Halcyondaze

Limited Edition Print signed and framed.

Artist Mark Wigan first gained recognition in the early 1980′s for his illustrations for NME and iD magazine. Many of Wigan’s projects have taken place in Japan including the launch of his own chain of ‘art to wear’ merchandise shops.

Halcyondaze detail

Other commissions have included murals for nightclubs and city expos, set designs for TV shows and animation for TV commercials. Career highlights have included painting murals at London and New York’s Limelight clubs at Andy Warhol’s suggestion (who described Wigan’s work as ‘hot’), promoting his own clubs The Brain and the Love Ranch as well as exhibiting paintings at galleries all over the world including The Circulo des Belles Artes in Madrid and Spiral Hall in Tokyo. Some of Wigan’s thousands of polaroid night club portraits many of which were published in iD magazine.

Halcyondaze detail

Look carefully at the picture and you’ll see people and places you recognise.

www.wigansworld.com

Ryan Callanan AKA Ryca
Superstar

Superstar

Hand painted glass, fibreglass, relief with 23ct gold leaf gilding. Bespoke fibreboard frame. From series of 4. Each Superstar is a unique colour.

Ryan Callanan is an artist working in contemporary printmaking and graphics. Already a prominent artist on the Street Art scene, the last three years have seen Ryan move away from this aesthetic towards a new practice that draws upon his in- depth knowledge of materials and craftsmanship acquired through his training in industrial model making and 3-D design. Ryan counts Norman Cook amongst his customers and has been commissioned by BT as the Jubilee artist which will see Ryan’s profile rise even more over the coming months.

Le Rock- Trucker Girl 2012 donated by Urban in Ibiza/ West Bank Gallery,  Crome on Pink Cromolux

Trucker girl

Le Rock started as a slogan Graffiti writer during the 80s when British Gas was being sold off with the Sid Campaign! Coming from a punk defiant stance, Le Rock looked to put Black images of monsters on walls to spook and scare the public on the streets of London’s West End. Le Rock has embraced the urban street art scene. See more of Le Roc at West Bank Gallery 133-137 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2RS

Inkie - Love Heart donated by Urban in Ibiza/ West Bank Gallery

Inkie Love Heart

Spray acrylic and liquid gold leaf on canvas

Inkie is one of the most notorious and prolific graffiti writers in UK history to emerge out of the 80’s Bristol scene. Inkie has since worked as head of design for SEGA, Xbox, Jade Jagger’s in-house designer as well as running a West London design studio creating prints, illustrations, clothing with his trademark beauty on large- scale piecesHis work is coveted by celebrity collectors including: Robbie Williams, Jade Jagger, Fatboy Slim, Roots Manuva, Alan Carr, Massive Attack & Sean Pertwee amongst others.

Inkie and Oik Collaboration - Frankie Goes to Cricklewood No 1 donated by Urban in Ibiza / West Bank Gallery, London
Hand finished three colour screen print on fine 350 gsm paper

Frankie Goes to Cricklewood

Urban in Ibiza is a creation for all your senses, the 3D spectacular that takes you on a journey of stills from the best Urban contemporary artists, the sounds of the coolest Urban acts and glittering collections of local and international cutting edge fashion designers.

Dizzi teamed up with award winning graffiti artist Inkie to curate the artists for the Urban in Ibiza events. The Urban in Ibiza stable grows from strength to strength each year and additions annually range from the most in demand, the youngest and freshest through to internationally established artists, who collectively form the outstanding line ups for each Urban in Ibiza show.

If you are into street art West Bank Gallery’s current exhibition is Mau Mau. Click here for details.

Ok I know this is a press release but I wrote it and I want to use my blog this week to promote it.

To top off the panels at The International Music Summit Get Tested! Back to The Phuture and Ibiza Rocks House at Pikes present RocknRave.

A Q&A panel of unique guests hosted by Back to The Phuture’s Mark Jones at the legendary Ibiza Rocks House. RocknRave will feature leading lights that played a part in driving Ibiza’s party scene, each with an exclusive insight on what went on. Mark Jones will be steering panel members to talk about what they have done and how they have got to where they are now?

With his profound knowledge of music, not to mention his contribution, from the early days of Acid House parties to Wall of Sound via Propellerheads, Jacques Lu Cont, Grace Jones and Tiesto to Back to the Phuture on BBC Radio 6, Mark Jones will lead the discussion with insight and a bit of comedy.

Ibiza Rocks House at Pikes will form the background to the discussion.  Ibiza Rocks House is steeped in Ibizencan cultural history. Its former owner Tony Pike hosted wild Freddie Mercury fuelled parties and these days it’s where the bands both stay and party after the gigs at Ibiza Rocks, throughout the summer.

The event will ultimately raise money for Get Tested! Raising awareness through music and discussion is a powerful way to effect change, get more people tested and in turn save lives. Deaths from hepatitis outnumber those of HIV now and they are all unnecessary deaths.

The event will be held on May 26 at 5pm, Entrance is free so come early to avoid disappointment.  Names announced shortly.

We’ve got some very exiting names planned and I’ll be writing about it here as it progresses.

I like Peter Baker’s entries. The crowd shot made a powerful impact on me when I opened it. I found it very poignant. You are probably wondering what the image has to do with blood? The strap-line for World Hepatitis Day for a couple of years was Am I Number 12? This referred to the fact that world wide 1 in 12 people has hepatitis B or C. This photograph is a great illustration for Am I Number 12? The coke (?) on the mirror fitted in with Get Tested!’s message and made me laugh although I’m not sure if I’d want it on my wall and ultimately this photo will be auctioned presumably to go on someone’s wall

I think the Buddha would go down well in Ibiza which is where it will be auctioned. I like that he has blood in his lap and all the various interpretations you could make of that.

For some reason I can’t post the short list in full here so go to our Facebook Page to see them all

By Henry

Who is old enough to remember Mark Fowler’s HIV story? Peggy Mitchell was so outraged with his disease, she stopped buying lemons from his fruit and veg stall and she barred him from the pub.  There was an earth-shattering scene in The Vic between Peggy and Mark in which Peggy embodied the bigoted and fearful public en masse and confronted Mark in front of a crowed Queen Vic. This scene did more to tackle discrimination then any HIV campaign.

During the height of HIV panic I was in rehab in South London. The laundry guys refused to touch the doorknobs in our building. Post Peggy’s outburst in The Vic all of the soap watching and tabloid reading British public knew that you couldn’t catch HIV by sharing a glass, touching a doorknob or buying lemons from someone with HIV.  They also knew that it was wrong to discriminate against someone with HIV.  Peggy i.e. the ignorant public looked wrong and ugly while Mark remained dignified and reasonable.

I’ve thought carefully about all the current EastEnders characters and who would be the

Zainab Masood

best one to get hep C. It has to Zainab Masood.  All the great matriarchs have now departed and there isn’t a decent man on the show.  Zainab fits the bill because she is South Asian and in particular from Pakistan where the instance of hepatitis C in the population currently runs from 5% to as high as 25% in some areas.

In Pakistan hepatitis C has been passed on by poor healthcare. A healer might shave a baby’s head or circumcise him re-using a blade that’s not properly sterilised.  Our South Asian officer Shabana found on a trip to Pakistan that two of her aunts had just died of hep C while two more of them were dying.  She herself was infected, she thinks, from an injection with a re-used needle.  When one of our friendly consultants, Graham Foster switched from working at St Mary’s in West London to The Royal London in East London seven or so years ago he couldn’t understand why so many young South Asians were dying of hepatitis C on his wards. Seven years on and lots of research later we know why but the message still isn’t out here.

The Government campaigns have targeted drug users and if they made a cursory mention of people who had medical treatment abroad this wouldn’t have rung a bell with the South Asian population as they had medical treatment back home. The Hepatitis C Trust is testing in mosques plus we have Shabana who  has made great strides in raising awareness.

Stories and drama have always been a great way for us to learn and understand more about the world. The meta-narrative of the soap world means that the narrative is propelled along by the viewer once the show has finished. Zainab Masood could save lots of lives. South Asians predominantly have a genotype that is very easy to treat. Zainab’s story would be on primetime 4 times a week over a long period of time, it would be part of the fabric of the soap. It would be picked up and discussed on magazine shows like This Morning, it would get written about in papers.

I asked on Twitter today who knows an EastEnders scriptwriter? An actress friend of mine tweeted me back. Watch this space and if we are successful, sorry in advance Zainab, it’s a shitty disease to have to have, but if the scriptwriters are kind they will get you into a decent hospital (maybe the Royal London?) and get you cured.

Initially I groaned as I don’t like leaving London to an unknown town or quantity, which I know is pathetic but hey..! I also, despite appearances, have grown to hate talking about my illness. Making Louie, Me and Hepatitis C was a horrible experience for me as I grew ever more uncomfortable in front of the camera as the film went on. I loved all the pre-production and I loved the post-production but the actual filming I found horrific.

One of the reasons I found working the Hepatitis C Trust helpline so hard was that we are required to talk about our own condition, which I have found more and more difficult. My overriding reaction to having to do so is anger. The anger isn’t related to any stigma or shame I feel but just what it takes from me to have to speak about it, it feels intrusive.

Before the group got going I got into conversation with one of the women there and we immediately talked about anger.  In fact, the predominant topic of the meeting was anger, that and the extreme fatigue a lot of us suffer from which makes you angry anyway.  It stuck me that when I think of hepatitis C it’s in relation to my job and raising awareness. Although I know what’s going on with new treatments and so on I tend not connect with the patient side of things.

It felt really good to sit with a group of people and be there as another patient. It was good to share our feelings and discuss our out-of-proportion anger. It was great to know that this really nasty symptom of liver disease isn’t just in my head.  Basically I felt supported.

Phil Spalding

This group was started by Phil Spalding who has been making a lot of noise in the hepatitis C community. Phil is a bass player who has toured with Elton John, Orchestral Manoeuvres’ in the Dark, Seal, Mick Jagger, Rodger Daltrey, Pete Townsend and many others. More recently he has recorded with Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue.

Phil managed to clear hepatitis C after undergoing treatment but feels compelled to raise awareness and support those who still have it.

His support group was full of people, who hadn’t had anyone to talk to before about their condition and who had been completely isolated with their illness. Phil has now taken on the role of hepatitis C co-ordinator in Swindon. He  still playing bass regularly with The Simon Townsend Band as well as touring as a session musician and playing festivals. After the support group was over he told me “I much prefer doing this to my other job”.  I know what he means.

Phil’s support group is on at 6.30 every Monday

Broadgreen Community Centre
Salisbury Street
Swindon
SN1 2AN

Rankin, Sadie Frost and Boy George are calling on talented photographers to submit their work and compete to get it exhibited at Urban in Ibiza’s London location, West Bank Gallery in Westbourne Grove.

The winning photograph will be auctioned at Pete Tong’s International Music Summit in Ibiza on May 23 at their star-studded legends dinner with the proceeds going to The Hepatitis C Trust.

The theme is blood. Applicants can be as abstract, metaphorical or as literal as they like.  From Andrew Serrano to Pete Doherty artists have been using blood in their work for years. We are open to all interpretations.

The winner will also receive 2 tickets to The International Music Summit in Ibiza.

Closing date for Entries is Thursday April 9 2012

Photographs must be at least 300 dpi to be able to blow up to A1 size and sent to media@hepctrust.org.uk

This is a collaboration between Get Tested!, Urban in Ibiza and The International Music Summit. Collectively we hope to unearth some great talent.

Winner announced end of April.

Sadie Frost says, “Everyone has the opportunity to take great photos with the technology around today. Blood is an interesting theme, as it will make people think about what an unknown quantity blood can be, and help raise vital awareness of hepatitis C. We look forward to receiving some exciting entries’

I mentioned in a previous blog that at this time of year I am preparing for our annual trip to the International Music Summit (IMS). With that in mind I’ve been keeping my eyes open for interesting artwork to auction. I was browsing facebook and noticed that Norman Anderson AKA Normski had posted some great photos.

I used to have Normski on my books many years ago when I was an agent, he’d come into my office in Camden of a morning for a coffee and a performance. I also used to bump into him and his son on the school run when my son was still small.

Those of us of a certain age will remember Normski from TV ‘youth’ shows like Def2 and Dance Energy from the 80s and early 90s and his incongruous marriage to Janet Street Porter.

I had a look at Norman’s website and was taken aback by the quality of his photos & the incredible legacy he has generated particularly in the areas of urban and contemporary culture. The Victoria & Albert Museum have recently acquired 7 of his photographs of Black British Culture from the 1980s for their permanent archive collection.

Norman was only too happy to donate a print to us. I love it when people don’t um & ah about helping, but are emphatic in their goodwill.

Chuck D & Flava Flav

As IMS is a music conference I plumped for one of his hip-hop series, a photo of Chuck D and Flava Flav performing, although my favourite is actually one of Asher D and Daddy Freddy at Chalk Farm.

So I’m going to meet up with Norman for a catch up and to get the signed print,  which I’m looking forward to.  Some lucky person at the IMS Legends Dinner on the 23 May in Ibiza will get to go home with piece of hip-hop history.

Last year we celebrated our 10 year anniversary which gave us a chance to look back over the work we’ve achieved.  An indication of how far we’ve come was reflected in the quality of the applicants we’ve had for the job of Comms Manager.

The Hepatitis C Trust was started by a handful of hep C patients, including Charles Gore (still our Chief Executive), who were frustrated by a complete lack of information for people once they were diagnosed. They originally only had the resources to focus on information.

I first met the team at The Trust in 2004 when I was researching my film Louie, Me and Hepatitis C. There was a skeleton staff of Charles Gore, Sam  (who is still there) on the helpline, Catherine doing the website and organising health days and Jane who was one of the founder members and whose illness dictated that working full time proved too much.

I trained up to do the help line, which is the hardest job at The Trust.  Nothing prepared me for some of the stories you hear working the phones. I personally found it too close to the bone. I was doing treatment at the time and couldn’t separate the stories and my home life. Although it wasn’t for me our helpline is going strong and still run entirely by people who have got or have had hep C. It’s unique in that when you phone us you talk to someone that can properly empathize not just dish out advice from a leaflet.

My personal contribution to The Trust has been awareness. When I started we didn’t have

Me and Gizzi Erskine

one celebrity follower who we could call on to speak for us in the press. Celebrities are currency to charities. They are your passport to getting your cause talked about. We actually have an army of them now but I’m particularly attached to Sadie Frost and Boy George who both became patrons of The Trust and Gizzi Erskine who I’ve been working closely with for a couple years. Our celebrity ambassadors go the extra mile. They sit down with me, develop projects and discuss key issues. They certainly aren’t just lending their name to the cuase. They all own the projects they get involved in and have as much invested in them as we do.  Sadie Frost has been on a journey with us. Through her work with the Trust she’s been able to understand more about her father who sadly died of hepatitis C. Click here to see The Great British C Party video

Sadie and Boy George at our Get Tested! 80s icons press night

The Trust now focuses on 5 key areas; support, information, research, representation and the international work we do with The World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA). WHA is another organization founded by Charles Gore, which represents 200 patient groups across 60 countries. In 2010 Charles persuaded The World Health Organization (WHO) to make World Hepatitis Day an official WHO event. There are only 5 disease areas recognised officially so this was a great achievement.

The Trust has inevitably grown.  We don’t only employ people who have hepatitis C anymore.  The host of parliamentary advisors, project managers and researchers who have come to work with us have richly improved the Trust. We’ve always had substance and known where we want to go but all the professional staff have shown us how. It’s been interesting learning from them.  We are still led by people with hepatitis C, which is important. One of the reasons I develop great relationships with supporters, I’ve been told is ‘because I live my story’. Our ultimate aim is to do ourselves out of a job. We want to see a point in time when people no longer die of hepatitis C and then we can close up and retire.