Outside In: London (exhibition opens 16 August)
On 16th August, this years Outside In: London exhibition opens at the CGP London Cafe Gallery in Bermondsey, and will run until 9 September (Wednesday - Sunday, 12 - 6pm). This exhibition of the work of eight non-traditional artists was selected from over 790 submissions to the Outside In: London competition. Outside In is organised by the award-winning Pallant House Gallery, home to one of the best Collections of modern British art in the country and widely recognised for its exemplary learning and community programme. The innovative project Outside In provides a platform for artists who find it difficult to access the art world because of mental health or other health issues, disability, social circumstance or because their work does not conform to traditional art norms. There are no set creative criteria for the artists that choose to align themselves with the project.
Alan Ramdhan is a student of the City Lit College in Covent Garden where he studies drawing, etching and painting. Alan's work often depicts places that he has been to, and they contain a huge amount of detail in a very small space, often in graphite pencil.
Alan Streets was a Plein Air artist in New York City for 10 years. While in America a documentary was made about Alan titled, My name’s Alan and I paint pictures. Alan is now based in the UK, where he paints landscapes and imaginary scenes.
Albert began to draw during his years spent in hospital, working mainly in simple accessible mediums such as pen and pencil. He has said that these drawings act as a kind of meditation and a means of escaping boredom.
David Byrne creates multi-layered artworks by writing and rewriting his thoughts, often combining collage with pen and paint. He uses text from song lyrics, T.V programme titles, names of sitcom characters and pop stars within his works.
Kate Bradbury has received little acclaim from the mainstream art world. Some years ago, she began intuitively making pictures and assemblages from the abandoned belongings of previous unknown tenants and continues to this day.
Kim Noble feels, as an untrained artist, that her work comes from her heart not her head, and that she has learnt a lot about her other personalities through their artistic styles. Kim’s autobiography All of Me was published in October 2011 about her life with a personality disorder.
Linda Bell makes interactive artwork and mainly works in sculpture and installation. She frequently makes work which can be played with and whilst making she will experiment with ways of moving and engaging with a piece.
Phil Baird’s art career started when he first entered art school 40 years ago. He has exhibited and worked at art whenever he could, inter spaced by hospital admissions. Phil has focused on drawing for three years now, recently publishing the book Simple Complex Drawings.
Alan Streets - Watching Wolf