Now open! The Brunswick Art Gallery

We’re really excited to announce the opening of a brand new art gallery, here at The Brunswick, in the heart of Bloomsbury.

The Brunswick Art Gallery opened on 20^th February and follows our recent partnerships with creative organisations and artists such as Open House London and sculptors ‘Gillie and Marc’ whose world-renowned piece ‘Together Forever on Wheels’ has recently been installed here.

The new gallery will see us working in partnership with Stephen Turner of Turner Fine Arts and will feature permanent collections from a fantastic portfolio of unique artists that are currently taking the arts scene by storm.

Artists signed up to be resident at The Brunswick Art Gallery include Shaun Gagg, Walter Furlan, Kieran Crowder, Len Gifford, Ed Chapman, Hamad Al Humaidhan, Will Carr, Bill Mack, Stephen Kettle, Shirley Borokhov, Temper, Dale Arnold Lewis, Eva Bazhenova, Jody Craddock, Roy Meats, Sabina Pieper and Frankie McAllister.

Yorkshireman Shaun Gagg creates larger than life welded sculptures using a variety of everyday items including coins, nails and keys to create beautiful pieces of art.

Glass sculptor Walter Furlan takes inspiration from Picasso, clearly exhibited in his vivid and profoundly dimensional pieces.

Kieran Crowder has drawn and painted for as long as he can remember, with early mentors including Nick Samsworth and Miles (Peter) Richmond and influences including the likes of Kosuth, Reinhardt, Cranach, Charlesworth, Fontana, Newman, Ernst, Serra, Blake, Weiner, Moreau, Klein, Dadd, Shiraga, Holzer, Still, Latham, Martin, Arakawa, Kruger, Motherwell, Ruscha et al. Kieran Crowder’s defining art project ‘Here lies’ is a thought-provoking reflection on what it is to be human, while his paintings study the human face in a more aesthetic form. This project in particular, was inspired by his Post-graduate work at the Royal College of Art, initially along the axis Batille/Lacan, leading him to Girard & Gans, Dumouchel & Dupuy et al.

Len Gifford’s work is inspired by the human form – stemming from his work as a mannequin sculptor.

20-year-old Hamad Al Humaidhan’s work adopts the style of the likes of Picasso, Salvador Dali and Jackson Pollock, painting his world with youthful emotions to create vibrant works, full of energy.

Ed Chapman is a contemporary UK artist recognised as one of the leading makers of mosaics. Using varied and interesting materials, Chapman achieves incredibly detailed results, painstakingly creating his subjects using hundreds of fragments of ceramic tile, paper, coins, vitreous glass and other materials.

Will Carr’s stunning kinetic wind sculptures explore the relationship of geometry and form, interacting within their environment. Using stainless steel and corten metal, will creates intricate, large scale pieces of art for public spaces, private gardens and exhibitions.

The intricate slate sculptures of Stephen Kettle are truly incredible. Using slithers of slate to create both figurative and abstract pieces. His work has made it to prestigious homes such as The London Science Museum where a statue of R.J. Mitchell (designer of the legendary Spitfire) resides, as well as Bletchley Park where a statue of Alan Turing is permanently housed.

Shirley Borokhov has a predilection for subjects caught in action – especially horses – but also dancers, gymnasts, and other athletes. Her stunning sculptures have an equally idiosyncratic and recognisable style.

Temper is critically acclaimed as the most naturally gifted graffiti artist of his generation. Creating art for brands including Sprite, Coca-Cola, Saachi and Saachi and the BBC as well as his ‘Minuteman’ exhibition at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Frankie McAllister is a London based photographer originally from Northern Ireland, working mostly in remote, urban and industrial scenes in a style somewhere on the fringes between fine art landscape and documentary photography. She has a particular interest in the mark of man on nature, as well as the seemingly random way scenes, often appear to be arranged as visual tableaux. Current projects include ‘Manipulated Landscapes, Winter playgrounds’ about the impact of tourism on rural mountain areas,  ‘Corridor’ a project about the in-between and anonymous parts of cities and ‘Two Way Mirror’ – a completely different type of project featuring quiet and meditative images in black and white.

Bill Mack will also be showing his work in the art gallery. Bill is widely regarded as the world’s preeminent relief sculptor who famously purchased and repurposed the original Hollywood sign as canvas on which he painted the likenesses of the great “movie stars” from the Golden Years of Hollywood. His work, which depicts figures in relief is truly unique and provides each piece with special qualities.

These stunning collections offer the creatively inclined of Bloomsbury and beyond, a unique and inspiring experience in the heart of London and an additional stop on the London arts trail.

The Gallery is located at the rear of The Brunswick near Skoob Books and Drury Porter so when you’re passing, why not pop in and take a look?

The Brunswick Art Gallery is open from 10.30am – 6.30pm from Monday to Saturday and 11am – 5pm on Sundays.

Ann Summers now open!

We’re excited to announce the opening of our brand new Ann Summers store on Monday 10^th February. 

Ann Summers is an iconic empire and multi-channel retailer, first established in 1972. It is a trusted authority in the industry, having led the market for nearly 50 years, and is synonymous with female empowerment. 

Their new store is located next to Vodafone. It joins a fabulous line-up of popular high street names here at The Brunswick and will be just one of five Ann Summers stores in the centre of London.

Catch up with Will Carr

On a rather grey Thursday in January, we met up with Will Carr, one of the artists set to exhibit here at The Brunswick Art Gallery, to find out a little more about him, his work and his influences as he installed one of his stunning pieces here in the centre.

A farmer from Herefordshire by day, Will loves paragliding, climbing and exploration of playful experiments in his workshop – providing some idea of where the inspiration for his mesmerising kinetic wind sculptures comes from.

Will says “I arrive at my designs through play” – ‘play’ is a key concept for him in his art and understanding fluid dynamics and the transfer of momentum is really interesting to him.

Q: How did you start on this art journey? 

A: I came from an engineering background and was a self-taught welder when I started out on this journey nine years ago.  My focus back then was figurative art – animals, birds and insects, which went on to inspire my ‘kinetic art’ journey, which started 4-5 years ago.

Q: What is a typical day for Will Carr? 

A: I’m not a full-time artist – juggling my time between running the family farm and developing new ideas for my art. I mainly split my time between running the farm in the Summer months, and focusing on my art in the Winter months – the general split is one-third managing the family farm and two-thirds dedicated to the construction of ideas and my kinetic art. This allows me the Winter to develop ideas and make my art pieces, and the Spring / Summer months to sell it! 

Q: What is your process for concepting a piece of art? 

A: My art always begins with sketches out in the woods. I then develop these ideas into cardboard cut-outs and project my ideas on to the wall in my workshop on the farm, to check the scale – then there is some back and forth making alternations to those initial ideas. I will then make a model at approximately half the size of the final piece, to check if it will work – again there will be a process of watching and moderating where necessary.  

Once I’m happy that the kinetic structure will work, the initial design goes to CAD (Computer-aided Design). I work with a team in India to support this part of the process – and they will create a 3D model of my proposed sculpture. Next is the point where the design will be certified by structural engineers before I can go any further into the design process. The certified design is laser cut and assembled back in my workshop in Herefordshire – this time at full size.

I use raw materials for my product base and make one sculpture and then batch produce (in some cases) – the maximum I will produce of any one sculpture is 12. Then once the finished article is ready, it’s off to my customers for installation! 

Q: What have you learnt from your concepting process over time? 

A: Balance is key! Plus, the angles and distances on any sculpture have to be spot on to ensure the continued momentum / movement of the piece. 

Q: How much would a typical sculpture cost? 

A: On average, pieces retail at around £8,000. 

Q: What are the main places that your art is displayed? 

A: They’re almost always at exhibitions and at some galleries as well as National Trust houses and big manor houses – mainly for private buyers.

Q: What is your most unusual piece? 

A: I created a piece called ‘Quadrabolds’ which is in my workshop in Herefordshire, installed in the roof and not for sale. It’s made from hundreds of old farm machinery belts and was created to understand the concepts of balance and momentum.

Q: What is your favourite piece? 

A: Coreografia – which we’ve just installed here at The Brunswick. It is based on the movements of a dancer and was inspired by my girlfriend – who is a dancer. 

Q: What is your next big project? 

A: It is a 5m high piece that has three moving parts. I’m currently finessing it and it will also be on display at The Brunswick as of Spring this year. 

Q: Other pieces in London? 

A: Working with The Brunswick is my biggest project so far in London, so it’s really helping to establish my presence in the capital. 

Q: What will you be displaying in The Brunswick Art Gallery? 

A: Visitors to the gallery will be able to see a piece called ‘The Wisp’… I won’t give any more away – they’ll have to come to the gallery to see it!

Q: What artists have inspired you? 

A: I’m really inspired by other kinetic artists including Anthony Howe – who is famous in the Kinetic Art world, George Ricky and Alexander Calder – a pioneer of kinetic art.

Q: Do you work with anyone else on the farm when it comes to art?  

A: I share my workshop with a few other creative people, making it a great hub for inspiration!  I have access to very skilled metalworkers to help create my sculptures and have some of the more specialised super high tolerance parts made by experts in the milling process, to one thousandths of a millimetre.

Q: Where can we see your art? 

A: My art can be seen all around the UK at many sculpture exhibitions – it’s especially popular in the Cotswolds and Surrey areas. Beyond the UK, I have pieces in Australia, Hawaii and I’m currently developing relationships with people in the kinetic art community in the US.

Q: What does the future hold for Will Carr? 

A: I’d love to expand my presence here in the UK as well as internationally, as well as working on more public sculptures at some stage.  I endeavour to create artwork which makes people take notice and inspires them to explore the hidden interactions within our world.

Q: Anything else to add? 

A: It’s been a lot of hard work to get here, but I love it and could happily do 12-hour days – it’s not a job, it’s a passion.

Big thanks to Will Carr for sparing some of his precious time for a catch up with us.