Martin Humphries

Repetition got the best of me. A series of A4 images

Without some sort of change, repetition must very quickly turn into some sort of torture. with a slow, subtle progressive change, it can become soothing, peaceful and flowing. Repetition makes practice perfect.

"Eidetic Cabinet" wood, mirror, glass, tile and paint.

all the sets of similar entities combined become one image, when presented in a series of repetitive groups coming out as as an intense momentary whole.

I learnt how to paint in a traditional manner in the early seventies. and carried on painting stories about things that had happened or recording landscapes. In this millenium, whilst still painting a lot, I seem to be attempting to make things that have alife of their own. That are making their own statements, as oppose to talking about other events.

Email: martin.humphries@blueyonder.co.uk

Helen Grundy

Deflower

Digital Image

I have taken the ritualistic and obsessive act that teenage girls indulge in, the repetitive tearing of petals from a flower to divine the depth of their lover's feelings. On a repeated grainy background made up of autopsy images from ovaries I have overlayed the pre-pubescent mantra of 'he loves me, he loves me not.'

Helen, a recent graduate from BIAD, Margaret Street, focuses on everyday moments and explores the fine line between two emotional states - that of comfort and discomfort. Through two and three dimensional work Helen tries to pinpoint the space between these two states, the moment where feeling is suspended, where we are unsure of what will happen next.

Email: midlandcity@blueyonder.co.uk

Nick Clark
As good as it gets?

My grandfather didn'twant to retire. When he did he was dead in months, the withdrawal of his addiction killed him, he couldn't handle the come down. Are we all addicts? Do we all have a drug of choice? Do we break one addiction only to replace it with another?

Nick Clark. Artist or artisan, builder who sculpts, artist who builds. Nick sculpts in unusual, often found naterial creating sculptural interpretations of buildings in diverse settings. He uses his work in gallery settings to explore his thoughts and express them in physical forms.

Joe Rogers

The Circle of Conflict
Comprimising: The Dictator, The Democratizer, The Occupier, The Terrorist, The Freedom Fighter

Each character within 'The Circle of Conflict' represents a group, individual or ideal that is responsible for conflict in the world today. Each character within the circle is reliant on the existence of at least one other for the engagement of conflict e.g. The democratizer is reliant on the existence of dictators for conflict, and freedom fighters are reliant on occupiers etc. The classification of each character within the circle is also blurred depending on your point of view e.g. one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist, one man's democratizer is another man's occupier etc. etc. The Circle can never be completely destroyed and so the REPETITION of violence continues.

A recent graduate from The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Joe Rogers is a highly versatile artist that is comfortable working in a wide range of media, Joe Rogers works in bothe digital and traditional media, to produce a variety of artworks from commercial illustrations, to fine art pieces on canvas, and from flash animations to design work on logos and websites. Joe Rogers recently set up an artist collective (WE'RE STILL ALIVE!) that champions the work of recently graduated fine artists and illustrators based in and around the Midlands. To find out more visit http://www.tigertank.co.uk

Richard South

lyfg

Concrete and Vaseline sculpture

ROY WAS A WORKHORSE
ROY WAS A WORKHORSE
ROY WAS A WORKHORSE
ROY WAS A WORKHORSE
ROY WAS A WORKHORSE
ROY WAS A WORKHORSE
ROY DIED

Email: rlissitsky@aol.com

Peter Hadfield

Oil on Canvas;

"conveys my attraction or lack of it to being repetitive."

Pete's art practices lead him all over the UK, if not found ripping factories apart (and putting them back together in the most creative of fashions) he can be found scavenging the highways and byways around Birmingham, this man can turn anything into art! He has an uncanny knack of coming across the obscure. With quick wit, skilful pencil and dry humour this man's knowledge of man knows no bounds.

Mitra Memarzia

Axis

3 x digital prints onto Perspex 80cm by 80cm

"Axis" is a series of digital images comprised of patterns. Robert Clark of The Guardian guide described the works as: "topical and potentially loaded digital images arranged to ironically mimic the hypnotic symmetries of traditional Islamic mosaics and Persian Rugs." The title is a playful evocation of the ways in which labelling can be misleading, and how images can be constructed from an outsider's point-of-view. These patterns are a collection of visual correspondence between Iran and the West.

Mitra is an Iranian-British artist based in Birmingham. She has exhibited internationally including New York, berlin, Bishek and Shiraz. She works in a variety of mediums including photography, installation, sculpture and performance. Having recently completed a PhD in Fine Art, her specialist subject is the construction and representation of identities. Although her work is diverse, she often explores the notion of identity, displacement, boundaries and power. her other activities include lecturing, workshops and live performance. Her main artistic aim is to create creative dialogue and exchange through a variety of creative practices.
Email: mitra@memarzia.com

Jain Mckay

20:29

Everyday at 20:29 the phone alarm goes off and the scene before the artist is photographed. looking at the repetition of time, of life and of routine. These photographs give us an insight in to the world of human behaviour.

jain Mckay is primarily a figurative artist looking at behaviour and relatioships. She is currently studying for an MA in Fine Art at Wolverhampton University, She runs www.pumpkinarts.co.uk and her work can also be seen at www.eroticart.me.uk.

Pamela Wells

"This often happens"

Arranged and rearranged, text is typed onto plastic and sewn together, copied and counted and charted on a spreadsheet. this text is from 'The making of Americans' by Getrude Stein
(1925), an author who spent a great deal of time playing with words, she would re-say things in slightly different orders until meaning dissloved and reformed.

Pamela Wells uses a wide range of materials - everything from paint to clay to plastic. she initiates astist-led projects as well as working with galleries and organisations internationally. Whether making objects, installations or performances, her methodology includes engaging with strangers, siting work in unusual places and the use of everyday materials.

Email: pamelawells@blueyonder.co.uk

Phillip Mantom

I am an almost an exact copy of myself
I am almost an exact copy of myself

Large format poster, digital montage of a mechanical process.

The Identity of Indiscernibles is usually formulated as follows: if for every property F, object x has F if and only if object y has F, then x is identical to y.
The Identity of Indiscernibles is a principle of analytic ontology first explicitly formulated by Wilhelm Gottfried Leibniz in his Discourse on Metaphysics; this is often referred to as 'Leibniz's law' and is typically understood to mean that no two objects have exactly the same properties. The Identity of Indiscernibles is of interest because it raises questions about the factors that individuate identical objects. It states that no two distinct substances exactly resemble each other.

There is no such thing as a 'copy'

The artist would like to thank Nicholas Rushby (NESTA Awardee) for technical support.

Darrin Andrews

Candystripe x 2, each 90 x 90cm. Liquid coloured resin on canvas
Gridlock 100 x 75cm. Acrylic on canvas

The connection here is the repetitive lines over both canvases using different colours. Candystripe is more uniformed in its lines across the canvases, but still making this a very vibrant and colourful piece of artwork. As it is a solid form going across the canvas it also makes it very touchy feely and adds a nice dimension to the painting.

For Gridlock the connection here is firstly the 2 lines of red and white fading to distance and then the repetitive coloured dots symbolising lights, again fading to the distance. A simple but thoughtful piece of everyday life, something I think we have all seen on our travels at some point.

My paintings are mainly Contemporary Abstract with Acrylic on canvas. I am also using liquid resins to add to the canvas to give a different feel and look and I am finding this medium very exciting to work with as it almost has a life of its own once it starts to dry and allows you to be very creative in its application.

having just acquired a new studio within The Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, I now can spend more time being creative with my art and my paintings. Here at Damn Good Art what I wish to achieve with my paintings is an opportunity for everyone who enjoys art. With my paintings I try to create images, using colour and ideas to produce something quite unique, whether the idea is my own at Damn Good Art or through a commission from a customer or a gallery.

Damn Good Art, 22 Tenby Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B1 3EE
Tel: 07913134443
www.damngoodart.co.uk