As I was reading the press release, I got excited about WOW NOW. The venue looks awesome – shoreditch underground, the line up international and eclectic and the theme very interesting: ‘An International exhibition articulating the friction between Outside, Street & Fine Art via subversive portraiture’
Featured artists
ALEX DAW (UK) | ZTY 82 (Germany) | BEN WELLER (UK) | STEPHEN TOMPKINS (USA) | PERFEKT WORLD (Austria) | SID ONE (UK) | PAUL BUSK (Austria) | GETS (Germany) | NOMAD (Germany) | TED RIEDERER (USA) | JAMES JESSOP (UK)
When
June 2nd till 9/06/11
Where
Shoreditch underground | E1 EW5
Walk down a graffiti covered alleyway deep in the heart of the East End off Brick Lane and to your left a green door that opens to one of the most unique venues in London. The old Shoreditch Underground station shut in 2006 and re opened as the exhibition known as wow now. You enter what appears to be the old ticket office, walls painted in black showing a collection of works by various artists. Follow on down the stairs onto a landing which believe is where the old railway tracks were and is a space open to the elements. Yet again walls adorned with works by a young group of aspiring artistes.
You have to go to understand the experience as the underground trains rattle by not so many feet away with faces peering through the train windows desperate to know what is happening.
The conversion of this building has obviously been a task of love and desperation to get the venue ready and open for the opening night. And what anight. You are served a drink made from coco leaves which have been brought over from Bolivia under guard I am told. Served with ice and bitter lemon, one is enough to warm you through. The rooms filled with young and old, a chatter accompanied by the movement of wheels on the railway tracks and now to a serious look at the hanging works as the atmosphere is just right.
Alex Daw’s works as usual stand out with their normal complexity and vivaciousness. Wonderlust tempted me and I’m still considering the possible purchase. The scene of New York in the ticket office by another artist I found mesmerising.
So people, go and enjoy.
Thank you Raphael for this contribution, great info for the readers!
As the exhibition is advertised as being on til June 9 I had thought I would go along this afternoon and catch the last day of the exhibition, so I trekked down there…only to find the door closed and padlocked! What a shame. 🙁