. He took me to his new bar, Fedora, in the West Village. It’s an old speak-easy. No hat required, just a pair of sturdy drinking boots.
This is the talented and ubergenerous Tareq Kubaisi who’s directed a couple of videos for me now, the first being the Crucifxation promo and the latest one of me quacking on about blasting my paintings with a gun. Tareq persuaded me to re-shoot one as we were filming. He even lent me the gun. A very smart man. And a very foolish me.
Finally back from my Stupid Has A New Hero exhibition on Manhattan's Lower East Side. After months in the studio it's nice to be fondled by the outside world. So thanks to all those people who slapped my aching back, ruffled my greying hair or shook my oil-speckled hands. You were fantastic. The very lovely (and very English) Daily Telegraph ran a story on the show here. And someone with a wobbly camera filmed a fabulous video of the opening night party here.
I wanted to produce a piece of art that could still change long after I'd finished it. I wanted to create a painting that the viewer could not only look at but also be part of. And, as an added bonus, throw wet sponges at. The result was a piece called Crucifixation (Some People Might Think You Look Ridiculous) and this is the eminently likeable Frank Cohen trying it out for size. You can see a video other people road testing the painting here and also here.
I was honoured to be asked by the magnificent Amnesty International to paint a piece for their Blank Canvas project to help the homeless. Fellow exhibitors included Tracy Emin, The Chapman Brothers, Sarah Lucas and the legend that is Viviene Westwood. We were each given a canvas tent to customise which will be auctioned off to raise money. Mine's the one with the headless horseman on it. Whispers, as someone once said, can move an army. Those lumbering trucks with the camouflage paint job do much the same, only using the power of diesel rather than poetry.
A big fat thank you to everyone who made it to the preview party for the Meaning Of Everything show in Shoreditch (see the video evidence here). And apologies to the traffic which had to be diverted after guests blocked the road brandishing cupcakes and limited edition Victoria sponge. I’d particularly like to throw some enormous Charming love in the direction of the folk at Jealous Studio who put up with much 11th hour beard stroking and came up with a batch of world-beating prints for the show. Watch out for more from these guys.
Despite the setbacks of having my paintings impounded by US customs I throroughly enjoyed my five days in Los Angeles. Here's a video of me hooning around Los Angeles like a pasty-arsed Yorkshire man. Big thanks to Seth and Elisa at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art for their hospitality, hanging space, deili sandwiches and macrobiotic nights out.
The guys at Modern Multiples in downtown LA saved my ass (as they say over there) when all my work got impounded at US Customs the day before the preview of my show at the Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art. Within a couple of hours, Modern Multiples produced a beautiful set of life-size prints of the paintings which meant that I actuallly had something to hang on the walls on the opening night. Thank you Modern Multiples. And damn you very much US customs.
Thanks to everyone who bought Half Pint (The Panda Boy) print. It’s now sold out on this here website. For any latecomers try the squirrels over at Jealous (www.jealousgallery.com) who may have a spare stashed in one of their woody plan chests. Then again, they may not.
The effects of running blinking from the studio, headlong into a solo show can be exhausting My best friend at the Truman Brewery show was the sofa at the back of the Brick House. You can see a film of the opening night here. Sadly the Brick House is about to be turned into a restaurant, not that I'll be eating there. I've often had to decide between spending money on food or paint. Some days I even have to eat my own furniture.