A ‘spectacle’ of art & fashion hosted by Dutch artist Riedstra in collaboration with UK-based artists & recent fashion design graduates from Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design

A life music performance by Damien Redmond & Co

Exhibiting Artists: Riedstra, Jennifer Martin, Catherine Hollens, Danielle Michalitsianos, Polly Phipps-Holland, Lynne Gold, Kim Thornton, Yara Tschallener & Eldi Dundee
Fashion Designers: Kumiko Tani, Yusa Ishizuka

2nd Priavte View: Friday 12th of September from 6 pm to 9pm
Exhibition runs from: 5th to 25th of September 2008
Gallery Opening Hours: Fri, Sat Mon to Wed: 2.30 pm – 6.30 pm
Last day of exhibition: Thursday 25th of September: Open from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm!

“…the distorted image of ideal beauty that is never achievable, though laid-on by the world of the media and advertising.” (Riedstra, 2007)

Riedstra’s ‘Barbs Series’ was shown as part of the Amsterdam International Fashion Week, 2007.

The paintings represent the pain and frustration many women feel when they/we aspire to an unattainable and unrealistic standard of beauty as publicised by the media. They speak of the difficulty in present-day society for women to achieve a true and unadulterated identity of themselves because of the pressures to conform to influences around them/us.

Riedstra’s own background is in both art and theatre, both as a performer and behind the scenes. She has studied Mime & Applied Arts in Tel Aviv, Fine Art at the Royal Academy of the Arts in The Hague, Netherlands. She studied Scenography at HKU in Utrecht, Netherlands, and the Instituto del Teatro, Seville, and has an MA in Scenography from St Martins, London. She is also a qualified teacher of 2d Art. She has exhibited extensively in each of these countries and was invited to show at the Florence Biennale, 2007.

For the forthcoming ‘Barbs’ show Riedstra invited like-minded artists whose work deals with similar issues relating to the body and distorted identity. Her theatrical background informs her vision for the three week exhibition, featuring fashion shows and performances — promising to be an emotive feast for all the senses, and especially the mind.

Barbs Postcard designed by Vanessa Moore, 2008.