STEFAN BRUGGEMANN'S T-SHIRT FOR ACNE, LAUNCH AND LUNCH AT BISTROTHEQUE

Stefan Bruggemann, Pauline Daly, Jennifer Higgie


Aileen Corkery explaining the Acne T-shirt project


art patron Laura Burlington, artist Stefan Bruggemann, Bistrotheque's David Waddington


Acne T-shirt stall and girls


Bruggemann's Acne T-shirt


Sometimes I Think, Sometimes I Don't


white orchids


ACNE'S WHITE ART T-SHIRT PROJECT

Acne in collaboration with Aileen Corkery and Laura Burlington launch the ACNE WHITE / ART T-SHIRT PROJECT, a non-profit project set up to support emerging artists. Four artists will be commissioned to interpret the Acne white t-shirt, creating limited edition t-shirt designs avail¬able at galleries and ACNE studios worldwide. The proceeds from the sale of the t-shirts will go to a fund to support emerging artists in the publishing of their first monograph - a critical study of their work. The two-year project launches with the t-shirt by London-based artist Stefan Brüggemann in Mid- November. Applications for the ACNE WHITE / ART T-SHIRT PROJECT grants will be available for download at www.acnestudios.com from November 15 2010.

STEFAN BRÜGGEMANN
Stefan Brüggeman lives and works between London and Mexico City. His work combines a conceptual practice with a rough and critical attitude that questions its inner activity at the same time as it reflects on our sociological context. Though the artist mainly works with text, using vinyl and neon as its supports, he explores a wide range of media, creating large scale installation pieces, videos, paintings and drawings. The artist has had recent solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland; FRAC Bougogne, Dijon and Kunsthalle Lissabon, Portugal. Stefan has also participated in prominent group shows at the MCA Chicago; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Centre D’Art Contemporian, Geneve and Lismore Castle Arts, Ireland. He is currently preparing for a solo exhibition at Galician Contemporary Art Centre [CGAC], Santiago de Compostela, Spain and a group show at Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal.

AILEEN CORKERY
Aileen Corkery is a visual arts curator, advisor and lecturer. She was responsible for the curation and development of the Dublin-based Outside Visual Arts – as well as working closely with artists Matthew Barney, Paul McCarthy, Jason Rhoades, Stefan Brüggemann, Phil Collins, Roni Horn, Gerard Byrne, Dorothy Cross, McDermott & McGough, and Douglas Gordon in developing projects, commissions and exhibitions in Ire¬land, Europe and United States. She has curated solo and group exhibitions for Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Lismore Castle Arts, Waterford, Ireland; Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol, UK; Glasgow International, Scotland and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin. In addition to this she has worked for Hauser & Wirth Gallery in London as well as arts commissioning body Artangel on the American artist Roni Horn’s commission in Iceland. Aileen serves on the boards of Location One artist residency programme in New York City and Corn Exchange Theatre Company, Dublin, as well as serving as a consultant to clients’ private collections.

LAURA BURLINGTON
Laura and her husband William Burlington own Lismore Castle Arts www.lismorecastlearts.ie, a non-profit contemporary art gallery founded in 2005 in Co.Waterford, Ireland. Since its inception, the gallery has exhibited the works of some of the world’s leading artists including Matthew Barney, Gerard Byrne, Roger Hiorns, Jason Rhoades, Eva Rothschild, Anri Sala, Richard Long and Ai Wei Wei. Previously Laura worked as a contributing fashion editor for Harpers Bazaar UK, and was one of the founding consultants for ‘The Shop at the Bluebird’ in London, which was nominated for best new retail concept at the British Fashion Awards in 2007. After an apprenticeship in couture, Laura co-founded ROLAND MOURET in 1999 where she served as a director for five years. Her role encompassed all aspects of design, styling and production.

“Acne is built on different creative disciplines, so for me to fuse fashion and art is super interesting”
Jonny Johansson

When I was asked to do a t-shirt for Acne, I used the t-shirt not as a two-dimensional surface where you insert an image or illustration, instead I used the t-shirt as a three-dimensional entity that has an inside, an outside, a front and a back. I played with the concept of “reversed inverted” meaning using the two prints: the text piece “SOMETIMES I THINK SOMETIMES I DON’T” and a silver brushstroke. The t-shirt was printed on the inside and outside so that the prints can be seen through the cloth. I created a t-shirt that doesn’t have a right or wrong side; it can be worn on any side so there is no right or wrong.
Stefan Brüggemann, 13/7/10

There are several aspects of the project that I have found intensely rewarding. The first is offering new opportunities/challenges to the four commissioned artists to explore a new medium as well as introducing them to a different but complimentary network for the production and distribution of their artwork. The second is addressing the issue of serious economic constraints on publication budgets for artists. Through the establishment of the publication fund, we are aiming to support artists, as well as public and private institutions working with emerging artists, to publish their first monograph, thereby increasing opportunities to these fresh talents. Then the story will really begin to unfold for the artists …! Lastly to work collaboratively with a commercial patron who genuinely understands and supports the creative process: Acne Studios is in category all its own – a true visionary in a very cluttered landscape.
Aileen Corkery, 10/7/10

Selecting an artist for the first ‘Acne White / Art T-shirt Project,’ was relatively simple – Aileen Corkery, Jonny Johansson and I were all admirers of Stefan Brüggemann’s work so when he accepted our invitation to participate, we were delighted. Stefan and I met several times to discuss the concept of the t-shirt and as well as the practical considerations of its manufacturing and printing. The t-shirt has evolved over the last couple of months and I feel Stefan has created a unique and original piece of work that is at the same time desirable and accessible. I’m sure some people will collect the t-shirt and keep it in it’s box and possibly may even decide to collect the series, but the most thrilling part for me would be to see someone walking down the street wearing Stefan’s t-shirt. Particularly as the funds raised by this project will go towards supporting emerging artists with the publishing of their first monograph.
Laura Burlington, 10/7/10