Zak Ove

Dan Witz Goes to London. Keep Your Eyes Open.

October 3, 2012 Artists, London, On the Street, U.K.

Street Artist and fine artist Dan Witz is prepping for his part in a new group show titled “Bedlam” in the deep recesses of London with Lazarides Gallery. “We’re doing this huge thing in the tunnels below the Old Vic – should be massive,” he tells us with some thrill in his email voice. It’s good to hear Dan happy, because his work can be so dark. Just back from Frankfurt where he worked with Amnesty International to highlight the human rights and justice work that organization does for all of us, these new images on the streets of London are the Street Art component of Witz’s practice that is quietly compelling and unsettling.

Dan Witz. London 2012 (photo © Dan Witz)

Certainly the aim of these pieces is not to put us at ease, to “Keep Calm and Carry On”. The figures behind the glass are depicted as imprisoned or trapped, and your second glance at them will leave you disconcerted and troubled. Witz goes where many artists won’t or can’t in his explorations of the human condition and man’s inhumanity – reminding us that art can serve more than to just send us home happy and content. It can also connect us with a truer sense of the world, provide a bit of grounding and remind us of the work that needs to be done. With this work Witz give a voice to those who don’t have words to express their suffering.

Our thanks to Dan for sharing these super fresh images exclusively for BSA readers.

Dan Witz. London 2012. Detail (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz. London 2012 (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz. London 2012. Detail (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz. London 2012 (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz in Frankfurt for Amnesty International. Frankfurt, Germany 2012. Work in Progress. All artworks by Dan Witz. Photos by Dan Witz and Hans-Juergen Kaemmerer.

Lazarides is mounting “Bedlam” in a maze of tunnels below Old Vic beginning October 09, evoking the historic mental asylum. “Bedlam over the years has become synonymous with madness, chaos and pandemonium, it seemed like the perfect theme for a world gone mad. Be afraid.” -Steve Lazarides. Participating Artists include: Vhils, Conor Harrington, Doug Foster, Ian Francis, Kelsey Brookes, Karim Zeriahen, Klaus Weiskopf, Lucy McLauchlan, Artists Anonymous, Michael Najjar, Till Rabus, Jonathan Yeo, DAn Witz and Antony Micallef.

“The Minotaur” in London’s Nether Regions

October 25, 2011 Artists, Events, Features, London, U.K.

Lazarides Gallery in London has a penchant for spectacular pop-ups in cavernous quarters, effecting a theatrical aura for the work of artists to take center stage. This month, Lazarides dives beneath the City of London, where there lies a complex system of tunnels and activities, including reportedly a military citadel – a bunker called Pindar. The Old Vic Theater, built in 1818, is located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London and just above an almost mythic installation by the gallerist this month. The tunnels and subterranean chambers housing “The Minotaur”, a collection of work by fine artists and Street Artists, add a clandestine mystery for the visitors who venture below. Combined with a program that can include dining and theatre, the mythic theme of the Minotaur is interpreted by the stable of artists to sometimes stunning effect.

Doug Foster (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Photographer and BSA collaborator Geoff Hargadon visited the exhibition and sends these exclusive images to BSA. The 16 international artists in the show, David Falconer, Sage Vaughn, Vhils, ATMA, Zak Ove, Doug Foster, 3D, Antony Micallef, Boxi, Conor Harrington, David Choe, Ian Francis, Jonathan Yeo, Lucy McLauchlan, Michael Najjar, Ron English, Stanley Donwood and Zevs.

If you have missed this, hurry because The Minotaur closes on October 25.

http://theminotaur.co.uk/exhibition/

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