about

our story

the art-sports pioneers

A deep respect for creators, a love for illustration, graffiti, comics, skate culture and bar sports (namely darts and snooker) coupled with a vivid interest in current affairs and satirical opinion drove Marc Farrington's ambition to build the world's leading Art-Sports entertainment brand.

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our story

IWS was officially founded in 2017, discover more about our journey.

2010

Founded by Marc Farrington it began in Cafe 1001 (Brick Lane, London).  Once a fortnight Marc transformed the cafe into a Pop-Up gallery called ‘Showcase London’ - The Platform For Emerging Artists.  It became a popular destination giving graduates and local artists an opportunity to network, gain exposure and sell their work commission free.

View from the back of two seated girls.
2011

Showcase London positions itself at the forefront of London’s ‘Pop-Up’ scene. Maintaining its fortnightly schedule and building a reputation for quality and high footfall, keen to stay ahead of the crowd Marc begins to experiment with event formats introducing DJs, a pop-up street food stall and live entertainment.

Several people standing around talking to each other.
2012

Showcase London positions itself at the forefront of London’s ‘Pop-Up’ scene. Maintaining its fortnightly schedule and building a reputation for quality and high footfall, keen to stay ahead of the crowd Marc begins to experiment with event formats introducing DJs, a pop-up street food stall and live entertainment.

A man in sunglasses covering his face with his hand.
2013

With new branding, venue, an improved monthly format and live entertainment as standard, Showcase Cities offers both artists and attendees a more comprehensive and professional exhibition experience.  Welcoming artists in the early stages of their careers including: Dan Kitchener (DANK), Carne Griffiths and success story Matt Crump (Time Magazine Top 50).

Back view of two people looking at some photos.
2014

After 4 years delivering over 80 group shows, exhibiting almost 2000 artists, helping them collectively earn more than £150,000 in commission free sales, it’s time for a rest and re-think! Founder Marc Farrington has always had a passion for art, particularly illustration, it’s time to specialise, rebrand and raise the bar!

Back view of two people looking at frames.
2015

Introducing ‘Illustrated 2015’ - A collection of the brightest visionaries in contemporary illustration & street art.  An annual Expo and festival of illustration set against the backdrop of The Old Truman Brewery (Brick Lane, London) featuring 35 artists (including Alvaro Tapia, Samuel Gomez and award winning illustrator Marcus Reed).  A three day extravaganza with seminars, workshops, live performances and guest speakers including Camille Walala and the AOI.

Illustration of an angry red-haired girl with her fists closed near her face.
2016

‘Illustrated 2016’ features 40 artists including Catrin Welz-Stein, Antonio Lorente and Patrick George, complete with tattoo workshops and seminars from London Graffiti and Mr Doodle.  During the event we trial a competitive drawing competition called ‘The Brief’ where 2 x exhibitors (RYCA and Alex Moore) go head-to-head, a popular ‘in-event’ attraction - this becomes the catalyst for a new idea ...

Mr Doodle standing in front of a microphone.
2017

The Illustrated World Series (IWS) is officially launched and the UK Illustration Championships 2017 (the world’s first creative eSport) is delivered: 16 x competitors compete for the title with the final played out between Russell Taysom and eventual winner Si Mitchell.  The tournament is well received and the IWS commits to developing and growing this exciting new genre: the ‘Sportification’ of live art.

IWS red logo.
2018

Undergoing a full rebrand the UK Illustration Championships are scheduled as a biennial event and planning begins for 2019. Securing a more prestigious venue, fabricating professional Battle-Bays (iconic pro-drawing desks unique to the IWS), increasing our prize pool, ramping up ticket sales and welcoming more competitors while also developing an official rankings system are all top priorities.

Man standing over a table drawing.
2019

Benefiting from high profile sponsorships with Redbull, Coors Light, POSCA and metro.co.uk the event enjoys record attendance. Vision becomes reality as pro-tournament Battle-Bays bring a powerful visual aesthetic allowing 32 professionals to battle head-to-head in front of a sell-out crowd at Boxpark Wembley.  Lawrence Hugh Burns faces-off against Uncle Ewan in the final and wins the title.  The UK Championships becomes an annual tournament.

A man sitting and drawing in the middle of several people standing around him at one of the IWS tournaments.
2020

COVID-19 forces the entire tournament online, with last minute support from the Arts Council, POSCA and Scrawlrbox the UK Illustration Championships are successfully delivered.  Coordinating 32 competitors across 3 continents and 6 time zones with high online visibility welcoming over 6000 viewers.  ROOTS makes it through to the final after an impressive 3 day run, taking on eventual winner and champ Alex Solis.

A camera behind a ring light.
2021

The inaugural World Illustration Championships arrived at Samsung KX as we saw HATCH and Alex Solis win historically important Classic and Digital World Titles respectively. The UK Illustration Championships was forced online by COVID variant Omicron and streamed on Twitch to an audience of almost 500,000 unique viewers with TROU and IMRIE winning Classic and Digital UK titles respectively.

Man standing over a table drawing.
2022

The inaugural ILLUSTRATED MASTERS took place online as we saw Killer Napkins and Lawrence Hugh Burns win Classic and Digital Masters titles respectively. The #ukilluschamps was produced online exclusively and IMRIE became the first player in IWS history to win back-2-back UK (Digital) titles while SP:Zero (not seen on the circuit since 2019) returned to take the UK (Classic) title. Online attendance once again surged to almost 500K.

Number of views (483,972) reached in a stream of an IWS tournament on the Twitch channel.
2023

The IWS Seed-Rasie is underway and we’re launching our highly collectible ‘Vault Series’ back-catalog in Summer. Follow us on Twitch & Instagram @illustratedworldseries and stay updated.

Number of views (562,514) reached in a stream of an IWS tournament on the Twitch channel.

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