It's Dead Dead Good by
Steve Harrison
At seven years of age, Steve Harrison bought his first record; Hermans Hermits ‘I’m into something Good’ with his Christmas money. He told Mum and Dad that he was going to have a record shop when he was big. He grew-up through the punk scene in 1976 and tagged into the northern soul and scooter scene in 1978. Steve began selling Northern Soul records in 1982 at a Morecambe All-Nighter. In March 1983 he realised his dream and opened a tiny 100 sq. ft. specialist record shop record in Winsford, Cheshire. By 1985 he had established what would be the iconic 70 Witton Street store in his hometown of Northwich in the south Manchester commuter belt. From here Steve expanded the model to include stores across the North-West region, in Altrincham, Crewe, Macclesfield, a larger Witton Walk store in Northwich with an HQ and warehouse, Wigan and finally a new town centre store in Winsford. He launched the dEAD deAD gooD Record label and management company in 1989 and later the Transworld Dance label. He talks about his friendships with the likes of Tony Wilson (Factory Records), Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin), Ian Brown, Noel Gallagher, and working with industry icons such as Seymour Stein, and Martin Mills. Labels such as Sire, Island, Parlophone, Polydor, Def America, RCA, MCA, Atlantic and Beggars Banquet. Working with the USA booking agents of the Doors and the Jefferson Aeroplane and selling out the likes of the iconic Filmore in San Franscico reinventing psychedelic lighting designer Captain Wizzo from the 1960’s across the world. Venues such as Wigan Casino, the Hacienda, Erics, the Electric Circus, and the International. The groups, studios, tours, venues, promoters, fans, film syncs, publishing, contracts, labels, sponsorships, licensing, festivals, bootleggers, ticket touts and the logistics of global touring operations. He writes of love for Manchester City, riding motorcycles, and scooters. DDG supported the careers of many artists over the next twenty-years working with the likes of Alfa 9, Alfie, Mark Burgess, Chameleons, Charlatans, Dario G, Digital Orgasm, Peter Hook (Joy Division / New Order / Monaco), Mantaray, Oceanic, Orange Deluxe, Relish, Rhythm Eternity, Rig, Sussed, That Uncertain Feeling, Venus Beads, Jez Williams (Doves). DDG engaged in the release of over seventy-five albums and two-hundred singles, including Number One albums and singles across the world. The first Million Seller being the rave anthem Oceanic ‘Insanity.’ Steve avoided what appeared and inevitable sale to would be suitors such as Richard Branson, RCA Records and retained his independence and loyalty to Northwich. The Transworld record sleeves celebrated the town with ‘Made in Northwich’ on every release. He oversaw the period involving the imprisonment and tragic death of Charlatans songwriter and keyboard player Rob Collins. Steve was the subject of a huge fraud by his accountant, rebuilt and is now ready to tell his story... A story of a passion of music, record shops, of taste, investment, industry, deal- making, success, loss, tragedy, highs and lows. Creative souls and lots of other worldly stuff in an exceptional story of community. |
Paperback: | 420 pages |
Size: | 6 x 9 inches |
Price: | £25.00 |
ISBN: | 978-1-915972-71-2 |
Rooftops of Shrewsbury by Chris Schurke Back in 2010 I took up the rather unconventional hobby of photographing my hometown from various unlikely areas amidst the rooftops. The images offer a mix of familiarity and peculiarity of perspective. The methods involved in achieving these shots are best left to the imagination. Perhaps I can fly. Perhaps I’m just freakishly tall. Each view came with its own challenge, combining creative problem solving with an appreciation for the urban environment, and rewarding with a fantastic view. Over the past fourteen years, I have captured the changing face of Shrewsbury in numerous images, all taken from places not accessible to the general public. They are now here in print for the first time as I attempt to persuade the world that I am a real photographer, and not just a maniac with a camera. |
Hardback: | 132 pages |
Size: | 250 x 250 mm |
Price: | £30.00 |
ISBN: | 978-1-915972-70-3 |
Birds - by Natalie Toplas
Natalie works primarily in oils and is well known for her meticulous detail, vibrant colours and strong contemporary style. Her work is often large in scale and full of drama and vibrancy. Natalie cites her influences as Georgia O'Keefe, Karl Blossfeldt and early 17th century Dutch painters such as Ambrosius Bosschaert, drawing inspiration from their use of colour and form.
Natalie has exhibited her paintings throughout Great Britain including the Royal Academy, Birmingham City Art Gallery, several Cork Street galleries in London, and the Judith Blacklock Gallery 83 in Knightsbridge.
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Paperback: | 50 pages |
Size: | 210 x 210 mm |
Price: | £12.00 (inc postage) |
ISBN: | 978-1-913425-41-8/td> |
Reportrait presents thirteen artists who have reimagined historical sources, altered or disrupted typical notions of how the portrait is defined, or used an image or reproduction as a starting point to create something new.
Consisting of new commissions made in direct response to Nottingham City Museums & Galleries collections, alongside loans, and works straight from the artist’s studios, the exhibition showcases painting, photography, installation, digital art, sculpture, video and drawing, many of which have never been seen in public before.
Philip Gurrey, Maisie Broadhead, Glenn Brown, Sasha Bowles, Paul Stephenson, Matthieu Leger, Annie Kevans, Antony Micallef, Jasleen Kaur, Samin Ahmadzadeh, Julie Cockburn, James E Smith and Jake Wood-Evans Continue reading “RePortrait at Nottingham Castle
27th May – 10th September”
Max Naylor is an artist currently based in Bristol. Born in Cheltenham, raised in Cornwall and having spent time exploring Berlin, Delhi and London, a sense of place is deeply rooted in his practice.
His recent works warp the conventions of landscape painting, at times playing within the confines of perspective and scale and at others rejecting these notions completely. Somewhere between drawing and painting, his distinctive mark making approach combines the figurative with the abstract evoking a sense of mystery.
Familiar yet exotic, these mindscapes have as much to do with the inner subconscious realm as they do the external world.
Max recently completed a postgraduate course at the Royal Drawing School, he has exhibited widely in the UK and in 2016 won the Jackson’s Art Prize.
Continue reading “Max Naylor
At the Prema Gallery, Uley
31 Oct – 11 Dec”
Go here and sign this to force a second referendum
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/131215
The first UK solo exhibition of the Taiwanese ink painting artist, featuring work produced over the last 20 years.
Reflections is the first UK solo exhibition of Wu Lan-Chiann, Chinese ink painting artist. This exhibit shows a selection of Wu Lan-Chiann’s work produced over the past twenty years. Displayed in reverse chronological order in the museum’s galleries, the exhibition has three themes; early career work, dusk to dawn series, and current directions.
At the core of Wu Lan-Chiann’s work, is a deep personal contemplation of universal themes and values that connect people across time and place. While continuing a tradition that is centuries old, her paintings are distinctly contemporary both in concept and execution. Starting from a young age, she combined Asian and Western modes of representation into a personal style that is intensely poetic. Blending two very different painting traditions, she has emerged as an artist with an authentic style marked by decisive brushwork and delicate application of colour.
In her recent work, Wu Lan-Chiann is interested in capturing the precious but fleeting moments of life through the depiction of free floating petals and leaves. She sees a comparison between the rhythm of nature and the human cycle of life. Her work captures special moments and at the same time represents the invariable and eternal cycle of life and nature.
Wu Lan-Chiann is exhibiting at the Museum of East-Asian Art in Bath
In the Summer of 2014, Dom Kavanagh underwent a double lung transplant following a lifetime suffering from Cystic Fibrosis. This inspired him to produce this fundraising book of Wildlife and Landscape Photographs in collaboration with UKGiclee
“As my own life neared expiry due to respiratory failure following 47 years of damage caused by cystic fibrosis, I returned to painting to reflect on what I would miss most and to celebrate subjects and scenes which are great for the soul and which reminded me of what we all have around us that we should be grateful for.
After a successful transplant, my painting continues and my photography resumed. Beavering away from my man cave nestled at the end of my garden in rural north Shropshire, surrounded by woodland and its evocative sights, sounds and smells, I have been inspired by the natural world to give something back, in the shape of this fundraising book, for the gift of organ donation so selflessly offered to me.”
Second Shot At Life will be published in September 2015
Take a look inside
Continue reading “Second Shot At Life by Dom Kavanagh
An Art Circus Book”
The Art Circus is very pleased to announce our first print show of 2015 at the Bear Steps Gallery in Shrewsbury. Featuring a collection of Contemporary Artist’s Giclee prints from the Art Circus’ Print Gallery . Artists on show will include Ryan Humphrey, SuperfutreKid, Fipsi Seilern, Sam Branton, Marta Suuster, Christopher Gee, KEELERTORNERO, Georgia Peskett, Daisy Clark and Phaedra Peer. There will also be a parallel exhibition of Self-Published books. Continue reading “The Art Circus at the Bear Steps”