00:01Sheffield-based artist Andy Welland, famous for his bright and colourful prints, collages and paintings,
00:07has revealed a new series of artworks and products as part of a special pop-up shop at the Baltic,
00:12which will run until the 28th of September this year.
00:15I spoke with Andy to find out more about this collection and his love of the North East.
00:20So, hoping what people can expect is fun, some joy, some colour,
00:26and just feeling positive, really, about the work.
00:29I think that's what I always get from people when they see the work for the first time.
00:34So, the work is playful, and I'm hoping that people get that from the show, really,
00:38and I want kids to come in with adults and just experience it and just see what emotions it evokes.
00:44It could be just based on colour.
00:46People sometimes see the work and think about flavours of food or holidays or memories.
00:51It might just evoke something that you weren't expecting,
00:54so I'm really curious to see what people think and what they'll experience, really.
00:58There's things like oil paintings, which are pure oil sticks.
01:02So, I like to think of them as you've got your mum's best lipstick and you're using it all up and drawing with those.
01:08Well, there's my start off on a computer and then end up being like an analogue screen print process,
01:13quite a technical process, and straightforward paintings with acrylic paint, but also plasticine.
01:19So, there's a theme of play and toys and fun running throughout the show.
01:24And ultimately, I think it's just about connecting to people, and I think that's what we need today.
01:29You know, everything is so fast, so technological.
01:32AI and everything else going in the world where really we just want to tell stories and connect to other people
01:37and through emotion.
01:38It's quite a simple thing, really, but we just all want to feel something.
01:42So, I'm hoping that's what people feel when they come and see the work.
01:47Working with the Baltic and the people connected to that, and also the city, just the energy of the city,
01:53and thinking back to the mural of just, you know, talking to people and what that brought about
01:59and how shapes could inform that.
02:01And, you know, every time I make a piece of work, it's informed by the locality of that area.
02:07Entitled Colour, Play and Everything in Between, the pop-up shop has transformed the main window at the Baltic shop,
02:14with a series of 12 paintings inspired by the colours and shapes seen through a kaleidoscope.
02:19People may recognise Andy's playful art from his mural on Newcastle, Quayside,
02:24which transformed part of Wesley Square into a riot of colour last year,
02:28as part of Newcastle Business District NE1's Summer in the City programme.
02:33It was lovely working with the Baltic on this, just because we're so open and just so supporting and giving.
02:39There's been unprecedented, really.
02:41And I think just the energy and the room to explore, which I think is kind of a northern trade that we have, really,
02:49of like building things and making things and the energy of people.
02:53And it's just, I think once the ball rolling, then you just kind of want to make more and more,
02:57and it becomes a bigger thing together.
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