Website tag: Arts

Haaf, Karel ten

Born in Bloemendaal (Netherlands) in 1962, Karel ten Haaf was a poet, writer, research journalist and politician. He debuted in 1987, with the self-published Siren: Open Letter to Kim Wilde. The booklet was released in an edition of only 21 copies and contained photographs and lyrics of Kim Wilde, most notably How Do You Want My Love. Between 1992 and 1995 he released three poetry collections. In 1999 his first novel, ‘Steppen Zonder Autoped’ appeared. More novels followed, until in 2007 all of his poetic work was collected for the comprehensive bundle ‘Meisjespijn’, with poems written between 1978 and 2007. His bundle of stories called ‘Zat gezien, zat meegemaakt’ featured a photograph of Kim Wilde on the cover.

Meanwhile, he also became active in local politics in his provence Groningen. As a member of the socialist workers party he protested against the rise of the rightwing populist politician Pim Fortuyn. In 2006 he made the list of candidates for the Socialist Party in the city of Groningen, but he was not elected.

Besides writing poetry and novels, he also wrote columns for the literary weblog Tzum. His last poetry bundle ‘Nilfisk’ was published in 2018.

Karel ten Haaf passed away on 17 May 2019 in Groningen (Netherlands).


Young, Russell

Russell Young (British, born in 1959) was born in Northern England and spent his first few months in foster care. He was adopted by Ken and Lesley Young when he was four months old. The family moved further north. As a child, Young considered his world to be dark, and he developed a fascination with American culture. He disliked school and often skipped class. He enjoyed punk music and watching soccer matches. Young attended Chester Art College where he studied photography, film, and graphic design.

After his parents divorced, the young artist attended Exeter Art College before moving to London. Young was unable to find work and lived on the streets, where he met photographer Christos Raftopoulos (Australian, b.1940) and became his assistant. Raftopoulos encouraged his assistant to branch out on his own. Young began his career by photographing live punk shows. His photographs were well-received, and he began landing work for magazines and record companies.

In 1986, he was hired to shoot the cover of the Faith album for pop star George Michael. More photography work followed and in 1988, he did a photo session with Kim Wilde, which resulted in cover photographs for the album Close and the singles Hey Mister Heartache, You Came and Never Trust a Stranger.

He traveled to America and photographed many celebrities including Bruce Springsteen, Bjork, Paul Newman, and Diana Ross. He transitioned into television and shot over 100 videos for MTV. In 1992, the artist moved to Hollywood where he met actress Finola Hughes. The couple married that same year. Young decided it was time to branch out, and so began to paint. Young moved to New York with his wife, and became frustrated as an artist. He spent time in Tuscany, Italy, where he practiced meditation. Young then moved to Brooklyn and developed a new technique that combined painting and photography. He produced a series of works which became known as Big Portraits. The series featured large photographs which were enhanced with acrylic paint and diamond dust, featuring legendary stars like Marilyn Monroe and Sid Vicious.

Young remains married and resides with his wife and children in New York, where he continues to work.


Rutter, John

Photographer of celebrities from the world of music and movies, John Rutter was approached to make photos for the sleeve of Kim Wilde’s Love Moves album and the singles from that album. He also photographed for XTC, Cerrone, Vitamin Z and Poison.

In 1992, at age 19, Cameron Diaz was photographed and videotaped topless for an S&M leather fashion lingerie editorial by John Rutter, photographer, and Clifford Wright, as producer for an editorial for Max Magazine Italy. They were never released. Rutter approached Diaz in 2003, ahead of the release of ‘Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle’, offering to sell the pictures and video to her for $3.5 million before attempting to sell them to prospective buyers. He stated that he was offering her first right of refusal to them; she saw it as attempted blackmail and sued him. In July 2004, the 30-minute video of the photoshoot, entitled She’s No Angel, was released on a Russian website. Rutter denied releasing it. On 26 July 2005, Rutter was convicted of attempted grand theft, forgery, and perjury. On 16 September 2005, Rutter was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison.


Rock, Sheila

Sheila Rock was born in the USA and went to Boston University and the London Film School. She has lived and worked in London since 1970. She was involved in the creation of the Face magazine.

She’s made photographs of many big names in the music and entertainment industry, spanning many genres, working for advertising and design agencies and periodicals.

She’s photographed Kim Wilde on a couple of occasions but most notably for the sleeve of her 1983 album, Catch as Catch Can.


Meijering, Paul

Paul Meijering was born in Emmen, the Netherlands on 29 December 1961. At the age of 17 he joined the Academy of Arts in Enschede in order to receive a native training in drawing and painting technique. The education proved to focus more on abstract art instead of the realistic portrait art of the old masters. After two years Paul left the academy and started working for a living.

During his spare time he continued to paint, but in his own realistic style. The paintings attracted attention at various exhibitions. Paul was frequently approached by trades-people, hotel-keepers, merchants, who were mostly interested in large wall-paintings and decorations.

In the year 2000 the painter developed a rather unique specialty: painting football pictures. His paintings are exhibited in the building of the Dutch Football Union (KNVB) in Zeist and the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam. Paul also travels abroad to football clubs like Juventus, AS Roma, Inter Milan in Italy, Real Madrid in Spain, Manchester United and Arsenal in England and Bayern München in Germany.

After painting footballers exclusively for some time, Paul broadens his horizon and also starts painting heros from other sports like motorcycle racing, golf, different combat sports, Formula 1, cycling etc.

Then, in 2005, Paul also starts painting performers of pop music. He’s made portraits of ‘classic’ artists like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, but also contemporary artists like Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams.

In April 2009, Paul Meijering has made a paiting of Kim Wilde (pictured here). He was approached by the organisers of the ‘C1000 Back to the 80’s’ festival, taking place in Emmen in June 2009. Out of the artists performing, he chose Kim. The painting is an acryl on panel, measing 90 x 90 cm (36 inch x 36 inch). The painting was given to Kim on the night of the festival.


Mankowitz, Gered

Gered Mankowitz was born in London, England, on 3 August 1946. He was the first of four sons of the late author, playwright and film writer Wolf Mankowitz and his wife, the Jungian psychotherapist Ann Mankowitz.

After dropping out of school at 15, he moved into photography. His work was spotted by legendary photographer Tom Blau, who offered him an apprenticeship at his photo agency, Camera Press Ltd. in London.

In 1962, Gered went to Barbados with his family and began taking photographs professionally. He then returned to Europe and started working with fashion photographer Alec Murray. This did not appeal much to Gered, so he moved back to London and moved into showbiz photography.

Within a few months Gered had already begun to make a name for himself, and he was approached to photograph Marianne Faithful, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Free, Traffic, The Yardbirds, The Small Faces and Soft Machine.
In the Seventies, Mankowitz photographed Slade, Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro, Sweet, Elton John and Kate Bush. He continued making photographs of Eurythmics, ABC, Duran Duran and Kim Wilde in the first half of the Eighties.

For over 22 years Gered was based at his North London studio, a converted Victorian chapel, taking prize-winning photos for the advertising industry.  He has also been a regular contributor to several major publications, and still works in the music business, photographing bands and singers for album covers and magazines. He contributes regularly to The Sunday Times Magazine and Mojo magazine as well as shooting sessions with musical artists such as Oasis, Verve, Catatonia, Kula Shaker, Embrace, The Buena Vista Social Club, Snow Patrol, The Bravery, Dukes Spirit as well as many others. Prints of Gered’s work are purchased in galleries throughout the World including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Berlin, Amsterdam, New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Dubai and Tokyo.


Halfon, Simon

Simon Halfon started his creative career in the mail room of Stiff Records. Thanks to a friendship with Vaugh Toulouse from the band Department S. he got his first design job. He designed the sleeve of their 1981 single ‘I want’. Former Stiff employee Neville Brody offered him a job as an assistant on the magazine The Face. This is where he learned the basics of preparing artwork, and so he started to do some design on his own.

His first solo credited design work was in 1982, when he designed the sleeves of Kim Wilde’s singles View From a Bridge and Child Come Away. Halfon: “At Stiff, I worked for a few short months as a radio and TB plugger. I didn’t get on with that job, but on one occasion at Top of the Pops I was charged with looking after Tenpole Tudor’s chainmail… enough said, really. Kim was on the show and we became fast friends for a short while”.

Halfon began working for Paul Weller in 1983. Designing record sleeves for the Style Council, starting with 1983’s Café Bleu. Two years later, he started a long lasting creative relationship with Madness. Perhaps his best known artwork he made with George Michael, starting with his 1990 album ‘Listen without prejudice’. The iconic album cover used Weegee’s famous Coney Island photograph. In 1999 he started working with Oasis for their album covers, but he also got involved in film work with the band. Halfon also designed record sleeves for musical legends including John Legend, James Brown, Tom Jones and Frank Sinatra.

In 2007, he produced his first feature film, ‘Sleuth’, starring Michael Caine and Jude Law.


Federici, Daniela

Renowned photographer who has worked with various artists in her career. In 1994, she did a photo-shoot with Kim Wilde for the Australian magazine Cleo. Apparently, this was a pleasant experience for Kim, because she wanted to do a second photo session with her in 1995. While searching for her contact address, she saw a video by Pebbles and was amazed to find out that Daniela directed it. She then asked Daniela to direct her video for This I Swear.


Corbijn, Anton

Born 20 May 1955 in Strijen (Netherlands). Started working as a photographer in the second part of the 1970’s. He started his work as a photographer by taking his father’s camera to a performance by Dutch local band Solution, and the result ended up in a music paper.
This encouraged him to start photographing more well-known bands like Focus, Herman Brood and Golden Earring. In 1979 he started working for Dutch magazine Oor (“Ear”) Magazine, and managed to get a little time from nearly every star passing by. In this time, he made pictures of people like Sandy Denny, John Martyn, Ry Cooder and even Steely Dan, who used his work for the sleeve of their “Greatest Hits” album in 1979.
Having become very enamoured with the band Joy Division he moved to London, and, astonishing enough, he almost immediately managed to book a asession with the band, which produced the eternal image in the tube corridor, Ian Curtis framed in a ghostly neon.
It was this session that gave him a job at UK’s New Musical Express. He made shots of Bill Haley, Joe Jackson and the Selecter in this time.
He was summoned to Cheyne Walk to photograph Mick and Keith, the latter in such an advanced state of decrepitude that he tipped a tumbler of bourbon into his lap, hence a clearly visible damp patch the size of a dinner plate. Eno followed, and Madness, Stevie Wonder, The Slits, Roy Orbison, Captain Beefheart…
Corbijn tended to photograph people alone, unsmiling, in evocative settings, natural light, no styling, the extreme print contrast suggestive of the private and troubled soul that wrote the songs as opposed to the familiar user-friendly public figure also required to publicise them.
The picture that sealed his reputation worldwide was the one of David Bowie in the dressing room of a Chicago theatre where he was playing The Elephant Man. Not a trace of the usual suave and confident media manipulator, instead a candid glimpse of a sagging spirit, fragile, remote, and wearing a pair of loose and rather Biblical briefs.
Around this time, Anton also shoots a series of pictures of Kim Wilde, which are still used from time to time. He also provides the photography for the sleeves of View From a Bridge and Child Come Away. An official Kim Wilde calendar was produced in 1982 (for the year 1983), featuring 13 of his photographs.
In 1985, a routine NME cover assignment with Depeche Mode sparks off a long and extraordinary liaison. Almost single-handedly, Anton engineered their transition from guileless pop bantamweights to the sombre, slightly depressing combo by designing nearly all their sleeves and tour programs.
Corbijn is perhaps best known for his work with rock band U2. He designed nearly every album they have released so far.

In 2010, he sent a special message to Wilde Life for Kim’s 50th birthday.

hello KIM my dear 50 year young friend, i had a crush on you when we met!!!
shock horror, finally revealed.
happy birthday dear Kim, enjoy the sounds from yourself and from nature.
much love
X Anton C.=


Chagall, Marc

Born 7 July 1887, in Vitsyebsk, Russia (now in Belarus), Chagall was educated in art in St. Petersburg and, from 1910, in Paris, where he remained until 1914. Between 1915 and 1917 he lived in Saint Petersburg; after the Russian Revolution he was director of the Art Academy in Vitsyebsk from 1918 to 1919 and was art director of the Moscow Jewish State Theater from 1919 to 1922. Chagall painted several murals in the theater lobby and executed the settings for numerous productions. In 1923, he moved to France, where he spent the rest of his life, except for a period of residence in the United States from 1941 to 1948. He died in St. Paul de Vence, France, on March 28, 1985.

Chagall’s distinctive use of color and form is derived partly from Russian expressionism and was influenced decisively by French cubism. Crystallizing his style early, as in Candles in the Dark (1908, artist’s collection), he later developed subtle variations. His numerous works represent characteristically vivid recollections of Russian-Jewish village scenes, as in I and the Village (1911, Museum of Modern Art, New York City), and incidents in his private life, as in the print series Mein Leben (German for “My Life”, 1922), in addition to treatments of Jewish subjects, of which The Praying Jew (1914, Art Institute of Chicago) is one. His works combine recollection with folklore and fantasy. Biblical themes characterize a series of etchings executed between 1925 and 1939, illustrating the Old Testament, and the 12 stained-glass windows in the Hadassah Hospital of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem (1962). In 1973 Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall (National Museum of the Marc Chagall Biblical Message) was opened in Nice, France, to house hundreds of his biblical works. Chagall executed many prints illustrating literary classics. A canvas completed in 1964 covers the ceiling of the Opéra in Paris, and two large murals (1966) hang in the lobby of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

Kim Wilde wrote the song European Soul about Chagall and released it on her album Close.


Bell, Edward

Edward Bell is an artist who is best known in the music world for his collaborations with celebrities, designing iconic album covers for David Bowie (Scary Monsters and Time Machine) and Hazel O’Connor (Sons and Lovers), as well as portraits of other familiar figures, including Elton John. Bell has also done photography and illustrated for Vogue magazine.

In 1983, he made a portrait in watercolours of Kim Wilde. This was sent to her and hung on the walls of her parents’ home for some time. Kim has also owned the portrait herself for some time.

Edward Bell dropped out of the London art scene, for a while became a self-confessed ‘junkie’, but never stopped painting. More recently, Bell has made oil paintings of specific rural moments (most typically a dawn or a sunset), as well as nudes.