This Will Ruin Everything at The Lighthouse

In my previous post, I mentioned that, alongside their 10-year retrospective book (which was successfully Kickstarted - dancer!), Recoat are putting on a huge group show called This Will Ruin Everything at The Lighthouse in Glasgow. I said I'd write more about it nearer the time. Well, it's nearer the time, so here's me writing more about it.

This Will Ruin Everything opens on Friday (14th July). I dropped off my work at The Lighthouse this morning and got a wee glimpse. It looks amazing. TWRE features work by 40 amazing artists (39 + me) from all over the world who have worked with and/or influenced Recoat over the last 10 years. Every artist is tasked with submitting a piece of 'art' and a piece of 'design' and the exhibition deals with where the boundaries of both disciplines fall.

The space is FULL of great work - paintings, drawings, sculpture, records, clothing etc. and will expand further over the next few days with murals and installations. It's probably gonna be Recoat's best show to date and will be a contender for the best show in Glasgow this year.

The launch party is on Friday 6-9pm. It's free entry, open to all, and will have free beer provided by my pals, Innis & Gunn. Recoat openings are a great laugh whether you're an art show regular or a total newbie. There's no snobbishness at these things, just a bunch of good folk and a bunch of amazing work. It'll be really busy so you don't need to mingle or anything if that's not your bag (though say hello if it is). Make it part of your Friday night.

Beyond that, This Will Ruin Everything runs until the 30th of July so you can stop in when it's a bit quieter too. Amy and Ali are also hosting some events in the space (talks, film screenings etc.). More info about that stuff can be found over on the This Will Ruin Everything Facebook page.

The details at a glance:

This Will Ruin Everything
The Lighthouse, Glasgow
Mitchell Lane (just off Buchanan St.)
15th - 30th July
Open Mon-Sat 10.30am-5pm / Sunday 12-5pm

Opening Party
14th July 2017
6-9pm
Free Entry

Featuring work by:
44 Flavours, Ade Adesina, Jennifer Argo, ASKEW, Will Barras, Erin Bradley Scott, Rebecca Davies, Elph, EMA, FiST, Emily Fong, David Galletly, Good Wives and Warriors, Fraser Gray, Lee Ivett, Jamie Johnson, Kid Acne, Chris Macfarlane, Mark Lyken, Lucy MacLeod, R.Liwen, Tommy Mason, Neil McGuire and Imogen Ayres, Lucy McLauchlan, Martina Merlini, Matt Mignanelli, Matt,W.Moore, Morag Myerscough, Nawer, Tommy Perman, Gabriella ‘Risotto’ Marcella, Roid MSK, Rue Five, Emer Tumilty, Al White, Kirsty Whiten, Maya Wild, Susie Wright, Denise Zygadlo

So there you go. There's a great interview with Recoat about This Will Ruin Everything in the Skinny which is definitely worth a read. If you want to share this post or anything else about the show, that would be massively appreciated. Official orders are to use the hashtag #thiswillruineverything. I'm really proud to be part of this project and I'm really proud of Amy and Ali. Well done guys. Here's to 10 more years x

Come along. Support the arts. Have fun.

Pictish Trail Edinburgh Gig Poster

Pictish Trail is playing at the Caves in Edinburgh in April. I designed the poster.

If you didn't grow up in the UK, you might miss that there's a Beano parody thing going on. The Beano is a children's comic that launched in the 1930s. I subscribed to it when I was younger and the art style of the period (late 80s - early 90s) forever has a place in my heart, despite it being kinda ugly.

I've been looking through a few issues from my childhood recently. Hunting down No. 2540 from 1991 specifically, which featured a modern re-style of Dennis the Menace (which, luckily, was a publicity stunt - I was furious about it at the time). When Johnny asked me to put together a poster, I guess cool-dude Dennis was fresh enough in my mind that I figured I'd try to make a Beano cover of my own.

Time was pretty tight so I had to sacrifice authenticity to get a serviceable poster together. Given another day or two, I would've tried to get all the line weights, colouring, lettering etc. bang-on. Ach well, it's nice and bold at least.

I drew the illustration of Johnny using Procreate on my iPad. I mixed my Beano time periods a little and gave him the paper-white skin of the early-80s. My inner 8-year-old isn't impressed but it makes for a stronger poster.

You can buy tickets for the gig over on the Lost Map web shop and you can find out more information / register your interest over on the Facebook event page.

Kid Canaveral's Christmas Baubles IV

Hello December!

Kid Canaveral's Christmas Baubles returns to Edinburgh for the fourth time, bigger and better than ever. The event at Portobello Town Hall on the 14th has already sold out. With artists like The Pictish Trail, Rozi Plain and Edwyn Collins (bloody hell!) on the bill, it's no wonder. More info over at Lost Map.

I'm chuffed to have been asked to design this year's poster (I also did the first one). It's a simple affair that came together really quickly. Kinda works upside down too.

Putting Edwyn's name on a piece of work felt pretty good.

Kelvin Brawl

A couple of weeks ago, the God of Games himself, Robert 'Rab' Florence (Consolevania / Burnistoun), asked if I could design a poster for his spectacular pro-wrestling event, Kelvin Brawl (followup to last autumn's Oran War). Rab was looking for a layout with an old-school influence. Something tough. Something hard. I got to work.

Kelvin Brawl will take place at Kelvin Hall here in Glasgow on the 21st of June. A night of fighting, music and comedy with six bone-crunching matches between some of the top pro wrestlers in the country. To top things off, the evening will culminate in a bitter tag-team main event where Rab will throw down against his sworn enemy, Greg Hemphill (Still Game / Chewin' The Fat). There's certainly been no love lost between the two former friends with their dirty laundry aired for all to see in a very public feud of violence, rap put-downs and mothers.

Designing the poster was really good fun - a chance to revisit the kinda Art Chantry inspired style of the old Air3 Radio Poster I put together way-back-when. Lots of information and lots of energy in very little space without much concern for getting everything perfect. While it doesn't exactly look like the real deal, I tried my best to chuck ideas at the screen in an appropriately carefree way.

Thanks to Rab for getting me on board. Good luck to everyone involved. It's time to pick a side: #teamflorence / #teamhemphill

TRANSART: Art on Cars, Inverness

Team Recoat return to Inverness this weekend for TRANSART - a live street art project where a bunch of artists (myself included) paint the hell out of some cars that have been kindly donated by members of the public.

As I write, I am literally packing my bags / running late for the trip up but, should you be interested, please stop by Falcon Square on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th October from 12 - 6pm to see us at work. There are more details on Inverness Old Town Art's page.

We'll all be tweeting / Instagramming (my username is davidgalletly) / blogging / Facebooking / etc. no doubt. If you're around, say hello.

Withered Hand at Stirling's Old Town Jail

Stirling folks! Here's an event that might be of interest: Withered Hand, alongside Small Feet Little Toes, Conquering Animal Sound and Quickbeam is playing at the Old Town Jail tomorrow (Saturday 1st September). The gig is part of the closing party for Creative Stirling's collaborative mural project, Freedom Versions V.1. The details in full:

- - -

FREEDOM VERSIONS V.1: FINALE

Featuring: Withered Hand, Small Feet Little Toes, Conquering Animal Sound, Quickbeam
Hosted By: END OF NEIL
Venue: Old Town Jail, St. John Street, Stirling, FK8 1EA
Date / time: Saturday September 1st, 7-11pm
Tickets: £5 (available here)
More info: Freedom Versions Finale on Facebook

- - -

Creative Stirling are a great bunch - a community interest company started by Joe Hall with the intention of kicking Stirling (my hometown) up the backside by acting as a cultural hub for the city.

For, jeez, nearly a year now, I've kept in touch with Joe and, despite our schedules never quite lining up correctly to actually work on anything (if I'm even eligible as a Stirling-deserter), it's been amazing to watch the progress she and her incredibly hard working team have made. Offices, studio space, workshops, exhibitions, gigs, murals, and pop-up shops have all been launched by Creative Stirling, bringing some much needed energy to the town.

I've been meaning to talk about the project for a while and, as possibly the busiest 3 months of my life finally come to a close, I'll hopefully get a chance to do so in a little more depth soon. For more information about what's going on, check out the following:

- creativestirling.org
- Creative Stirling on Facebook
- Creative Stirling on Twitter

The gig, though. The gig. Go to the gig if you can. I'm not sure yet if I'll be able to make it along but, if you're anywhere near Stirling, go see Withered Hand (and friend-of-the-blog JMSSCT's Conquering Animal Sound). It'll be great. If you do see me, say hello.

Double Dip Christmas Show at Recoat

I’m happy to announce that for maybe the 5th year running I will be participating in the Recoat Christmas show Double Dip in the West End of Glasgow. Super chuffed to be asked.

As always, Amy and Ali invite a wide range of friends to exhibit work at a low, low price. Each wall of the gallery is assigned a price (£25, £50, £75, £100) and is crammed with amazing prints, originals and other goodness. It’s perfect for seeking out a Christmas gift, snapping up a bargain or taking a first tentative step into the world of buying art.

Double Dip will feature an amazing selection of artists from Glasgow + beyond (including me) and is well worth checking out. The opening party on Friday 25th November is especially worth getting to if you can as stuff sells fast. All are welcome and a good number of those exhibiting will be in attendance if you’d like to say hello. Here’s a breakdown of the details:

Double Dip
Cut-price Christmas exhibition

Runs: 25th November - 23rd December 2011
Opening party: Friday 25th November 7-10pm

Recoat Gallery
323 North Woodside Road
Glasgow G20 6ND

Featuring the work of: Matt Mignanelli, Elph, David Galletly, Syrkus, Death Rattles, Eleanor Meredith, Inkie, Odra, Mark Lyken, Russell Dempster, Matt Naylor, Mike Inglis, Pure, FiST, Kath Leone and Will Barras, Tristram Aver, Susie Wright, Andrew Ingram, Al White, Chris MacFarlane

And that’s that. There’s an event page if you’d like to RSVP your attendance and, should you like to ‘like’ the gallery, you can do so on Recoat’s Facebook page. If you’ve never visited before, it’s a really nice wee space really near to the Kelvinbridge underground station. See you there hopefully.

Hair of The Dog at Mono, Glasgow

In just under 2 weeks time I will be participating in a weekend of showing off at the wonderful cafe/bar/record shop that is Mono here in Glasgow. Jonnie Common is set to release Hair of The Dog, a full-length remix album that sees his fantastic debut Master of None set upon by a bunch of talented friends. To celebrate the launch there will be a number of certain things:

Thing number 1: The remix album will be released as a download code exclusively available on a limited-edition Gocco screenprint by myself. It features my Headless Dog drawing and will be available at the event and via the Red Deer Club webshop (p.s. you can head there now to pre-order the album should you wish to guarantee yourself a copy). It costs £5 and will be shipped from Monday 28th November. I will do a follow-up post with images of the Album soon. A print and an album for a fiver! Wait, what?

Thing number 2: Jonnie will also be unveiling a new interactive sound-installation that he’s made in collaboration with Zero Waste Design. Over the whole weekend (25th, 26th & 27th November), all visitors to Mono will be able to ‘mix’ Master of None in a wonderfully inventive way (trust me, it’s awesome). Nip in for lunch and a wee bit of lo-fi surround sound. I’ve had a wee sneak peak at what these guys are up to and I’m really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Thing number 3: If that’s not all, I will be putting together a small exhibition of bits & bobs (drawings mainly, hairy ones) closely related to my work on Master of None. There will, hopefully, be some new work, large & small, as well as a few older pieces and, if I can figure out the logistics, a wall drawing or two. Remember, this will be a 3-day only show so if you fancy a look you won’t have long to stop in before it comes down.

Thing number 4: Finally, there will be a closing party on Sunday the 27th at 7:30pm featuring live music from Ben Butler & Mousepad, Dems and GRNR as well as a couple of DJ sets in between by Found and The Japanese War Effort. All these acts have contributed to Hair of The Dog by remixing a track of Jonnie’s music. Entry is £4. This’ll be the time to visit if you wanna catch everything at once. Not bad eh? Here are the summarised details:

Hair of The Dog
by Jonnie Common ft. David Galletly
Runs: Fri 25th - Sun 27th Nov
Mono, Glasgow
Free entry

Closing Party
ft: live music & DJs
Sunday 27th Nov
Mono, Glasgow
£4

Please, please, please stop by if you can. It’ll be a weekend of food, drink, art and music. I’ve put some web-flyers and a blurb up on my site should you like to post them on your blog or your social network of choice. Any help in this way would be greatly appreciated as we’re getting to the full-on headless chicken stage and it’s becoming hard to stay on top of the internet stuff. If you’ve never been to Mono, it’s a really great little place and well worth a visit in its own right - good food, nice atmosphere, one of the best record shops in Glasgow.

Keep up to date via Twitter: @jonniecommon / @davidgalletly. As is the way nowadays, you can also visit the Hair of The Dog Facebook page for more info + some chatter. We’ll both be around Mono throughout the weekend too, so say hello.

Fence's Flamin' Hott Loggz Poster

Again I am delighted to have been allowed to help out the Fence Collective with another poster design. This time it's for a Guy Fawkes shindig up at their Anstruther HQ. Johnny 'Pictish Trail' Lynch asked if I could come up with something suitably silly to illustrate his 'Gunpowder, Treason and… Plop' Bonfire Night theme.

My time was quite tight but, thankfully, the brief kinda suited something being a little rough around the edges. Taking a cue from my What I Wore Today drawings, I cranked out this pair of beardy fellows and a titular hott-logg and things just came together. This is actually my first ever fully hand-drawn poster design, which took me a little by surprise. The colouring was added digitally but apart from that, it's all pens and paper. Getting text to sit well with my drawings is something I've always struggled with.

As with all Fence events, I wholeheartedly recommend you get your arse along to the Hott Loggz party if at all possible. Fence Records consistently put out some of Scotland's finest music and their live gigs are a joy to witness. Recently I've caught a little sneak-listen to some upcoming releases and, honestly, if you follow what they do, you're in for a treat. Here are the details:

Fence's Flamin' Hott Loggz
An all-day (2pm - 1am) event of music & excitement
Saturday, 5th November
Anstruther, Fife, Scotland
Featuring a yet-to-be-announced line-up of Fence Collective members + friends.

Tickets are available here.

I'm gonna try my best to head up for the show. Despite the promise of a bonfire, a Scottish seaside in November will be damn cold, so wrap up warm.

Homegame Logo

Every year for the past, I dunno, 5, we've attended Fence's fantastic Homegame up in Anstruther. So how chuffed do you think I was when Johnny asked me to put together a logo for this year's festival? Exactly, Chuffington World of Adventures.

Now, logo design isn't something I've ever particularly had a knack for, but I gave it a go nonetheless. After a false-start or two I finally settled on the above. My Homegame logo was constructed entirely from collaging together letters and shapes from an old, old stamp collecting book of my Dad's (not the stamps, just using the book itself). All the little scraggles and wonks are genuine been-in-the-loft-for-50-years scraggles and wonks.

Also, I unconsciously managed to hark back to Kirsty Thomas' lovely cut-out design from last year, with the bunting-esque elements. A good thing!

As for the festival - get yourself there if at all possible, it's always brilliant fun. I've posted about it many times on this here blog. Head to fencerecords.com for details of acts, tickets, times, dates etc. etc. Perhaps I will see you there, dogg.

Fence Hallowe'en Party

For the past, jeez, 10 or more years now I've been a big fan of Fence Records, a record label and collective of musicians based in Fife, Scotland who make some very good music and put on some very good events. This month, they're having their annual Hallowe'en party in Glasgow and I was very happy to have been asked to design the poster.

I think it turned out pretty good. The deadline was quite short on this one, so I kinda just went a bit nutty grabbing all sorts of odds & ends and mashing them into shape. Looking back at my sketchbook, the only planning I really got done was writing 'cowboys + sci-fi + vintage horror + Fence' in the corner and a couple of quick scribbled layouts. Sometimes it's better just to have fun and cross your fingers that a few ideas will jump out at you along the way.

Anyway, the party is sure to be a belter. If you can make it along, you should. Can you think of anything better to do on Hallowe'en than a full day of live music, djs, fancy dress (fency dress), drinking, dancing and general goodness? I doubt it. It's like a mini-Hallowe'en festival for Christ's sake. They've even set the great wee theme of 'wild-west 3010: space cowboys & aliens' to get your costume ideas a-flowin'. How nice not to be bombarded with a million folk kitted out as The Joker, a 'sexy' cat or the ever-hilarious Borat*.

The important details are as follows:

Fence Hallowe'en Fancy-Dress Party

On: Sunday, October 31st, 2pm - 2am
At: Stereo / The Old Hairdresser (which is the building across the lane from Stereo)
In: Glasgow
Remember: Fancy dress is mandatory, so no spoilsports
Tickets: are available at fencerecords.com, £25 for the full day.

I'll hopefully do a little reminder post shortly or perhaps write a little more about Fence for anyone who isn't familiar with who they are and what they do.

If you could, please promote/post/tweet this poster and details of the event. That would be great. There is a larger version here if you need it. They'll be up around Glasgow and beyond shortly. Hopefully there might even be a few for sale at the gig. Big thanks to Johnny Pictish for getting me on board.

* not hilarious