In line with our UK DC goal to become a local, cultural centre of excellence, the installation of some amazing artwork is helping us to achieve our aims. Our latest addition is the fabulously eye-catching piece by Nadine Mahoney, using LeFranc Bourgeois Flashe paints.  In Nadine’s own words, she “finds inspiration through a transformed sense of touch in an increasingly digitized world.  Exploring the intersection of technology, gender and human connection, the imagery focuses on feminine forms delving into various aspects of the female experience.”  La Danse is the epitome of her artistic aspirations and the Nana figures were ideal for the scale of this piece, which measures an impressive 408  x  304cm and evokes a wonderful sense of dynamic chaos creating the tone of the painting.  La Danse is on show in our warehouse alongside our other superb artworks, which include Orange Lady  (as we know it)  painted on site by Phil Blake in 2015 as part of our warehouse art theatre day and Manyi Takor’s  Hidden Identities creating a colourful backdrop for our warehouse team as they perform their daily duties.   Be sure to take a look around our walls when visiting Kidderminster to take in the wonderful artworks on display.

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It’s summer, it’s Friday,so a slightly lighter, but still important topic today.

In our daily activities, we try to connect the 2 most important groups of people: our clients and artists who are users of our wonderful products.

Below, are few photos from the studio of our friend, Jan Możdżyński. Jan is a young but already well recognized oil painter in Poland.

When you take a closer look at the studio photos, you’ll see clearly which brands are his favorites.

We asked Jan to share his paintings done with Winsor & Newton professional grade oils, to show it – in the company of our products – to the Paper Concept clients. 

How do you like the new window at their flagship store in Warsaw.?

about the artist and his work (from the artist)

“I live and work in Warsaw, where in 2018 I graduated from the Faculty of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. In my work, I address topics that are important to me, related to feminism, gender identity, gender, sexual minorities and stigmatization related to sexual preferences. I take up the topics of queer identities, the penetration of the virtual world of computer games with the real world, and numerous fetishes implemented by the BDSM community and items related to them. In my works, I try to capture situations related to role-playing, to disintegrate what is traditionally understood as masculine and feminine.

I also practice boxing and run free boxing classes for my friends.

EDUCATION:

2020 – Gender Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences

2018 – Faculty of Painting, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw,

studio of prof. Jarosław Modzelewski

2016 – Fine Arts, Hochschule fur Gestaltung und Kunst Basel

SCHOLARSHIPS:

2016 – Scholarship of the Swiss Government for young artists

Boxing training is a daily routine for me. A permanent point of the day after which I start painting.I started boxing at the age of 16, and my approach to myself and my body changed dramatically. Also role models – when I was a player of the Gwardia Warszawa club – it was coach Sebastian Skrzecz.Today I know that who I am is not my body, but my beliefs. And the topics I take up always concern corporeality, identity, how we define ourselves, who we feel and what roles we play in the spectacle of life. A boxing match is also a spectacle. Choreography of two bodies performing movements practiced for years. The starting point for the boxing images was the figure of Andrzej Gołota and the desire to tame the phenomenon of failure. Gołota, as its symbol, was nevertheless the hero of Polish dreams of foreign success and fame. For me, he is an icon of the losers movement, because even though he never won a championship, he is an important figure among boxing fans.

The characters in my paintings are undefined, non-gendered. But they are not sad, because what is imperfect or does not fit into the norms does not necessarily mean losing.”

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AND THE WINNERS ARE …  

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2nd Edition of the local Winsor & Newton Watercolour online contest held from 15 April-2 July in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The competition was a huge success with more than 1300 artworks received through the social media using the hashtags #WinsorandNewton #WNEdition2023 #ContestFrance2023 #ContestItaly2023 #ContestSpain2023

Colourful buzz was created online and offline in collaboration with our Retail Partners and watercolour influencers generating over 50K users and 60K sessions on the Contest landing pages   This campaign boosted sales … More details will be available in a few weeks!

 Congratulations to all the participants who have created such wonderful and creative artworks exploring the 6 Professional Watercolours of the 2023 palette: #IndianYellow #CadmiumFreeOrange #WinsorRed #RoseMadderGenuine #DarkCobaltBlue #DarkCobaltGreen

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT THE WINNERS visiting our local Contest landing pages:

FRANCE  https://rb.gy/ffx9r

ITALY  https://rb.gy/5mvf6

SPAIN & PORTUGAL   https://rb.gy/dzn01

We look forward to welcoming the 9 artists in September in Le Mans for an exclusive factory tour and interesting chats with the Lab!

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If you missed joining me today on Art Talk Tuesdays with our retail partner, Gwartzman’s Art Supply, simply scan the QR code and you’re all set!

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