by Laura

Last weekend I had a chance to visit the Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair at Somerset House in London. After wading through the London Marathon crowd I was greeted with a corridor of bright colour block signage leading to the exhibition space.

Hvass&Hannibal

The idea of the fair is brilliant - see something you like? Just jot it down, take it to the order desk and soon you will be the proud owner of a beautiful piece of graphic art. And, you get to see the whole process behind the prints: many exhibitors had their printing gear out to make freshly pressed prints.

The master of papercut art, Rob Ryan, covered the walls of his Open Studio with pretty much everything from sketches to test prints to thank you postcards from happy customers. The silk screen press was on a continuous roll, mugs were being painted and Mr Ryan was also there in person to talk about his process and advise on nice framing options.

James Joyce

The exhibition highlighted up and coming illustrators (like James Joyce above) and also included works by collectives and small publishers. This made the experience interesting and varied – lots of different approaches to style and self-promotion. Which could also be said of the marathon runners outside the gallery.