Polite Company are a small art and design collective based in the UK. We publish the work of some leading contemporary artists, and make products featuring their work.
Polite Notes.
When he’s not here at the Polite office, talking to our customers, Mike likes to spend his time curating exhibitions – This year he’s been working on ‘Unrealised Potential’ at the Cornerhouse in Manchester which runs from 17th July - 12th Sept.
The show aims to explore the creative potential of artists unrealised projects and features contributions from dozens of artists including:
Featured artists include:
Artgoes, Artlab (Charlotte Cullinan & Jeanine Richards), Franko B , Edward Barton, Megan Bell, Eddie Berg, Bert & Ganddie, Monica Biagioli, Paul Anthony Black, Garth Bowden, Andrew Bracey, Roisin Byrne, Jane Chavez-Dawson, Norman Clayture, Conor McGarrigle, Contents May Vary, Benjamin Cove, Nick Crowe, Neil Cummings, Oliver East, Volker Eichelmann, Tim Etchells, Doug Fishbone, Leo Fitzmaurice, Yuen Fong Ling, Sue Fox, Mark Garry, Liam Gillick (Realised), David Gledhill, David Griffiths, Janet Griffiths, Richard Healy, Harry Hill, Clare Hope, Len Horsey, Dave Hoyland, John Hyatt, Mark Kennard, Jessica Lack, Laurence Lane, Little Artists (Darren Neave & John Cake), Leigh McCarthy, Roger McKinley, Jim Medway, Jason Minsky, Tom Morton, Neil Mulholland, Robin Nature-Bold, Hayley Newman, Franz Otto Novotny, Owl Project, Graham Parker, Simon Patterson, Adele Prince, Magnus Quaife, Brian Reed, David Shrigley, W. David Titley, Surplus Value, Beata Veszely, Jessica Voosanger, Cecilia Wee, Richard Wilson, Christine Wong Yap, Stuart Wright, Kai-Oi Jay Yung
Our friends at Redstone press have published two new large-format postcard books.
MAYAKOVSKY features 22 postcards representing every facet of the poet/artist/activist’s restless creativity.
ALPAHBET features 25 postcards.
“Here is the alphabet imagined as never before. Choreographed by the beautiful dancer Milca Mayerová into a brilliant photo-ballet in twenty-four hypnotic poses. Each move in the dance is made to the visual counterpoint of Karel Teige’s astonishing typographic music: as angular as jazz, as syncopated as Stravinsky!”
The Henderson Gallery, Edinburgh, July 10 - August 19 2010.
A new exhibition of work by artist John Squire is running from next weekend at the Henderson Gallery in Edinburgh. The work is inspired by the music of Miles Davis.
‘Working with oils on canvas and paper, while using linocuts for repetitive structural elements, John has embedded a coded musical soundtrack in each piece through references to systems of guitar tablature, which seeks to translate the “spontaneity, depth and ambiguity of Miles Davis and his musicians”.’
You can find out more about the work in an artist statement on John’s site here:
Just out is a new book by Polite artist Magda Archer. Created using vintage toys and collage the illustrations for the book - which tell the tale of clumsy Arthur and his friends is set to become a timeless classic, already appearing in top ten lists of kids books.
Polite also publish a range of cards featuring Magda’s work, and a new book featuring celebrity shopping lists is planned for later this year.
This Saturday, as part of the Barbican Lates series, Polite’s Mike Chavez-Dawson, along with Len Horsey will present ‘Re-motive View(s)’. The pair will adopt the guise of Estate Agents, selling the Surreal House which currently occupies the gallery.
Rude Britannia: British Comic Art - at Tate Britain 9 June - 5 Sept.
Here’s Gerald Scarfe talking about some of the pieces he’s curated in the British Comic Art Show, currently running at Tate Britain.
“Put together with some the country’s best-known cartoonists and comedy writers, this exhibition explores British comic art from the 1600s to the present day. Bringing together a wide array of paintings, sculptures, film and photography, as well as graphic art and comic books, the exhibition celebrates a rich history of cartooning and visual jokes.”
Harry Hill has also curated a brilliant room at the show, the Absurd room - which features diverse exhibits including sculpture by David Shrigley and illustrations from Alice in Wonderland.
Also look out for some rarely seen Vic Reeve’s cards which we’ve supplied to the shop for the show - which includes ‘M Winner work out dummy.’
We’ve just got some new products in stock – including next year’s Redstone diary. The theme for the 2011 edition is ‘The Artist’s World’ -
We’ve also got some fantastic bookmarks by David Shrigley that will be randomly available for free from our stockists - keep an eye out, as they are things of simple beauty.
We’ve just got some copies of the latest publication from Cosmic Wonder from our Friends at Nieves. You can find out more about this edition here: http://www.cosmicwonder.com/ and can buy copies from the polite shop - Click image to buy. Includes free delivery.
David Shrigley will be exhibiting as part of this years Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts.
Visual art happens all year round in Glasgow but this festival brings the art of local and international artists to Glasgow for a stimulating two-week burst of exhibitions across the city, starting 16th April right through until 3rd May 2010.
