Tag Archives: Lily Cole

Paloma Faith, Bobby Gillespie Join Vivienne Westwood Launch of MyFrackingQuestions.org

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Paloma Faith, Duffy, Jools Holland, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie join Dame Vivienne Westwood + others to launch Launch of MyFrackingQuestions.org

frackingpalomafaith 

Musicians Paloma Faith, Duffy, Jools Holland and Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie have come together with campaigning celebrities including Dame Vivienne Westwood and her son, businessman Joe Corre, chef Mark Hix, double Olympic Gold Medallist rower Andrew Triggs Hodge, artist Sarah Lucas and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell to show support for the launch of MyFrackingQuestions.org by taking a selfie holding up their fracking question for Minister for Energy Matthew Hancock MP.
 
In the images released today to mark the website going live, singer Paloma Faith is pictured holding up the question: “How can you be sure that our health will not be put at risk by fracking?” The singer goes on to comment that she is “really concerned about the health risks to the population and the long-term repercussions (of fracking)”. Duffy is shown in her photo asking Mathew Hancock MP if he will attend a Talk Fracking debate to address the public’s concerns and says: “I would like to call for a National Moratorium. A ‘stop the clock’. No more intrusive fracking until we, as a country, can assess whether this is the most sustainable, economic and safest source of energy”.
 
Vivienne Westwood says: “MyFrackingQuestions.org is asking the key questions that the public has told us they want answered definitively by the current government. We are acting now to empower the next generation, preventing them from having to deal with the potentially devastating effects of fracking should it go ahead in this country – from watching the economy crash to house prices nose-diving by 25 percent. This debate belongs to the British people but without any solid and reliable information, they cannot take part in this most critical of conversations. Until these questions are answered and until there is open public debate, there can be no social license and no democratic mandate.”

In his photo Bobby Gillespie raises concerns about whether or not we can trust the government on fracking when there are clear conflicts of interest. He adds: “Why is Lord Brown allowed to advise David Cameron on energy policy when he is a major shareholder in the fracking company Cuadrilla? Isn’t this a conflict of interest? Or is corporate corruption at the heart of the British government just business as usual?” Meanwhile chef and restaurateur Mark Hix asks: ”How will you ensure fracking companies have responsibility for compensation in the event of environmental or economic damage?”

MyFrackingQuestions.org allows the public to log on and ask their fracking questions directly to the energy minister with the aim of getting the government to provide factual answers to their concerns. The website allows users to choose their three most important concerns and send these questions to Matthew Hancock MP by Twitter or email. People can also submit their own questions via the platform if they prefer. MyFrackingQuestions.org poses questions relating to health, energy security, water, climate change, conflict of interest, economic benefits and also asks Matthew Hancock MP to attend a public debate to address the concerns of the public and engage in an open and factually informed debate about fracking in the UK.

MyFrackingQuestions.org is being launched by Talk Fracking, a UK initiative to raise awareness of the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, ‘fracking’, and the government’s fast-moving plans to introduce it in the UK. Spearheaded by Dame Vivienne Westwood and her son, Joe Corre, Talk Fracking is calling for more independent debate into the potential dangers this industry holds for the UK at this critical moment, before the government’s plans go ahead, changing the UK forever.

Talk Fracking is supported by over 150 celebrities, scientists and respected organisations including Sir Paul McCartney, his daughter Stella, Yoko Ono, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Greta Scacchi, Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Guillem Balagué, Lily Cole, Thom Yorke, Russell Brand, Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto, Lord Rea, Stephen Frears, the RSPB, The Salmon & Trout Association, Jeanette Winterson OBE,  Dietmar Hamann, Graham Norton, Nick Grimshaw, Alan Carr, Bill Bailey, Matt Lucas, Vanessa Redgrave, Gavin Turk, Noel Fielding, Sir Antony Gormley OBE, Cornelia Parker OBE, Mariella Frostrupp, Fergus Henderson, James Bolam, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore and Tracey Emin CBE RA.

Joe Corre says: “Talk Fracking has so far invited over 80 policy makers, industry figures and scientists to take part in a series of panel debates to discuss the merits of fracking in the UK. The former energy minister Michael Fallon’s email invitation was opened over 70 times. Despite this not one of them has had the courage to attend and answer the critical questions from the British public on the serious dangers this technology poses for the UK. I am astonished at the level of contempt this shows to the electorate. The ‘My Fracking Questions’ initiative offers another opportunity for the energy minister to set out his detailed answers to the questions we have gathered so far. This issue is not going to go away! It is building massive public support by the day as more people inform themselves of the risks and wake up to the fact it is happening on their doorstep. Fracking has the potential to fracture our economy, environment, health, communities and even political parties. The government should stop listening to the lobbyists, the spin-doctors and their industry friends. They need to listen to the people and realise that we are doing them a favour by facilitating the forum for them to do just that!”

 

The Muses of Jean Paul Gaultier

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Barbican Art Gallery, London

Exhibition dates: 9 April – 25 August 2014

Media View, Tuesday 8 April 2014, 10.30am to 3pm

 

“I am impressed by the way Annie Kevans captured the different types of beauties that have been my inspiration and my muses from my grandmother to artists like David Bowie and Boy George.”

Jean Paul Gaultier

 amywinehouse

British artist Annie Kevans has been commissioned by exhibition curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot to create a series of works for the exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Gaultier: From The Sidewalk To The Catwalk.  Exhibited for the first time at the Barbican Galleries from 9th April to 25th August 2014, then to the National Galleries of Victoria in Melbourne (17th October 2014 – 8th February 2015) and Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais in Paris (1st April – 3rd August 2015).

davidbowie

On Kevans’ new series, Loriot says: “Annie Kevans’ work caught my attention years ago when I saw her fantastic oil paintings ‘All The Presidents Girls’ at Volta in New York. As she is a great storyteller who works in series, I thought she was the best artist to create these eye-catching and delicate portraits that tell Gaultier’s story about his muses and inspirations, all great characters, these paintings translate well the humanist message in his work. I am delighted Kevans is now taking part in the exhibition tour.”

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Annie was delighted to be commissioned to create a series depicting Jean Paul Gaultier’s 30 muses, as well as 2 paintings of Jean Paul Gaultier himself, for the touring exhibition already seen by more than one million visitors.  The artist sees the series as an exploration of creativity. Annie Kevans said: “In fashion, and in culture in general, we always wonder where ideas come from.  I think it’s wonderful that Jean Paul Gaultier is able to honour his muses and their creativity which has inspired his own.  I think we’ve all been influenced by Jean Paul Gaultier’s ideas, from his celebration of the unusual to his subverting of the familiar.  The strong social message in his work is very inspiring to create works that reflect society and celebrate different types of beauty, without following the fixed standards of beauty presented by the fashion industry – all genders, body sizes, skin colours, religions and ages are included in his world.”

 

The Muses are:

 

Tanel Bedrossiantz

Christine Bergstrom

David Bowie

Boy George

Naomi Campbell

Lily Cole

Tim Curry

Agyness Deyn

Beth Ditto

Jourdan Dunn

Karen Elson

Aitize Hanson

Farida Khelfa

Fredérique Lorca

Madonna

Françis Menuge

Kate Moss

Kristen McMenamy

Kylie Minogue

Erin O’Connor

Rossy de Palma

Jade Parfitt

Gaultier’s Grandmother Marie

Micheline Presle

Stella Tenant

Andrej Pejic

Anna Pawlowski

Stéphane Sednaoui

Dita von Teese

Amy Winehouse

 

All works are oil on paper and 40 x 30 cm.

Annie Kevans has also produced a painting of Jean Paul Gaultier and a copy of this is available to buy as a limited edition print through the Barbican.

 

ANNIE KEVANS

Born Cannes, France, 1972

Lives and works in London
www.anniekevans.com

Since graduating from Central St. Martins in 2004, when Charles Saatchi bought her series of 30 paintings of dictators as young boys (Boys), Kevans has had solo exhibitions in New York, London, Vienna and Antwerp.  She recently received excellent reviews when her Boys were shown in the Paper exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery.  Annie Kevans is known for her series of ‘portraits’ (not always based on real documentation), which deal with difficult issues, often presenting us with alternative histories in an attempt to explore ideas which impact on current culture.  With the series Girls she looked at the sexualisation of childhood and with All the Presidents’ Girls she portrayed US presidential mistresses throughout history.  She has been a finalist in the Women of the Future awards and the Jerwood Drawing Prize and her work can be found in major collections including the Pallant House Gallery, the Saatchi Collection and 21c Museum, as well as the personal collections of Stephen Fry, Marc Quinn, David Roberts, Adam Sender and Jean Pigozzi.

Currently, Annie Kevans’ work can be seen in Politricks at Beursschouwburg in Brussels, in War and Trauma at Museum Dr Guislain in Belgium and in All About Eve at Fifty One Too in Antwerp.  Her next solo exhibition will be opening at the Fine Art Society in London on 13 May. Women and the History of Art will feature portraits of successful female artists from the past 500 years, many of whom have been all but written out of art history.

In the first major exhibition devoted to the celebrated French couturier, we invite you to explore Jean Paul Gaultier’s fashion world. With his avant-garde fashion creations and cutting-edge designs, Gaultier has shaped the look of fashion over the last 40 years. His reputation for witty and daring designs and a ceaseless interest in society, identity and a beauty borne of difference has earned him a place in fashion history.

Gaultier is fascinated by world cultures and countercultures, conceiving a new kind of fashion in both the way it is made and worn. Through twists, transformations, transgressions and reinterpretations, he not only erases the boundaries between cultures but also the sexes, redefining the idea of androgyny or subverting fashion codes.

This theatrically-staged exhibition brings together more than 190 cutting-edge couture and ready-to-wear garments including iconic costumes for film and performance from the early 1970s to the present day. The infamous conical bra and corsets Madonna wore during her 1990 Blonde Ambition World Tour are showcased alongside stage costumes designed for Kylie Minogue as well as pieces created for the films of Pedro Almodóvar and Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element.

Gaultier’s rich collaborations with renowned artists and photographers such as Miles Aldridge, David LaChapelle, Pierre et Gilles, Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts, Stéphane Sednaoui, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol are also shown together with footage of catwalk presentations, concerts, music videos, films, dance performances and Gaultier’s cult television show Eurotrash.

 

 

Sir Tom Jones, Jason Isaacs, Tracey Emin, Rob Brydon and Sir Tom Stoppard to present South Bank Sky Arts Awards

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Sir Tom Jones, Jason Isaacs, Tracey Emin, Rob Brydon and Sir Tom Stoppard to present South Bank Sky Arts Awards

 

 1 May at 9pm on Sky Arts 1 HD

 

Sir Tom Jones, Jason Isaacs, Tracey Emin, Rob Brydon, Sir Tom Stoppard and Sir Terry Pratchett are among the names confirmed to present awards at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards on Tuesday 1 May.

 

Sir Terry Pratchett, Imelda Staunton, Wayne Sleep, Lily Cole, Ian Bostridge, and Michael Ball will also present 2012’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards winners with the Anish Kapoor designed trophy. The awards are one of the world’s most coveted arts awards, with the presenters joining host Melvyn Bragg to honour the best of British culture and achievement across the arts. Each category – visual art, theatre, opera, dance, comedy, classical music, pop, TV drama, literature and film – is traditionally presented by a celebrated talent within that field.

 

The Times Breakthrough Award, which honours the best new artistic talent, will return for 2012. This year it will be presented by violinist Nicola Benedetti. The award for Outstanding Achievement, in association with The Dorchester, will be presented by playwright Sir Tom Stoppard.

 

The awards will also see performances by the award-winning trumpeter Alison Balsom, jazz singer Gregory Porter and new opera sensation Noah Stewart to an audience of 300 guests from across the arts.

 

SOUTH BANK SKY ARTS AWARDS: CONFIRMED PRESENTERS

 
·      Sir Tom Jones: Pop Music·      Alison Balsom: Classical Music·      Wayne Sleep: Dance

·      Sir Tom Stoppard: The Dorchester Award for Outstanding Achievement

·      Lily Cole: Film

·      Rob Brydon: Comedy

 

 ·      Sir Terry Pratchett: Literature:·      Tracey Emin: Visual Art·      Jason Isaacs: TV Drama

·      Nicola Benedetti: The Times Breakthrough Award

·      Ian Bostridge: Opera

·      Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton: Theatre

 

 

The televised awards will broadcast that evening on Sky Arts 1 HD at 9pm and on the move with Sky Go.

 

This year also sees the return of The South Bank Show to screens from 27th May, following the announcement in 2010 that it would no longer air on terrestrial television. This iconic series adds to the growing roster of original British content across Sky’s entertainment channel portfolio.

 

 

“We are delighted that so manyof the most talented people from across the arts in this country are able to join us to celebrate the awards this year,” comments Melvyn Bragg. “It is testament to a particularly strong year for the arts that these performers and presenters are so keen to lend their support, both to the awards and our world class list of nominees. At a time when the arts are under pressure in this country, it’s quite useful to be reminded what a roaring success the whole sector is.”

 

Vivienne Westwood & Cool Earth- It's No Fun Being Extinct

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World Bank sits on 90% of Unspent Funds for Forest Projects

Vivienne Westwood & Frank Field MP Launch Campaign to Expose Failings

Dame Vivienne Westwood is investing 1 million of her own funds to launch a 7 million pound fundraising campaign supporting the rainforest charity Cool Earth. The action is to highlight World Bank’s expenditure failings as a staggering 90% of funds pledged to halt deforestation remains unspent. (See bottom of press release for details). The designer and environmental campaigner, coupled with Frank Field MP (founder of Cool Earth) aim to demonstrate how rapidly money can be deployed into rainforest programmes.

The campaign called “No Fun Being Extinct”, (nofunbeingextinct.org) supported by fashion’s biggest names, such as Kate Moss, Lily Cole and Sadie Frost will run for 18 months during which time Westwood will aim to help Cool Earth secure three of the world’s most endangered forest.

Former Minister, Frank Field founded the rainforest charity Cool Earth in 2007 as a vehicle to allow ordinary people to leapfrog governments and take immediate action in the fight against climate change by protecting rainforests. The conservation method is a ground up approach, which works with indigenous communities to make rainforest trees of greater economic value left standing than cut down.

Despite a growing number of research papers highlighting community led management as the most effective way to keep rainforest standing over traditional reserves, many communities are not receiving pledged funds.1, 2

The Climate Investment Fund dedicated 600 million dollars (£390 million) to the Forest Investment Programme (FIP) to “tackle drivers of deforestation” with UK tax payers providing the most generous contribution – almost four years on, only 15 million dollars (£10 million) has been spent, all of which has gone on administration and advisors.3 Vivienne Westwood will demonstrate how taxpayers money should be spent when it comes to saving rainforest for the benefit of the nations future.

Frank Field founded Cool Earth as a result of his utter despair at governments’ failure to solve the problem of deforestation, “The lack of action in spite of such generous funding is a real disgrace. It shows that political will is just as important as money.”

Fashion designer and environmental campaigner, Vivienne Westwood, has been working closely with Cool Earth over the last 3 years, “Cool Earth has a plan to save the rainforest. If we don’t save the rainforest forget it! I am personally supporting Cool Earth and investing in our future. I’m inviting anyone interested in saving our beautiful world to join me.”

Frank and Vivienne are calling on the government to invest in community-led forestry management, which has been proven to be the most effective way to halt deforestation. Vivienne is presenting a report to No. 10 to showing how her funds have been spent to show that an effective mechanism to halt deforestation does exist.

Cool Earth has protected over 2.5 million acres of vulnerable rainforest since its launch in 2007, which has cost just £1.75 million with less than 10% spent on administration. This is because the charity has worked from the ground-up with local communities who have a clear interest in keeping the forest standing. This works out as costing just a half of a percent of the FIP’s budget.

Vivienne will also be calling on the public to help protect trees at Cool Earth’s new website launched on a November 28th called ‘No Fun Being Extinct’. Individuals can save as little as 3 trees for £3 on the website at www.nofunbeingextinct.org. Every tree makes a difference.