Latest news with #artwork
BBC News
17 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
How Gen Z is saving the UK's street markets
"At the first market I was really nervous," says 20-year-old Jayden Roberts. "I was thinking: 'What if I don't have the right demographic? What if my stuff's too niche?'"From his stall at Oxford's bustling Gloucester Green market, Jayden sells prints, t-shirts and mugs featuring his own artwork. Jayden and 18-year-old Lenny Kibble, who sells jewellery and trinkets two stalls down, are part of a new generation of market traders embracing entrepreneurship and all its uncertainties. The National Market Traders Federation (NMTF) says membership among 16-30 year olds has risen by 40% in the past three years. Lenny began working at the market after realising college was not something that suited him. "I'm not much of an academic person," he says. "So I made my way down here and started by putting the canopies up."After helping other stalls, he now runs his own selling bric-a-brac and treasures he finds while bargain-hunting. "I love it... I've learned how to fix watches and about hallmarks, pottery and paintings. It's given me a lot of confidence," he says. 'Frightening statistic' A little over a decade ago, the average age of a market trader in the UK was 55. It was then the industry realised it had a problem. "It was a frightening statistic," says Joe Harrison, chief executive of the NMTF. "Alarm bells started to ring. "With the introduction of online shopping, markets took quite a big hit. There were more places to go, and [fewer] people coming into town."In 2013, the NMTF launched the Young Traders Market, an annual competition to find the best young traders from across the country. A series of regional finals take place throughout the year, followed by a national final in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Mr Harrison says the competition has been a huge success, with many participants going onto become established traders. "Some are doing 200-300 events a year, from artisan events to regular market trade events. It's wonderful to see," he Patrick McGillicuddy, whose father Dermot is director of LSD Promotions, which runs Gloucester Green market, started his own catering company, Feast Streat, from a stall. Before that, he spent his teenage years helping his grandfather sell fruits and vegetables on a stall. "It was fundamental to our success," Ryan says. "We needed a platform to start that wasn't expensive or would put us into debt. "It was perfect for that. It gave us a decent amount of cashflow to be able to expand and grow." Nearby, 16-year-old Yi Yi Sun is following Ryan's example, working with her mother selling handmade jewellery. Like Lenny, she too has gained newfound confidence from working at the market. She says at first, her mother would have to do all the talking."I would just stutter a lot and stand at the back," she says. "[Now], if anyone walks past I say 'Hi, this is handmade, you could try this'... and I'll introduce items to them." For Jayden, those initial doubts he felt when starting out have also begun to fade. "It was nerve-wracking," he says. "But to be here and see that positive feedback just made that all of that go away." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Arab News
2 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Saudi artist transforms scrap metal into sculpture
JEDDAH: Where others see scrap metal destined for the trash, Saudi artist Mishal Al-Amri sees opportunities to create artwork. In his bustling studio in Jeddah, Al-Amri works to remove rust before cutting, rolling, shaping and joining thousands of pieces of shaped scrap metal by hand. He has been upcycling unwanted bits of metal throughout his artistic career, which has spanned 20 years. 'The artist has an eye that sees what others cannot; an eye that captures the beauty in the heart of the damaged and neglected, and restores it to life and meaning. My ultimate hope and goal are to give scrap metal a new life,' Al-Amri told Arab News. When growing up, Al-Amri loved to draw. As he got older, he started painting. It was not until he retired at the age of 59 that he discovered his true passion and began sculpting with recycled metal after teaching himself how to weld. 'As I said before, it was just a hobby and I stopped it for a long time after I joined the banking sector due to the difficulty of balancing the hobby, the job, and then the family later on. 'Anyhow, when I was approaching 40 years of age, and after having a family and professional job, I began to pursue my artistic journey once again. I worked on paintings during my free time and vacations, and I lived for nearly 26 years just painting, readings, attending art seminars, workshops, and holding exhibitions alongside other local artists.' Speaking about how he started collecting scrap metal items from the street, the 65-year-old said: 'The spark for this artistic journey was the first moments of an evening walk, when my eyes would trace the floor littered with scraps of plastic, scraps of iron and discarded remnants of lighting and plumbing, no longer fit for use or neglected.' He added: 'These pieces I picked up from the streets would become the core of my personal art collection — materials I plucked from the fate of neglect to submit to my ideas and participate in the creation of beauty.' These materials can end up waiting for days and sometimes years in storage in his studio until an idea suddenly emerges. 'The journey of constructing the painting or sculpture begins; from choosing the colors and sizes of the pieces, to weaving the relationships between them into an artistic composition that gives it a new spirit.' The Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts recently hosted his first solo exhibition showcasing under the theme 'The Neglected.' 'This exhibition is the fruit of those moments; an invitation to see the beauty in the unusual, and to contemplate art's ability to redefine what is damaged and neglected to ultimately become more precious and valuable,' he said. 'My artistic experience in this exhibition is based on two complementary principles: First, protecting the environment from the effects of pollution and human-caused damage, by collecting remnants of harmful materials in the soil and saving them from becoming a burden on the earth. 'Second, sustaining the usefulness of objects, by recycling them and using them in the field of art after their original function has ended, reborn as works of art that convey an aesthetic, humanitarian and environmental message. Al-Amri says that he plans to continue creating scrap metal sculptures and paintings. 'On a personal level, I want to reopen the Cezanne Fine Arts Center, which I founded years ago and continue to cultivate art until its very end. 'On a more general level, I strive to raise environmental awareness, enabling people to respect and preserve the environment.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Artists behind Dudley's Sam Allardyce mural are 'glad the big man loved it'
The mystery surrounding a Sam Allardyce mural in Dudley town centre has been solved as two artists have come forward to claim credit. Dion Kitson and Adam Wynn collaborate on the 'Really Big Sam' piece which featured the former England boss tucking into a bag of orange chips. Big Sam was a fan of the work and said he was "absolutely privileged" to be honoured in his hometown, adding: "I think it was a very good likeness." READ MORE: 'I almost died in childbirth - my boyfriend kissed me and knew something was really wrong' In a video message shared with ITV News, Allardyce joked: "Chips look a bit hot, but I really enjoyed seeing it. "Whoever did it, thank you very much." The mural - and other bizarre artwork - appeared in the town last week, but the artists only revealed themselves on Sunday, July 20. In a joint Instagram post, they clubbed together footage from ITV News and a clip showing the mural being pasted onto the wall in Union Street. Passers-by were also caught on camera as they snapped pictures of the finished product. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dion Kitson (@dionkitson) The video was captioned: "Dion Kitson x Adam Wynn created the mural dedicated to Sam Allardyce in Dudley town centre. We're glad the big man loved it." The duo were now selling A3 prints, which they have signed and dated, for £50. Other artwork that appeared in the town centre last week included a 'Beware of the Cob' piece, which appeared around the corner from the Allardyce mural on High Street. The humorous artwork was plastered on a boarded up store next to The Full Moon pub. Another appeared on Castle Street - opposite Sofi's Plaice chip shop - showing bags of chips lying on a sunbed dubbed 'The Orange Chip Maker 3000'. While it is likely the duo were also behind these pieces, they have not officially claimed responsibility.
CNN
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Someone has eaten artist Maurizio Cattelan's $6 million banana – again
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's artwork featuring a fresh banana taped to a wall has been eaten by a visitor to a museum in France. The piece, titled 'Comedian,' was eaten by a gallery-goer at the Centre-Pompidou Metz in eastern France on July 12, according to a statement from the museum, published Monday. 'The security team acted quickly and calmly, according to internal procedures,' the gallery said in the statement. 'The artwork was reinstalled a few minutes later,' it said, adding that the banana is 'only a perishable element' that is replaced on a regular basis according to Cattelan's instructions. Centre-Pompidou Metz said the artist was disappointed that the visitor had considered the fruit itself to be the artwork, instead of eating the skin and the tape that held it in place as well. Related video Collector eats world-famous $6.2M banana The gallery has not filed a police report. 'Comedian' is intended to demonstrate the 'absurdity of financial speculation and the fragility of knowledge systems that underpin the art market,' it said. This is not the first time the artwork has been eaten. In 2019, when Cattelan unveiled 'Comedian' at the Art Basel Miami art fair in Florida, performance artist David Datuna grabbed the banana from the wall, before peeling and eating it in front of hundreds of stunned fair attendees. This became one of the art world's biggest viral moments and the work sold — with replacement banana — for $120,000 at the fair. Then, in 2023, an art student took the banana from a wall at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, and ate it. And in November 2024, Justin Sun, a Chinese collector and founder of a cryptocurrency platform, acquired 'Comedian' for $6.24 million at auction — before eating the banana. 'For now, it is perhaps the 'most-eaten' artwork of the last 30 years,' Centre-Pompidou Metz said in the statement.
CNN
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Someone has eaten artist Maurizio Cattelan's $6 million banana – again
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's artwork featuring a fresh banana taped to a wall has been eaten by a visitor to a museum in France. The piece, titled 'Comedian,' was eaten by a gallery-goer at the Centre-Pompidou Metz in eastern France on July 12, according to a statement from the museum, published Monday. 'The security team acted quickly and calmly, according to internal procedures,' the gallery said in the statement. 'The artwork was reinstalled a few minutes later,' it said, adding that the banana is 'only a perishable element' that is replaced on a regular basis according to Cattelan's instructions. Centre-Pompidou Metz said the artist was disappointed that the visitor had considered the fruit itself to be the artwork, instead of eating the skin and the tape that held it in place as well. Related video Collector eats world-famous $6.2M banana The gallery has not filed a police report. 'Comedian' is intended to demonstrate the 'absurdity of financial speculation and the fragility of knowledge systems that underpin the art market,' it said. This is not the first time the artwork has been eaten. In 2019, when Cattelan unveiled 'Comedian' at the Art Basel Miami art fair in Florida, performance artist David Datuna grabbed the banana from the wall, before peeling and eating it in front of hundreds of stunned fair attendees. This became one of the art world's biggest viral moments and the work sold — with replacement banana — for $120,000 at the fair. Then, in 2023, an art student took the banana from a wall at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, and ate it. And in November 2024, Justin Sun, a Chinese collector and founder of a cryptocurrency platform, acquired 'Comedian' for $6.24 million at auction — before eating the banana. 'For now, it is perhaps the 'most-eaten' artwork of the last 30 years,' Centre-Pompidou Metz said in the statement.
