EXHIBITION OF CURRENT WORK 2017

The next chapter is coming up!! 
I have been working on a lot of new stuff for this Exhibition so expect to see flocked 'Tommy Guns', large scale screen printed Subutteo figures, collaged Airfix decals and some chrome!!!! Hopefully that's whetted your appetite. For this show I am sharing a great space in Margate's Old Town with a good friend of mine, Paul Atkins. I haven't shared an exhibition space with another artist for some time 

Most of the work I am exhibiting is recent but there will be a few little gems from previous shows. 

The flocked pewter guns nearly ready.

The work has continued to evolve through memories  and reflection. By assimilating other experiences a symbiotic relationship develops; image, object and memory; multiplicity, variety and inclusion. all this becomes embroiled in the 'creative soup'.

 I am still constantly stimulated by the joy of working with various materials and the freedom to move between media and methods. The culmination of their usage ultimately becomes the physical realisation of the image.

After the last exhibition - crikey, 2014!!!! - I began working with some Decal transfers from  plastic model kits. I have always found them quite beautiful and the amount of detail and clarity of colour really seductive. I developed the idea of trying to re create the shape of the object- obviously in my case a spitfire - just using various decals from different kits. 
The selection of the decals began in a very arbitrary way but as the image evolved the transfers started to develop their own graphic language. it wasn't long before a dialogue developed and the selection process became so much more systematic.

A 1943 water bottle, cleaned and prepped ready for chroming

The decals, in their un-used state provide their own graphic language. When taken out of  the context of their original use and subverted, a graphic conversation ensues, creating juxtapositions and synergies that combine to create the image.

This is now an on going project and I have decided to work on images of the models that I constructed as a child - it could take some time! - It is these images that hold the most nostalgic and poignant memories.

each time I approach a new subject more memories come flooding back which ultimately dictates how the next image evolves.

' Fury'

The creative process thus becomes natural / organic but at the same time reactive and responsive.

'Memphis Belle'

Current Work 2015

I have recently photographed some 3D work that featured in my last Exhibition so I thought I would share it! They are scale, scratch-built pieces based on childhood Action movies.

A Bridge Too Far

The Lee Enfield in " Desert Fox" is 1:2 Scale model of the Mk I, with 54mm Airfix figures from the Multipose range. The Sten Gun in " A Bridge Too Far" is 1:1. I decided to 'Bling' it up a bit by using a super shiny car body paint. The figures are cast in Pewter from 1:32 scale Airfix figures.

Both pieces are scratch built from Balsa wood, plastic, aluminum and anything else that would work! 

Desert Fox

I have started work on some new pieces, using Decal transfers from old model kits. These are A3 size at the moment.

I am working on a series of these and will at some point up scale them and take them in to Screen print

NEW EXHIBITION, JULY 2014 - RECENT WORK

This Exhibition is the final instalment of the triptych! All three have been at the same venue the first in 2006, the second in 2011 and now the grand finale in 2014

      Custer's Last Stand. Screen Print. 2014


Following on from the last Exhibition in 2011, I have continued to develop my ideas through print, but have now started to produce more constructions and casts. Working in 3D form has been vital as it has added new creative streams to the visualisation of my ideas.

Detail from "Winchester 73' ". Bronze cast. 2012

Relic from "The Sands of Iwo Jima". Bronze cast. 2013

                               

The physicality of the objects and the various processes involved  has fed my passion for 'making' and the level of craft that is involved. 

Their Centre Forward was a bit aggressive, but we surrendered too easily.
Screen Print. 2013

I told you a 4-4-2 wouldn't work!. Lithograph. 2010

The themes continue from the previous Exhibitions - an alignment to a playful, childhood mindset.Similar imagery often appears throughout the work but my core belief remains the same:
The image, how it is imagined and subsequently visualised is the start, middle and end! How it gets resolved becomes the journey.

I utilise methods  that allow unique mark making opportunities, this begins the journey of the idea and it continues through process and making but must remain flexible and open to elements of chance.

Study for Sands of Iwo Jima. Lithograph. 2013 

Merry Christmas Bruv.1972. Caustic on lino. 2011

Contact: s.burbidge@camberwell.arts.ac.uk

Exhibition

Recent Works

28th February - 5th March 2011

54 The Gallery

Shepherd Market

London

W1Y 7HP

Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 11am-6pm

VIII ARMY
lino cut

I believe that the formative periods through which we grow up are punctuated with emotions stimulated by exposure to everyday technology such as cars, aeroplanes, electronic gadgetry and the toys and games relevant to the times. I would say that Airfix models, Action Man, Lego, Meccano and Subbuteo now have iconic status.

'THE DESERT FOX.' SANDPIT 1972
lithograph

The personalities that we encounter cannot be underestimated as valuable sources of inspiration. My parents, aunts and uncles, and their generation had endured a difficult period in history, and their attitude and outlook were fundamental during my formative years. When reflected upon, these distinct influences become forever associated with and indicative of the ‘times’, and we discover that they have enriched our lives and imagination.

ACTION MAN. I
lithograph

Growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Second World War was still very much recent history and part of the public consciousness. For a child such as myself, this was a believable, real-life action adventure that could be played out with the toys and games we had at our disposal, and in playground antics with friends. The effects of the war were still resonant through various aspects of society, and their manifestation through films and comic books from this period enhanced this awareness.

MAJOR ENGAGEMENT. BACK GARDEN 1971
lithograph

 

My Father was in Burma during the war. The very nature of the uncompromising, totally unfamiliar terrain and the particular savagery of the conflict obviously affected him deeply. However, it was not until the late 1960s that the true scale of his experience manifested itself, in a condition now known as post-traumatic stress. I now appreciate the irony of the situation: a child playing at war, while all around me my life was being shaped by the reality of it.

AFRIKA KORPS
lino cut

I spent many a long hour surrounded by various piles of Lego and Meccano, designing and building weird and wonderful fighting machines and futuristic buildings of such outlandish composition that they would collapse at the slightest provocation. My fixation with all things military was realized through my obsession with Airfix models. The inspirational box art of the incomparable Roy Cross set the scene and lent some sense of reality to the potential of the model within. I still refer to this part of my life through washed out Polaroids of family holidays, fading comic books and toy packaging, all of which are of enormous nostalgic value.

'THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA'. BACK GARDEN 1972
lithograph

Since childhood, I have had a passion for making things, and a deep interest in the craft that is involved. From constructing models and thumbing through comic books and contemporary colour magazines, this enthusiasm has developed through printmaking and the many techniques and mediums it has to offer.

By manipulating and bringing together various printmaking methods, I am able to explore my reference and primary source material. The nature of the various processes that are involved and how they can be combined can be very seductive, representing a creative activity by themselves; this results in images that can then affect the viewer. Notions of size, scale and reproduction can be played with to express significant aspects of my view of life. 

 
Simon Burbidge
January 2011