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Antoni Burakowski and Alison Roberts ( Antoni and Alison )

BIOGRAPHY
 “We are British designers working with art-based and sometimes, funny concepts to produce pieces of work which we incorporate into a range of clothing and accessories. Our work is the result of two people putting their heads together to create things that nobody asked us to do.”

Antoni & Alison met at St. Martins School of Art, London in 1982, where Antoni studied Fashion /Textiles and Alison studied Fine Art/Painting - they met in the first term, became inseparable and have worked together ever since…
    
1987: Established ‘ANTONI + ALISON’
From their council flat in Lant Street, London SE1,
Antoni Burakowski and Alison Roberts founded the label “Antoni + Alison”.

COLLECTION SUMMARIES Staged 1987 – 2009:
(MIXED MEDIA SHOWS/ STAGED CATWALK SHOWS)
1987 - ‘Be Happy’ – SS88 (designed in June 1987)
1988 - ‘Be Beautiful’ – AW88 (designed in January 1988)
1988 - ‘I Feel Amazing, Fantastic, Incredible, Brilliant, Fabulous, Great’ – SS89 (des. in June 1988)
1989 - ‘Look At Me’ – AW1989 (designed in January 1989)
1989 - ‘Elements’ – SS1990 (designed in June 1989)
1990 - ‘Collection Six’ – AW1990 (designed in January 1990)
1990 - ‘Eastend’ – SS1991 (designed in June 1990)
1991 - ‘Warm’ – AW1991 (designed in January 1991)
1991 - ‘All The Rage’ – SS1992 (designed in June 1991)
1992 - ‘Delicate & Elegant’ – AW1992 (designed in January 1992)
1992 - ‘The T-Shirt’ – SS1993 (designed in June 1992)
1993 - ‘Love It’ – AW1993 (designed in January 1993)
1993 – ‘I Can Fly’ – SS1994 (designed in June 1993)
1994 - ‘Modernist’ – AW1994 (designed in January 1994)
1994 - ‘There’ – SS1995 (designed in June 1994)
1995 – ‘Action’ – AW1995 (designed in January 1995)
1995 - Portraits’ – SS1996 (designed in June 1995)
1996 - ‘Egg & Chips’ – AW1996 (designed in January 1996)
1996 – ‘Hello’ – SS1997 (designed in June 1996)
1997 - ‘I Love Winky’ – AW1997 (designed in January 1997)
1997 - ‘This Way Folks’ – SS1998 (designed in June 1997)
1998 - ‘Seasonal Greetings’ – AW1998 (designed in January 1998)
1998 - ‘Day-Tripper’ – SS1999 (designed in June 1998)
1999 - ‘Appreciation Society’ – AW1999 (designed in January 1999)
1999 - ‘No Fun’ – SS2000 (designed in June 1999)
2000 - ‘Be Careful Not To Bang Your Head’ – AW2000 (designed in January 2000)
2000 - ‘13’ – SS2001 (designed in June 2000)
2001 -‘At Last I’ve Found You…’ – AW2001 (designed in January 2001)
2001 - ‘I Hate My Skirt’ – SS2002 (designed in June 2001)
2002 - ‘Girl in a Spotlight’ – AW2002 (designed in January 2002)
2002 - ‘Meaningless Ideas’ – SS2003 (designed in June 2002)
2003 - ‘Woman Descending the Staircase’ – AW2003 (designed in January 2003)
2003 - ‘D’ – SS2004 (designed in June 2003)
2004 - ‘Nothing’ – AW2004 (designed in January 2004)
2004 - ‘Untitled’ – SS2005 (designed in June 2004)
2005 - ‘Uncomplicated’ – AW2005 (designed in January 2005)
2005 - ‘New Restoration Works’ – SS2006 (designed in June 2005)
2006 - ‘Sculptress’ – AW2006 (designed in January 2006)
2006 - ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ – SS2007 (designed in June 2006)
2007 - ‘Drunk’ – AW2007 (designed in Jan 2007)
          2007 - ‘The Party Portraits’ – SS2008 (designed in June 2007
2008 – ‘A Spontaneous ~Piece of Work’ – AW08 (designed in Jan 2008)
          2008 – ‘A Very Exotic collection’ – SS2008 (designed in June 2008)
          2009 – ‘Dressing Up’ – AW2009 (designed in Jan 2009)
          2009 – ‘Screen Tests – SS2010 (designed in June 2009)


Archive
In 1997, the Victoria and Albert Museum created the ‘Antoni and Alison Archive’ The ‘living’ archive is set up to house the complete original design work and ephemera of Antoni and Alison
V&A Collection   http://www.vam.ac.uk/images/image/19974-popup.html

Shop
In 1997, Antoni and Alison opened their shop ‘The Factory of Lights and Experiment’ at 43 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1.
2009: Shop renovation incorporating a tearoom.

Exhibitions
1987 –2009 - All collections have been exhibited as part of London Fashion Week and the Paris equivalent.

Photography

Photographic work commenced in 1995:
March to July 1999 – Exhibition: ‘Fashion on Paper: 50 Years of British Fashion’ at The Victoria & Albert Museum, London
February 2001 – Solo Exhibition: ‘At Last I’ve Found You I Was Almost Going Mad’ a display of 50 photographs at The Photographer’s Gallery (Photography Institute), London.
October 2001 – Exhibition & Event: invitation for inclusion in the esteemed ‘Print Circle’ at The Photographer’s Gallery, London.
November 2001 – Exhibition: at ‘Paris Photo 2001’, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
November 2002 – Exhibition: at ‘Paris Photo 2002’ at the Photographer’s Gallery, London and Carrousel de Louvre, Paris
October 2003 – Inaugural Solo Exhibition: at Gallery Vassie (formerly the Hug Gallery), Amsterdam
March 2005 – Solo Exhibition: at Gallery Vassie, Amsterdam (in conjunction with below…)
March to May 2005 – Exhibition: in conjunction with above ‘Made in Britain: Contemporary British Photography’ at The Huis Marseille Photography Museum, Amsterdam – with inclusion in the accompanying exhibition catalogue
April 2006 – Solo Exhibition: ‘Photography Exhibition’ at the House of Antoni + Alison in conjunction with The Photographers’ Gallery, London
April 2006 – Solo Exhibition: ‘Mr & Mrs Antoni + Alison’ at Gallery Vassie, Amsterdam
May 2006 – Solo Exhibition: ‘The Cabinet of Curiosities’ Hackney Forge, London


Filmwork
Based on the photography stills:
1991: ‘WARM’. 1995: ‘PORTRAITS – ENGLAND, UNDATED’, 1999: ‘NO FUN’, 2000: ‘BE CAREFUL NOT TO BANG YOUR HEAD’, 2000: ‘13’, 2001: ‘AT LAST I’VE FOUND YOU I WAS ALMOST GOING MAD’, 2001: ‘I HATE MY SKIRT’. 2007 ‘THE PARTY PORTRAITS’ – a ‘one woman show’ featuring Nicole Kidman. 2009 SCREEN TESTS.


Installations and Comissions
1996: ‘Jam’ – Barbican Art Gallery, London
1996: ‘Jam’ – Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 2001: ‘Lost and Found’ – Museum Fur Kundsthandwerk, Stockholm
June 2001: ‘Woodland Scene Featuring The Dainty Dolly Varden’ – The Canary Wharf Window Gallery, London
November 2001; ‘Public Art Commission for Queen Square – The Birdbox Project’ – Bristol
2005: Installation: ‘The Cabinet of Curiosities’ an installation piece for Zetters, London.

Lectures and presentations
London, UK; Tokyo, Japan; New York, USA; Osaka, Japan; Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia; Berne, Switzerland, Moscow, Russia.
Antoni and Alison are current ‘visiting’ lecturers at:
Central St Martins School of Art, London; Royal Collage of Art, London; Goldsmiths College, London.

20th Anniversary
In October 2007 Antoni and Alison celebrated their 20th Anniversary, this was marked with therm directing Nicole Kidman in their film ‘The Party Portraits’ for SS2008.

M.B.E’s
Published in the New Year’s Honour list in January 2008, Antoni Burakowski and Alison Roberts, as ‘Fashion Designers and Photographers’, were both awarded M.B.E.s by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for their ‘Services to the Fashion Industry’.
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ANTONI BURAKOWSKI M.B.E.
D.O.B: 02/09/62        NATIONALITY: British
EDUCATION: 1982-1986: St. Martins School of Art - BA. Hons. Fashion /Textiles

ALISON ROBERTS M.B.E.
D.O.B: 25/02/63        NATIONALITY: British
EDUCATION: 1982-1986: St. Martins School of Art - BA. Hons. Fine Art /Painting

The House
In 2002, Antoni and Alison aquired and renovated ‘The House of Mr and Mrs Antoni and Alison’ at 80 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1. Building work was completed in 2005

Website
The Antoni & Alison website was launched first in April 2000. Designed to go ‘This Way’ and ‘That Way’, a combination of photography and text images – www.antoniandalison.co.uk The website re-launched in 2006 to incorporate ‘The House of Mr and Mrs Antoni and Alison’

British duo Alison Roberts and Antoni Burakowski are better known as the London-based fashion designers Antoni + Alison. Antoni + Alison’s work is heavily autobiographical and influenced by their everyday experiences.
Their love of the dismissed and underrated often form the inspiration for an image.  
Their collections are now admired internationally.  Regular fans of their work ifrom Katie Price to Nicole Kidman.

However successful their clothes and accessory designs may be, Roberts and Burakowski are primarily fine artists who have
exhibited their photography in galleries including The Photographers gallery in London. Their work is both in the collection of Prints and Drawings,
and exists as a ‘Living Archive’ at The Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Antoni and Alison make witty statements in their work. Their creative sensibility is often portrayed as having a ‘Very British sense of Humour’.  

“In our work, you will find ideas and concepts that come up time and time again in different forms. Within the work, we use our joint everyday experiences, references and sixth sense to form our own vocabulary – that is our own work.”