With an archive of around three thousand artworks, we are constantly busy in the studio, printing, framing and shipping out artworks. Our clients buy such a wide range of prints from us and it's a total joy knowing that people spent time browsing to find the one that they love the most, that they connect with, that is perfect for their interior. This year for the first time our gallery platform Bleach Box announced the bestselling artwork of the month on Instagram and there was a mostly common theme of bold colourful pop art, typography and architecture.
January 2021 Bestselling Artwork - 'Space', Ibiza The Balearic Islands (2016). Taken the year that Space, the iconic Ibiza super club closed. From the moment this artwork was launched, it proved a success as so many could connect it to their joyful memories of Ibiza. We have heard the most amazing 'Space love stories; as many couples met there, on the dance floor. Richard Heeps is well known for his "sign" photography as his unique compositions make you look at the structures in a whole other way.
February 2021 Bestselling Artwork(s) - Heidler & Heeps Tape Collection (2017). The Heidler & Heeps analogue darkroom process brings the cult classic cassette tape to life. They have grit, texture and depth. They evoke a sense of analogue nostalgia, as everyone over the age of thirty remembers cassettes with fondness. Going to HMV to buy a single at the weekend, recording John Peel on the radio, winding the reel with a pencil when the tape comes loose. The transparent tones of the colours created in the darkroom make them perfect pop art.
March 2021 Bestselling Artwork - 'ICES', Bexhill-on-Sea (2020). Taken between lockdowns in September 2020, the British staycation took Richard back to Bexhill-on-Sea. Having previously visited in 2018 and spotted the 'ICES' sign and photographed it, he wasn't sure he'd got the right format, so this time armed with his Fuji 6x9 he shot it again, and this was the one. It has proved to be one of Richard's most popular artworks of all time, the simple bold colour block of blue and the suspended ice cream cone echoes the joys of British seaside. Framed with the distinctive Kodak film border it adds another dimension to the bold typography of the simple isolated word 'ICES'.
April 2021 Bestselling Artwork - Heidler & Heeps 'B Side Vinyl Installation' (2016). In April we made four individual installations of the Heidler & Heeps B Side Vinyl Collection thanks to clients in the UK, US and Germany, each having a bespoke collection. The coloured discs suspended on white framed in a choice of black or white look fantastic in sets of multiples to fit the interior they have been chosen for, they look great from a distance and you can get lost in the endless individual details when you get close.
May 2021 Bestselling Artwork - 'Daisy's Kitchen' (1990). We have to credit the Affordable Art Fair Online Marketplace for this. We are unsure if it was was featured in a blog or a special collection but 'Daisy's Kitchen' was purchased by a number of marketplace clients. From Richard Heeps' 'Ordinary Places' series, this artwork is very close to home, two doors down in fact. Richard has lived in the same house for thirty plus years, moving in with his Great Aunt when he left Art School, today it is his home and his studio where all artworks are hand made. The series photographed Britain on the brink of change and today fits the popular "cottagecore" aesthetic.
June 2021 Bestselling Artwork - Heidler & Heeps 'Vinyl Collection' (2014-2020). The bold colourful pop art of the Heidler & Heeps Vinyl Collection come in many forms. Whether that be stand alone pieces to sit in a nook or amongst a gallery wall, or a pair or a triptych to hang above a sofa or dining room table. Our most popular nine piece installations and many large scale installations went to homes in America this year. We have such great conversations with our clients when creating them to perfect their aesthetic preferences to suit their interior. Entire installations in blue are very popular, the varied tone of each print creates a great monochrome effect.
July 2021 Bestselling Artwork - ' Swim-in-Pool Supply Co.' (2003). Richard Heeps' unique compositions in his 'Sign Porn' photography is particularly notable here. Richard revisited this location in Las Vegas three times over two years, shooting in different formats, each time the sky different, on this day it had rained, clearing the desert haze leaving a bright blue. The saturated blue sky, red typography and and pops of yellow are the perfect colour combination to represent joy! In early July Richard exhibited at The Other Art Fair King's Cross and 'Swim-in-Pool Supply Co' was his most popular artwork of the fair.
August 2021 Bestselling Series - A Short History of Milan (2018-2020). Richard Heeps began shooting ‘A Short History of Milan’ in November 2018. The series was initially created as a special project for the Affordable Art Fair Milan in 2019. Having visited to exhibit yearly he began to see the many layers to the city. Turning his camera on it he found that there was inspiration everywhere he looked revealing its unique ingredients. As a street photography project it meant that interiors, architecture and architectural details are a primary feature, Richard's compositions and style have meant the series is popular with both the Milanese and internationally and has really connected Richard's work with new audiences.
September 2021 Bestselling Artwork - 'WC', Ho Chi Minh City (2016). When exploring the city of Saigon in the tropical climate surrounded by the historical buildings, we stopped in a Buddhist Temple to take a break. Richard spotted this sign, not really in keeping in its cultural setting and took the picture for his series 'This is Not America' which is made up of his Vietnam photography.
October 2021 Bestselling Series - Heidler & Heeps 'Tape Collection The B Sides' (2021). In 2021 we headed into the darkroom and made a range of new editions in the Heidler & Heeps Tape Collection including the 'B Sides', a collection of cassettes on white backdrops. The contrasting colour tones on white really pop, making them an instant hit.
November 2021 Bestselling Artwork - 'NOMAD', New York Sequence (2017). As a child Richard loved to draw the Manhattan skyline and finding himself at the perfect viewpoint to photograph the cityscape he captured the iconic architecture lit up at night, a time sequence as it changed colour amongst a haze of atmospheric mist. Richard released a sequence of nine prints in a range of colours, originally released with plain borders this year he decided to release them with the Kodak film rebate, exhibiting them in New York for the first time at the Affordable Art Fair in September.
December 2021 Bestselling Artwork - 'Brutalist Symphony II', Barbican Estate, London (2019). Architecture has featured in many collections of Richard's work, photographing skyscrapers in New York, farmhouses in the Fens, abandoned mining towns in America, hutongs in China and many more around the world. One of Richard's primary motivations to be a photographer was due to a thatch cottage in the Cambridge village of Girton, where he was born. Richard passed the cottage each day on the way to school before it was demolished to make the carpark for a Spar shop. Witnessing the demolition of such a beautiful building had such an impact on five year old Richard, and having kept a newspaper cutting of the event all these years, gave him a sense of the importance of capturing things to document and therefore preserve them. Much of what Richard has photographed has since disappeared. Richard grew up in a time of Brutalist architecture and with his father working in construction he would take Richard to visit the sites of Cambridge Brutalist buildings whilst they were being built. Today Richard turns his camera on them, capturing the buildings in his photographic style which often emphasises how light falls on them, including the iconic Grade II listed Barbican Estate.
Thanks to our partner galleries and online marketplaces who contributed to the success of these artworks. Thanks to all the clients who chose to begin or add to their Richard Heeps Collection.
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