Journal

Delighted to show three paintings in the exhibition ‘Small is Beautiful’ at Flowers Gallery in London. More than 100 internationally recognised artists and new talents will be taking part in the 39th edition of Small is Beautiful. This annual exhibition was first established in 1974, inviting selected contemporary artists working in any media to present works no larger than 7 x 9 inches. Continuing in the same spirit to the present day, the exhibition presents a rare opportunity to purchase smaller pieces by internationally recognised names and discover new talents.The exhibition takes place at Flowers Gallery, 21 Cork Street, London, W1S 3LZ, and online, from 25 November 2021 until 8 January 2022.

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Institut’s inaugural exhibition and physical showcase presented by Unit London. NFTism: ‘No Fear in Trying’ a groundbreaking international group exhibition – curated by Kenny Schachter – bringing together close to 100 international artists presenting their work side-by-side, physically at Unit London’s Mayfair gallery space, and simultaneously in a custom-built virtual exhibition space powered by Arium’s groundbreaking metaverse technology.

In January 2022, Institut Editions announced:

… Let It Flow, the new print release from the incomparable Helen Downie, a.k.a. Unskilled Worker.  Immediately recognisable as a highlight of NFTism: No Fear in Trying, a new giclee edition complements the NFT and painting exhibited as part of Institut’s launch exhibition, and marks the final part of the Let it Flow trinity.

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Auction in aid of pioneering Hospital Rooms charity goes live from Hauser & Wirth gallery in London. All proceeds will support Hospital Rooms’ work in inpatient mental health units across the UK.

I am so delighted to donate my paintings to the amazing Hospital Rooms charity, and for the launch of the Hospital Rooms Christmas Studio later in the year at Anthropologie, where I’ll be in conversation with two very special people, Gemma Rolls-Bentley the Chief Curator at Avant Arte, and Hospital Rooms co-founder Niamh White.

Donated three postcard-sized works of art to help raise money for The Hepatitis C Trust as part of their 20-year celebrations.

…The auction – curated by Mollie E Barnes AKA She Curates – consists of 30 plus cards ‘created by a handful of dynamic female identifying artists.’

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To celebrate international women’s month, a public exhibition of the artists’ work was displayed by W1 Curates across one of the world’s biggest permanent digital public art installations in London.

View the video here.

Leading figures from the contemporary art world have joined forces with The Big Issue to produce exclusive creations that will be auctioned off to raise funds for the magazine’s sellers this November.

A number of exclusive artworks, including customised Fender Stratocasters, are to be auctioned to raise funds for The Big Issue on 4 November. The Stratocasters, donated to the cause by Fender, have been customised by artists such as Goldie, Jamie Reid, Gavin Turk, Lauren Baker, Bran Symondson, Vhils, Joe Rush, Joana Vasconcelos, and Rugman. 

Alongside the customised Stratocaster guitars is a range of limited-edition and exclusive artworks including lithographs, paintings, prints and sculpture from the likes of Radiohead’s artist of choice Stanley Donwood, Conrad Shawcross, Adam Neate, Gary Stranger, Hayden Kays, and Unskilled Worker………

It was such a thrill to be asked to contribute artwork for Secret 7″ 2020, and their project in aid of Help Refugees. 

A little bit about Secret 7”

…. ‘Secret 7” was founded by Kevin King and Jordan Stokes in 2012. Since then, Secret 7” has grown from being a new initiative to a project that has made a huge cultural and charitable impact. A record-breaking total of 22,000 people visited the exhibition at Somerset House, and the longest wait to queue for the first-come, first-served sale was a staggering 52 hours.

CELEBRATING SEVEN YEARS OF SECRET 7”

This year we’re celebrating the seventh and final edition of Secret 7”.

By the end of this show we’ll have made 4,900 one-of-a-kind records for 49 different tracks since 2012. What started as a side hustle has taken us on some journey. With your continued support creating artwork and buying records, we hope to take our grand total raised for good causes to over £250,000.

If you’re unfamiliar with the project: We’re pressing 100x copies of the following tracks to 7” –

Aretha Franklin – One Step Ahead
Bob Dylan – Blind Willie McTell
Foo Fighters – This Is A Call
The Internet – Come Over
Koffee – Toast
Miles Davis – Miles Runs The Voodoo Down
Vampire Weekend – Harmony Hall

Each record will feature a one-of-a-kind cover, created by 700 different artists, ranging from high profile artists to emerging talents. The result is 700 unique records which are exhibited in London before being auctioned.

Amongst the 700 unique records in our gallery this year are artworks from Lubaina Himid, Anish Kapoor, Tacita Dean, Mark Wallinger, Shona Heath, The Connor Brothers, Helen Beard, Jeremy Deller, Lotte Andersen, Stanley Donwood, Jadé Fadojutimi, Ragnar Kjartansson, Maya Hayuk, Gavin Turk, Unskilled Worker, Michel Gondry and many more, featured alongside a whole host of our favourite photographers, illustrators, painters, graffiti artists and sculptors.’

Auction in aid of pioneering Hospital Rooms charity goes live from Hauser & Wirth gallery in London.

I was delighted to be asked to donate a piece of my artwork in aid of the wonderful Hospital Rooms charity. All proceeds will support Hospital Rooms’ work in inpatient mental health units across the UK. Participating artists include Richard Wentworth, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie, Richard Wentworth and others

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Hospital Rooms has teamed up with the artists Anish Kapoor, Richard Wentworth, Cornelia Parker, Giles Deacon, Emma Talbot and Unskilled Worker on a new project to raise funds to help patients in NHS mental health units. To mark Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May), on 21 May the charity will drop the first of a series of six weekly releases of limited edition posters on their website starting with Anish Kapoor’s Breathing Blue.

Installation in the Family Room at Rosewood Ward, St Pancras. Commissioned by hospitalrooms an Arts Council funded charity that works with inpatient mental health communities to transform hospital environments with contemporary art.

The ‘Art Wars 9’ exhibition presents new and existing star wars inspired art by artists including Mr Brainwash, Alison Jackson, Hayden Kays, UnSkilled Worker, Nettie Wakefield, Ben Eine, Philip Colbert, Bran Symondson, Joe Rush, Stuart Semple and Schoony.  

Artists have been provided with a Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet, with the brief of transforming it into a piece of art:  ‘Turning the Dark Side onto the Art Side’. The exhibiton also includes Star Wars inspired paintings and drawings.

‘Art Wars 9’ opens at London’s Old Brompton Gallery, Kensington on Thursday 12th December with a private view 6 – 9pm followed up with another celebratory event a week later to coincide with the cinema release of Star Wars 9 on 19th December.  

Art Wars is curated by Ben Moore and will raise funds for the Missing Tom Fund which Moore set up to support the search for his brother Tom who has been missing since 2003.

In conversation with the wonderful Katy Hessel, art historian, curator and founder of The Great Women Artists. @thegreatwomenartists

In Episode 09 of The Great Women Artists Podcast, Katy Hessel interviews the brilliant London-based artist, Helen Downie, who goes under the guise of UNSKILLED WORKER! 

A self-taught artist who first started painting aged 48 a mere six years ago, Unskilled Worker rose to prominence after posting her work online (instagram.com/unskilledworker), amassing nearly 300,000 Instagram followers, which led to designing collections for Gucci, and exhibiting at museums all over the world.

Known for her intensely vibrant and poetic dreamlike canvases full of her very personal portrayals of people – from those in her imagination, to those who feature in her past and present – Unskilled Worker draws the viewer into a highly atmospheric world of childlike innocence.

In this episode we discuss the artist’s lifelong fascination with people; what led her to pick up a paintbrush age 48; picking up her subjects where she left off aged 14; painting Oscar Wilde to Radclyffe Hall; and how she learnt to live life as a painter – as well as dealing with such a dominant internet presence.

 It was an honour to interview the great painter, who also speaks very movingly about dealing with grief through painting – and how occasionally, those from her past who may have got lost along the way, appear on the page in front of her.

12 artists celebrate the 50^th anniversary
of the moon landing at July fair

4-7 July 2019

The Crossing, King’s Cross, London N1C 4AA

The Other Art Fair hosted by Saatchi Art will present a unique exhibition to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969.

ONE SMALL STEP is a unique exhibition featuring 12 leading artists – in-line with the 12 men who have walked on the moon since 1969 – who will each transform an astronaut helmet into a work of art.

Participating artists include Anish Kapoor, Joana Vasconcelos, Alison Jackson, D*Face, Mr. Brainwash, Bran Symondson, UnSKilled Worker, Philip Colbert, Hayden Kays, Ben Eine, Dan Baldwin and Chris Levine.

Curated by Ben Moore, all proceeds from the sale of the One Small Step helmets via Paddle8 online auction will go to MAG (Mines Advisory Group) whose mission is to clear landmines and unexploded bombs from conflict-affected communities, where one small step can be the difference between life and death.

London based artist, Unskilled Worker a.k.a. Helen Downie specializes in the beguiling.As the name suggests, she’s not a formally trained artist, instead, she’s all about instinct. Her intuitive nature takes her to mediums such as chalk, inks, biro pens as well as dead pens (they’re perfect for carving into the canvas), and colors too that have an innate narrative. It’s thought that Nick Knight first picked up on Downie’s work via Instagram, the platform of choice for artists nowadays. And what special work it is. Found at the intersection of the dream and the definite, undoubtedly, there’s a magnetic quality to Downie’s pieces.

There’s also a beautiful darkness behind her vibrant inks. Expect a melee of ethereality, innocence, inherent flow and instinct that all come together in a spectacular fashion to influence and form her work

An interview with the lovely @FelicityCarter_

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February 2019

14 Feb 2019 — 01 Sep 2019

 ‘I draw’ exhibition at D MUSEUM Seoul

Commission for the Soho House Art Collection in downtown LA.

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14 Jan – 19 May 2019

Included in a group exhibition called ‘Fina estampa. Ilustración y moda’ at Museo ABC in Madrid

Details

Art in the Digital Era | Unskilled Worker, Henry Stanford, Variable & Karinna Nobbs

Technology is playing a fundamental role in today’s creative practice. Through the eyes of some of London’s most pioneering artists we’re going to find out, is this good, bad or ugly?

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A unique programme of talks, conversations and short courses exploring all aspects of the worlds of art and culture.

Speakers will include experts from organizations including the Design Museum, experienced arts and fashion digital media specialists, as well as artists Quentin Jones and Unskilled Worker – who bridge both the art and fashion worlds.

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