Winter Wonderland

Emma Rios is commissioned to create her own winter wonderland backdrops for a range of fragrances.
Now showing in the current issue of Tatler, Emma uses paper silhouette's to capture these evocative scenes which were then photographed by Ted Humble Smith.

Great Wall Of Comedy

on the 'tube'

Working with Red Bee Media, Emma Rios produces art for the promotion of Jo Brand's new comedy TV Show. 

'Great Wall of Comedy' airing on the Gold channel from next week is all about sitcom classics; such as Faulty Towers and Only Fools & Horses. Emma was asked to create a wall of TV's which are currently being used in the promotional posters. Emma says " I love old vintage TV's so illustrated these. The photos of Jo & Co. where taken separately so I had to make it work as one piece. (I) love going past the billboards on the tube!"

Theatrical Supercar

Emma Rios has been working with Pencil Agency on this ad for Mercedes. Featuring the actress Emilia Fox, the ad uses Emma's skills as a set designer to create the backdrops for the story, which were then painted by a scenic artist. The ad is a good humoured  'to be continued' tale, framed by Emma's expressive lines.

ES Food Monthly

Emma Rios recently illustrated the cover of the debut edition of ES Food Magazine. Bompas & Parr were the art directors of the piece, which is inspired by old medical illustrations, with London representing the internal organs.

Emma's Ouija Board Tea Towel for Bompas & Parr

Emma Rios spent last week designing and hand printing 100 limited edition Ouija Board tea towels for the latest Bompas & Parr show. The exhibition entitled Heavens to Murgatroyd in on now. Below is the press release:

Heavens to Murgatroyd!

Multidisciplinary mysticism

12 May – 1 July 2011.

Arts Gallery, University of the Arts London, 272 High Holborn, WC1V 7EY

Monday – Friday 11am – 6pm. Nearest tube Holborn

As England counts down to the ancient pagan celebration of the summer solstice, the Arts Gallery presents Heavens to Murgatroyd!, an exhibition that delves into shamanism cosmology, mysticism and the occult in an endeavour to investigate the unknown. Mike Ballard, Lindsey Bull, Bompas & Parr, Jess Littlewood and Joey Ryken invite you to explore an alternative interpretation of the universe through collage, painting, performance, video, sound and sculpture.

The allure of the mystical has long held sway over artists. From ancient civilisations’ depictions of mythical beasts and gods of the natural world, to talismans crafted throughout the centuries to ward off harm, and the Victorian Gothics’ fascination with all things supernatural, art has been used to explore, represent and embody alternative belief systems and their phenomena. The contemporary artists in Heavens to Murgatroyd! work across disciplines to interrogate the full spectrum of post-modern perspectives, from cynicism and intrigue, to sincere belief in a mystical experience of the world.

Spectacular culinary architects Bompas & Parr have had a life-long enthrallment with all things occult; for this exhibition they aim to revive the ultimate 19th century parlour game, the Ouija board. The duo have designed a limited edition Ouija board tea towel which will be for sale exclusively at the Arts Gallery; the tea towel will unite the domesticity of the humble tea towel with the supernatural functionality of a spirit key board, making the ability to communicate with the undead available to every home.

Chocolate Waterfall

If you are finding yourself near Whiteley's Shopping centre this week, please go and see one spectacular installation created by Bompas and Parr, sets painted by Emma Rios:

Bompas & Parr to open Chocolate Waterfall at Whiteleys Shopping Centre

"Bompas & Parr is building a Chocolate Waterfall at Whiteleys Shopping Centre open between 22 -25 April. Visitors don a protective suit and step through a chocolate waterfall to visit a chamber flooded with five tonnes of chocolate.  They will then blend and bottle a chocolate elixir in the installation’s processing unit.

This April is the 40^th Anniversary of the original film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Bompas & Parr honours Roald Dahl’s creativity by constructing a real Chocolate Waterfall that flows at a rate of 12,000 litres an hour. The waterfall serves to keep the chocolate fully mixed.

The Chocolate Waterfall pulls together Bompas & Parr’s favourite beans from around the world (Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean) to create its first house blend. Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart, food technologist and flavour expert helped develop the recipe. The five tonne mixture is chocolatey with hints of plum, red wine and earth.

After visiting the Chocolate Waterfall people will be given the chance to bottle and take away their own chocolate elixir – a concentrated chocolate cordial. Visitors customize the chocolate elixir by blending flavours like lavender, jasmine or pine by hand.

The temporary installation will appeal to all ages. It will excite children’s imaginations. Adults will be intrigued by the food on an architectural scale, excellent design, unusual flavours and encouraged to release their inner child.

Whiteleys Shopping Centre is a magical location with an illustrious history. It was built by William Whiteley as an imposing store for the public to provide everything from ‘a pin to an elephant’. It became known as the ‘universal provider’. At its peak it was the height of luxury with a golf-course on the roof and a theatre..."

Emma Rios in Remastered

Emma Rios has collaborated with Dan Price to exhibit in Remastered, an exhibition which has taken place at 1 Marylebone over the weekend.

"The Remastered project considers some of the most recognised works throughout art history, inviting thirteen contemporary artists and designers to reinterpret them, with technology at the core. Emma Rios and Dan Price take the most intriguing elements of Manet’s A Bar at the Folie-Bergere, the ambiguous perspective and the female subject, to create an interactive 18th century kaleidoscopic den. Enter and become mesmerised by throbbing reflections, magnifying the sinister side of Manet’s  famously controversial depiction of modern life." 

It is unfortunately now closed to the public, have a look here for more pictures and moving image.

Away with the Fairies

Definitely sprinkled with fairy dust is Emma Rios and her recent fairy-related work for Harpers Bazaar, illustrating six pages, each image depicting a different fairy tale.

The fairy theme continues next month with Emma’s collaboration with The House of Fairy Tales working on a 4-day event at the Tate Modern turning the space outside the building into a fairy tale adventure. Ideas are still in the making but should be similar to the paper cutout set design recently on view at the 02.

Emma Rios's Scrapbook

This week leading illustrator Emma Rios takes us behind the scenes to reveal what inspires her to create her amazingly popular work.

Emma Rios's Scrapbook

London Fashion Week Sugar Cave and Liberty Prints

Emma Rios has been ever so busy! Two major commissions have recently been completed, the first of which is the "Sugar Cave" created for London Fashion Week. Emma produced a Jules Verne adventure using sugar as an architectural scale alongside art directors Bompas and Parr. Silver Spoon sugar was used to build a crystal cave that imagined the visitor had been shrunk to the size of a standard grain of table sugar!

Emma has also designed a range of prints for Liberty inspired by London. She says: "...I love Liberty and London so this was even more of an honour and a great treat to work on, even more so when I found out my designs were going on everything from tea pots to silk scarves …I even heard someone say socks! These prints include a map of London, a gentleman pigeon and a theatrical paper-cut of a haunting Thames..." This image shows the map which will be in Liberty from November.

Kensington Palace Gardens

Be sure to keep your eyes to the skies this summer when walking through the gardens of Kensington Palace so you don’t miss these astounding creations by Emma Rios.
This is another feather in the hat of creative mastermind Emma who designed these metal silhouetted archways throughout the Sunken Garden, where they will remain for 2 years. Encompassing some ideas and designs from a group of teenagers, the arches tell a story of the princesses who have lived within the palace walls. Emma was honoured to have her work as part of the show.