Hurdy Gurdy is an international group of illustrators that offer illustration and art based workshops and projects around the world.
The members met in 2011 while completing their masters degrees at Camberwell College of Arts and felt connected by their love of storytelling and illustration. They are seven illustrators coming from France, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Poland, and the UK. Coming from different cultures and backgrounds, they have a wide range of knowledge and skills in illustration, printmaking, textiles, animation, graphics, photography, typography and calligraphy.
Hurdy Gurdy has organised and run events as well as art & craft workshops for University of the Arts London, the Museum of London, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, and other international institutions.
This time, Hurdy Gurdy is holding an exhibition of the members’ artworks at the Hundred Years Gallery. This will go on for two weeks along with plenty of art & craft events and hands-on activities that they will be running for the duration of the exhibition.
There will be events for both children and adults on the following dates:
Thursday 26th September (Opening of the show): Live Drawing on the Gallery’s entrance windows + Live Music – 6:30-10:00 pm
Sunday 29th September: Vintage Toy-Making & Hand-made Music Instruments Workshop + Live Music Performance by Roshi Nasehi – 3:00-7:00 pm
Thursday 3rd October: An evening with Hurdy Gurdy.
Sunday 6th October: Hurdy Gurdy afternoon events: live music performance by Jude Cowan Montague and live illustration. 3:00-7:00 pm
To know more about Hurdy Gurdy visit their website: HurdyGurdyGroup.com
or check out their blog
Alessandra Genualdo (Italy)
Alessandra is an Italian Illustrator living and working in London.
She has studied in Italy, France and the UK before completing her Masters Degree at Camberwell College of Arts in London.
She uses a limited palette to create dynamic paint based images with humour and a balance of delicacy and graphic shapes.
Tim Smart (UK)
Tim Smart is an illustrator who uses pictures to tell stories.
His work is not always a linear narrative but in these cases the images have a cumulative effect where the images and sounds come together as a whole to give the reader a sense of the story.
He feels it is not only the narrative points of the story that are important but conveying a sense of emotion and atmosphere.
Sara Taghdimi (Iran)
Sara received a BA in Graphic Design from The University of Tehran in 2010 and a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2011, graduating her masters degree from Camberwell College of Arts.
She is mainly interested in narrative image making and her illustration style is based on fairytales and epics.
She is currently organising and running creative workshops, also working as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator.
Matt Horan (Ireland)
Matt is an exotic émigré bibliomaniac who occasionally draws things. He studied animation, then graduated from the MA Illustration course at Camberwell College of Arts.
His proudest biographical achievement is a tie between incurring the burning hatred of Amanda Palmer at a book signing and invoking the slightly self-aggrandising comment of a Chapman brother.
Alix Jeambrun (France)
Alix studied graphic design before getting passionate about illustration and pattern design.
She has been recognised as a ‘Talent’ by D&AD and has been a presenter at The Enquiry Desk in Session at Pick Me Up, London.
She loves to combine found pictures and Victorian elements with bright coloured cut out shapes, making her work look retro and contemporary at the same time.
Marta Wawryszuk (Poland)
Marta studied at the University of Bedfordshire and the Camberwell College of Arts.
She has experience working on different types of projects, from branding to education. Her work gained recognition in various countries, and she has been working with clients from Canada, Turkey, Poland and the United Kingdom.
Hannah Radenkova (UK)
Hannah graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2012, from Kingston University in 2009, and has been represented by the Bright Agency since 2010. Although she never goes anywhere without her trusty HB pencil, Hannah’s illustrations are created with pen and ink and either gouache or digitally captured textures.
