Peter Grubb
Rock 'n' Rolla / Designer / UK

Francesca Vittoria Spille
Iconoclast / Photographer / USA

Peter Grubb was born in Portsmouth, England, in 1962.

In 1972, his family moved to Cheltenham where he spent his adolescent years.

"It all started when my father took me to Hot Rod Shows where the cars were covered in incredible painted graphics, I knew then I wanted to be a graphic designer"

He attended the Cheltenham School of Art, where he took his foundation course before choosing to study graphic design at Nottingham Trent University, where he graduated with a B.A. Hons Degree.

After graduation, Peter moved to London where he worked for several design agencies, designing posters for the Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and The London Contemporary Dance Theatre. He also designed graphics and exhibitions for various London fashion designers.

In 1989, he returned to Nottingham designing for more fashion labels like Wrangler Jeans, Hush Puppies, Roland Cartier and Pretty Polly.

Frustrated with the creative direction of the company he worked for, he decided to start his own company "Petrol Design". He also lectured Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University.

He now runs his business internationally from his residence in the Charente, France, where he lives with his fiance, American Photographer, Francesca Spille.

Peter and Francesca share a mutual love for anything Rock and Roll and both grew up in a 1970's England where Punk Rock was fashionable amongst the youth. This and being inspired by designers such as Jamie Reid (the Sex Pistol's graphic designer) and Vivienne Westwood (fashion designer), they decided to form their own art movement "Punkture".

Grubb's latest works are a Rock and Roll fuelled melange of brightly colored images, incorporating his favorite subjects such as Mexican sugar skulls, Hot Rod graphics, sexy pin-ups and tattoos, all making up an urban retro mix, printed on large format vinyl canvases.

Francesca Spille was born in Los Angeles, USA, in 1962.

Her father, the official background artist for the Charlie Brown and Peanuts films, decided to move his family to Europe in 1969.

With a background in Fine Art and having completed her art studies at the likes of Parsons School of Design in Paris and St. Martins School of Art in London, Francesca started exhibiting her work regularly after graduation and has since progressed from painting to photography.

"Since an early age, I've always loved photography and have a long-standing fascination for portraits and pictures of people."

Francesca originally took inspiration from Jack Kerouac's "The Subterraneans", which was the portrayal of the American Underground Art Scene in the 1950's.

"I'm interested in anything to do with the underground art movement, from the music to graffiti to tattoos and of course the peacocks who come out at night."

Spille's latest works are large format grunged-up photographs of herself, heavily tattooed and masked with burlesque overtones with superimposed layers of graphics by Grubb, all printed on vinyl.

Last year, Francesca exhibited alongside the British Photographer, Rip Hopkins in his exhibition "Another Country" at the Collegial in Riberac, France.

This year's exhibition at the Mediatheque in Villbois Lavalette, was Grubb and Spille's first together and was not only the birth of "Punkture",but the beginning of a cool and wonderful venture.