out and about :: pick me up 2013

Pick Me Up returned to Somerset House from 18th – 28th April 2013 and for the fourth year showcased a stunning selection of contemporary graphic art, design and illustration. I went along to check it out and here are some of my best bits…

Print Club London always have a treat in store and this year they’d taken over the upstairs space with a live print workshop. They used a series of prints produced in collaboration with Bob Gill as inspiration for the space and then asked 10 of their favourite illustrators what they were inspired by.

The resulting images were produced as limited edition screen prints and also incorporated into the wallpaper, which was hand coloured by all the artists. Artists included James Joyce, Pure Evil and Fred Butler.

And visitors were even offered the chance to pull their own print, or buy one that had already been printed, for £5. I was there on a Monday afternoon, so it was pretty quiet, but I have it on good authority that is was mobbed at other times during the 11-day show.

Another interactive installation was Human After All‘s #FaceStamp, where you could create faces using ink stamps designed by illustrators Jean Jullien, Siggi Eggertsson, Malika Favre, Craig & Karl, Emily Forgot, Adrian Johnson, Supermundane and Hattie Stewart.

You can see all the artworks that were created and a crazy short film about the project here. This was one of my favourites…

Upstairs, this print by Maricor/Maricar, part of illustration agency Handsome Frank‘s space, caught my eye. Great advice, especially for those of us not so much flying as falling with style!

I absolutely loved these prints by Fatherless, aka Corey Hagberg, Jarrod Hennis, Javier Jimenez, Greg Lang, and Dave Menard, who hail all the way from Illinois.

They describe their work as “a visual mixtape of creative shenagination” – not sure I can do any better than that as descriptions go!

I loved the Zombie Collective‘s amusement arcade inspired Ideas Machine, generating ideas for just £2.50 a pop. All you’ve got to do is execute them!

And last but not least, the very popular even on a Monday afternoon, Toy Making workshop with the fabulous Felt Mistress who I have admired from a distance via various social media channels for an age, and sadly still didn’t get to meet!

Further reading for the especially geeky:

• out and about :: pick me up (2010)
• out and about :: pick me up (2011)
• we heart :: pick me up (2012)