sweet charity! 3rd december

PoCom at the ICA

Bill Bragg organised this year's 'PoCom' (potential comics) at comICA, the annual comic extravaganza at the Institute of Contemporary Art. He wrote a complete graphic story, then handed single panels of it to a whole variety of graphic artists who spun their own stories using the panels as staring points. You can admire the web of stories in a long corridor at the ICA till November 26 - it makes for fascinating reading and the bar is at the end of it!



artists involved: Bill Bragg, Hiroshi Kariya, Emma Rendel and Matt, Russell Weekes, Walter Newton, Tobi Tak, Becky Barnicoat, Les Coleman, Chris Bianchi, Matilda Tristram, Mark Ciavola, Neal Fox, Rachel Gannon, Fumie Kamijo, Chloe Regan, Mireille Fauchon, Astrid Chesney, Tom Idon'tactuallyknowhislastname, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, (at least) two other people whose name I unfortunately don't recall at all, and myself... here's two of my panels

Drawing islands at Parasol Unit on 30 Oct

LE GUN did a night of drawing at Parasol Unit, as part of Charles Avery's exhibition 'The Islanders'. He has created his own imaginary island, a strange hybrid of Scotland and Egypt, and made drawings and sculptures of its inhabitants. We had a go at drawing our own island next door. Members of the great unwashed came and joined in with the drawing to a soundtrack of sea shanties, whale music and Chris Rea.


(Luc Barbute in action!)

studio shuffle

Harry Malt was the latest addition to our studio after Hiroshi Kariya moved on to new pastures (just up the road) to pursue a carreer in large paintings. Harry is captain of Bare Bones as well as a prolific thinker-drawer who outputs (often hilarious) verbal/visual delights. This is how he treats the place.

March of the Dead

it's time for some ghoulishness again! This year Hallowe'en is on a moonless night, so for Strangeworks' March of the Dead the moon (well, a large glowing replica) will be travelling within a sea of dead souls from Stoke Newington cemetery via Gillett Square in Dalston down to Passing Cloud's new larger venue for an evil afterparty. As usual, there'll be live bands during the march and after. Why not throw on something ghastly (black and/or white is good) and join us:



some impressions of last year:

BBC fun

Pop Culture in Holland!

Neal Fox, Chris Bianchi and Steph von Reiswitz went over to the Netherlands for a few days to do a workshop with the students at the Academy of Pop Culture in Groningen. In between beer drinking and bicycle rides a strange exhibition was knocked together involving a mysterious secret society, and good times were had by all. The show included a mad naked Georgian with an apple in his mouth and was attended by such local celebrities as Holland's only ever astronaut.
Thanks to Natasha Taylor aka Madam Zafira, Mieke the gypsy and famous nightclub Vera for their hospitality and all the students for their effort, keep on keepin on.

Mare Street Biennale

LE GUN is exhibiting a new drawing at the first Mare Street Biennale,
Private view 9thOct 2008 runs until the 30th Oct
143 Mare Street, London, E8 3RH.



The drawing - "The Card Players", Indian ink on canvas, 200 x 150 cm - is by Bianchi, Bragg, Fox and myself.
More about the show:
"The fantastic ARTISTSPACE double-fronted gallery spills out into the vibrant heart of Hackney connecting with the themes focused on in the Biennale, providing an ideal place to see the work of the ten London-based, national and international artists. The exhibition promises new work from Mark Caviola, Anne Colvin, Alexandra Flood, Jonathan Goslan, LE GUN, David Lindberg, Theresia Lynch, Rod Maclachlan, Mark Ross and Bob & Roberta Smith."

jersey evening post

from the Jersey Evening Post, sept 26...

our stint in prison

...starting tomorow... private view on monday, see below:

LE GUN - THE FAMILY

Here's some pictures (at last!) of the LE GUN - The Family exhibition at the Rochelle School. Thanks to Michele Panzeri, photographer extraordinaire ...

entrance area... featuring the work of many Le Gun contributors

and of course a giant cat

more salon walls... featuring more work

vista of some of our gigantic canvases (we did 4 of them, 30m in total)

a 10m stretch (the family leaving LeGundon and crossing the sea)

another 10m stretch - the interzone

the Cardboard Room, brainchild of Bill Bragg, assembled with the help of a bunch of Chelsea students on summer break. They did a sterling job with the construction following Bill's plans, we then painted everything. (The sofas, arm chairs and piano stool were fully functional btw!)

my personal pride & joy - the grand piano, aptly named 'Schlampenpupsen' (Whore's Fart)

Inside the piano - an elegantly wasted lady surrounded by various musical demons (Tobi Tak & J M F Casey helped me paint those)

some FAQs - 

how many people did the giant canvases? Mainly Bianchi, Fox, Greene, and myself, and Bragg. Also as usual lots of friends and contributors dropped by and painted the odd thing...

how long did they take? all told probably something like 4 weeks. We did them on and off over a number of months.

Is the cardboard room really all cardboard? yes, no furniture inside a cardboard shell or anything, all 100% sturdy cardboard (well with the odd bolt to secure the inside of  the sofas & chairs etc)

How long did it take? a week to build, thanks to the help of a 7-strong team of super-efficient students.

what happened to the furniture after the exhibition? In storage at Le Gun HQ. I'm using the armchair I painted as my studio desk chair, yes it really is that comfortable...

John M F Casey – Swindler of the Abyss

this young man makes some beautiful images, and will have a show at nog on brick lane starting September 14.
I initially got to know him through some obscure channels and had a postcard of his on my desk for a while - the image incidentally is now a spread in LE GUN 4 - and then got to know him properly when he helped tremendously in putting up the 'The Family' show. Go and check out his handywork -

his myspace is http://www.myspace.com/jmfcasey
14 September – 8 October 2008
Nog Gallery, 182 Brick Lane, London E1 6SA, +44 (0)2077394134
Opening on Sunday 14 September 2008, 6 – 9 pm