welcome to optimism

Evelin Kasikov in the L Gallery

This month the L Gallery at Wieden + Kennedy presents Evelin Kasikov.

Evelin creates truly handmade graphics. She employs the craft techniques of embroidery to create typographical illustrations firmly rooted in her graphic design background. She uses typography, grid systems and design techniques to create work at the very cutting edge of contemporary craft practices. 

Alongside this, Evelin has developed a CMYK cross-stitch technique that creates printed images with needle and thread. She has started work on a pantone book using this method.

Her clients include: Nike/The New York Times Magazine/The Guardian/Dorling Kindersley/Fil Rouge Press/Phaidon Press/Bloomsbury Publishers/Kate Spade New York/Wired Magazine UK and she is currently represented by WICCA.

More info here: www.wiccaartists.co.uk

Trystan Williams in the L-Gallery

This week sees a new exhibition pop up in our wonderful little L-Gallery. It is by London-based artist Trystan Williams.

His collection 'Thread 1' takes quotes from the internet and laser-engraves them on to pieces of slate. Here is what he has to say about his work:

" People post things on the internet that they would never admit to their closest friend in real life. The things people post can be tragic, hilarious, disgusting, thought-provoking, hateful, revelatory, confessional, deeply personal, full of joy, or full of pain and loneliness. They are as varied in tone and texture as the spectrum of human emotion and thought. It’s this that I’m trying to get at with this work: an attempt to excavate and preserve what is truly human and all too easily lost in the dense, humming jungle of high technology and instant online communication."

If you would like any further information you can contact Trystan at trystanwilliams1@gmail.com

Nic Joly exhibits in the L-Gallery

This month in our tiny little L-Gallery we have Nic Joly exhibiting his beautiful miniature model people. 

Having started out crafting playful little scenes around his home for his children to stumble upon, making these little scenes soon turned into a passion and a way for him to comment on how he sees the world. 

Nic says,  “As we go through the journey that is our lives we come across situations and make observations about what we see and feel. With my 'Underfoot' collection I strive to highlight my own observations and thoughts about my journey, and things I have seen. Each miniature sculpture work is framed in a museum quality, glass-fronted box frame. These frames turn the works into small, well-hung pieces of theatre.”

We are loving Nic's work here at W+K, and even more so since we found out he earned himself a Blue Peter badge. (Not that we are jealous, of course.) 

You can find more of his work at:

www.nicjolyunderfoot.com

www.facebook.com/NicJolyUnderfoot

 

Hannah Parr in the L-Gallery

This month we're exhibiting Hannah Parr's delightful little pieces of food-inspired sculpture in our L-Gallery. (It is officially London's second-smallest gallery and is located in the glass case that forms part of our reception desk.)

Hannah introduces us to her playful take on a lunchtime snack with painted wooden slabs of cheese, ham and bread, and juicy-looking watermelons.

She finds satisfaction in reviving the overlooked beauty of discarded objects, presenting them once again to the world. Bold and energetic strokes are painted onto wood, complementing and exposing the qualities of the original material. A colourful start to February for our L-Gallery.

For more info visit https://www.facebook.com/HANNAHPAINTS

 

Welcome to Optimism does nativity

It's the month of December and what better way to honour the festive season than with a traditional Nativity display? Well, with help from various staff here at W+K, we have done it!

However, traditional it certainly isn’t (nothing is ever ordinary in this place). Never have we seen Nativity elicit comments such as, ‘My dear God, what’s happened there?’ and ‘Hmm…slightly controversial’.

Hardly surprising, given the nature of our characters. This unorthodox ensemble, on a straw base, set against a starry night sky, makes for one unsettling scene.

We expected nothing less, though, so big thanks to:

Lisa Jelliffe for her humongous Mary, Emma Wright for her unusual Joseph, Chloe for her dolly Jesus, Neil Christie for his illuminated Angel Gabriel, KJ, Kirsten and Jody for their take on the sheep, Anders for his creative Donkey...

...Sammy + Joseph for their scary goats, Caroline and Angharad for their shepherds, KJ, Ronny and Joseph for their weird Wise Men, Emma Simmons for her cute Inn Keeper and Leanne for her traditional old stable.

And to top this, we now have a beautifully decorated tree in Reception ready for our secret Santa gifts to go under. These will be given out at our Stars in their Eyes Christmas party next week.

Mince pies at the ready people, it’s getting festive up in here!

toytems in W+K reception

Ben Farleigh is a London-based artist and product designer. He is also creative director of streetwear brand Yes No Maybe.

His 'Toytem' collection is currently on display in the wee gallery space located in our reception desk. Toytem is a range of pop art pieces: toy + London brick sculptures... "a volcanic marriage inspired by childhood icons, the suburbs lived in, and the city playground."

The artist says:

Bricks - most specifically 'London Brick' - are something I have found and collected over time. (They are) a perfect symbolic unit of measurement. (Their) proportion, geometry and functionality are key to their beauty. I would like to consider myself a 'London Brick.'

Fast food 'happy meal' toys and action figures are key to the Toytem collection. Sourced from personal collections, boot sales, eBay and charity shops, they remind me of our disposable culture.
Broadly considered junk, (landfill) each has been beautifully designed, crafted and moulded and manufactured in the hundreds of thousands, to high safety standards and painted with skill by hand, then marketed and distributed to sell more food, or cinema tickets, or computer games to kids.
These used toys still have beauty; 'Toytem' is an appreciation of the minute attention to detail and exquisite skill involved in toy-making. This is highlighted by conglomerations of toys painted a flat colour to reveal their form.

woodland creatures infest W+K reception

Office manager Ronnie (above) has installed a thing in the "L gallery' cabinet of our reception desk.

It's actually made from parts of the set for a shoot we've just completed: a tiny supermarket, in which woodland animals (and, er, a seal) are shopping. Cute. Watch this space for the completed ad soon.


Mrs Squirrel is picking up some bread and cakes.


Mr Seal is presumably looking for the fish counter. Meanwhile, a dog is distracted by headlines on the newsstand: "Roadkill roads! Be safe, be seen."


Miss Chipmunk is choosing some nice fresh veg.



Fantastic Mr Fox will probably be along later to try to shoplift a chicken for Mrs Fox and the Little Foxes.

animals of reception

The shelves in Wieden + Kennedy's reception may look old, dusty, and full of tat. But the reality is far, far from that.
 
Over years, the personalities that have given blood sweat and tears to Wieden’s culture have left parts of their lives behind (in the form of cool, shabby stuff). Pretty nice of them.
 
This collection, displayed in the 'L gallery' in our reception desk, which is officially London's second smallest gallery, is entitled ‘Animals of the Reception’. It was handpicked carefully by Ronny, with the hope that it would be a welcome sight to any visitor.
 
It’s already made receptionist Nicola cry; she says she was both shocked and disappointed. We're pretty sure any child, mistakenly lured into our shop-like building, will never be able to sleep again.
 
Enjoy.

W+K's reception is filled with ephemera and stuff

As some visitors will have noticed, the L Gallery in Wieden + Kennedy's reception (officially London's second smallest exhibition space) was given a romantic make-over at the weekend in time for Valentine’s Day. Where She Went is a specially designed installation for the L Gallery from artists, jewellers and anthropologists, Ingram & Spriggs. On this occasion they have taken their shared interest in ephemera and archival processes to produce a stunning collection of objects and items: the belongings of one elusive ‘Miss Humphries’.

 
 
 
Amateur historians Ingram and Spriggs present a tableau of experience and the wanderings of a female pioneer. Through a cabinet of ambiguous objects, they invite you to join her adrift in the light of the midnight sun. For the more curious among you, hand-bound guides to the exhibition are available at reception.

Ingram and Spriggs welcome commissions for other research and object-based projects, and challenging new environments within which to locate their delicate makings and curious findings. For more information please visit their blog. http://ingramandspriggs.blogspot.com/