When I’m not loafing around on Twitter I help out at the Art Village in Shawlands on Glasgow’s south side. It’s an interesting place and so I’m probably going to write about it fairly regularly as we have some entertaining stuff ahead.
Stewart Bremners art work has a growing reputation
It’s a Community Interest Company which has taken over a number of empty shops in Shawlands Arcade. The main gallery has been open for just over a year now but Art Village has already hosted a number of successful exhibits such as 28 Drawings Later, events – Art for Aye, classes & workshops – drama, drawing, silver jewellery.
At present, we have three units; the main gallery, a gallery/bookshop & the Creation Space – which is where I hang out. It’s amazing how things turn out, you start by taking your child to a craft workshop & within a couple of months you are painting galleries and harassing artists incessantly to do exhibitions & book signings.
one of Stewart’s classic indy piece’s
My first “victim” was Stewart Bremner, the designer behind so much of the Yes campaign’s graphics which populated the world of social media and even leaked out into the real world occasionally. He visited the gallery in May for a book singing and luckily for me he’s a lovely (patient) person and it was great to meet him in real life. I am a huge fan of his work, and if I was honest I may as well set up a direct debit to him because I want “all the things” which he makes. So I feel I must apologise as this article may not be as unbiased as it should be – but then who wants to write about people they don’t like?
Stewart did a prolific amount of work during the independence campaign, both off his own back and then as part Yes Scotland. Earlier this year he successfully crowd-funded a book containing seven-hundred of the images he’d produced over the twenty month period up to the referendum.
Stewart Bremner a leading Scottish indy artist
I had mistakenly thought I could spot his style/work anywhere until I got this book but there are so many more images I’d seen around that I didn’t realise were his. It’s worth getting the book, to me at least, as it reflects both the width of the referendum discussion topics and the sheer energy and momentum of the campaign. The volume of work he produced in the last month was insane, and the quality of it never dropped.
When you talk to Stewart his belief in an independent Scotland is apparent and with his wife Megan, the enthusiasm to “be the change” is contagious. Megan had worked on the Obama election campaigns and her inspiration is something that Stewart always refers back to.
Despite the referendum result not being what he wished, I am pleased to say that he has not given up on his political images, and in the run up to May 7th he was back to producing some excellent images. In fact, during the election night, he was able to produce a number of graphics showing results as they came in. I’m not quite sure what time he gave up that night, but I’m sure he was still going when I collapsed at 6am.
But Stewart is more than just a political commentator. It is worth visiting his site to see his other work too. Just before the State Opening of Parliament he did a print based on the Hugh McDiarmid poem “The Little White Rose”.
I’m hoping his visit to the Art Village will be the first of many.
Stewart Bremner
Website: indy-prints.com
Twitter: @StewartBremner
Art Village
Website: artvillagescotland.com
Twitter: @_ArtVillage_
Pictures where provided by Stewart Bremner 