Just enter the code “extraten” (don’t use the quotation marks!) when checking out an order to receive your discount!

Pictured above is Pictoplasma’s Pen To Paper, Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration, Sketches From New York by Jeremyville, and Jon Burgerman’s laptop case.

SLOTH by Daniel Entonado

Madrid’s Daniel Entonado pops by the shop whenever he’s in England, and always drops off a handful of really nice, lovingly made zines. Featuring his quirky characters and trippy symetrical patterns, these drawings – in the spirit of all the best artists  – borrow from lots of people (they remind me in particular of Geoff McFetridge and Jon Burgerman), but end up being completely unique. Daniels website is www.danielentonado.com if you wanna see more of his work. Let’s hope he keeps coming back to see us!

Daniel Entonado’s SLOTH is available here.

British Folk by James Pearson-Howes

About as close to the Wicker Man as you’re likely to get; James Pearson-Howes’ British Folk is a photo journalists’ celebration of regional festivals from villages up and down Britain. Rarely covered, these  traditional events are a wonderful embodiment of small-town Britain throughout history; drunk and quite, quite mad.

Fantastically photographed and beautifully bound, British Folk is a fascinating look at one of our most exciting photographers. Only 250 of these have been made, so don’t miss out!

James Pearson-Howes’ British Folk is available here.

Eight: 48 #2

Eight:48′s first issue popped up in our shop in June, and quickly became that month’s Mag We Grab On The Way To The Loo™. It’s rare a design/illustration mag comes in that isn’t, quite frankly, dull -  but Eight:48′s staff seem to be asking the right questions to the right people – and the result is a well researched and interesting magazine, that’s as much about the articles as looking at the pictures.

Eight:48 issue 2 is available here.

Stabby Women by Kid Acne

The Steel City’s finest writer, rapper, illustrator, designer, artist and lots of other things has given a handful of galleries and shops and handful of copys of his ultra-limited ‘Stabby Women’ zine. Lucky enough  to get our greasy mitts on some, we have to say these are some of the finest small pressings we’ve had in a while.  Featuring Kid’s glorious women-with-swords paste ups you may have seen around London (There was one just round he corner from Hermit) and other places, this limited edition of 250, hand screened masterpiece – which comes with eight postcards – is one of the finest collectibles by one of the UK’s most popular street artists.

Stabby Women by Kid Acne is available here.

CH: By the look of your email signature, it seems you’ve been busy involved in a lot of different things as well as Ala Champfest- Champ press, 14Bikeco and Fixed Magazine…

MK: Joanna and I have our Champ Press publishing company which we create Champfest under. In the future we will publishing other people’ work. There are already a few under way.

I also work at a bike store (14BikeCo)  in the Truman Brewery, London. We hand build frames and it is really refreshing to escape to another place where you basically just hangout with friends.

Fixed Magazine is another independent publication which I write and organize distribution for. The guys who created it have such passion and drive for it – and its great to be a part of that. Its put together so well, in terms of content and also layout – above all its free. Sweet.

What’s your creative background? How did Ala Champfest come about?

We’ve both loved printed matter for forever now. Always collecting and discovering new publications. We knew it wouldn’t be easy – I had to learn design programs to create the magazine itself. And Joanna and I have both learnt everything from distribution, to advertising, marketing and PR! We’ve always been hands on – learning from doing. Now that we know how much hard work goes into a single issue, it’s even more exciting discovering a new magazine. Especially an independent one.

Where did the name come from?

Randomly created, and we both loved it. Now we relate it to the ‘Champions’ we interview in each city: the creators, the movers + shakers of our time.

What’s the ethos of the magazine, what’s it all about?

An ever-relevant capture of the best photographers, artists and illustrators going round. We travel quite a bit, so it’s perfect for finding and interviewing well-known or emerging artists, and producing a beautiful printed document for the rest of the world to enjoy!

Each interview and each issue of Champ, we equally admire the work of everyone we feature!

So many people creating, movin’ and shakin’…
But it’s always exciting to meet someone you’ve long admired, and hanging with them in their city whether its Tokyo, Berlin or Paris.

How do you go about choosing the contributors?

At the moment we have photographers Ryan Hopkinson and Jonathan Winstone joining us for shoots. We really believe in them – they are both great photographers. Its an honour to have them working with us as they are already established in their own fields.

We like to keep our team quite close-knit. Of course our contributors are also everyone featured in the magazine.

Any particular favourites so far?

We know exactly who we would like to interview and involve with Champ, but it also depends on the city we’re visiting at the time. Creating friendships over a coffee or beer…

You collaborate with your twin on the publication- is Ala Champfest your first joint project? What’s the dynamic like/ does it make the creative process easier/harder collaborating with some one so close?

We’re really lucky in that we have a similar vision for the mag, and the occasional objections only make it better. Living on different sides of the hemisphere we view some things differently, but this allow us to be diverse and always creating new ideas…

Joanna was saying she lives in Melbourne- so it really is an international magazine! How does this long distance collab work? Do you each have different roles within the publication?

We speak almost every day through Skype. And being in different cities gives us an excuse to travel, and meet up in a new city… somewhere in the middle…

We recently caught up in Tokyo, and then Joanna came over to Europe and we travelled around a bit here too, visiting stockists and interviewing some people.

What’s your relationship with advertisement? Does it influence your content? Do you care about advertising-driven-editorials?

Producing anything printed has always been costly, but you’ve just got to remain confident with your vision and that others will dig it. We’ve been really lucky in that we do exactly what we aspire, who to include in Champ, and it only gets more and more interest.

Issue 2 is full of Tokyo based creative types, how did this come about? Did you notice a distinct creative difference between East and West ?

Joanna + I were visiting Tokyo this year and met some really great people who we just had to get into Champfest. The bilingual thought came from some great publications we found that were solely in Japanese, incorporating this lack into Champ, where both common languages are found. But really, we see so much great stuff coming outta every city of the globe… each as different and just as good as the other.

Are there any other publications other than Ala Champfest that you collect?

Fixed Magazine from London, +81 from Tokyo, Hamburger Eyes from San Fran, Lodown Magazine from Berlin, VNA Magazine from London, Wooooo Mag from NYC, Paperplane Mag from Sydney (RIP) and i-D from London…

You recently took Ala Champfest on a touring exhibition across the globe- how did it go?

Really well!! Both the London and Berlin exhibitions were a lot of fun, but also a great chance for people to check out some great international art + prints!! We had such a great turnout – its great to see so many people

Was it always the intention of the magazine to merge the editorial with events?

Not at all, but once think of a great idea, always go through with it! Nothing good comes from easy work…

Issue 2 is out now, looking back- what have you learnt since the first issue? And what can we expect in the future?

Ah we’re really stoked with how Champ has grown, this year is hectic!
But ofcourse reaching 100+ issues, and continuing to do our thing, in turn inspiring others to create!

www.alachampfest.com
Or stay on the pulse by our regularly updated blog // www.alachampfest.blogspot.com

You can get hold of A La Champfest Issue 2 here

‘System Collapse runs until the 29th August at Stolenspace, E1 6QL.

A disused petrol station is being tweaked and altered by a bunch of twenty something architects, designers and artists all with a common goal. They’re building a pop up cinema- an homage to the golden age of film, with decadent interiors, flip down seat, neon lights and proper tickets.

Scaffolding, wooden planks, old curtains and found and donated materials are being hammered, glued and drilled to create a hand built traditional cinema, scheduled to show fittingly classic movies. The opening night on the 20th August (showing Rebel Without A Cause) has already sold out, preempting the success of this adventurous project. So go online and book you’re tickets now for an authentic experience that’s not only handmade, but at £5 a ticket, is also cheap to boot.

Check it out at www.cineroleum.co.uk

Studio living is growing in popularity with more and more artists and designers deciding to combine work and pleasure in one shared space. If you’re flirting with the idea, but unsure about the pros and cons, studio dweller and product designer, Pedro Mealha gave Concrete Hermit a brief insight…

Pros:

• A lot of space.
• An ability to transform the interior (I knocked down a wall to make a new window, the landlord didn’t care).
• Community feel, neighbours are usually friendly and share common interests.
• Even though there are a few hippies bumming about doing K, generally people are doing stuff which is always good.
• Provides inspiration for the uninspired.

Cons:

• Most units suffer from lack of sound/heat insulation.
• If there’s a party and you need sleep, you’ll need earplugs.
• Communal areas, like the courtyard and corridors have a tendency to accumulate junk: old sofas, tires, radiators, rubble, etc. (although I think this happens mostly because a lot of these buildings are running not-so -official businesses and studios, hence there are no inspector types coming round.)
• Plus the K heads seem to have some sort of hobby were they collect stuff from the street and dump it in corridors.

Cheers Pedro.

Tomorrow night sees the much anticipated show by S. Mark Gubb at Concrete Hermit. The fine artist has compiled a series of typography based works for the exhibition. The most prominent is a series of 38 posters entitled ‘…saves from hell’ which cover an entire wall in the gallery space. In case you can’t wait that long here’s a few snaps to wet your appetite. Why not come along and enjoy a beer tomorrow from 6pm.

Right now the Tate Britain is staging an exhibition quite unlike any other: A few years ago it would be inconceivable to imagine Viz – the controversial low-brow comic – would be displayed in the echelon of the fine art world. But that’s just what’s happening in this exciting exhibition, that brings ‘the art of the people’ to the fore.

Upon entering the exhibition you are immediately taken aback by the vibrant green walls. Some may say it’s a bit overpowering but it could be argued it fits well with the theme of the show, and it certainly doesn’t detract from some of the amazing art work on display. For instance Rambout Van Den Hoeye’s engravings are so hyper-detailed you can really feel the hours of practice he has put in to his craft. Surprisingly his ideas are just as multi-layered. He deals with complex satirical concepts and incorporates many reference points, although admittedly a lot of these have aged somewhat.

Another old master on display is William Hogarth. His wit is a lot darker in tone than some of the Dutch artists. Black humour is so often a preoccupation of the British; this is equally demonstrated by the works of Thomas Rowlandson. Whom you could claim is one of the first true caricaturists, paving the way for many a street artist working in the tourist hot spots of the world. This type of comic art has brought joy to many people’s lives. If you doubted the power of comic art you only have to take a look at Charles H. Ross’ character ‘Ally Sloper’, whose influence reached far and wide. The character was a major inspiration for Charlie Chaplin, without whom modern cinema would be very different today. Equally Leo Baxendale’s illustrations for the long running comic magazine ‘The Beano’ strike a cord with every boy of a certain age, regardless of their time period. Whilst the room predominantly shows older works, these are intermittent with a few examples of more contemporary artists such as David Shrigley and Adam Dant.

The second room looks at social satire and features a running commentary from Viz creation ‘Roger Melly the man on the telly’. The commentary is a welcome change from the often dry text that accompanies works of art in a gallery setting, as do the giant comic strips, especially done for the show by Viz. It’s almost as much fun to see people’s reactions when reading the strips as reading it yourself. Numerous works of Hogarth are displayed in this bright yellow room. The thing that strikes you when looking at his work is that although some of the visual puns may not be relevant, the desire to mock those of privilege remains. You only have to look at every news stand to see that. Another instillation in the room is ‘If not now then when’ by John Isaacs. The giant wax statue is an obvious jibe at the obesity that it rife in our society, but if you look deeper it examines our greed as human beings. Ironically we may not have survived this long with out it.

We see a return to the usual white space in the politics room. Napoleon was one of the first real targets of ridicule by political cartoonists. It could be said the English have developed this humour as a coping mechanism, that provides a way of dealing with all the invasions and wars it has been involved in through out the years. By mocking an enemy you make them less feared, and keep moral high.

At no other time was this needed more than in the Second World War where comic art and propaganda overlaps a lot. Norman Mansbridge’s illustrations for ‘Adolf in Blunderland’ must have made those reading it feel somewhat at ease in those difficult times. Equally some use the art form to campaign against war, and a modern version of that can be seen in Karmarama’s ‘Make Tea Not War’. The images are very powerful and can help to drive an anti-war movement forward. We also see work from modern greats like Steadman, and Scarfe, but you can’t help feeling more ought to be made of their enduring work. Comparably spitting image was reduced to a mere cameo. Perhaps the curators wanted to provide a balance between past, future, and present but the introduction of a video would have sufficed. As it was for the most part the examples of video used through out the exhibition were a little disappointing.

The Bawdy room attempts to show the naughtier side of British cartooning. This part of the exhibition is a little thin on the ground, a pity because Donald McGill’s wonderful seaside postcards are confined to a space in the adjoining corridor. Like Ally Sloper inspired Chaplin it is quite possible McGill, the king of the double entendre, influenced the makers of the Carry On films, and his work signals a shift in sexual attitudes. In spite of this relatively incomplete collection Richard Newton’s work deals with some extremely controversial topics for his day, such as mixed race relationships. Although barely into his 20s when he died he is still remembered for his anti-slavery works.

Another gem in this room is the work of Grayson Perry, his pen and ink work is sublime. As is Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for the play Lysistrata, which shows figures with exaggerated genitalia. It was great to see a few extra works by Scarfe and Steadman in there too, proving that as with any great comic artist no subject is free from ridicule.

George Cruikshank’s seminal work the ‘Worship of Bacchus’ is displayed in the penultimate room. With a key from Cartoonist Steve Bell (whose work was featured in the politics room). He sets out to describe the colossal painting by offering descriptions of what its happening scene by scene. The painting was part of Cruikshank’s plan to save Britain from its unhealthy relationship to alcohol. Perhaps not much has changed in the intervening years.

Finally we enter the last room, one which the famous comedian Harry Hill has curated. He adds his little touches through out the room, such as the anvil above the door you first walk in. Some are more successful than others, but it is fun to see a different approach. Parts of the collection feel a little out of place, and you’re left to wonder why they are there. The theme is absurd but it feels more contrived than anything. William Heath’s paintings (amongst others) are inside wooden cupboards, but they don’t look, or feel like real cupboards. Which is possibly why they doesn’t work. Jake and Dinos Chapman’s work ‘Exquisite Corpse’ is quite brilliant but doesn’t feel like it belongs to this show.

However all can be forgiven in an instant for showing the proof prints of John Teniel’s illustrations for ‘Through the looking glass’ and ‘What Alice found there’. Hill has definitely tried to keep a varied mix and appeal to as many as possible. For a first time at putting a show together he has done a good job. You can see his love of slap-stick comedy embedded in several of the works chosen, like in Shaun Doyle and Mally Malinson’s ‘Death to the fascist fruit boys’. Maybe this work is a hint at our rapid decline in diet and the associated behavioural problems.

By enlarge the show is a success and well worth a visit to the Westminster gallery. However there are a few areas where it could have been refined. The most telling of these is that there were no examples of note from current exponents of the comic tradition. But the opportunity to see greats such as Hogarth, Teniel, and Rowlandson alongside Viz, and the Beano is not to be missed. In addition to the main rooms there is a cinema room where you can watch films, and a sitting room where you can put your feet up and read all manner of comics or books. Interestingly it was people’s responses to the show that were most endearing. Couples giggling together on sofas, and older people sat in arm chairs smirking to themselves. The introduction of new printing technology a few hundred years ago made comic art more readily available for mass consumption. With the invention of the internet and the decline of print it will be interesting to see how comic art evolves in the very near future.

Brought to you by the artist Riitta Ikonen, “To: Margaret Huber” is made up of a collection of postcards sent and delivered to her old illustration tutor over the past 6 years.

Riitta started the postal project when she took part in a student exchange programme with Nagoya University during her studies at the University of Brighton. One postcard per week was to be sent as a document of experiences; with a total of around a hundred and fifty A6 sized cards sent (and received) in total from all around the globe.

Works of art in themselves, components of the unconventional postcards include hair, fish, mossy bark, pencils, stone and even a sachet of white powder. Only five cards have never reached their destination, largely due to poor crocheting skills.