Serviceplan Middle East Named Independent Agency of the Year at Dubai Lynx Awards

The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity has revealed this year’s winners at its first live Awards Ceremony since 2019. Serviceplan Middle East were named Independent Agency of the Year during a ceremony at the Dubai Opera House. 

As well as the Independent Agency of the Year accolade, Serviceplan Middle East also collected two gold, three silver and four bronze awards. The winning campaigns were; MINI – Minimalism; BMW - Museum of Sound; Dubai Science Park - Hostages of Depression; Dubai Design District - Distant Neighbours; and Al Etihad - Majd & the Librarian.  

The breakdown of the awards is as follows; one gold for MINI Minimalism and one gold for BMW -  Museum of Sound; one silver for MINI – Minimalism, and two silver for BMW - Museum of Sound; one bronze for Dubai Science Park - Hostages of Depression, one bronze for Al Etihad credit  bureau - Majd & the Librarian, one bronze for Dubai Design District - Distant Neighbours; and one bronze for BMW – Museum of Sound. 

Akhilesh Bhagri, CCO, Serviceplan Middle East and Natalie Shardan, managing director, Serviceplan Middle East, commented: "Last night was a celebration of the continuous trust that our clients have in us, our agency culture, and most importantly the great people of Serviceplan Middle East and the great work that they made happen. We are very proud and humbled by this award.” 

Rami Hmadeh, managing partner, Serviceplan Experience, commented: “This is an outstanding achievement and a major milestone for our House of Communication. It comes  as a testament to the great work that our brilliant team have been crafting for our clients and partners…all under and thanks to the leadership of Akhilesh Bagri. Proud to be in company of such a creative mastermind and surrounded by such a talented team. To many more accolades to be celebrated with this awesome bunch!” 

Jason Romeyko, worldwide executive creative director, Serviceplan Group, added: “A wonderful testament to ÜberCreativity, this is an example of that magic that happens when  all aspects of the House Of Communication Middle East come together. Plaudits to the entire team. Thank you to the clients for their trust, belief and business. This is a dream come true.” 

Azhar Siddiqui, managing partner, Mediaplus Middle East, said: "Being recognised as the Independent Agency of the Year is proof of our Übercreativity at work! This is especially  important, because as an integrated agency we infuse creativity across all disciplines of communication to produce work that is not only impactful but also effective for our client  partners. I could not be more proud to be part of such an amazing team!" 

Dubai Lynx is MENA's premier festival of creativity, bringing MENA’s creative communications industry together to learn, network and celebrate the power of creativity. View the winners here.

Read full article here: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/serviceplan-middle-east-named-independent-agency-of-the-year-at-dubai-lynx

Wall Street International Feature on'Rebirth' Group Exhibition Curated by Lee Sharrock

Curator and writer Lee Sharrock has teamed up with Frances Casey, director of new West London Gallery 99 Projects on ‘Rebirth’. This group exhibition features some of the UK’s most exciting upcoming contemporary artists, juxtaposed with more established artists to provoke a visual dialogue with the theme of Rebirth. The exhibition runs from Friday 4th to Sunday 27th March and features paintings, prints, photography, sculpture and ceramics.

Read the full article here: https://wsimag.com/art/68848-rebirth

'VainEgo': Yurim Gough Solo Exhibition at APT Gallery

Fine art ceramicist Yurim Gough will have a solo exhibition ‘VainEgo’ at APT Gallery in London from 12-29 May, 2022. The exhibition curated by Lee Sharrock will feature a series of wall-mounted ceramic pieces, drawings, film and photographic prints. 108 VainEgo ‘Army of Me’ ceramic heads will be exhibited at APT, as well as self-portrait drawings, photographs, sketch books and film.

Photograph of Yurim Gough with ‘Army of Me’ ceramic heads.

Photo credit: Daniele Roberts Mah

The APT gallery is part of the Art in Perpetuity Trust, a registered charity whose aims are to promote the value of creativity in the visual arts. APT was founded in 1995 by a group of artists in an old warehouse on Deptford Creek. 

Gough made 108 ceramic heads for the ‘VainEgo’ installation because of the significance of the number in Buddhism. According to Bhante Gunaratana, the number 108 is reached by multiplying the senses smell, touch, taste, hearing, sight, and consciousness by whether they are painful, pleasant or neutral, and again by whether the feelings are internally generated or externally occurring, , and yet again by past, present and future. 

All the featured works were made during a 6-year period which was triggered by Yurim Gough’s breast cancer diagnosis in May 2016, and her subsequent treatment and recovery. During this challenging time, Gough sought solace in her work, expressing the emotions and experiences of her cancer treatment through life drawing and ceramics.  Gough has since made a full recovery and chose to exhibit the art she made during her diagnosis and treatment in the month of May 6 years after her first diagnosis. 

Yurim Gough says: “The VainEgo project moves on from imagined stories to real stories, with myself as the subject. In 2016, during my breast cancer treatment, I drew daily self-portraits. During lockdown 2020 I made half-sculptures of all these drawings. The VainEgo project was a 100% cathartic process.  Focusing on creativity was a great tool to release emotions, weakness and pain, especially after I found that I had breast cancer and the subsequent treatment and recovery. I also got a strong spiritual feeling from the creative process and that I was able to survive from the cancer journey. VainEgo consists of one word and depicts myself in the mirror looking for my ego. As the fight against cancer began I drew my feelings, which changed from day to day, and I also drew my changing body nude onto a ceramic bowl. In addition, photographs and videos of myself at that time will also be presented for the first time in this exhibition."

Gough is a talented fine art ceramicist who merges the draughtsmanship and gender fluid mind-set of Grayson Perry with the autobiographical honesty of Tracey Emin. Gough was born in South Korea where she had a successful early career as a shoe designer, working in Tokyo and London before moving to the UK where she pursued a career as a fine artist and ended up settling in Cambridge where she has a studio.  

As well as the VainEgo exhibition at APT Gallery, Gough is going to be featured in a major group show at the prestigious Fondation d’entreprise Bernardaud in Limoges from June 2022 to March 2023. Limoges is the famed centre of ceramics where Picasso made some of his most iconic ceramic works.  Gough will exhibit several pieces from her Gender-Fluid series in Limoges. 

VainEgo consists of one word and depicts the artist in the mirror searching for her ego. As the fight against cancer began, she drew her feelings, which changed daily and also drew her nude body onto a ceramic bowl to document the changes in her physique during treatment. The 108 VainEgo “Army of me” heads that will be on display at APT gallery in the ‘VainEgo’ exhibition were created at the time of Covid lockdown, when Gough selected 108 sketches out of 162 self-portraits she made during the time of her cancer diagnosis and treatment, and sculpting them in three dimensions. 

As well as the 108 sculptured heads, photographs and video of the artist at that time will also be exhibited alongside 20 ‘VainEgo’ bowls decorated with the life story of Yurim Gough, documenting her journey from birth in Korea through her journey as a shoe designer and subsequent move to England. The bowls have titles such as ‘Born’, ‘Marriage’, ‘Paper Dolls’ and ‘Houses’, and each one tells a story about an important time of the artists’s life. For example about ‘Paper Doll’s Gough says: “At the age of five, I had collected close to one hundred paper dolls of people. I cut out the dolls from sheets of paper and clothed them with pretty clothes and trinkets, and imagined the lives of the different characters. I remember one day, I was sent to the supermarket with my mother 's purse to buy some food, and I bought a paper doll with the change. I was supposed to return the change to my mother.” 

 
According to Gough the purpose of this exhibition is to make the audience see breast cancer more intimately, and also experience the innermost thoughts of the artist visually, whilst communicating how making art made her feel alive. 

The mission of the Art in Perpetuity Trust is to support creative thought and artistic vision both in the studio and in the wider world.  At its freehold premises on the banks of Deptford Creek, APT provides 42 secure studios for visual artists, a contemporary art gallery, a working sculpture yard and an external public performance space.  

For more information on APT gallery go to: https://www.aptstudios.org