We’re delighted to welcome artist Andrew Logan and designer Dame Zandra Rhodes for the first public in-conversation event of our new ‘Foundations’ series, delivered in partnership by Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham Contemporary.
Self-proclaimed maximalists Andrew and Zandra met in 1972 at Andrew’s inaugural Alternative Miss World contest, the alternative beauty pageant that him and his team still run to this day. The two soon became close friends and have since travelled the world together, collaborated with each other, and share many of the friends that were so influential in early 70s and 80s British culture and sub-culture.
Join us for the rare opportunity to hear these two iconic figures of art and design talk openly and candidly about the early and influential moments in each of their careers.
This event coincides with our current exhibition Andrew Logan’s The Joy of Sculpture.
Watch Foundations: Andrew Logan and Zandra Rhodes on YouTube.
Register for your free place to watch this event in person at Nottingham Trent University’s City Campus, or to tune into the livestream if you can’t make it to Nottingham.
Foundations explores the formative moments in practitioners’ careers. It’s about the relationship between artists, art schools and the wider world.
A new collaboration between Nottingham Contemporary and Nottingham Trent University, this series hosts conversations between acclaimed artists, designers, musicians, filmmakers and architects. Intended to both inform and inspire, Foundations will pose questions such as: Can art be taught? What next for cultural education? What do we mean by experimentation? What and how can we learn from artists? And vice-versa?
Building on the art-school tradition of open-ended dialogue and experimentation, these free events are open to practitioners, students and the public. We plan for all events to take place in person, and to be livestreamed and live captioned; audience contributions will play a central role.
Sculptor, painter and jewellery artist Andrew Logan is one of Britain’s most iconic artists, known for challenging convention, mixing media and playing with our artistic values. Andrew founded the Alternative Miss World contest in 1972, that soon became a meeting place for the leading cultural provocateurs of that time and subsequent years. Judges over the years included David Hockney, Ruby Wax, Leigh Bowery, Grayson Perry, and Zandra Rhodes.
Andrew has always maintained a prolific and dedicated artistic practice, reflecting his unrelenting, and infectious, passion, joy and energy. His established aesthetic utilises the transformation of smashed glass and found objects into flamboyant, colourful and glittering objects, of all shapes and sizes. Andrew has exhibited his work the world over, with several pieces now residing in major collections including the National Portrait Gallery and the Arts Council Collection.
Dame Zandra Rhodes has been a notorious figurehead of the UK fashion industry for five decades, celebrating her 50th year in fashion in September 2019 with a retrospective exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum – founded by Zandra – entitled Zandra Rhodes: 50 Years of Fabulous and a retrospective book published by Yale. Her notoriety as a print designer combined with an affinity for fine fabrics and colour has resulted in a signature aesthetic that is undeniably unique and continues to stand the test of time. A pioneer of the British and international fashion scene since the late 60’s, Zandra’s career has seen her collaborate with brands such as Valentino, Topshop and Mac Cosmetics. Continuing to collaborate with brands that inspire her, 2021 will see the launch of Zandra Rhodes x IKEA amongst many other exciting partnerships and projects
Image credit: Andrew Logan and Zandra Rhodes at Penny Stamp Lectures, photo by Chrisstina Hamilton
Join us in person or online for a free screening of The British Guide to Showing Off, a film documenting iconic artist Andrew Logan’s spectacular pageant The Alternative Miss World.
British artist and living legend Andrew Logan, loved the world over by celebrities and misfits alike, takes us under his glittering wing and inside his outrageous, anarchic and spectacular costume pageant: The Alternative Miss World. As the Show’s master of ceremonies and ringmaster, Logan is the high priest of an esteemed congregation. He describes the Show as his most important artwork; a fabulous living sculpture that spans forty years of arts and culture.
Combining observational footage, extensive archive material and exuberant animation, Jes Benstock’s fittingly outrageous documentary charts the mounting of the 2009 Show, interwoven with its history, the rise, fall and rediscovery, of both the event and the artist at its centre.
This free event accompanies the exhibition Andrew Logan: The Joy of Sculpture, which runs until 11 December 2021.
Take a glimpse into the glamorous past of the Alternative Miss World contests with a curated selection of original archival materials and never-before-seen footage, on display in the Bonington Vitrines.
Accompanying Andrew Logan’s solo exhibition The Joy of Sculpture in our main gallery, we are extremely pleased to present archive displays for the past Alternative Miss World contests in our Vitrines. A newly commissioned film by previous Bonington Gallery exhibitor and friend of Andrew, Dick Jewell, will feature alongside the displays, bringing together previously unseen footage (including rare 16mm film) of contests in 1985, 1991 and 2004.
Modelled upon the Crufts dog show, the Alternative Miss World contest is an art and fashion event founded and hosted by Andrew Logan. Andrew acts as both host and hostess for the show, as exemplified by the main promotional image for the exhibition taken by Mick Rock. This alternative beauty pageant has been held irregularly since 1972, most recently in 2018 in its 14th incarnation. Contestants and judges over the years have included David Hockney, Ruby Wax, Leigh Bowery, Grayson Perry, and Zandra Rhodes.
Special thank you to the Special Collections department at De Montford University, Leicester for the generous loan of archive materials.
Header image credit: Alternative Miss World poster, courtesy Special Collections department at De Montford University.
In response to our exhibition Andrew Logan: The Joy of Sculpture, NTU Students on the Typography Optional Module created a typeface and re-imagined our exhibition booklet and invite. The students had half a day on each exercise and came up with some fantastic responses!
We are excited to share a selection of them below:
Use the links below to have a look at their leaflets:
Bonington Gallery is delighted to present Andrew Logan The Joy of Sculpture, a solo exhibition spanning 50 years of practice from one of Britain’s most iconic artists. Andrew – sculptor, painter, and jewellery artist – is known for challenging convention, mixing media and playing with artistic values.
The Joy of Sculpture presents a collection of Andrew Logan’s work – from large-scale sculptures, mirror portraits and jewellery, and archive displays from his infamous Alternative Miss World competitions. Including new creations and those never shown before, this exhibition brings together all areas of Logan’s practice in a single place.
Andrew’s artwork reflects his unrelenting, and infectious, passion, joy and energy. Smashed glass and found objects are transformed, becoming flamboyant, colourful and glittering objects, in all shapes and sizes.
Key works within the The Joy of Sculpture include:
Andrew’s work doesn’t offer that much to the would-be catalogue mystifier. If you start saying anything too pretentious about it, it sort of laughs in your face. It’s hard to place, because it doesn’t really quite belong anywhere, guilelessly straddling a number of heavily contested boundaries – such as those between art and craft, between art and decoration, between pop and fine, between the profane and sacred.
Brian Eno
Our Bonington Vitrines will house archive material from Andrew’s celebrated Alternative Miss World competition. The infamous pageant, inspired by the Crufts dog show, was started in 1972 and hosted by Logan – who acts as both host and hostess. Contestants and judges over the years have included David Hockney, Ruby Wax, Leigh Bowery, Grayson Perry, and Zandra Rhodes.
Accompanying The Joy of Sculpture will be a programme of public events, as well as a commissioned essay by Lynda Morris, curator, writer and Andrew’s acquaintance.
Header image credit: Andrew Logan as Host and Hostess for Alternative Miss World 1973 by Mick Rock.
Curated by Joshua Lockwood-Moran
With support from Tom Godfrey and Brianna Frazier Selph
Joshua would like to extend his special thanks to Andrew Logan, the team at Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture and to Thomas Lockwood-Moran. Other artists featured within the exhibition are: Dick Jewell, Brian Shuel and Jane Thorburn.
Technicians: Harry Freestone, Sam Famula, Sorcha Mayes, Mark Flanagan, Jennifer Savage and Ryan Young.
Lending Institutions: Arts Council Collection, National Portrait Gallery, Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture, De Montfort University Special Collections.
Private Lenders: Piers Atkinson, Marc Balet, Amanda Barrie, Lila Bryan, Michael Davis, Brita Forsstrom, Angelika Grohmann, Maggi Hambling, Lynn Hanke, Emma Kane, Rebecca Hoffberger, Jane Linklater, Daniel Lismore, Richard & Polly Logan, Diane & Peter Logan, Philipa & James Logan, Kate Malone, Anthea Norman-Taylor, Baroness Patricia Rawlings, Zandra Rhodes, Lynn Seymour, Juliana Sissons, Keir Malam & Paddy Whitaker, Janet Slee and those who wish not to be named.
We are very excited about launching our 2021/22 season with a solo exhibition spanning 50 years of work by Andrew Logan, one of Britain’s most iconic artists.
We’ll be opening our doors for a preview of this incredible exhibition on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September 2021, 12 – 6 pm daily. Everyone is welcome – just reserve your free place online and drop in:
Reserve your free place for The Joy of Sculpture preview on Saturday 25 September
Reserve your free place for The Joy of Sculpture preview on Sunday 26 September