I’m no lover of tacky saturday night talent shows, and I cant say i’ve been following ‘Britain’s got talent’ on telly, as i like to believe i have better things to do (which i haven’t actually but hey)
But I was pleased to see the dance troupe Diversity win the competition.
Diversity is a multi ethnic group of talented dancers and definetly deserved to win the competition over the rather more heart string laden Susan Boyle
For me, having to hear about the rise of the BNP, racial disharmony and the failure of multiculturalism amongst other such social issues in old Blighty all of the time, Diversities success seems a great indicator that Britain is actually a place where the general population is able to appreciate it’s cultural nuances and celebrate the different styles and energies that exist in this country.
Well thats how i see it, ageing hippy that i am

If you happen to be in Switzerland anytime soon check out the
scope art fair there.
Sesame gallery will be showing a couple of art pieces painted by my funkyself.

I had a solo show ‘This is England’ way back in the optimistic era of 2007 at the sign of the times ‘Boom and bust’ disaster that was the Leonard St gallery.
Much money was lost and bad management was abundant at that space and my desire to burn alive and place curses on all those that was involved was reasonably strong for a while.
But what ever happens I had what I feel, was a very successful show there and finding this you tube vid that documents it all, reminds me that I have come a long way and made much progress in my career and have had the pleasure of meeting many great, inspirational people along the way.
Thats all good in my book.

I’m getting involved in a interesting little project, it involves a group of urban/street artists from various parts of the globe- London, Paris, New York, etc who will all be talking about how there work is influenced by their area and basically what makes them tick as creative individuals.
This is to become a documentary, funded by channel 4 and hopefully to be shown later in the year.
With details sketchy as of thus far, what i do know is it all kicks off this saturday at Cordy house where a group of us London artists will be doing live painting (what fun) that will be filmed and encorporated into the program.
I will endevor to capture the progress of the whole thing and bang it up on this here site
Groovy times

A number of years ago I was up late at home watching the tv when I chanced upon this documentary on channel 4, it was a truly inspirational programme for me as it gave a platform to a group of individuals who are rarely heard, and allowed them to express themselves in a most creative way.
Arts for all, even those that are in the beasts belly

I love my music and it’s good to share the stuff that makes me chirpy and joyous. Old dirty bastard and Busta rhymes little ditty is suitably bonkers enough to make my heart skip a funky beat.

My good chum bobby whiskers has been a busy boy, check out his splendid music on myspace

Last week my show finished, to mark the end of it all I put on a little event at the gallery.
Fantastic food was served up and champagne flowed and I babbled on to a ‘captivated’ audience about my work and the show, ‘Youngstars’ and I also foolishly revealed my oh so secreat painting techniques to everyone with a live demonstration.
To add to that we were blessed with the sounds of Raw essence, a fantastic band that provided the perfect vibe to the evening, cheers guys for the wonderful set.
But it wasn’t all about eating lobster and yapping away to each other, I wanted to use the night as a fund raiser for the art workshops I’m part of.
These workshops are becoming something really special, I belive strongly in the power of art as a form of expression for all and I can see the benefits it gives to the people attending the sessions, we want to expand what were doing and have more people be able to access these workshops so I was very happy with the money raised on the night, thank you to all those that have helped make the workshops even more funky fresh by purchasing a piece of my art on the night.
I would also like to say a massive thank you to Kim and mickey for all your wonderful genorosity and thanks to everyone at black rat