Sonic Goes Highbrow with New Fine Art Collection

[Irish David]

Feel free to bump this to the Art Section if this is in the wrong forum

Looks like we are getting some art displayed in galleries across the UK - https://www.videogamer.com/news/sonic-goes-highbrow-with-new-fine-art-collection

Will be very interesting to see what they come up with and price range for the pieces. This anniversary is burning a huge hole in my wallet!!!

[Your Vest Friend]

No no, it's fine here.

Sonic and fine art doesn't sound like a combination that would work on paper (pun not intended) unless you went really abstract with it. 

[Tara]

Well, color me interested.  I'm always up for some fine art, and I'm interested to see how Sonic somehow manages to be part of that.

[Indigo Rush]

Can't wait to see what they have

[Uraraka]

Wow! Hopefully they will sell prints and such for your home! I would love a lovely painting for my room!! 

 They have a Disney thing like that , Thomas Kinkade inspired paintings that include Disney characters, places and elements. Very lovely!

[Menace2Society]

Oh, that's really interesting! Too bad, I don't live in the UK, I would have really wanted to go.

Ah, well. Hopefully, someone will post screenshots of some of the art shown there.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So I decided to look at how much this place normally sells art prints for... Erm...

http://www.castlegalleries.com/art/in-stock

The cheapest on page 1 is £495. 

[Mad Convoy]

I'm interested. Sonic is the last thing I'd associate with fine art, but I'm open to seeing how this turns out.

I wouldn't pay £500 for Sonic art though.

[MightyRay]

I'm very jelly. I wish Australia could get an Sonic Art exhibit. 

[Sephy]

Non-UK fans want extremely detailed pictures of the exhibition from lucky pals who are going!!

[Lucid Dream]

11 minutes ago, Sephy said:

Non-UK fans want extremely detailed pictures of the exhibition from lucky pals who are going!!

My Father has a high quality camera. I'll take it and visit any gallery with Sonic fine art in London. I'll try to take as high quality, stable pictures as possible! 

[Badnik Mechanic]

1 hour ago, Sephy said:

Non-UK fans want extremely detailed pictures of the exhibition from lucky pals who are going!!

If they allow photos you will.

A lot of these places tend to very heavily restrict photography.

[Ayliffe]

Oh hey, we got details on this!

Quote

Washington Green, the UK’s leading art publisher, has joined forces with SEGA Europe Limited to create a new collection celebrating the 25th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog™. 

Featuring 25 original pieces from a selection of today’s leading contemporary artists, supported by a body of limited edition publishing, the collection pays homage to the iconic videogame character who has been racing through games, TV, mobile, merchandise and more for a quarter century. Its new ‘Sonic 25’ collection sees Washington Green artists re-imagine Sonic the Hedgehog in each of their own inimitable styles. The collection will traverse multiple mediums; from a fusion of neon and aluminium, to sculptures, oils and more… all in keeping with the many faces and iterations of Sonic over the years.

The artists taking part in the project have been announced as Dan Lane, Paul Kenton, Frédéric Daty, Louis Sidoli, Stuart McAlpine Miller, Robert Oxley, Craig Davison, Keith Maiden, and Nic Joly. 

Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared as a video game character in June 1991, and instantly became an icon for a generation of gamers. Defined by his super-fast speed and cool attitude, Sonic has become a true global phenomenon with over 350 million video games sold or downloaded worldwide across consoles, PCs, mobile phones and tablets. To mark this milestone 25-year achievement, SEGA® Europe Limited has lined up an international slate of new licensing partners to support the franchise through 2016 and beyond. This included approaching Washington Green, a leading figure of the contemporary art scene for over 30 years, specialising in publishing limited edition collections from acclaimed artists across the globe. 

Jason Rice, Director of Brand Licensing, at SEGA Europe Limited, said:

“This collaboration is a fitting finale to our year-long celebration of Sonic’s 25th Anniversary. We wanted to create something truly unique to give fans and collectors the chance to view Sonic in a way never seen before. These incredibly talented artists along with the whole team at Washington Green have been a joy to work with. There is huge excitement and anticipation here at Sega at the prospect of revealing these stunning pieces of work to the world. We couldn’t be more proud!”

Glyn Washington, Founder and Creative Director of Washington Green Fine Art, said: “The launch of this collection marks the culmination of many months of passion, dedication and hard work both from our superbly talented artists and the team here at Washington Green. We have all relished the opportunity to collaborate with SEGA, getting to know their brand and opening our world 

of fine art up to new audiences. The interest in the collection so far has been phenomenal, from established art collectors and Sonic fans alike, and we anticipate a great reception for the work when it launches in December.” 

The ‘Sonic 25’ signed limited edition pieces will be launched across Washington Green’s network of 34 Castle Fine Art galleries across the UK on Friday 2nd December 2016. Each limited edition is presented with a certificate of authenticity co-signed by both the artist and Naoto Ohshima - one of the founding members/designers of the Sonic franchise. 

An exhibition of the original works the eight artists produced alongside the signed limited edition pieces will be on show at Castle Fine Art, South Molton Street from Friday 2nd December following a VIP launch the previous evening.

There's also some pics of the artwork - it looks hella neat!

 

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

They're definitely impressing and intriguing me so far, looks like some interesting media and art techniques are being used too. The only disappointment is that, apart from the first, they're a bit too closely based on official artwork for my liking. It's especially glaring with that sculpture-type piece, since it's clearly based on the rather awkward and dated-looking Heroes artwork. But other than that, I'm digging this (two things I love, Sonic and art - how can you go wrong?) and definitely interested in seeing more, if possible. It's nice to see Shadow is getting some love too.

[Tara]

That top one definitely takes the cake.  Very colorful and original.  It has a style and color scheme that reminds me a bit of Sonic and the Black Knight.  The others are all interesting and well-done as well, but I have to agree that they're a little to derivative from the official art to really stand out on their own.  Don't get me wrong; they're beautiful, but something based on an original scene would definitely pique my interest.

[Badnik Mechanic]

So... I just watched a video from someone who was at the preview event tonight... if this is true I am very disappointed with this.

 

This collection, opens to the public on December 2nd, and closes on December 4th.

After that, any pieces which have sold will be given to their new owners, leaving the collection forever.

All other pieces will be split up across Washington Greens art galleries nationwide. 

 

There are 25 pieces in total in this collection, if the information I've got here is right, there are well over 30 galleries in the UK.

Meaning unless you're able to go this weekend, you're very unlikely to ever see this collection in full in person. 

[Lucid Dream]

OK, I have school off this Friday. I should study, but I'll gladly sacrifice a few hours for Sonic. I'll try my best to take photographs, and I do know someone with a journalism pass, but if they prohibit cameras there's probably very little I can do. 

Can someone just tell me the exact venue? I've been looking for a while, and I only found castle fine art. Is it that one? 

[Badnik Mechanic]

I think it's the one on/near bond street.

Also there's plenty of photos/video going around so don't worry. But that's not the point.

It's that there was/is this amazing collection of art that showcases how cool and awesome Sonic is.... and unless you live in/around London, you've been given barely any notice about how long it's there fore, bare in mind this information has not yet been officially announced.

[Tara]

If that's true, that is quite disappointing.  It sounds like they wanted the quick publicity but didn't really any real value into the art, and that's always  shame.

[Linkabel]

Some photos of the gallery.

[Irish David]

The artwork looks fantastic, I would love to have gone but I just came back from South Africa on Tuesday so couldn't get the time off work.

If you want one of them, deep pockets are required!!! (Way out of my price bracket)

[Lucid Dream]

Geez, there's next to no information about the Sonic exhibition on the Castle Galleries website. It's not even on their events section. 

They have 5 different galleries in London, and I do not want to go to the wrong one. This is just too confusing. 

 

[Ayliffe]

9 minutes ago, Sniper dreams said:

They have 5 different galleries in London, and I do not want to go to the wrong one. This is just too confusing. 

The press release says it's the "South Molton Street" one that'll have all the Sonic stuff on the 2nd.

[Irish David]

8 minutes ago, Sniper dreams said:

Geez, there's next to no information about the Sonic exhibition on the Castle Galleries website. It's not even on their events section. 

They have 5 different galleries in London, and I do not want to go to the wrong one. This is just too confusing. 

 

The pieces are being displayed at Castle Galleries in South Molton Street which is beside Bond Street Tube Station over the coming days to my knowledge. Hope this helps a bit ?

[Jay (Eggemann)]

It's worth noting this is not really an art gallery but exhibition of items for sale. So while it does have a small public viewing period, the intention of this was to sell them items onto owners.