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The Art Gorgeous

TAMING The Monkey Mind – An interview with Art Gorgeous

When Helen Downie (b.1965), who goes by the artist name Unskilled Worker, picked up her pencil and paintbrush after over thirty years of absence, she did not expect anything to come of it. Now, five years later, she has a following on Instagram of 280,000, a successful collaboration with one of the world’s biggest fashion houses, Gucci, and has her artwork shown in exhibitions around the world. Her story sounds like a fairytale, but – like reality – it is much more complex than that. It is a story of love and loss, of addiction and life’s struggles, about trying to keep it together, and listening to an inner calling.

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AnOther Magazine

Unskilled Worker on Instagram, Authenticity and Radclyffe Hall

We speak to the artist as a new collection of her works goes on display at Art Central Hong Kong

An interview with the lovely Lara Monro for AnOther Magazine

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Urban Act

A film by Urban Act showing the installation of the Paris art posters…

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artnet

Downie, who makes art under the disarming moniker Unskilled Worker, operates in a sensitive register not typically associated with the global fashion industry at large, where glamor and sex are used to sell, not artistic quirk. But it’s exactly that aesthetic that charmed Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele so thoroughly that he decided to create his latest capsule collection with the mysterious artist.

An interview with artnet a leading online resource for the international art market 

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Gucci x Unskilled Worker

I think I’m always trying to get back to my childhood; to get back to the wonder I felt as a seven year old and to take people with me…

AnOther Magazine

The Whimsical Artist Behind Gucci’s New Capsule Collection

We sit down with Unskilled Worker to discover the places that inspire her evocative practice.

British artist Helen Downie, who works under the moniker Unskilled Worker, creates whimsical painted worlds filled with wide-eyed protagonists, animals and flowers, all rendered with a delightful attention to pattern, texture and colour. Her work is nostalgic yet contemporary, complex yet childlike, and above all intriguing.

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Dazed

An interview with the artist behind the new Gucci.com collection.

To mark the collection’s release, Gucci commissioned Dazed Media Studio to create a film featuring Downie and shot by photographic duo Hill & Aubrey.

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The Sunday Times Style Magazine

If Downie is already a big deal to a certain switched-on audience, then she is about to get even bigger: the new 40-piece collection brings together one of the fashion world’s favourite artists (her) and the most talked-about brand of the moment (Gucci). The two have history..

An interview with Laura Atkinson

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The Architects Of Time: Helen Downie

The Architects Of Time: Helen Downie

Filmed and directed by Kinvara Balfour for Vanity Fair and UBS- UNLIMITED 

As the twenty-first century unfolds, so does the realisation that we have less time than ever to stand and stare. How can, and should, our society and economy best use its time? It’s to this question that Vanity Fair and UNLIMITED have turned their attention, presenting five individuals each thinking blue-sky about time, and what it means for them.

The Creators Project

Creators is VICE’s arts and culture platform and was launched to showcase creative talents discovered or championed by Vice.

Thrilled to be approached by J.H.Fearless for Vice’s Creators Project.

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Hong Kong’s Qube at PMQ

A MAGAZINE curated by Alessandro Michele featuring Petra Collins opens at Hong Kong’s Qube at PMQ and runs until 26 March 2017. Delighted that three of my artworks included in the exhibition, curated by Dan Thawley. The exhibition will travel to Beijing and Taipei after Hong Kong.

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A Magazine Curated By

Featured in the 16th edition of A Magazine Curated By, a Paris-based bi-annual fashion and art magazine.

This landmark issue unfolds over 280 pages of exclusive content developed by Alessandro Michele, preserving the ‘carte blanche’ free-reign concept devised by Walter Van Beirendonck in 2001. An unprecedented cast of international contributors were invited to express their creative perspective on a theme dear to Michele’s heart; each were offered the words ‘blind for love’ as the starting point for over forty distinct narratives that unfold throughout.

Contributors in alphabetical order:

Annie Leibovitz, Ari Marcopoulos, Arianne Phillips, Bruce Weber, Catherine Opie, Chloë Sevigny, Christopher Simmonds, Cindy Sherman, Coco Capitán, Dakota Johnson, David Sims, Exactitudes, Fatima Ronquillo, Federico De Vera, Florence Welch, Frances Wilks, Gia Coppola, Giovanni Attili, Glen Luchford, Grace Coddington, Hannelore Knuts, Hari Nef, Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin, Jacqui Getty, Jared Leto, Jerry Stafford, Joe McKenna, John Currin, Justin Vivian Bond, Katerina Jebb, Madonna, Mariangela Gualtieri, Maripol, Matthieu Salvaing, Max Pearmain, Nan Goldin, Nick Waplington, Nicolas Alan Cope, Paolo Di Paolo, Paul Hanlon, Petra Collins, Philip Mould, Ricky Saiz, Rowan Blanchard, Ryan McGinley, Steven Klein, Tara St Hill, Tavi Gevinson, Terry Richardson, Unskilled Worker, Venetia Scott, Yadim, Zara Mirkin.

Harper’s Bazaar

This is Florence

‘The fourth annual edition of Bazaar Art – features six exclusive covers created by leading contemporary female artists from around the world. Etel Adnan, Rachel Feinstein, Sarah Morris, Cornelia Parker, Celia Paul and Taryn Simon have all created cover artworks.

A specially commissioned portrait of Florence Welch by Helen Downie, better known as Unskilled Worker, also features as a limited-edition cover of the November issue.
All seven cover artworks, alongside another eight original pieces by internationally renowned women artists, will be auctioned online on Paddle8 in aid of Women for Women International’s work with women survivors of war.

The artists featured are: Etel Adnan, Katherine Bernhardt, Agnieszka Brzezanska, Virginia Chihota, Rachel Feinstein, Anna Gaskell, Chantal Joffe, Sarah Morris, Cornelia Parker, Celia Paul, Taryn Simon, Caragh Thuring, Unskilled Worker, Julie Verhoeven, Rebecca Ward and Carrie Mae Weems.’

Bazaar’s annual art issue is a celebration of creativity in all its forms, from the beautiful couture designs coming out of the world’s leading ateliers to this season’s must-visit exhibitions and fairs.

BoF 500

I’m so happy and honoured (excited and a bit overwhelmed) to be included in the #BoF500.

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Vogue US

A commission by US Vogue for an article exploring the rise of fashion illustration in the age of Instagram.

Vanity Fair

Featured in a September 2016 Vanity Fair article ‘ the young creatives shaping London’s cultural landscape.

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The Times

So thrilled to be included in ‘Six of the best: Fashion illustrations, chosen by Times Fashion Director Anna Murphy.’

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