All posts tagged: BSMT Space

Ben Wakeling: Loving Fiercely, Inside and Outside

Ben Wakeling: Loving Fiercely, Inside and Outside

February 15, 2024

‘Abstract Figurativism: Loving Fiercely’ a solo show by Ben Wakeling

Ben Wakeling street work. (photo © Smorray)

 

Ben Wakeling, a British artist celebrated for his abstract figurative art on the street and on canvas, brings his unique expression to BSMT with “Abstract Figurativism: Loving Fiercely.”

Wakeling, known for his powerful charcoal lines and bold colors, explores the depths of self-portraiture by letting his hands draw in an automated way, revealing his inner consciousness. His work, a blend of abstraction and classic portraiture, transmutes the inner workings of his world onto canvas.

 

Wakeling, known for his powerful charcoal lines and bold colors, explores the depths of his self-portraiture by letting his hands draw in an automated way, revealing his inner consciousness. His work, a blend of abstraction and classic portraiture, transmutes the inner workings of his world onto canvas.

This exhibition, opening this February at BSMT, promises a journey through Wakeling’s exploration and re-invention of self-portraiture, showcasing a collection of large-format paintings and unseen drawings.

According to the press release, “He lets his hands draw in an automated way, reminiscent of the surrealist exercise of revealing inner consciousness through automatic writing. However, what Wakeling expresses is his identity in self-portraiture, suppressing conscious control in the process.”

The exhibition will feature a collection of eight large-format paintings alongside a selection of never-before-seen drawings.

Ben Wakeling street work. (photo © Ben Wakeling)
Ben Wakeling. Self-portrait. (photo courtesy of BSMT)
Ben Wakeling street work. (photo © Not Banksy Forum)

Ben Wakeling: ‘Abstract Figurativism: Loving Fiercely’

Dates:

Opening night: February 22nd, 6pm – 9pm. 

Show dates: February 23rd – March 3rd.

BSMT SPACE GALLERY

529 Kingsland Rd, London E8 4AR, United Kingdom

Read more
Perspicere – “Bare Thread” – BSMT Space, UK

Perspicere – “Bare Thread” – BSMT Space, UK

May 18, 2023

Continuity. That is a characteristic inherent in string art, usually because one associates the act of long rolls of string repeatedly wrapped around nail heads to create a piece. In the area of street art, there have been a few notable examples of artists using string to make new artworks in public space; the American HOTTEA, who is known for his large-scale installations of colorful strings as well as more human-sized typographic slogans on chain-link fences, Spidertag from Spain who began with yarns and nails and graduated to neon and fluorescent installations of geometric, often abstract designs on surfaces. Mademoiselle Maurice is known for string and origami elements in her installations, and Jane Echelman has displayed massive aerial sculptures of woven rope and fibers in public spaces. Although you may easily make that connection, we won’t go into yarn-bombing.

From his Instagram, Perspicere says “Take back to 2018 when I first had a piece of my artwork set on fire….
Good Times…” (© photo courtesy of the artist)

Today we’re talking about the unbroken threads of artist Perspicere and his new exhibition called ‘BARE THREAD’. He has a talent for conjuring ghost-like portraits on canvasses and on the street using a technique not known or mastered by many. Wound in complex and individual patterns, the people emerge upward and outward toward you, even though they are necessarily anchored.

Perspicere. Bare Thread. BSMT Space. London, UK. (image courtesy of the gallery)

Once relegated to the realms of DIY, or crafting, string art has also gained recognition and acceptance as a legitimate art form in contemporary art circles while artists have pushed the boundaries of the medium, experimenting with various materials, techniques, and concepts. Much like its brother graffiti, whether string art is considered “high art” or not largely depends on the individual and the context in which it is presented. Here at BSMT Space gallery in London, there is no question.

BARE THREAD is Perspicere’s second solo show at BSMT Space in London, who say the works are “Truly breath-taking and thought-provoking, ‘Bare Thread’ is an exhibition that deftly weaves together themes of vulnerability, courage, and the human condition.” In a recent posting on Instagram, the gallery says “These pieces need to be seen in person, the complexity of the interwoven thread is astounding!”

Perspicere. Bare Thread. BSMT Space. London, UK. (image courtesy of the gallery)
From August 6, 2022, the artist writes with this video on Instagram “Action video of a recent piece down Leake Street. Brief action appearance of @allseeing.ra …. since this video my piece has been tagged, ripped AND set on fire!! Damn… these toys hate the string!!!..”
A Photoshopped image of Perspicere’s work in the streets. (image courtesy of the gallery)

‘Bare Thread’ opens at London’s BSMT gallery with a private view on May 25th, with drinks generously provided by our good friends at Magic Spells Brewery. The show runs from May 26th to June 11th, 2022. For catalogue enquiries or to attend the opening night RSVP via hello@bsmt.co.uk.

BSMT

529 Kingsland Road

London

E8 4AR

Read more
“Alter Ego” Presents Fascinating Human Portraits at BSMT Space

“Alter Ego” Presents Fascinating Human Portraits at BSMT Space

September 26, 2022

Just in time for considering Halloween costumery that evokes fantasies of alter ego, BSMT Gallery in the creative hub of North East London gives you a push, encouraging you to explore the possibilities.

Perspicere. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)

The beauty of opening the field of street art up to nearly anyone to join means that today’s “urban contemporary” scene also embraces those with formal art-school education and commercial art industry careers – sometimes delivering a fusion of street and modern aesthetics that are eye-popping. In the case of ‘Alter Ego’ opening on October 7th, you get to see portraiture that is varied as the practice, each selection presenting personality, character, and life in the post-industrial, knowledge-worker, surveillance age.

Alexander Chappel. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)

A meditative survey in the search for meaning, these profiles offer varied lenses through which one can gaze, backed by bonified painting talents. The results are distinctly human, and interpretive. As a collection the group show reflects this moment, this extended network, this Western society on the cusp of economic hardship and expanding war; the last moment before all the rules change again.

Artists include Aches, Alexander Chappel, Ange Bell, Angela Ho, Belin , Ben Wakeling, Caryn Koh, Edwin, Guy Denning, Jose Luis Cena, Joseph Loughborough, KMG, Pang, Panik, Perspicere, Stephen Anthony Davids, and Sweet Toof.

Ange Bell. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Aches. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Panik. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)

BSMT Space. ‘Alter Ego’ will run from October 7th through to October 30th. 529 Kingsland Rd, London, E84AR

Read more
Cranio is Lost in London: New Show at BSMT

Cranio is Lost in London: New Show at BSMT

July 28, 2022

You never know who you will find in the BSMT, and this little blue guy from Brazil is just the perfect troublemaker to light the doorway as you pass by. A talisman for the global game of street art and graffiti, Cranio’s blue character is an extension perhaps of himself – a combination alter-ego and representative for the indigenous people of Brazil.

Now he travels to this London gallery called BSMT, the newest canvasses engaging you as the artist Cranio (Fabio de Oliveira Parnaiba) invites you to engage again with his philosophical, comedic, and socially observant blue man.

Cranio (photo © London Calling Blog)
Cranio (photo © London Calling Blog)
Cranio (photo © London Calling Blog)
Cranio (photo © London Calling Blog)
Cranio (photo © London Calling Blog)

Private view: 6pm – 9pm, Thursday 28th July 2022

Read more
SODA Deconstructs Brilliantly on the Street and In the Gallery in London

SODA Deconstructs Brilliantly on the Street and In the Gallery in London

June 2, 2022

For graffiti artists today, deconstructing the letterform is more popular than you may imagine, and in our experience, leads to even greater things.

SODA (photo © Andor Ivan)

After 20+ years or so in the graffiti writing game, Alan De Cecco aka SODA jumps the rubicon to tap into the letterform at its most elemental, abstract dimension.

For his debut show at BSMT gallery in London, the high-precision Italian forces the perspective, almost making his static work move off the wall. A student of architecture who works as a designer, his street wall geometry sometimes is so removed from the “scene” that one is challenged to understand what they are observing. A remnant? A treatise? An unfinished composition? The remnants of two realities ripped apart?

Now that SODA has made his work for the gallery, at least you know someone will be there to explain it to you.

SODA (photo courtesy of BSMT Space)
SODA (photo courtesy of BSMT Space)
SODA (photo courtesy of BSMT Space)
SODA (photo courtesy of BSMT Space)
SODA (photo © Andor Ivan)

BSMT at 529 Kingsland Rd, E84AR. POLYGONS Private view: 6pm – 9pm, Thursday 9th June 2022

Read more
“New Surrealism” in London Streets/Gallery Appears Quite at Home

“New Surrealism” in London Streets/Gallery Appears Quite at Home

May 10, 2022
Enigm. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)

We’ve been seeing an uptick – perhaps you have too – in the surrealist inspired works on the street over the past couple of years. In fact it has heightened our interest so much recently that we will soon be looking at originals by Leonora Carrington to reacquaint ourselves with a master of the 20th century movement and to perhaps divine what is coming during globally turbulent times. For this reason it is not a surprise to see these street/studio artists opening a new show next week in the gallery/street that will be endeavoring to stare through the surrealist lens in London as well.

Enigm. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)

Given our poor choices in leaders, our unresponsive institutions, our heaving movements in society and science, and the march of the war industry directly toward what may already be the beginning of WWIII, it is appropriate to consider the role that surrealism played the last time we were slip-sliding toward Hell.

Here in London, the gallery BSMT Space presents what they are calling a New Surrealism with a selection of four new horseriders of the apocalypse: Ed Hicks, Enigm, Perspicere, and Ronch. Grandchildren of the original surrealism movement, they have the distinct honor of living beyond it. Now at the dawn of artificial intelligence, drones, and realistic robots, perhaps it is time to paint surreally, really.

Ed Hicks. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)

Siting Andre Bretons pronouncements in the ‘20s about dreams and realities, this quartet “aims to explore this famous cultural movement through the lens of a new wave of artists whose dream-like scenes and illogical or bizarre imagery collectively explore the workings of the mind,” in these ‘20s. Here their unfamiliar landscapes are welcomed and complex – and familiar.

“From the automatic drawings and paintings of Stefano Ronchi and Enigm which attempt to unlock ideas and images from their unconscious minds to the dream worlds of Ed Hicks or hidden psychological tensions of Perspicere, this exhibition attempts to engage with this new reality through the veil of the Surrealist movement.”

Ed Hicks. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)
Ronch. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo © Marcine Nowak)
Ronch. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo © Marcine Nowak)
Perspicere. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)
Perspicere. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)

BSMT Space. New Surrealism. Private view: 6pm – 9pm, Thursday 19th May 2022. London, UK. Click HERE for further information.

Participating artists:

Ed Hicks

Enigm

Perspicere

Ronch

Read more

Featured Video | Martin Wong’s “Houston Street”

Recent Articles on BSA