Platform 6 non-profit organisation showcases lesbian, gay and bisexual artwork with debut exhibition alongside special auction in aid of Stonewall 7th – 14th September 2013 Bargehouse (Oxo Tower Wharf, SE1 9HP)
William Baker Doing Bird
Sir Elton John adidas Stan Smith trainers
Rolina Blok adidas Stan Smith trainers
Rolina Blok Melpomene Tragedy
Layla Lyons adidas Stan Smith trainers
Layla Lyons – Mitchell
Judy Blame adidas Stan Smith trainers
Judy Blame – Red And Black
Boy George – Bed
On 7th September Platform 6, a non-profit arts organisation, opens the doors to its first collective exhibition with a showcase of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) artwork featuring emerging and established artists including Boy George, Carl Hopgood, DNA Factory, James Tailor, Layla Lyons, Lewis Burton, Rolina Blok, Victor Ivanov, William Baker and Judy Blame.
Alongside the exhibition a special auction will take place where bespoke adidas Stan Smith trainers designed by the artists and Platform 6 patrons will be on offer in aid of gay equality charity Stonewall.
The exhibition, curated by artist and Platform 6 founder James Tailor, was born from a frustration of how LGB art is represented today and a desire to highlight the diversity of work being produced by LGB artists.
With many LGB exhibitions taking a retrospective approach, Tailor observed a lack of representation for what it means to be a gay artist now. The Platform 6 exhibition offers a snapshot of London-based LGB artists and comes at an interesting time for gay arts when the news agenda and popular culture are rife with storylines and features on gay equality and characters, the arts has remained fairly static.
Speaking on the exhibition Tailor says,
“There is so much more to LGB artists than simply their sexuality, however that is what many exhibitions seem to focus on, and a lot of the work itself is highly sexualised and falls into a now well-known stereotype. The Platform 6 exhibition takes LGB art out of the context of sex, and while some of the works displayed may contain nudity, the work itself deals with themes such as non-conformity, identity and vulnerability.”
Platform 6 connects emerging and established artists with the aim of helping promising artists to showcase their creative talent. This debut exhibition connects talent from backgrounds as diverse as fine art, performance, sport, music and fashion, bringing them together in an exhibition that is current, thought provoking and appeals to a wide audience.
Alongside the exhibition, Platform 6 will be hosting a special auction in aid of gay equality charity Stonewall.
Stonewall has been instrumental in bringing about important legislative reforms and has been raising awareness and campaigning for LGB equality since 1989. For the auction, Platform 6 has joined forces with global sportswear brand adidas, creating 20 pairs of limited edition adidas x Platform 6 Stan Smith trainers which will be transformed into one-off pieces of art by those exhibiting in this year’s show and Platform 6 patrons including Naomi Campbell, Dawn Mellor, Sir Elton John, Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue, Neneh Cherry and Noel Fielding, who have been chosen for their support of the LGB community.
Spanning five floors of the Bargehouse, an unconventional venue which challenges the notion of the ‘white cube’ on London’s iconic South Bank, the Platform Six exhibition takes place from the 7th to the 14th of September and is open from 10am until 6pm.
A silent auction of the 20 customised adidas x Platform 6 trainers will take place opening online at midday on 4th September and closing at the private view event at 21:30 on Friday 6th September. One-hundred per cent of the profits will be donated to Stonewall.
Information on the exhibition and how to enter the auction can be found on
www.platformsixlondon.com
Platform 6 Exhibition & Auction in support of Stonewall charity Date: 7th – 14th September
Time: 10am – 6pm daily Bargehouse (Oxo Tower Wharf, SE1 9HP)
Who: Established and emerging artists including Boy George, Carl Hopgood, DNA Factory, James Tailor, Layla Lyons, Lewis Burton, Rolina Blok, Victor Ivanov, William Baker and Judy Blame
FURTHER INFORMATION – ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES
BOY GEORGE first rose to prominence with Culture Club as part of the New Romantic movement that emerged in the early 1980s. Blending fashion and music, his aesthetic sense and creative output has since expanded to incorporate DJing, writing books, designing clothes and photography.
CARL HOPGOOD is a multimedia artist who works with video, sculpture, photography, print and installation. His work is animated by a range of influences from theatre, film, YouTube, shopping and travel, to create surreal, dreamlike objects that play with the viewer and seduce. Carl has exhibited widely in London, Rome, New York, Berlin and Madrid.
DNA FACTORY, formed by Dallas and Angel in 1990, are a creative partnership who manipulate sculptural assemblage, photomontage and collage to create provocative surrealist images and sculpture that are both disturbing and playful challenges to convention.
JAMES TAILOR challenges conceptions of art and pushes the boundaries of many different media, creating hybrid art forms that pose questions about them and their limitations through history. His work is often satirical, controversial, political and at times anchored within the History of Art. He sometimes makes use of text and image, while other times he allows his creations to have a voice of their own to create a powerful entity.
JUDY BLAME has been working as fashion stylist, designer and art director since the 1980s, beginning as one of Ray Petri’s Buffalo Crew. Not only helping to shape the look of i-D magazine and The Face, consulting and designing for fashion houses such as Dior and Comme des Garçons, he has styled and designed for Neneh Cherry, Kylie Minogue, Boy George and Björk. His designs, incorporating scavenged objects such as chains, ropes, buttons and bottle tops also bleed into his photo collages and help define his unique style.
LAYLA LYONS is a figurative oil painter whose vibrant colours and bold brushstrokes result in a unique and unforgettable representation of the sitter. Her distinctive techniques provide the paintings with intense qualities that culminate in an unforgettable presence. Lyons is a very sought-after commissioned portrait painter whose work was featured in the BP Portrait Awards 2011 at the National Gallery.
LEWIS G. BURTON is a young London-based performance artist. His work deals largely with the themes of the grotesque, androgyny and the struggle with the self. He has already exhibited many times, at the Peckham Space, Untouchable at Mori + Stein Gallery and the ICA amongst others. He has also been asked to perform in clubs as part of the nightlife that inspires his work and has himself curated showcases for other performance artists.
ROLINA E. BLOK is a young emerging London-based artist. Her work is about the art of the 8 limbs, also known as Muay Thai (Thai boxing). She is currently exploring the relationship between sport and art through drawing, painting, multimedia, printmaking and performance. To this end she has become a Nak Muay (Thai fighter) as part of her on-going performance piece. Through her work she is able to explore the metamorphosis of aggression into beauty and contemplate the homoerotic.
VICTOR IVANOV’s work explores the way in which science and technology introduce manipulations and intrusions into the body. His work explores the paradox between these intrusions and media images of the body as classically beautiful and therefore timeless. Found objects find new meaning in Victor’s sculptural pieces, performing the interplay between technology and the human body.
WILLIAM BAKER is a photographer, director of live music shows, stylist and creative director. He has photographed, directed and styled numerous singers including Rihanna, Björk and Fiona Apple. Having a long-standing collaboration with Kylie Minogue, he directs all of her visual output, including performance, choreography, video and set design. William was awarded the Visionary award at the 2008 Elle Style Awards.
