LWB London West Bank (LWB) is a brand new gallery opening in London on
Thursday 28th. www.londonwestbank.com. It’s a great space so please come down and
support the team involved in converting the old bank on the corner of
Westbourne Grove, Chepstow Road and Pembridge Villas, W11. To get an
invite RSVP to guestlist@londonwestbank.com
As an opening night teaser London based Street Artist K-GUY will be releasing a his ‘n’ hers special royal wedding commemorative mini print to celebrate the big occasion.
Limited to 40 prints at only 40 quid a pop available on the night….
and as a little incentive the first 10 people through the door get a
free one.
Fairy tales mash fantastic with ordinary, playing with perceptions of both. Street Artist and public artist Isaac Cordal lives in these two worlds and finds one that is a waking dreamscape. The fastidious and attentive scene maker somehow brings his little cement people alive by placing them in the real world; creating a new context where his figures take on stirring, humorous, nearly profound qualities.
“This is a project I’ve been working on since 2006. I make small sculptures with cement and many times when I go out these small sculptures come with me. Public space has become their habitat,” explains Cordal.
Recalling our childlike ability to transform everyday locations into kingdoms, realms, domains, and enchanted lands, Cordal impeccably places vignettes into ordinary settings. His miniature gray mortar people are often being wronged by totally evil monsters, human and animal but are frozen for you to study the dynamics at play. The portraits that emerge of his somewhat battered and banal humans plodding through life occur in a multitude of scenes: Here we have a picnic. Over there we see a wedding, a funeral. Sometimes his sculptures are in a kitchen or in a living room. Other times they are outdoors waiting in line to go to work, to buy consumer goods, or to be ground like hamburger in the wheels of The Machine.
Most recently Mr. Cordal has created ‘survivors’ who inhabit an environmentally taxed and burdened world, continually expecting toxic fumes or airborne viruses to invade their lungs. His cement fairies in these urban settings are stoic protagonists of our eternal misadventures, progeny of our excess. The lucky passerby who stumbles upon his vignette may be moved by its stoicism, may pause at the effort of an artist who creates such a scenario in the middle of their everyday, and may smile at the wit.
Brooklyn Street Art: There is a distinct uniformity the appearance of your little people – is the uniformity a metaphor for conformist thinking and behavior? Isaac Cordal: I make copies of many of my pieces using molds. By repeating the same model in series I manufacture a prototype that represents a collective identity. I am interested in representing prototypes that represent human beings in modernity. I try to do scenes that summarize recognizable behavior patterns.
Brooklyn Street Art: Sometimes the staged scenes have elements of comedy and light heartedness. Does the process feel like play for you? Isaac Cordal: I think my friends have begun to be worried about me. I really take it seriously and I always am perusing the streets with an unusual amount of interest. A couple of days ago, I was climbing a wall and suddenly the wall collapsed; I was very lucky because nothing serious happened. It was a curious situation because my mother was visiting me and she was the person who was helping me with my installation. I felt as if I was a child in the wrong place.
Brooklyn Street Art:With clever placement, the figures interact in the man made and natural environment in a surrealist way. Do you have any favorite surrealist painters? Isaac Cordal: The world we have created is very surreal in itself. There are strong doses of surrealism in our society. Regarding Surrealism as a painting movement, I always liked Dali. Recently I quite liked the photo project The Architect’s Brother.
Isaac Cordal …is a sculpture artist from London. His sculptures take the form of little people sculpted from concrete in ‘real’ situations. Cordal manages to capture a lot of emotion in his vignettes, in spite of their lack of detail or colour. He is sympathetic toward his little people and we empathise with their situations, their leisure time, their waiting for buses and their more tragic moments such as accidental death, suicide or family funerals. His sculptures can be found in gutters, on top of buildings, on top of bus shelters – in many unusual and unlikely places in the capital. This book is the first time his images have been shown in together in one book dedicated to his work. Many images never seen before Cordal’s concrete sculptures are like little magical gifts to the public that only a few lucky people will see and love but so many more will have missed. Left to their own devices throughout London Cordal what really makes these pieces magical is their placement. They bring new meaning to little corners of the urban environment. They express something vulnerable but deeply engaging. Left to fend for themselves, you almost want to protect them in some way, or perhaps communicate with them. Of course the 25cm high sculptures of people in everyday poses the artist creates in are not real, are they? Well you’ve opened a whole can of worms with that question. Yes, the little scenes in Concrete Eclipse are somewhat poignant but they do not invite you to weep passively for lost worlds you never knew. They are there to provide a one handed clap to shake you from your reveries and plug you back in to the world. So Cordall’s men in grey are a little message of hope in spite of their forlorn appearance and they are there to remind you that pessimism is not common sense, it’s just pessimism. So make sure you do something inessential today. Go on, the grey men don’t want you to.
To purchase this book click on the Amazon link below:
Kid Acne
‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’
By Kid Acne
1st – 24th April 2011
Private View Thursday 31st March, 6 – 9pm
StolenSpace Gallery
Old Truman Brewery
London
E1 6QL
Nearest Tube: Aldgate East
tel: 02072472684
email: info@stolenspace.com http://www.stolenspace.com
Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 7pm
Admission: FREE
StolenSpace is proud to present a new body of work from renowned UK
street artist Kid Acne. Featuring paintings on board and canvas,
installation work and also the release of a limited edition fanzine
and print.
This exhibition explores the relationship between graffiti and smoking
by way of introducing us to a new set of characters known as ‘Art
Fags’ – a play on words neatly personifying packs of cigarettes. Both
pastimes are seen as rebellious and
cool, which makes them particularly appealing to teenagers. Though
through repetition they become a compulsion, cause serious problems in
our adult life and are “filthy habits” hard to quit.
We can all see the similarities between graffiti and advertising – the
notion of occupying space to promote an idea, brand or individual.
Nowadays however, cigarette advertising is just as outlawed as
graffiti, though at their height of fashion
both were simply seen as the thing to do. Since the smoking ban,
smokers, like graffiti writers have been forced into the streets,
whereas Street Artists are embraced by the galleries and auction houses.
BKLN -> LNDN , Skewville is one of the High Rollers Now
If you lucky enough to be in London today, are looking for a good time, and are not afraid of possibly losing a limb go to High Roller Society and experience the art magic of Brooklyn Street Artist SKEWVILLE.
Apparently there is some kind of art show coming up on the west coast in April. Don’t know if you will be doing laundry or shopping for potted plants in the area at the time, but thought we’d let you know just in case you’re interested in this sort of thing.
Barry McGee, Houston Street and the Bowery, New York, 2010, photo by Farzad Owrang courtesy MOCA.
Art in the Streets will showcase installations by 50 of the most dynamic artists from the graffiti and street art community, including Fab 5 Freddy (New York), Lee Quinones (New York), Futura (New York), Margaret Kilgallen (San Francisco), Swoon (New York), Shepard Fairey (Los Angeles), Os Gemeos (Sao Paulo), and JR (Paris). MOCA’s exhibition will emphasize Los Angeles’s role in the evolution of graffiti and street art, with special sections dedicated to cholo graffiti and Dogtown skateboard culture. The exhibition will feature projects by influential local artists such as Craig R. Stecyk III, Chaz Bojorquez, Mister Cartoon, RETNA, SABER, REVOK, and RISK.
A special emphasis will be placed on photographers and filmmakers who documented graffiti and street art culture including Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, James Prigoff, Steve Grody, Gusmano Cesaretti, Estevan Oriol, Ed Templeton, Larry Clark, Terry Richardson, and Spike Jonze. A comprehensive timeline illustrated with artwork, photography, video, and ephemera will provide further historical context for the exhibition.
Os Gemeos With a Sharp Eye and Steady Hand and Dreamlike Imagination
Monica Canilao; You Light Up My Life
Have you ever found that perfect dinette set thrown away on the sidewalk, except that the veneer has been chipped off because the table was used as a vegetable cutting board, and two of the chairs are missing legs? Ever have a grandiose Aunt who sees the end coming and thinks that you would be the perfect recipient of her mid-century shlock loveseat or crusted poly lampshade? Ever explored a haunted house that is about to fall on you and crush you to death?
A look at this chandalier by artist Monica Canilao just makes you happy. She has some ideas about what you might be able to do with those things you involuntarily have to drag home from the street. She and some friends made a cool chandelier that has an audio component when it is rotated.
Skewville
“Slow Your Roll”: a term commonly used by Skewville to keep themselves in check.
Growing up in the underground NY Art Scene was all about respect and paying your dues. After a decade of deviance, Skewville is as well known for their creative, aggressive questioning of this popular street art culture as they are for being a monumental part of it with their wooden sneaker mission. The growing popularity of this art movement has made Skewville check itself, always remembering why they started in the first place. Just as street art began as a way of reclaiming space from the advertising that had overrun it, Skewville reclaims the gallery space to communicate its thoughts on the loss of a counter-culture and the rise of consumerism. In a constant self battle to not “Sell Out”, while maintaining success in the art world Skewville presents… “Slow Your Roll”. Featuring selected artwork from previous years that will showcase the classic Skewville Style along with new paintings and sculptures that reveal their dedication to steadily evolving that Skewville Aesthetic.
Woozy
‘I Don’t Care About My Face’ is the first UK solo show by Woozy. The exhibition will showcase his most recent paintings and works on paper. Woozy is renowned for his street art which has graced urban landscapes all over the world. Woozy’s latest work, retains his signuture bright colourful forms, and experiments with texture, style and techniques.
The Private View is on Thursday 17th March 6 pm – 9 pm. Please RSVP with your name and your guest’s name by Wednesday 16th March.
‘I Don’t Care About My Face’ will run from 18th March – 9th April at The Outsiders | 8 Greek Street | W1D 4DG | Monday-Saturday 11 – 7pm | www.theoutsiders.net.
Last summer we began noticing unusual bird houses installed in elevated locations around Brooklyn by Street Artist XAM. Fashionable high-tech real estate options for our fine feathered friends, the smart shelters are not just another pretty space. Each aviary domicile is designed, constructed, and installed free of charge – although rumor has it that a broker from Corcoran has tried to rent out one as “a cozy sun drenched studio with river views”.
XAM employs their Constructive Street Design process to this high-strung hangout in Manhattan and calls it CSD Dwelling Unit 3.0. It is equipped with a solar panel, a rechargeable battery and a LED porch light that lights up at night to attract insects. Additionally it has a food storage area, passive ventilation, slopes to aid in drainage, and a “green roof” system with angles that cut down on wind resistance and create more stability for the home.
Never seen in public before, Brian Adams Douglas’ new massive (5 x 7) and three months in the making painting “Memory of You” will be the central focus of his new solo show.
Elbow-Toe
Brian Adam Douglas – Due Date
March 10 – April 8, 2011
Black Rat Projects
Through Cargo Garden
Arch 461, 83 Rivington Street
London EC2A 3AY
http://www.blackratprojects.com/
Black Rat Projects is pleased to present our next project with Brian Adam Douglas. Due Date, his first solo show in the UK, will be on view from March 10 – April 8, 2011. The opening will coincide with the launch of a book about his work, Paper Cuts, published by DRAGO.
Under the name Elbow Toe, Brooklyn based artist Brian Adam Douglas has been pasting his distinctive woodcuts, stencil work, large-scale charcoal drawings and collages onto the walls of cities all around the world throughout the past decade. His diverse practice is anchored by an interest in the human gesture as a powerful form of communication, one charged with unspoken narratives and he continually transforms public space into a stage for these private moments. The scenes in his most recent body of work focus on the bewildering act of parenthood. Just as he builds a finished image through the meticulous layering of tiny individual bits of coloured paper, so the meaning of the image is woven through layers of references to historically and culturally established narratives. This kind of intertextuality has become the foundation for the development of his distinctive style. The result is a sophisticated visual language where personal metaphors begin to communicate universal truths.
In Douglas’ work family life is a staged performance, animals are manifestations of human emotion, intense pattern breaks the jagged surface and functions like an ancient Epic storm: as his characters fight to find their balance the viewer holds their breath.
Artist’s Statement:
“For my first solo show in the UK, Due Date, I am exploring my preconceived notions of parenthood and the opportunities for growth that come through that process. I am presenting a series of narratives that flirt the line between fact and fiction; they are moments of autobiography that have been extrapolated to become allegories. As an artist in the process of trying to become a parent and living in one of the most parent-centric sections of NYC, I am keenly aware of the mania that strikes at the heart of parents young and old. In these paintings I am addressing fears (loss of individuation as well as of the proverbial unknown), the strengthening of bonds in times of crisis, the issues of trying to become a parent later in life and the wisdom gained through the process of parenting.
The work is divided into two groups: a set of images on panels, and a set of images on paper. In the more fully realized works on panel, all the actions are taking place in staged environments. The elements surrounding the figures are merely cardboard props, strictly for the purpose of giving the action of the figures a point of reference. The action of the figures is the reality of the image, everything else is just window dressing. The paint drips and splashes act as abstract gestures clearing things away yet never managing to obscure the events occurring on the stage. In the works on paper, the events being described are contained in a sea of white. By the very nature of the presentation the gestures and relationships are isolated and distilled.
The current body of work builds upon a process of art making that I have been refining for several years. I refer to the work as paper paintings rather than as collage. I see each piece of paper as a brushstroke rather than as a juxtaposed idea. Each brushstroke is selected for it’s color, value and texture, rather than it’s imagery”. Brian Adams Douglas
To read BSA interview and studio visit with Elbow-Toe click on the link below:
The Orange Dot Gallery is pleased to announce; Coming In From The Outside, an exhibition of ten new silk screened prints by acclaimed New York street artist, Michael De Feo.
Widely exhibited around the world, this is Michael’s first solo exhibition in London and will feature for the first time, re-interpretations of his iconic flower image along with other new prints based on his drawings. All ten prints have been produced in small, signed and numbered editions on a variety of materials including maps and blueprint paper.
One special eleventh edition (signed and numbered) will be given away to visitors of the gallery on Saturday, March 12.
Michael’s new prints are collaborations with master printmaker, Gary Lichtenstein. The pair first worked together in 2008 when the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum invited Michael to produce an Aldrich Edition to benefit the museum. Gary is widely known in the field and is presently working together with Robert Indiana on his HOPE series of prints and canvases.
Best known in the street art movement for his ubiquitous flower image, De Feo has been creating illegal works on the streets of international cities for over eighteen years. Not limited to the streets as his canvas, his work has also appeared in galleries and museums around the world including the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT; MASS MoCA; Museo de Arte, Puerto Rico; The New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY; the A3 Art Fair, Paris; Colette, Paris; Manifesta 7, Trento/Trentino, Italy; and The National Gallery, Bangladesh, amongst others.
As previously reported, Belgian artist ROA is currently in London now – which is grayer and chillier than the sun roasted Mexico he just left a minute ago. The boy just can’t sit still and the idea of keeping him off of a ladder and away from a beat-up decrepit bumpy old wall would be like prying my nephew’s hands off the PlayStation. Ain’t gonna happen. Charley Uzzell Edwards, artist and accidental gallerist at Pure Evil has gallantly provided BSA readers with some live exclusive ROA in action while he’s been working on a mural in Old Street.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
London West Bank (LWB) is a brand new gallery opening in London on
