CR Blog
Pick Me Up at Somerset House
Art, Books, Graphic Design, Illustration
Posted by Gavin Lucas, 17 March 2011, 11:48 Permalink Comments (14)

London's graphic art fair is back at Somerset House – Pick Me Up opened today and runs until March 27. This year it will feature exhibited work by 24 artists plus a range of collectives, live printing workshops and lots more cool stuff...
You couldn't move at Somerset House for boat shoes and beards last night on the Pick Me Up opening night.
Highlights this year include Anthony Burrill who has transported his studio to the exhibition's largest single space and will be conducting collaborations with a host of imagemakers whilst a roster of guest DJs provide a soundtrack.


Print Club have again set up a live printing room


Various collectives are showing their wares including Nous Vous, Puck, Evening Tweed, Ditto Press, Jaguar Shoes and ThemLot, many of whom are new for this year.


And, of course, there is loads of stuff to buy including this McBess plate

As last year, 24 illustrators (a mix of the new and the familiar) have each been given a space for solo shows.
Exhibitors include Gwénola Carrère who designed our January cover

MVM (aka Magnus Voll Mathiassen)

And Polish illustrator Otecki (aka Wolciech Kolacz)


There are various "after-work" opening sessions of the exhibition at which various events, from live drawing to screenprinting are taking place. For example, tonight, Andrew Rae, James Jarvis and Will Sweeney, amongst others, will be drawing live to a soundtrack provided by musicians and DJs (including CR's Gav).
For full details and opening hours, visit somersethouse.org.uk.
More images by some of this year's exhibitors:

From illustrator Andy Rementer's long running Techno Tuesday comic

Fatigue, 2010 by McBess

Grouper by recent CR One To Watch, Gwénola Carrère

Untitled, 2010 by Tom Gauld

Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (5 Syllables), 2010 by Stefanie Posavec

14 Comments
I wish I could go to this! It looks great. The designs are full of energy.
2011-03-17 13:05:47
looks great!
2011-03-17 16:52:26
Oh men… I tried to come to London, but have had no time. It's a shame. Lot's of nice stuff. :)
Greetings from Hamburg, Germany.
Jan
2011-03-17 19:00:43
Great show, really well curated, a visual feast, Ian Stevenson's live drawings in Anthony Burrill's room were super too!
2011-03-18 10:23:39
look amazing cant wait to go see tomorrow
2011-03-18 14:51:26
Last night was awesome! Ended up walking round about 8 times, brilliant as always
2011-03-18 17:12:05
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't understand why there's an entrance fee to what is essentially a market?
2011-03-19 11:00:19
Really like the MVM stuff, coool. :)
2011-03-20 21:32:02
Went on the weekend and loved everything! I would wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone who is interested in graphic arts and illustration. I was especially impressed with Puck Collective and McBess' work.
2011-03-21 12:27:13
Aaaa I wish i can go there! fantastic work. love it
2011-03-21 13:04:16
Tom Gauld - great stuff.
But I have to agree the entrance fee is a little excessive.
2011-03-23 13:36:23
Just to respond to the comments about the entrance fee, while we do try to keep it as low as possible, we do need to cover our costs. We don't charge any of the participants to be involved, and we only take 20% commission from them. We very much see Pick Me Up as a platform for all the artists involved as much as a simply a market.
Thanks for all the positive comments though!
Claire Catterall, Curator, Somerset House
2011-03-23 16:58:13
Great post! jotta attended Pick Me Up on March 23 - see how it went:
http://www.jotta.com/jotta/design/home/article/v2-design-articles/1442/process-effect-launches-at-pick-me-up
2011-03-24 16:06:13
how much is it to get in?
2012-03-28 12:37:24
| Pretty Ugly or plain ugly? (30) |
| Olympics ticket designs revealed (26) |
| The story of Pentagram (21) |
| Brand New Debris Quilt (2) |
| CR June 2012 issue (8) |
| Olympics ticket designs revealed |
| Freehand: the software that wouldn't die |
| Lance Wyman in Norwich |
| The story of Pentagram |
| FF Chartwell: a graph-making font |
| Advertising | (1082) | |
| Art | (420) | |
| Books | (268) | |
| Digital | (437) | |
| Graphic Design | (1225) | |
| Illustration | (676) | |
| Magazine / Newspaper | (215) | |
| Music Video / Film | (742) | |
| Photography | (368) | |
| Type / Typography | (268) |
