I’ve only recently moved to Brighton so my creative scene doesn’t have many hidden gems and despite walking several miles on its streets and lanes in the past week, I feel that I don’t know the city that well yet. So, instead of writing about all things creative in Brighton, I decided to note down a few things that you can do and experience in one day or over a weekend. See it as a whirlwind tour of Brighton if you will with things I’ve discovered and loved so far.

You are probably going to arrive by train, so let’s start at the station. Once you get outside the station, head down Queen’s Road. You can carry on walking this street right down to the seafront, but from about two minutes from the station there’s a flight of stairs to your left taking you to North Laines. Please go down that way instead!

You’ll soon see 3 galleries all worth a visit. Art Schism is run by a co-operative of artists and makers which started as a pop up shop. Gallery 40 showcases local emerging artists in a variety of disciplines, including painting, photography, sculpture and installation. They are currently showing portraits by local photographer Alexa Clarke Kent. And last but not least, White Rabbit Gallery – a great little place that showcases and sells independent artists and makers’ work.

By now you are probably feeling a little peckish and I urge you to pop into La Choza for amazing Mexican street food. They don’t take bookings and can get very busy, so go in before the lunchtime rush. If Mexican is not your thing, another brilliant lunch option in nearby Kensington Gardens is Iydea, a vegetarian café/restaurant where you pick your own main, sides and toppings from several healthy options. No matter how full you are after lunch, I doubt you’ll be able to resist Little Bird’s massive slices of gorgeous cakes next door. Especially as they’ve helpfully set them by the window for the passersby to see!

Now that you have filled yourself with tasty food, you should walk down Gloucester Road down to Gloucester Street, turn right and then turn left when you reach the busy road. In just few minutes you should find The ONCA Gallery. Their art exhibitions focus on environmental issues and raise awareness for conservation projects. If you carry on walking further 5 minutes up the road, you’ll come across a little photography gallery called One Eyed Jacks. Their current exhibition, American Odyssey is well worth seeing. Their next exhibition opening in early April will showcase photographer, Barbara Nitke’s behind-the-scenes photographs of the American porn industry in the 80s.

It’s time to head back to North Laines. Just retrace your footsteps but instead of walking all the way to Kensington Gardens, pop over to The Coffee Counter on Vine Street for take-away drinks. Or you could stay a while playing Atari or browsing their newly opened vintage market. They have amazing brownies too.

Now to explore some of the small shopping lanes in North Laines which can get super busy at weekends. From records and spices to books and Moomins, you can find pretty much everything here. I’d walk along Kensington Gardens, cross the road to Gardner Street and then turn right when you reach Church Street, popping inside different shops when you see something you like. When you get to end of Gardner Street, look right and you can see Unlimited’s bright yellow hello character. Unlimited sells prints and other items created by contemporary illustrators, designers and printmakers. Go in but be prepared to leave with a pretty print or two. They seem to have an animal theme going on at the moment and I love their little wooden trees.

From here walk down Church Street, turn right at New Road and then head to the Pavilion Gardens which offer small green respite. Walking diagonally across the park will take you to East Street. You can now explore some of the South Laines’ shops and alleyways. The shops here are more commercial and mainstream and you won’t find items created by local people. It’s more Paperchase and Prettygreen in this part of town. Some of the tiny lanes are worth seeing though especially during quieter times.

If you carry on walking on East Street and turn left at the Fishbowl pub/restaurant, you’ll find Boho Gelato. Oh my, this is THE place to get ice-cream. Their flavours range from plain vanilla and chocolate to more unusual ones like chocolate with chilli, avocado, chocolate with pepper and mascarpone and figs. Get at least 2 scoops of different flavours (don’t worry, they let you taste the more experimental flavours before committing to a whole big scoop) in a small tub (or cone, who am I to judge) and head to Brighton Pier which is only couple of minutes away.

You can spend a while walking by the sea, browsing some of the small galleries and sit on the pebble beach. It’s great for recharging batteries and slowing down a bit. If you walk along to West Street, you can walk straight back to the train station (the street changes into Queen’s Road halfway through). If you fancy a stop, snack or a drink (or all of them), I’d recommend The Blue Man. Its North African theme makes it incredibly cosy and their food is great.

So, here you go, a quick walk around Brighton’s creative, and somewhat culinary scene in a day. If you have more time, you could wonder to Kemptown and its numerous bars and charity shops or towards Hove and its colourful beach huts. There are also plenty of other galleries such as Phoenix, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, and Prescription Art.

Right now Brighton is getting ready for Brighton Festival and Brighton Fringe which are both happening in May. I also have so much more to explore from galleries to photography events and talks. Definitely many more exciting and creative times ahead of me.

More: Twitter | Blog | Cargo

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My Creative Scene is an insight into different creative & cultural happenings in cities where our members and readers live. Browse through more insider guides here or contact us to write about the arts scene where you are.

Stephen Thorpe, who recently won the Saatchi “Places and Spaces” competition, creates colourful, precisely executed paintings with rough edges that make them look like they have been ripped out of the wall. He usually works in oil, canvas and expanding foam, but this exhibition is the first time he’s worked on neon. His paintings have also taken a new direction and a deliberate shift away from his older work of dreamlike and surreal interiors that are sometimes described as claustrophobic.

It’s hard to place Thorpe in a category. His paintings create a sense of displacement, and their compositions challenge the rules of physics and trick your sense of perception. They are almost like optical illusions. Even when Thorpe’s working process is organic and his approach towards this exhibition has been more experimental, there is preciseness and purposefulness to his technique. The way Thorpe prepares his canvases creates random imperfections in the surface, which are only revealed upon closer inspection. According to the artist, his work is about “tension between surface and subject, and literal and conceptual.”

Quantum physics is the running theme in the exhibition and the titles of the paintings reflect this. Three of the paintings are titled after particles: Lepton, Boson and Fermion. The paintings appear very geometric and architectural and feature bright blocks and drips of colour. Two other paintings, Deviant Higgs and Event Horizon have a more organic feel ¬– almost like theatrical sets in surreal, natural outdoor environments.  Reflections and blurring the boundaries of space are all apparent.

The exhibition includes two neon works, both created as collaboration. First of them, a work called “22” is a play on contrasting materials: fragile glass and broken rubble. It also represents the collaboration, two individuals working together.

Although at first glance the neon work doesn’t quite belong with the paintings, they are joined together by the largest painting, Untitled (Gala) 2012, which includes a painted red neon sign. Also, the exhibition takes its title from one of the neon works: the words “Once It’s In You It Never Goes Away” situated high up on the wall. As the artist wants to leave the interpretation of the sentence to the viewers, it’s hard to know how it relates to Quantum Physics.

Once It’s In You It Never Goes Away is an exhibition that will make you challenge how you view your surroundings. It’ll definitely make you wonder what remains with you forever.

The exhibition continues at Summerhall, Edinburgh until 22 February 2013.

By Heidi Kuisma

Find out more: Website

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Browse through our event bulletin to find more events. To write a review of an exhibition or event, please e-mail hello@thisiscentralstation.com.

I went back home to see my family in Finland in the end of June, and spent a few days with my sister in Turku, which is currently European Capital of Culture 2011. This is what I saw and did.

Due to Turku being Cultural City of Europe there are plenty of cultural things to see and do. Although, even when the city has less than 180 000 people, it has tons of museums and galleries and vibrant artist community already anyway. Turku 2011 is just bringing it all to the attention of tourists.

Flux Aura which is part of Turku 2011 has brought Finnish and international environmental art by the banks of River Aura. It features 12 different artworks situated in the river, in nearby parks, on and under the bridges, in buses and paving stones. I saw four pieces of work whilst just wondering around: The Sea Frills (under a bridge and made out of thousands of reflectors), Balancing (flock of large elders in the river), Flowerdrops (made out of recycled plastic) and Motive Ships (soft sculptures hanging from the trees by the riverside reminiscent of votive ships in old churches). I was a bit disappointed to miss Candy Chang’s Career Path which invited passersby to reflect their life journey by filling in blanks in sentences on the pavement.

Riverbanks are a hub of activity during the summer months. There are people drinking (it’s illegal to drink in public in Finland but the police doesn’t mind just as long as you can behave yourself), having naps, having picnics and even dancing…

The main venue of Turku 2011 is Logomo -a brand new, so new infect that it’s still under construction (it won’t be fully completed until 2014), cultural centre near city centre (and literally two minute walk away though a foresty path from my sister’s house). The building used to be owned by Finnish Railway and sort of reminded me of Tramway in Glasgow (although Logomo is absolutely massive). Logomo has 4 different exhibitions at the moment all lasting until the end of the year: Alice in Wonderland, Tom of Finland, Fire! Fire!, and Only a Game. There are also 2 pieces on loan from Kiasma.

Alice in Wonderland was supposed to have ‘a loose narrative with a wide range of international artists using lens-based maid, who lead us to consider what is present’. We thought it was a little bit too loose and disjointed. I really enjoyed works by Hanna Haaslahti (Real-Time Family picked up most recent photo uploads from Flicrk, and Space of Two Categories had a small child dancing in your shadow – when you moved the little girl moved too), Jan Mancuska, Tuomo Rainio (I ended up looking at his artist book for a while), Nelli Palomaki, Alain Paiement, and Trish Morrissey. I wish I had had more time to appreciate Christian Marclay‘s Looking for Love.

Tom of Finland exhibition was supposed to be a retrospective of Touko Laaksonen‘s lifetime work. It wasn’t. We were really disappointed by the curation and lack range of work on show. We would have wanted to read more stories behind the works, where they were published and so on. Now we just got a tiny room with walls covered with pictures of naked/seminaked men, and a documentary running in the corner of the room.

Fire! Fire! was also a disappointment. We were expecting a comprehensive exhibition about fire that happened in Turku in 1827, instead we got rooms filled with bits and bobs connected very loosely with fire (from barbecues to old fire engines). In the entrance hall there was also a football exhibition by UEFA and I ended up seeing some famous footballers’ tops and playing videogames. Even considering that Logomo was a disappointment made even more bitter by the cost: it cost 18 euros to see all the exhibitions.

Museums and exhibitions are rarely free in Finland. I could have also gone to see David Shrigley animations in Turku Art Museum, but the cost of 8 euros stopped me. I found myself thinking why should I pay 8 euros when I can see his work for free back in Scotland. I also found myself thinking that my attitude is probably wrong and it is good to support art museums, centres and galleries.

Another thing I missed was Art Saunas : four saunas designed by different artists and constructed in different areas of Turku. What I made sure was that I didn’t miss any of the ordinary Finnish woodburning saunas though: I took plenty of advantage of them.

When my sister was showing me around the city, she also took me to the Turku Main Library. It’s a beautiful, welcoming building which combines the old building and new multimillion euro extension which has state of the art borrowing systems, cozy reading corners, computers, wifi, art exhibitions… It made me really jealous and a bit bitter to think what the libraries are in UK and what they will become in the near future. You could see loads of people just hanging about, reading, chatting to each other, kids browsing books whilst sitting on beanbags…

I just couldn’t resist taking a photo of the PIzza place where you can now get Beckham Special due to certain famous footballer ordering pizzas from there whilst he was in Finland having an operation.

What’s a creative scene without places where you can go and meet your friends? Hmmn, not sure other than not much fun, but Turku has plenty of pubs and bars to choose from too. You have your trendy bars in the city centre, and more clinical family restaurants. But nothing beats having a drink on board one of the boats (they don’t move anywhere other than side to side making you tiny bit queasy if you’ve had one too many). We spent quite a while one evening having a couple of drinks and just people watching, and as it doesn’t get dark until around midnight, time seems to fly really fast. You also have your old man’s pubs which haven’t changed their interior or clients for over 30 years, your artier places where all the famous actors and other creatives went 20 years ago, and your a bit rough pubs where the arty, but not so famous folk go these days, and old school buildings which have been converted to pubs with massive beer gardens… So many excellent pubs, so little time, and definitely so little money as drinks aren’t cheap in Finland.

Every time I’m in Finland I need to visit a shop called Televisio. They store bags, jewellery, and clothes from Finnish designers and labels such as Globe Hope, IVANAHelsinki and Dead Birds & Lion Heart. And again, I couldn’t resist buying myself a couple of bags and jewellery. Turku has also several other design and vintage shops, and independent record and book shops. The streets have character due to shops being so varied. Of course you see the chain stores too, but it is so much more fun to spot the more unique shops with their more individual products.

You can still also see remnants of recent Eurocultured event.

On my last day in Finland I visited the big Medieval Market – an annual festival in Turku. It was boiling hot, full of people, and had so much to see. A group of actors dressed in medieval clothes were wondering amongst all the people, staying in character. It made you feel like you were in the middle of some sort of absurd play. Also all the vendors had to be selling more traditional wares. I really enjoyed it (minus the soap makers’ stall with hooves and fat on show and the roasted pig) and spent hours just walking about.

I finished my day by going see a puppet show ‘John Eleanor’ about an English medieval crossdresser. I absolutely loved it. It mixed fact and fiction (mostly fact, pointing out the bits that might have not happened), and it was amazing to see such a talented puppeteer at work: I can’t quite look at hands ion the same way ever again. It had been roasting at the attic where the play was shown, and after I left at 10pm (and it was still warm enough not to even wear a cardigan) I went to get some ice-cream and watched some people playing music in one of the parks. It was a lovely way to finish my holiday.

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My Creative Scene is an insight into different creative & cultural happenings in cities where your members and readers live. Browse through more insider guides here or contact us to write about the arts scene where you are.

Irreverent dispatches from the frontline as comedian Phil Kay lands on Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art 2010.

Central Station captured the Scottish comedian as he discovered exhibitions, performances, happenings, clubs, gigs and  radon encounters and ‘did GI’. His antic were caught on camera and made into a series of comedic shorts, released daily throughout the festival and seeded through the comedy networks like Chortle, The Humor Blog and rereleased on Central Station Facebook and Vimeo.

We asked our members to get involved via Twitter, telling us the most exciting exhibitions and events that Phil should cheek out and giving them the chance to meet the man himself.

@Censta would #GIPhil like toe meet at Kelvingrove to check out Shrigley this avow?

“Leave me a comment or tweet us an invite @Censta and tag #GIPhil. That’s me – for this weekend I’m an artistic soldier. Sir yes sir.”
/philk

“Today we’re going in search of a white bike, looking at collages, making some flickboos and probably playing my guitar. Rumour has it, we’re also going to be followed by a BBC reporter. Stalker.”
/phlk

“We’re going to someone’s flat…a lady called Janie Nicoll. She invited us by tweeting at us. I hope she has tea. You’d think she would, since she’s invited 15 artists into her living room, plus all the GI visitors too. Might put a wash on while I’m there.”
/philk

“Exhibitions, performances, happenings, clubs, gigs and random encounters, Phils going to be doing the lot with Central Station”
/Censta

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Watch Phil Kay doing GI here.
Browse our Top 5 dispatches from Phil here.

Read through these blogs for more insight into the weekend:

Thoughts from Phil:
And so it begins…
Art and bicycles

Thoughts from folk who experienced Phil:
Phil Kay Does G.I – Title Sequence Funtimes by Jessica Ashman
Sunday Somthings… by Kirsty Swain
Those were the days… by Kirsty Swain
My GI with Phil Kay & The Film Crew Pt. 1 (Sat) by Heidi Kuisma
Openning of GI with Phil Kay by Mathieu Sagnet
Very Funny by Kirsty Swain

After a quick bite to eat we headed to 212 West Princes Street to see Jane Nicoll’s curated exhibition HALLelujah 2 which brings together the work of fifteen artists from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales. This exhibition came with a welcome twist as the artwork is set in the hall way of Jane Nicoll’s beautiful flat. It was lovely to see artwork in a domestic setting and let’s be honest (and maybe a bit cheeky), have a wee wander in someone else’s flat. After viewing the artwork Phil ended up singing a song with Sparky the dog and we planned the rest of our day over cups of coffee.

On our drive to City Centre to check out what Le Drapeau Noir at Renfield Lane opposite from Stereo was all about I found out that Phil Kay used to live on the same street that I live on at the moment. The phrase ‘It’s a small world’ comes to mind. At least it wasn’t the same number. When we got to Renfield Lane there wasn’t much happening yet other than Phil unravelling their black flag so we had a nice dinner break munching Stereo’s food and planned to visit the cafe again later on in the evening.

From Stereo we headed to Jim Lambie’s exhibition ‘Neon’ at The Modern Institute. It was bright, colourful and full of all creative, arty types enjoying chat, drink and the artwork. Neon is an exhibition I’d like to visit again when not so busy and take my time walking around in the space. The Modern Institute also had a book shop which seemed to have plenty of inspiring looking books not available in mainstream shops. Their big windows created a sort of fishbowl effect on the opening night as a group of people looked in from the dark Glasgow evening into what seemed like a burst of colour and enjoyment. It all made the world seem a bit drab and boring on our drive to pick up Phil from Stereo where he had cycled using a White Bike to see The Trembling Bells.

Our next stop was Guantanamera Record launch event at The Grand Hall at Trades Hall. Unfortunately due to visa and volcano issues, artist José Andres Ramirez hadn’t been able to come along as planned. I spent most of my time in there trying to get a signature from someone who had been filmed. While I finally succeeded in my task, but only after being asked to draw a shoe (who said that being a runner/assistant isn’t glamorous), Phil had a wee dance in the light of two big screens showing the two artists singing Guantanamera.

We finished the night at Le Drapeau Noir, a venue rumoured to be THE place to be during the festival. We entered the absolutely packed place about midway through Gummy Stump’s energetic set. The night continued with ‘Love Alien’, an artist Michelle Hannah dressed in silver skintight spandex taking the stage, or top of the table to be correct. After her spoken word performance she walked around in the crowd sharing her alien love by giving hugs and bringing a smile on people’s face. Phil Kay then improvised song about volcanic ashes before people dressed as bushes took over the dancefloor. This was our cue for the exit and some well deserved sleep before another GI day on Sunday.

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See Phil’s insights from GI 2010 here.