Richard Claxton (@MaraidDesign) reviews the Luke Drozd exhibition at the Sparrow, Bradford
(Jan 31st – March 28th).
“If you had planted a bomb under that table and set it off right now you would be taking out some of the best artists in the UK’s poster art scene.”
The table in question is at The Sparrow Bar Bradford, the finest drinking hole in the city; the person making this claim is London based poster artist Luke Drozd. Luke is at The Sparrow to open a small exhibition of his Poster Art.
Poster Art is a graphic art movement that grew in the USA. These highly illustrated screen-printed gig posters have become unique pieces of work in their own right, shifting from ephemera to sought after collectors’ items. The artists responsible have become celebrated individuals.
The opening is a great opportunity to meet Luke, buy a poster and have a chat. He has a strong connection with West Yorkshire having studied at Leeds Met, alongside Drew Millward, another important member of the UK poster scene. Also in attendance at the bar is Graham Pilling aka Army of Cats from Leeds, who Luke describes as ‘the best in the UK’.
Why does West Yorkshire have this strong connection with the Poster art scene? The answer is not immediately obvious. Luke suggests, “I think it’s because both Bradford and Leeds have roots in the DIY music and arts scene. When I first started making posters it was for DIY music events and everyone else I knew doing it had the same background and a strong passion for making things happen.” Luke continues to talk about that DIY music scene and goes on to mention his love for both the Brudenell Social Club and the 1in12 club. He reveals at one stage that together with Drew he ran a small record label, Birdwar Records, which allowed them to experiment with the illustrative graphic artwork they create now.
I was curious to find out how The Sparrow Bar had got involved in exhibiting Luke’s work and sought out Mark from The Sparrow for answers. “We’ve always been a fan of Luke’s work and seen his gig posters around Leeds and online. He was the kind of artist we wanted to exhibit”. I go on to ask Mark about the background of The Sparrow Bar. ‘We wanted to create a community city centre bar where everyone is welcome. We get a variety of customers, including professionals, students, hipsters, real ale fans, beer geeks, Bradford city and people who want somewhere to relax. We wanted to offer people quality, unique products that aren’t available anywhere else, and do something positive for Bradford.’
Luckily Luke doesn’t plant his bomb which means you still go a visit The Sparrow and check out his work while sampling the varied tasty beers. The posters are on display in the bar until March 28th.
Also Drew Millward is talking at the Catch-Up event in Leeds on March 23rd along with Matt the Horse, another Leeds based poster artist.
You can see more of Luke Drozd’s work at his website and find opening time for The Sparrow on their website.
You can see more from the UK Poster Art scene at ukposterart.com.