Thursday 8 May 2014

Dandifest reviewed by Marcus Dickey Horley from the Tate `modern

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Marcus Dickey Horley, Tate Modern, has reviewed Dandifest!
Norwich is a city of art and art festivals, a place where there is always something good happening.
This month though saw one of the City's best festivals - Dandy Fest.
This collective of artists are on a mission to make Norwich a better place with their fantastic art. With St Margaret's Art Church as their focal point, their influence seeps out across the city: into Pottergate's The Birdcage and over at St Augustine Street's Yallops Gallery where Karl Somers' vaguely threatening shop window ads unsettle passers-by.
St Margaret's is though the home of the Dandy and our artists have created a sprawling organic and vaguely untidy Art Monster. On passing through the gothic arch of the door you encounter Art Everywhere: all over every single wall, on lines stretching between the walls, up and down the columns and even dangling from the ceiling.
Paintings, sculptures, poems, pansy plants, knitting, ceramics - it's all there and in such enormous quantities. At the centre of the hall stands a Still Life mountain-fountain of lovely objects arranged by Eloise O'Hare, which formed the background for painting activities provided by Vince Laws, Dugald Ferguson and Gena Ivanov, whose own work hangs all around the walls as well.
Surrounding this volcano of tumbling Stuff is work by photographer Ann Nicholls and Dandy Chrissy Sabberton. Wooly art by Kally Davidson and earthy performance by Kayla St Claire. Live art by Hayley Hare - there is almost too much to see in this event-packed-out thirteen day run.
Independent art by people who have the cultural enrichment of society as one of their evident aims is something everyone can get involved in, for their subject matter is us and everyone and their art is about our lives, our dreams and our dressing-up boxes.

Thursday 1 May 2014

Bank Holiday weekend of Dandifest



Dandifest! Bank holiday Weekend
Friday 2 May start of Bank Holiday weekend.
1.30pm-5pm Vince Dandy Laws turning jars into lanterns, using various techniques, bring empty jars, paints provided.
6pm-Late candle lit event with live art, including Hayley Hare with The Black Dog Runs At Night; Find Me Plant Me Bury Me with Kayla St Claire; and Poetry in the Dark, experimental pieces with Vince Laws, Trudy Howson, and Dugald Ferguson.
Bank Holiday Saturday 3 May
1.30pm-5pm Ann Nicholls, Dandy Snap is in the house.
2pm Free Pilates with Diane from Companionate Pilates.
Epic Studios, Norwich
6.30pm for 7.30pm start, don't miss drag star Pequlia Bigtopp hosting a one-off Dandifest game-show extravaganza 'Art With A Capital F!' Special Guests & Amazing Prizes! Tickets via epic-tv.com or 01603 727727, cost £10 pre-booked/ £12 on the door /£7 concs. “Quick witted, sharp tongued temptress!”
The Birdcage, Pottergate, Norwich
8pm-Late The Dandy Disco! Fancy dress if you fancy it! With DJs Di, Jules, and Jasmine from Future Radio, the Official After-Party for Pequlia Bigtopp's Art With A Capital F!
Bank Holiday Sunday 4 May
10am-1pm Portrait Painting Masterclass with Gena Ivanov. Bring your own canvas/paper/materials. First Gena explains his techniques, then helps you paint a portrait.
The Birdcage, Pottergate, Norwich
2pm-5pm Woolly Workshop, with Kally Davidson. Experiment with your yarn, new twists on old techniques, spin with a twig, play with mini, massive and interactive body knitting. Materials provided but please bring fabric, yarns or items to recycle that you’d like to incorporate into the collaborative installation piece at St Margaret's church at the end of the workshop.
6-9pm at The Birdcage, Dandifest! presents Sunday Servix, an evening of music, learning dance routines, performance art and theatre, with Kayleigh O’Keefe's Flaps Theatre, Baltic resident DJ of the Turner Prize Party Hayley Hare, Kayla St Claire's dance commenting on the nature of pop videos, and Body of Work Jerrica invite you to make your mark on them.
Chapelfield Gardens
11am-4pm The Norwich Dandies are at the Norwich & District Trades Union Council May Day celebrations with Dress Like A Dandy! Pose Like A Dandy! Paint Like A Dandy!
Bank Holiday Monday 5 May
The Norwich Dandies Do A Very Village Fete!
10am-1pm Portrait Painting Masterclass with Gena Ivanov. Bring your own canvas/paper/materials. Gena explains his techniques, then helps you paint a portrait.
11am Dandi the Clown is coming from London to open the Village Fete! with stalls (bring your own table/blanket to sell your wares, pay what you can) with performers, Debbie Sutton's Flower Power face painting, Tricia Frances' Photo Light Painting workshops (bring a camera or camera phone), and modern twists on old fashioned games.
12 noon Drum For Justice, make a noise against violence against women and children, with Maddie Cassell, rehearsals and performance at 2pm.
2pm Dandifest! Poetry from Vince Laws, and Dickie Lee Lupton-White aka Bonk, with Open Mike opportunities.
4pm Dandi the Clown closes the Village Fete!
11am-2pm Woolly Workshop, with Kally Davidson at The Birdcage (details as yesterday).

Art under attack by Candy Dandy at Dandifest


Photos by Ann Nicholls

The Dandifest gang all went to Marcus Dickey Horley talk at NUC and I sabotaged his talk with a sketch and Vince Laws did with his feminist Pompoms.


Come down to Dandifest and check it out its going off. Been a big hit so far. Sorry no time to blog you have to see it for yourself.

Norwich Dandies website now launched


Photo by Alan Brookby

The Norwich Dandies website made by Beepmode has now been launched. Have a look more artists will be added but the Dandifest programme is on there. The festival has been very successful this week and had amazing reviews. Look here