Wednesday 18th May: Andy Warhol: ARTIST ROOMS at Firstsite

From early pencil drawings and canvas paintings to screen-print portraits and wallpaper, all the way thru to covers for Interview and album artworks and finally ending on film.............. Firstsite's "Andy Warhol:  Artist Rooms" is a brilliant taster into the pop-art legend of the Campbell's soup can.  This main exhibition is accompanied by two more displays of specially comissioned work by both Hattie Stewart and Camille Walala and a programme of events and film screenings ......... which make it a worthwhile day-trip to visit the oldest recorded town!  My home town!

Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester , Essex, CO1 1JH

Tuesday 17th May: Camille Walala at Firstsite

If you look at the tiny black silhouette of a person's outline under the enormity of the wall here, you can get a grasp of the scale of the architecture of Firstsite.  The gigantic slanting interior wall has been covered in Camille Walala's op-art interpretation of pop-art for the current show at Colchester's contemporary gallery.  The palette picks up on the pink and yellow of Warhol's prints and the pattern mimics his use of drop shadow and the half-tone dots from the screen-printing process.  Not only has she covered this epic surface but also decorated the front-desk and tables of the cafe for a complete Walala take-over.  

Follow Camille's Instagram to see more from the project.  

Firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester , Essex, CO1 1JH

Tuesday 17th May: Hattie Stewart at Firstsite

Illustrator / Artist Hattie Stewart hails from the same home-town as me, initially studying art in Colchester in Essex.  She has returned to bring her distinctive style to the local modern art museum as part of the current Andy Warhol exhibition.  With reference to Warhol's cow wallpaper, Hattie has made a repeat pattern of her prints to line a gallery with her own pop-art fly-posters.  Her doodle-bombing is diplayed alongside smaller detailed paintings on shelves to complete her own world within the "Andy Warhol: Artist Rooms" themed show. You can purchase replicas of the posters in the museum's shop!

Firstsite, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester, Essex,  CO1 1JH

Saturday 31st October: TATE Modern at the MO

Current show :  The World Goes Pop & Abraham Cruzvillegas: Empty Lot in the Turbine Hall