ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Richard Hamilton, the original pop artist, died yesterday at the age of 89.

Hamilton wrote Modern art should be “Popular (designed for a mass audience), Transient (short-term solution), Expendable (easily forgotten), Low-cost, Mass-produced, Young (aimed at youth), Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamorous, Big Business.”

Hamilton used a wide range of materials and media from found objects, paint, typography, collage, print, digital, screen print, photography and various software, to reflect the culture of the time. One of his most well known works is his 1956 collage ‘Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?’

Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?

Swingeing London

Features Mick Jagger from the Rolling Stones and Hamilton’s art dealer, Robert Fraser who were given ‘swingeing’ sentences by a judge for possession and use of illegal drugs as a deterrent to others.

Hamilton’s work perfectly reflects the times in which they were produced, with a wonderfully original spin…

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The arguments still rage (and will continue to do so) about what constitutes real art fuelled by the work of such controversial artists as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin versus the more traditional art of Constable and Van Gogh to name a few. One could say that everything is art, and according to one artist, that includes us.

Alexa Meade, a self taught US artist, paints her subjects literally! Daubing their bodies and clothes with acrylic paint, she then photographs them with her painted props and backgrounds to create living, breathing art.

To quote Meade herself ‘seeing is not necessarily believing’. Check out her website if you want to see more… www.alexameade.com

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Ben Heine is a painter, illustrator, portraitist, caricaturist and photographer. All of these skills are used in his range of work called Pencil vs Camera. The pencil drawings seem to blend seamlessly with the photography to create an almost dream like effect.

Here are a few of my favourite pieces:

Ben Heine has a degree in journalism but also studied graphic arts and sculpture, all disciplines seem to show in his wo…

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