As you may be able to tell from my previous posts, I am quite the enthusiast when it comes to art and culture, especially when it conveys contextual and historical references. So while I have been living in Nottingham for the past few months, I have noticed that around the city there are a number of street art displays and creative illustrations plastered across buildings; derelict or in use, as you venture down into the streets of Hockley and the Lace Market, reaching a cultured and picturesque abode for art in Nottingham. This area is something renowned for its attention to creativity and the location for contemporary, avant-garde places such as Rough Trade, the Broadway Cinema, The Lace house and other quirky iconic destinations. Therefore, in this post I wanted to explore the street art in this specific area discovering whether the narrative for the pieces I found, were the self promotion of the artist or portrayed a true passion for the use of colour, portraiture, or bold graphic imagery.
Although this post is not directed entirely to the fashion industry, every pattern, texture or narrative that is found within these pieces can have some influence on trend forecasting, brainstorming, influence of individual style and even creates an iconoclasm against the structure of society. This is especially represented through street art in the form of destruction of the architect within society and replacing it with something modern, innovative and rebellious. Yet they can be so influential over people's choice of clothing in the 21st century. This can be seen through the use of patterns, graphics and choice of hues in found in street art which can be replicated onto garment design and providing colour palettes for certain outfits after seeing the colours being visually put together in an art piece. Even the portraiture of a man or woman can have major influence on the future structure of a fashion photo shoot as it can primarily provide some inspiration to the positioning of a model in order to promote or sell a product. As Nottingham's born and bred designer Paul Smith expressed "You can find inspiration in anything" which as a fashion designer and icon, Smith does so perfectly by exploring Parisian fairgrounds and Portobello Road Vintage Market to develop a further understanding of style and pattern. Therefore, I wanted to step away from the fashion magazines and social mediums for this post and dig deeper into primary artistic sources instead This allows people to receive inspiration from the things that are around us visually. In my next post I will be including a few images at the very end of the post that are on show at the Whitewall Gallery located in Nottingham's Flying Horse Walk shopping mall. This artwork is also something that I feel presents patterns and textures that could possibly influence many fashion designs within a brands collection. So keep an eye out!
To me this art piece in progress communicates vision of historic beauty during the time of the renaissance as the artist portrays women in a romantic feminine way but tastefully pushes their natural beauty to be the main subject.
In terms of fashion photography, the age of renaissance has been seen time and time again within campaigns and photo shoots which arguably may be influenced by this style of portraiture art.
Obviously, the pieces I have photographed In Nottingham are paintings from this day and age physically, but not contextually.
In terms of fashion photography, in 2012 photographer Zhang Jingha featured in Harper's Bazaar's Vietnam December issue with her Nu Renaissance Aristocracy shoot where she modernised renaissance beauty but still visually referred to the period during the 14th to the 17th century, the bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. Therefore, this can be categorised as a photographic visual contrast of time periods.
Nu Renaissance Aristocracy
Harper's Bazaar Vietnam, December 2012
Visual contrast- Contemporary vs. historic
Hockley Street Art
The advertisement for MIMM Premium menswear brand. The store is located in Hockley and combines the worlds of music, fashion and art together by providing unique and independent clothing brands, audio visual events, an arts collective and a record label to show off their eclectic style ethos. The advertisement communicates visions of cultural hybridity created by the experimentation of style and an influence of various global trends from Asian origins to African heritage that meets an edgy boho vibe. There is so much going on in this advertisement even though it is a
complete contrast to the original male consumer that the brand markets themselves towards.
Broadway Cinema
The bold graphic architectural designs on Broadway cinema represent the individuality, excitement and independency that the cinema is known for.
The bold graphic architectural designs on Broadway cinema represent the individuality, excitement and independency that the cinema is known for.
Hockley Street Graffiti
P Spowage Pop Up Art
Located on Byard Lane, Nottingham
Contemporary and diverse art pieces created by Peter Spowage that are placed outside his shop on a daily basis to advertise his tucked away studio.
The Patterns and Textures in Hockley's Wall Art
Bold, colourful, and vivid complex tones to reflect the splash of identity and uniqueness artists have brought to this section of the city.
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