Eyeblog

Andrew Curtis Selected for New Contemporaries

Andrew Curtis, who has shown his work with Eyestorm since 2005, has been selected for New Contemporaries 2009, following the completion of his MA Printmaking course at the Royal College of Art earlier in the year.

Curtis’ documents the environment around him, documenting landscapes, architecture and interiors through structure colour and sequence. Photography, drawing, bookmaking, painting, printing are made to overlap, feed each other and produce physical and conceptual results beyond their individual capability.

Before studying his MA, Curtis studied printmaking at Winchester School of Art, graduating in 2002, and then spent the next 5 years working as a lithographer at The Curwen Studio, Cambridge, whilst teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

He has exhibited in a number of exhibitions, including 'S.P.G.W', MOMA-Wales, 2007, 'Jetlag', Cambridge Arts Picture House, 2006, 'A2V', BLOCspace, Sheffield, 2005 and his work has been collected by the V&A Museum.

Click here to see a selection of Curtis’s limited edition prints for sale on Eyestorm.

Eyestorm’s Mauricio Ortiz wins place in prestigious show at Haunch of Venison

Mauricio Ortiz, who has shown his work with Eyestorm since 2003, has won a competition backed by Metro newspaper in association with homeless charity ‘Shelter’, which means that his piece ‘Octobeetle’ will be shown at the prestigious Haunch of Venison gallery alongside works by Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, David Bailey , Rankin, Neville Brody and Vivienne Westwood.

Titled ‘House of Cards’, the campaign was created to raise awareness of the housing insecurity that’s currently facing millions of families in the UK; more than 1.9 million households await social housing and an estimated 65,000 face repossession this year. Its 60-second TV commercial uses Radiohead’s ‘Videotape’ as its soundtrack and features a voiceover by Academy Award-nominated actress Samantha Morton, who lived in a hostel for the homeless as a young woman.

The exhibition will run from 24^th – 28^th September 2009 at Haunch of Venison, 6 Burlington Gardens, W1S 3ET, and includes works by world famous artists and designers who have each designed a playing card of their own for the exhibition, together making up a full pack of playing cards.

Ortiz’s winning piece was for the eight if clubs and was chosen from over 500 entries. An etching of a hybrid species of beetle and octopus, the work is a metaphor for the dual life that aspiring artists lead, divided between their creativity and the need to support themselves through everyday jobs. The octopus and beetle also have a strong correlation with the number 8.

Ortiz was delighted to win and said: "Words cannot describe what it means for me to have won this competition. I have been striving so hard for so many years to build my profile as an artist and now at last I have the opportunity to be recognised and appreciated on the same level as the artists I have waited on over the years and who I admire so much.”

Competition judge Simon Henwood said of Ortiz’s work: "Mauricio's piece references the great natural history illustrators - something perhaps from one of the Victorians' great 'Cabinets of Curiosity'.

"The mixing of the two creatures is clever and the drawing fresh and detailed. His piece is a good iconic silhouette that will translate well on to a playing card."

More can be read about the campaign at the exhibition at:www.shelterhouseofcards.org.uk 

Check out the full animalia series by Mauricio Ortiz and the rest of his work here 

 

What is Eyestorm

Eyestorm is the leading online retailer of limited edition contemporary art. Founded in 1999, Eyestorm came under new management in 2006 and has refined its operations to make buying the finest contemporary art easier and more enjoyable than ever before.