RABBLE

It’s the last weekend of our show Rabble at Coburg House House in Edinburgh.

Rabble is an eclectic mix of works by me, my partner Eleni Kalorkoti, and our friends Louise Smurthwaite and Bjorn Lie, featuring prints, paintings, textile pieces, comic originals, zines, and Bjorn’s baffling process that doesn’t even have a name (a mix of paint, paper marbling, rubber stamps, pastel pigments, stencils etc, that has to be seen to be believed).

The show actually fits together much better than we expected when we came up with the name Rabble, and I’ve loved hanging out in there and chatting to all sorts of people who have visited (mainly trying to explain Bjorn’s elaborate flower drawing process).

For people who can’t make it, I’l give you a quick tour here…

Alongside her beautiful illustration work, Eleni has always created works in fabric, filling our flat with incredible quilts, hangings and appliqué pictures (and occasional outfits for the dog, Peanut, who wore a patchwork linen jacket for the private view, outdoing the rest of us).

It’s so good to see some these collected together in the exhibition along with a selection of Eleni’s prints. Her textile pieces often feel like they have emerged from the world of her drawings, and seeing her bold expressive designs carefully stitched and folded into fabric is very special indeed.

A few of Eleni’s zines are also available, and are some of my favourite things, perfect little collections of the most delicate drawings.

You can see more of Eleni’s textile work, and follow along with her projects on her Substack. You can also take a look at her handmade quilted scarfs on her RUFF shop.

When I used to share a studio with Bjorn in Bristol, there would sometimes be short periods between jobs when he would seem slightly stuck, struggling to get started on anything, or bogged down by admin. But then suddenly one morning I would arrive to loud music playing, and the beginnings of a dozen amazing flower paintings strewn around the room on every surface, with Bjorn frantically flitting from one to the other with his assortment of rollers, pigments and paints, like some giant, deranged butterfly.

Since moving up to Fife Bjorn has taken these flower paintings to crazy new levels, and he is showing a cabinet of originals as well as many prints in this show.

He also has a selection of his beautiful East Neuk ink paintings, which are never far from my mind when I walk around Scottish villages, the shapes of the cottages, the trees, the winding roads, all captured in vivid inky colours.

You can see more of Bjorn’s work HERE.

I’ve been a fan of Louise’s prints and illustration for years from seeing it online, but this is the first time I have seen a large collection of her prints and originals together in real life, and they are even more beautiful than I expected.

Louise captures the light and atmosphere of landscapes in and around Edinburgh perfectly, in vivid coloured pencil drawings that shimmer with dappled light, and feel like the most perfect late-spring/summer Edinburgh days.

She also has a selection of screen prints and zines, and has created 2 large hand painted fabric hangings especially for the show.

You can see more of Louises work HERE

I have put together a small exhibit of originals and sketches from Hors Scène for the exhibition, as well as a set of brand new Hors Scène screen prints.

I also have the book for sale (along with the French edition of Kingdom), and would be more than happy to draw in a copy if you buy one during the weekend.

I’ve also exhibited some of my recent prints (Lino prints produced upstairs in my studio, and Litho prints made at Edinburgh Printmakers). These prints are all for sale, currently exclusively here, although I expect they will end up on my online shop eventually. I will also have them at open studios in the first weekend of August.

This exhibition is also the first time I have shown a set of original paintings of my London Review of Books covers, including the cover art that I made in this video.

I’m hoping to get a chance to exhibit a larger collection of these in the future, and will let you know when I have any plans!

The exhibition is in the gallery / shop of my studio space; Coburg House ( I am upstairs in the attic). It’s a fantastic community of over 50 artists and makers, and such an inspiring place to be every day. We will have an open studio at the beginning of August, so come and have a snoop around the rabbit warren of workshops if you live nearby.

Thanks to everyone who has come to the exhibition already, and I’l be here over this weekend if anyone is around and interested.