Comments (0) I’m quite late in my articles, indeed the Matt Small exhibition is over, and was replaced by another one about Nick Walker, at Black Rat Press.
I did not know Matt Small before going to Black Rat Press, and it was a wonderful surprise. Matt Small makes portraits by throwing multicolour paint on any type of recycled materials: computer skulls, car hoods…
If you did not see the exhibition, here are my pics:
The last time I was staying in London, Andipa gallery was showing a dozen of works by Banksy, including the biggest canvas he ever painted. This exhibition was not supported by the artist, and showed all the works Andipa stored up over the years.
Because of that, there was no link between the works, which made the exhibition look untidy. But Banksy being rare these days, it was nice to see so many of his works in one place.
Here I the pics I made there. Sorry about their quality, but the paintings were protected by glass, which caused reflections.
The Sartorial Contemporary Art gallery in London hosts until the 4th of February the works of the artists Martin Lea Brown and Sweet Toof.
I did not know the first one, and had no idea what to expect. His universe is frightening. His paintings mainly show werewolves and clowns holding up banks. The clowns strongly look like one in Stephen King’s “It”, which makes the exhibition even scarier.
Concerning Sweet Toof, I knew what to expect, being used to is work in the streets. Well, I was surprised because there are only a few references to street art. Don’t worry though: the skeletons and gums are there! (yeah, Sweet Toof is obsessed with gums… dunno why…)
Fortunately the two big rooms of the gallery are well lit, so you can cope with the skeletons and werewolves…
To view the exhibition ring here:
Sartorial Contemporary Art
26 Argyle Square
London WC1H 8AP
Here are a fews pics to make up your mind, or if you can’t go to London:
The exhibition VIA Brick Lane takes place from the 12th of December to the 5th of January in The Brick Lane Gallery and brings out Italian street artists (Orticanoodles, Luca Maleonte, Sten & Lex, and Ozmo). They have been street artists for a long time and are well known in several countries. Three of them took part in Cans Festival in Leake Street, which is organised by Banksy.
The exhibition fills the two floors of the gallery. On the ground floor are wonderful works by Luca Maleonte made with no less than six stencils, which give them a very realistic aspect (almost like black and white photographs). There is also a series of faces by Sten & Lex, recognizable by the “newspapers print” style (the faces are made with loads of black dots of various sizes), as well as many paintings by Orticanoodles bearing the colours of their new team VST.
In the basement there is a wall presenting black and white paintings by Orticanoodles, emphasised by dripping black paint, contrasting very colourful paintings by Ozmo on the opposite wall.
This exhibition was very nice, and helps getting an idea of what kind of street art exists in Italy. Moreover the staff is very kind and helpful (thanks a lot Brice for your warm welcome). For French speaking people who have trouble with the language of Shakespeare, a member of the staff is French, so do not be afraid to visit this really nice gallery.
The Brick Lane Gallery
196 Brick Lane
London E1 6SA
Nightmare before Christmas is an event which took place on the 16th of December in the backyard of the club “The Sin” on Charing Cross Road. Many artists were painting live: Focus, The Krah, One Trick Pony, Pure Evil, K-Guy, Hush, Rugman, ATG, Hutch, Inkfetish, Tek 13, Snub23, Dan Kitchener, Paintshop, Oh Death, Ashab Mishfit, Adam Mallett, Vilchez, Sinhouse, Blam, Jimi Crayon, Tom Hovey. I unfortunately was not able to attend, since I was in Paris that day.
However I went to look what what left of the event last weekend. I was lucky: the backyard gates were open because the staff was putting snowmaking machines for the New Year’s Eve party.
I sneaked through the trash bins gathered in the entrance, and here are the pics I collected:
For the 25th birthday of ELMS Lesters Painting Room, the gallery launches a book about 17 of the exhibitions which took place there over 12 years.
(ELMS Lesters 25th Anniversary Book)
The gallery moreover organizes an exhibition to celebrate this launch, from the 5th to the 20th of December. A lot of artists are present: Adam Neate, Anthony Lister, Andrew McAttee, Boris Tellegen (Delta), Futura, James Marshall (Dalek), José Parlá, Mark Dean Veca, Phil Frost, Ron English, Snug, Space Invader, Stash and WK Interact.
The exhibition takes place over two floors and shows some beautiful pieces.
Adam Neate created a buzz by placing 1000 pieces of art estimated 1000£ each everywhere in London (which is a nice Xmas gift of over 1 million pounds!!!), he there shows montages made of cardboard, with a nice 3D effect.
There are also works by the French artist Space Invader (one made entirely of Rubix Cubes), assemblages of torn paper made by Delta (who has another exhibition in Brussels, called “Dancing on the moon with tears in my eyes”, from the 11th of December to the 10th of January in the gallery A.L.I.C.E.), and canvas from Phil Frost (who among other things created CD sleeves for DJ Shadow and for the punk band Sick Of It All).
The exhibition at ELMS Lesters painting room is very pleasant. The artists have their very own universe, and their own technique.
If you are interested, the exhibition takes place at:
ELMS Lesters Painting Room
1-3-5 Flitcroft St
London
WC2H 8DH
Note that the gallery is not closed, you just have to ring to enter…
The principle of Mutate Britain is to take used parts of Soviet of engines and military equipment and to recycle them. This exhibition takes place in the gallery Behind The Shutters in London (Shoreditch) on the four levels of the building.
(Mutate Britain Flyer)
As soon as you enter the gallery you are in a very industrial-looking and gloomy room (the walls are covered by dark graffs and the mechanical sculptures are scattered on the floor). In the adjacent room the atmosphere is much more pleasant with paintings on plane wings and on various parts of war machinery, as well as animal-shaped sculptures made of spare parts. You then go to the first floor via stairs which are themselves beautifully decorated by, among others, Snub23, Obey Giant et The Krah.
In one of the upper levels visual performances are exposed, for instance a huge human face gradually decomposing (hard to describe but truly stunning) or female gogo dancers dressed as Starship troopers performing on a stage. You can draw on a huge screen with an optic pen and then have your work printed on a T-Shirt, for only 2£. Follows a dark labyrinth where various visual effects take place, and opening to a micro cinema room.
I was very impressed by this exhibition, both because of its size and of its artistic diversity. This is clearly not to be missed if you are around London.
Date:
From the 21 November to the 21 December 2008
Place:
Behind The Shutters Gallery
87-95 Curtain Road
London EC2
London
Avian Security, Best Ever, Blam, Dep, Dr. D, Eelus, Eine, Exhibition, Inkie, Insa, Joe Rush, London, Milo Tchais, Mine, Mutate Britain, Mutoid Waste, Obey, Part2ism, Prefab77, Pure Evil, Snub23, The Krah
Sickboy’s first solo show, “Stay Free”, takes place from the 4th to the 10th December in London (Shoreditch).
(Stay Free Flyer)
This show is inspired by “Charlie and the chocolate factory”, thus the artist created a small building bearing his colours (yellow and red) which represents a candy factory. It supplies small packets, signed by the artist, each containing a candy. However this is not the only surprise the artist has for you -it’s Xmas after all. Indeed he offers the first thousand visitors a golden key (which is of course not really made of gold) on which they write their name and email address. One of these keys will allow a single visitor to win a work by the artist, estimated to be worth 20 000£ (which is indeed a nice present during the crisis).
(Candy and Golden Key)
To promote his show, Sickboy put a small cage on the Millenium Bridge, containing a heart-shaped balloon, the purpose being to denounce the appropriation of the Street Art phenomenon by the TATE Modern. In the show visitors can notice the same cage, this time open, the heart flying off (thus the name of the show “Stay Free”).
This show takes place in the gallery “The Tramshed”, 6-8 Garden Walk, Shoreditch. The entrance is in Rivington Street, opposite the new Gallery Stella Dores.
To make up your mind, here are the pictures I made there:
English
Français
