Thanks to artist Dave Rowe for his Undead / Red Guitars collage. Dave invited me to see his studio, and my daughter Christa and I enjoyed visiting this morning. Dave’s studio is crammed with art pieces, finished and in progress – full of colours & textures, together with drawers and boxes of weird and wonderful objects waiting to be transformed into collages. Christa remembers walking past Dave’s lifesize creation – Geoffrey the Giraffe – every day on her way to school. Geoffrey’s feet were on the ground floor of the front bay window, his body was in the first floor bedroom, and his head could be seen from the attic window. A great sight on Marlborough Avenue. Geoffrey the Giraffe has moved house a couple of times since then, but is still going strong in his new abode – and it was good to visit the studio of his creator.
My Journey with Collage by Dave Rowe
I’ve always used collage as a means to express myself. I’ve always been interested in art and used it in my professional work as a youth and community worker. It was a way to communicate with young people and help them to express what they were feeling.
It wasn’t till I started on a foundation course at Feral Art School that I gained the confidence to explore and develop as an artist. After being involved in various courses, I was able to find where my ability as an artist lay. I went on to be part of the first group of artists that Feral gave the opportunity of having a supported studio space for a year. Having input from tutors and professional artists was amazing. After that first year I was offered an independent studio space with Feral, which has helped me develop my painting and collage work with a number of successful exhibitions.
I have over the last few months been reflecting on my love of great rock groups. Initially my involvement with a local group Plauge 66 when I was 16 was the catalyst. Going on to seeing Cream and the Nice in Hull. Other great groups followed, and I have recorded this with a series of collages celebrating their influence not only on me, but a whole generation. This influence still carries on today with the amazing musical ability of the Undead Guitars, the last collage in my series.
We are in good company …
Dave’s next exhibition is in partnership with fellow Feral artists Bruce Woodcock, Tom Grealy and Ed Batchelor and opens at The Brain Jar, Hull, on Friday March 20th at 7pm.
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