Friday 12 February 2016

Somerset House - Pick Me Up: Graphic Arts Festival 2016 - tickets on sale now

© Pick Me Up 2016. Visual identity by Hato
The UK’s first graphic arts festival returns from 21 April, celebrating design, illustration, animation, 3-D installations, ceramics and more, by emerging artists as well as established industry names. This year’s festival focuses on the utopian theme of community, as part of UTOPIA 2016: A Year of Imagination and Possibility.

Visitors can meet the artists, designers and illustrators and create their own work at hands-on workshops and events. Limited edition prints and artworks are also available to buy, with prices starting from just £5.

New for 2016, Pick Me Up will feature a retrospective exhibition by one of the world’s foremost typographers and printmakers, Alan Kitching.

Pick Me Up Selects © Aart-Jan Venema
Pick Me Up Selects
See and buy prints and original works by the graphic art stars of the future, including the best of new international illustrators and artists chosen by a panel of industry experts. Past Selects have gone on to achieve worldwide artistic and commercial acclaim, such as Hattie Stewart, Sarah Maycock and Jean Jullien. This year’s Selects include Dutch illustrator Aart-Jan Venema, 2015 graduateGeorge Douglas and 3-D animator Jack Sachs.
Collectives, Galleries and Studios
See work being made and meet our resident Collectives, Galleries and Studios who gather together to create a unique space within the festival. Returning to Pick Me Up are Sope Studio transformed into the collective Peso Press, andBeach London with a celebration of British folklore and cultural traditions. Newcomers include Clay Collective and London-based studio 3rd Rail.

Pick Me Up Collectives, Galleries and Studios. Tiger © Pedro Oyarbide, 3rd Rail
Commemorative stamp commission by Royal Mail, 1999 © Alan Kitching
Alan Kitching: A Life in Letterpress
This major retrospective of Alan Kitching’s life and work will span the six decades he has spent at the forefront of typographical design. His bold, elegant work will be on show along with sketchbooks, proofs, artefacts and equipment from his studio. The exhibition will be accompanied by the launch of the Collector’s and Special Edition versions of an illustrated monograph of the same name, published by Laurence King.
Pick Me Up 2016 Events
Each day there will be a busy schedule of events including talks and workshops led by special guests, all free with entry. Highlights include regular demonstrations by Alan Kitching and workshops in collaboration with Hato Press. Further details to be announced soon.
Pick Me Up © Kevin Meredith
Pick Me Up 2016 Type Tool © Hato
Type Tool
London-based agency Hato is enlisting the public in a utopian vision of its own: a collaborative alphabet made by you. Go to the Pick Me Up website and use the digital tool to create a letter and you could see it feature in this year’s visual identity.
Special early bird offer – 20% off Festival Pass
Festival-goers can purchase a multi-entry pass which allows unlimited access to Pick Me Up for its 12-day duration, for a discounted rate of £14 when bought before the 31 March 2016.