Merry Christmas - Thank You Mercedes-Benz!

    

   

So here it is..... my commission for Mercedes-Benz, literally just finished and launched yesterday afternoon on MB! Magazine. It was a great project, where I worked with the amazing Lucid-Ly and MB crew on a bespoke project around the new A-Class AMG Sport based here in London. We travelled around to five different locations, all of which are inspirational for me and worked with a photographer to produce new material that I could re-use for collages. A very different take from my normal source material as I art directed the photographer to produce certain imagery I wanted to use!

A great project, resulting in a exciting and fun shoot last week, check out the article here: 

http://www5.mercedes-benz.com/en/zeitgeist/london-from-a-different-angle-melinda-gibson-a-class/

http://mb.mercedes-benz.com/en/article/4371/London+From+a+Different+Angle

After all this excitement, its time for a rest, so I bid you farewell and to have a very happy, joyful and Merry Christmas and look forward to new and exciting times in 2013...... and there is already something wonderful planned, where I am off to Beijing!!!!

Photo-eye Best Books of 2012

I have great pleasure announcing that my first book, "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" has been selected by Tom Claxton and Erik Kessels in Photo-eye's Best Books of 2012!

Tom Claxton writes, "Gibson's debut title intricately culls the pages of curator Charlotte Cotton's (2004) seminal book of the same name. The resulting re-appropriated photo-collages challenge our understanding of the original work and their canonization in photo history- a wonderfully smart, thoughtful and beautifully constructed object."

And Erik Kessels, "Every single one of these books were put together by hand and took about 3 hours to be finished. The photographic collage work of Gibson is very well expressed in this book full of stickers."

See more of the Best Books of 2012 here; http://www.photoeye.com/magazine_admin/index.cfm/bestbooks.2012

It Fashion Feature

While of this Farfetch promotion has been going on, I forgot to mention that I found a great article about my handmade books in this beautiful online magazine from Barcelona! Available in both Spanish and English the site is great and well worth a visit.

The feature talks through my handmade books and here is a little taster, 

"Around a year ago, photographer Joan Fontcuberta wrote at Babelia, El País’ literary supplement: “We’re witnessing a photobook boom. […] And all this takes place while bad omens predict both the end of printed paper and the death of photography.”

Firecracker’s October’s featured photographer, former assistant to Martin Parr or Wolfgang Tilmans and FOAM Magazine photography prize winner Melinda Gibson, seems to be determined to fight both of them: during the last Unseen fair, a brand new event for professionals and photography lovers which takes place in Amsterdam, created live a photobook –yes, a photography book, and yes, on printed paper– with the images of her project “The Photograph as Contemporary Art”.

Melinda Gibson seems to be determined to fight the end of printed paper and the death of photography."

Read more here: http://itfashion.com/en/culture/frames-en/melinda-gibson-y-sus-fotolibros-diy/

Planet Notion Feature

To follow on with the promotion surrounding Farfetch's commissions, while we were filming I got interviewed by Planet Notion Magazine. It was a great, little informal interview about my collaboration with Farfetch, talking more depth about the visuals behind the design and my thoughts surrounding Christmas as a whole, with reference to my medium Photography.

Here's a little exert from the lovely article, "Here at Notion, we got to visit the studio of Melinda Gibson. Having studied photography at London College of Communication, Melinda focuses on the way we see and look at things- namely within photography. Always working by hand, Melinda cuts out vital sections of photographs to see how this impacts our understanding of the image. 

PN: So what’s this piece about for you?                                                        MG: It’s about Christmas, but not in an obvious shiny and glittery way.

PN: Can you take us through it?                                                                      MG: Sure. I got all the images from old vintage magazines, and this first image, (middle top) is an image that I burnt with a candle, and behind it is from a selection of Christmas children’s toys, and then part of those images have been removed and replaced with a red backing- because it is Christmas after all.

The second image (left B&W) is from a Christmas festivity, in a pub setting with a couple having a drink. I removed their faces and replaced the mans face space with Christmas themed text, and the woman’s with an ink drawing which I traced from a 1950’s magazine of a traditional Christmas plant, which is also used in the man’s jackets.

The third image is of a boy, where I removed the face and hands and replaced them with wintery themed trees…"

See more here: http://www.planetnotion.com/2012/11/28/unwrap-christmas-with-farfetch-com/

Christmas Wrapping Paper Launched Today on Farfetch.com

So today is a very exciting day as my Christmas Wrapping Paper project for Farfetch.com goes live on their site! The paper I created forms the sidebars of the website with an exclusive feature on the project we worked on over the past few months. There is a great little film about my process and me making the work!

The feature includes personal pictures of my family at Christmas inter-mixed with pieces from current and older bodies of work. With texts stating, "Fashions favourite collages..." and "Melinda's work has graced the likes of AnOther Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, Maire Claire, Nowness and FOAM..." the feature is fantastic and being in the mix with other incredible artists like Meadham Kirchhoff, Margot Bowman and Gary Card this is just a wonderful festive project!

See more here: http://www.farfetch.com/ 

Wallpaper* iPad App

On Saturday 24th November saw my new book The Photograph as Contemporary Art featured as a Case Study on the Wallpaper* App. Using photomontage XIV as the main image, the featured stated, 

"The Photograph as Contemporary Art' by Melinda Gibson, has been a project in the making for nearly 2 years. Working with Dutch design studio Kummer & Herrman, she took the iconic book of the same name by Charlotte Cotton as her raw material, to construct around 30 unique photo-montages, which have sparked photographic debate....."

Download the free wallpaper app to read and see more here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wallpaper*-case-studies/id408888024?mt=8

To order you copy of the book email studio.melindajgibson@gmail.com

Filming Debut

So today saw my filming debut, with a bright and early start to make use of the sunny morning! The filming was part of additional press and publicity around a commission I completed for a Christmas Campaign for an iterative Fashion company.

We had a great little team, an amazing film crew that were super quick and really produced some incredible imagery, I just can't wait to see the final edited film, I think it's going to be very beautiful and tactile that really explains visually how I work and my rather labour intensive process. 

While this was going on in the studio today, I was also interviewed by both my client but also got interviewed by a lovely lady from a very interesting Online Magazine about the commission, which will run later this month, very exciting times indeed.

I will keep you posted with all news relating to this commission as it gets released very soon indeed.

MC Motors, Wrapping Paper, Daido, Photoshoots

Wow, what a week! It started off last Friday and its been all go since then. Firstly a little dinner trip to MC Motors in Dalston to have an extraordinary dinner hosted by Jose Cuervo Traditional Tequila with the Art of Dining. It was an amazing venue that was beautifully designed by one of the team from AOD and we eat great food and drank rather too much beer and Tequila! 

Then onto a weekend packed of commission making and a surprise invitation to the Tate on Sunday to see Daido Moriyama make his new book live in the East Room, with wonderful views over the Thames. What an event it was, he had live silk screen printers making 2 versions of the cover, a wall covered head to toe in images that you yourself could order into sequence for your very own book! And a fare few people putting the books together in 30 minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the book making and taking a break from that of my own to witness and be part of another fabulous idea by the great Daido Moriyama. The book is truly wonderful and it was an honor to be there, seeing it be made.

Then onto a Photo-shoot for an editorial piece about my new book in Material Girl coming out soon for the Fall issue. Great shoot with a lovely photographer called Marie Zucker taking my portrait. What a week and the next are coming thick and fast and with much of the same.

More commission news coming soon...

Feature on Firecracker

As we come into October, Firecracker feature my new book for this month, here is a little except from the feature.

"The appropriation of iconic photographs by Cindy Sherman, Corinne Day and Juergen Teller feature in a new conceptual photography book by British artist Melinda Gibson. The project, originally inspired by the book by the same name from international curator Charlotte Cotton, Gibson has trasformed her collages in a unique book collaboration with Dutch design duo Kummer & Herrman. 

Gibson's new book features the rearrangement of images from familiar photographs to create multilayered compositions. Each series of collages and accompanying texts have been printed as stickers, which Gibson then fixes into a unique book by hand. Every editions takes the artist up to three hours to complete, and is numbered with the exact time and date of completion. Amsterdam’s much-anticipated Unseen Photo Fair recently played host to a live performance based launch of the book which involved Gibson showcasing this labour of love by constructing one live." 

 See here: http://www.fire-cracker.org/#/feature/4569354214

Order the books now from studio.melindajgibson@gmail.com

Back to share the stories

So I am back after quite a long time away and what an amazing set of events unraveled themselves along the way. Firstly, Unseen in Amsterdam and what a truly great new photo fair that certainly did have that festival flair! The space was an old gas works, which meant that all the galleries were given a slice of the circle. The opening was a great night, with all the Dutch locals out in style including Viktor & Rolf. The fair seemed to be a great success and I highly recommend attending next year.

Now, my first Book Launch in Tegenbochvanvreden Gallerie was a real success, many people turned up to see 1 book being made in front of their eyes and with a lovely introduction to the work by one of the directors, we all sipped sparkling wine and had a great night!

Then onto the following day where I spoke at Unseen Speakers Corner, part of the new Foam Talent Launch, (although I was a winner in 2010) with Marcel Feil. It was a very interesting talk, talking amongst the new winners about their work and what Photography meant to all of us.

Then onto a Master's Dinner were we enjoyed a fantastic meal, plenty of wine and much talk about Photography then onwards to the party, which was very funny and very enjoyable, a great 5 days, then en route to France!

http://www.tegenboschvanvreden.com/exhibitions/current/

http://unseenamsterdam.com/

Performative Book Launch - Thursday 20th at 20:00 at tegenboschvanreden gallerie in Amsterdam

So it has finally arrived! My very first publication is complete, so to celebrate, you are all welcome to the performative book launch on Thursday 20th at 20:00 at tegenboschevanreden gallerie in Amsterdam, a short bike ride from all the major venues of UNSEEN Photo Fair.

The launch will showcase the new publication, alongside this I will be making one book live in the gallery, hand placing all 66 stickers, placing the dust-jackets on and finalising a Special Edition Boxed book.

For sales enquiries please contact studio.melindajgibson@gmail.com

NOWNESS

Melinda Gibson: Unseen

Cut-Out Collages Using Wolfgang Tillmans and  Nan                                                             Goldin Debut at Amsterdam’s New Photo Fair

Dismembered photographs by luminaries such as Cindy Sherman, Corinne Day and Juergen Teller feature in rising photo-artist Melinda Gibson’s new series of visual remixes. Sourcing her material from curator Charlotte Cotton’s book The Photograph as Contemporary Art, Gibson cut up and rearranged images from some of photography's greatest figures into multilayered compositions to explore the circulation and canonization of iconic images. “When working with such profound imagery, cutting into them isn’t any easy task,” admits Gibson, who has been commissioned by Yohji Yamamoto to create a series remixing its entire archive for the 40th anniversary of Y's. “But what you gain is a greater understanding of how these images were composed and why they have become so prominent.” In collaboration with design studio Kummer & Herrman, Gibson has turned the project into a conceptual book project. Uniquely, the series of collages and their accompanying text have been printed as stickers, which Gibson then fixes into the book by hand. Each of the editions takes the artist around three hours to complete, and is numbered with the exact time and date of completion. The first edition of Amsterdam’s much-anticipated Unseen Photo Fair will play host to a performance-led launch of the new book with Gibson laying bare the painstaking process by constructing one live.

Tags:

 

Photography , 

Art , 

Books , 

Yohji Yamamoto , 

Cindy Sherman , 

Amsterdam , 

Nan Goldin , 

Juergen Teller , 

Corinne Day , 

Melinda Gibson , 

Unseen Photo Fair , 

Charlotte Cotton , 

Wolfgang Tillsmans , 

The Photograph as Contemporary Art , 

Kummer & Herrman , 

Y's

Amazing article on NOWNESS.com about my new book "The Photograph as Contemporary Art". Book Launch information to follow later today.