Hidden on the first floor of an old office block in a back street of the city’s creative Northern Quarter is Ziferblat, a new kind of social space that acts as both workspace and lounge for many city dwellers. Open to everyone this home from home in the city centre provides free tea, coffee and cake but instead charges visitors for the time they spend there, just 6p per minute.
Exhibited in the main lounge space are a series of graphic images based on the temptations of Christ in the Wilderness, a Bible story that tells of the 40 days Jesus fasted and prayed before beginning his public ministry two thousand years ago. Artist Micah Purnell has taken the main elements of the story to critique today’s culture of consumerism, celebrity, competition, power and control through his exciting graphic images and word art, revealing the relevance in the message of this narrative for today.
Micah Purnell is Graphic Designer & Conceptual Artist using both skills to debate contemporary ideology whilst offering a bespoke service to the creative and charity industries.
Purnell has exhibited alongside Turner Prize winner Douglas Gordan and has work included in a Coffee Table book by the famous Italian Benetton designer Oliverio Toscani. He recently visited The United States to spend time with Time Magazine and New York Times illustrator Anthony Freeda and to be interviewed by conceptual artist Steve Lambert at the prestigious Purchase Art College, State University of New York. He designed Elbow‘s Mercury and Brit nominated debut album Asleep in the Back and has been commissioned by Pizza Express, the NHS and the Salvation Army amongst others.
Purnell is founder and partner of Print and Paste, a monthly curated outdoor gallery which utilised a space traditionally used for advertising in Manchester. Print and Paste has been featured in numerous international online magazines including Creative Review.