Left Bank Art Group is currently undergoing an exciting transformation that’s set to continue into 2022. Over 30-years of premium printing, framing and artist representation services has seen the company steadily grow to 20 staff, backed by a multi-million-dollar investment in cutting-edge equipment. A 2020 rebrand to Left Bank Art Group (formerly Left Bank Gallery), new look website, recent Melbourne expansion and Toby Simm taking over the reins from his founding parents are all significant company developments worth raising a glass too. And just to top it off, we’ve got some BIG CELEBRITY NEWS! A new Brand Ambassador Partnership with former “The Block” contestant, current Channel 9 home renovation and lifestyle show host, and founder of interiors studio“Cedar and Suede”, Carlene Duffy. You could say things are really looking on the up around here!
With all the great stuff that’s been going on over the past year, the team got to thinking — “Who’s a local interior design personality we can collaborate with artistically to help showcase the new look Left Bank”? The obvious answer lay in the past. We’d worked with Carlene a little while back on a project she bought to us for a client, and the artistic connection was instant. To quote Managing Director, Toby, “We were engaged to build custom frames for a quirky, yet sophisticated collection of works Carlene had curated, and it was her unorthodox design aesthetic that really caught my eye. As the project rolled out, it soon became evident that we shared a common passion for art and grassroots artist development. It was this synchronicity that ignited the idea of Carlene becoming an official Left Bank Art Group Brand Ambassador. And to our delight, she graciously accepted with the creative rubber now hitting the road.
On Carlene’s side of the equation, the Brand Ambassador Partnership is the perfect alignment to her interior design company and also provides an opportunity to show home owners how they can add a little more style to their beloved abode. Her intention for the project was clear from the start, “In partnering with Left Bank Art Group, my goal is to encourage people to act somewhat intuitively when buying art for their home. My personal approach to art selection has always been disarmingly simple. I love it. I want it. Can I afford it? This flippant yet pragmatic style has resulted in an eclectic curation of pieces that connect me to a time and place that’s always happy in heart”. Carlene concludes by summing-up her involvement perfectly, “To frame it simply, a home represents the true expression of your individuality with art serving as an ever-evolving, unpretentious, joy-evoking, thought-provoking portal to fond memories. What makes a home your own, if not that”?! We couldn’t agree more with this great sense of home sentiment.
With Carlene now officially onboard, it was onto the next big question. “What can we do in collaboration to really make this partnership have artistic meaning”? Enter the third key player into the collab party, Left Bank signed artist and apprentice framer, Dylan Cooper. Dylan became the artistic outlet for Carlene’s creative muse in a series of prints she aptly named, the “Feels Like Home Collection”. As the project’s creative director, Carlene felt this truly personified the brief’s purpose, “to create a print collection depicting iconic, Australian urban landscapes that evoke timeless memories”. Dylan not only grabbed the ball and ran with it — he kicked it straight through the sticks and hit it for six! His take on the artistic endeavour reflects the inspiration that can be tapped into when two creatives share the same vision. Dylan explains, “Together, Carlene and I worked on place selection, sketches and colour studies to find the right balance between representation, style and tone. With this established, I started on the artwork compositions using photoshopped landscapes that informed the final works being a mixed media format of charcoal and acrylics on canvas”. He goes on to reiterate, “It was super important to both of us that our locale-based prints not only resonated with people who have an affinity to the area, but also with those simply looking for a patriotic pop of colour in their home”. We think they captured quintessential, Australian neighbourhood nostalgia just perfectly.
At Left Bank Art Group, our mission is to “elevate the work of artists, photographers and designers through premium printing, framing and artwork representation services”. We strongly believe our partnership with Carlene Duffy and her “Feels Like Home Collection” with Dylan Cooper is a pure representation of this commitment to the industry, artists and design–savvy Aussies who are house-proud heroes. Vibrant yet warm, classic yet contemporary, this limited-edition collection will be available on our new-look website mid-October.