CONTEMPORARY ART, REVIEWS

Dale Grimshaw at Signal gallery – Moreish

Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieWe made our way down to one of our favorite art galleries to check out the new set of works from Dale Grimshaw that makes up his new show entitled “Moreish”. Having seen a few previous shows from the same artist, we knew that we were up for another display of strong emotions from the artist and we were right.

This time, the artist looks at the notion of “excess” that is spreading in modern societies and which seems to affect an increasing number of people. Here is what the artist had to say about it “It is a case of enough is never enough. The ‘haves’ want more and the ‘haves not’ can pay for it. Once we get that acquisitive taste, we just want more and more”

As the title of this show suggests – Moreish, the food element is everywhere in Dale Grimshaw’s pieces and they are piling on top of each other and dripping down faces of the characters the artist using in his paintings. This certainly gives a sense of a “too much” but also of a “waste” which “moreish” behaviour might lead to. The color palette used here – black/dark background in most cases combined with fiery colours, clearly translate the negative artist’s view on that notion of excess spreading in our societies according to him. A a result, the atmospere of the show is rather thick and heavy and you can almost feel its weight on your shoulders.

It is also worth pointing out the variety of characters that are depicting in Dale Grimshaw’s work, from the sweet and soft women’s faces to the rather alien looking “thing” which, apart from perhaps warning us what will happen if we embrace “excess, will add even more tension to the show.

From a more technical point of view, Dale Grimshaw’s techniques are just amazing. Oil and acrylics are the main mediums for this set of new works while canvases  and wooden boards are the main supports used here. If we had to pick a piece out of the lot and on a pure aesthetic point of view, ” The Platter” (oil on board) would be the one. The color palette is striking. See pictures below

The Platter
Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieDale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-Pie

——————————

The show runs until the 23rd November 2012
Signal gallery | 32 Paul Street London EC2A 4LB | 020 7613 1550

Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieDale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-Pie

Dale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-PieDale Grimshaw "Moreish" at Signal gallery | Art-Pie

BLOG, STREET ART

Black Friday & street art

Black Friday | Art-PieIt is almost upon us… yes Black Friday is a thing and this means money being spent, overspent, wasted – pick yours.

You may recall the piece called ‘Shop til your drop’ by the artist Banksy which appeared on Bruton lane, Mayfair, London a few years back. This piece depicts a woman being pulled down or falling and reaching for a shopping cart.

We included other street art from the web & related to Black Friday – Black Friday & street art.

'Shop til you drop' by Banksy | Art-Pie
‘Shop til you drop’ by Banksy

About Black Friday

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States (the fourth Thursday of November).

Since 1932, it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S., and most major retailers open very early (and more recently during overnight hours) and offer promotional sales.

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but California and some other states observe “The Day After Thanksgiving” as a holiday for state government employees, sometimes in lieu of another federal holiday such as Columbus Day.

Black Friday | Art-Pie

PREVIEW

Slinkachu at Andipa gallery: concrete ocean

2 Comments

Andipa Contemporary is delighted to announce a new solo exhibition: Concrete Ocean, by renowned urban artist Slinkachu. Left floating in flimsy boats on puddles the size of lakes, or clinging onto seemingly giant paving stones, in danger of being trodden underfoot by the casual passer-by, the figures in Concrete Ocean address the artist’s trademark theme of loneliness and disillusionment engendered by the city environment. The dry wit of his observation and the deceptive sweetness of his scaled down figures make Slinkachu’s works absorbing, strong and engaging.

Named as one of the “100 Leading Figures in Urban Art” by Patrick Ngyuyen and Stuart Mackenzie in Beyond the Street (2010) Slinkachu creates (and then abandons) tiny installations around the city using reworked railway model figures that he then records photographically. The artist will, for the first time, bring seemingly uprooted street installations into the gallery where they will form islands in the concrete ocean.

Slinkachu at Andipa gallery

Concrete Ocean follows the artist’s internationally acclaimed Little People Project started in 2006, and the publication of Little People in the City: The street art of Slinkachu, published by Boxtree (Pan MacMillan), with a foreword by author Will Self (2008), The Old Vic and Punchdrunk’s collaboration, Tunnel 228 in 2009 and in 2010 the highly successful exhibition Extraordinary Measures at Belsay Hall, Northumberland, alongside Ron Mueck, Matt Collishaw and Mariele Neudecker, in which the artist took a humorous look “at the obsession we have with the day trip, that English hobby which often provokes the full range of emotions” and saw 55,000 visitors, along with the Amsterdam launch of BIG BAD CITY by Lebowski Publishers.

Words from Andipa gallery

Where – Andipa gallery
When – 3rd March till 2nd April 2011 (preview on the 2/3)

Related link
> Slinkachu website – http://slinkachu.com

STREET ART

Herakut in Russia

Herakut has been busy recently and produced a very expressive piece on the walls of children’s home № 32 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Not only the work is remarkable, they also put together a very well shot and edited video to support “the struggle with the monster of irresponsibility”, name of this another awesome association between these two artists.

If you have not got Herarkut book, get it from Amazon now. It is full of wonders.

HERAKUT – the perfect merge
flexcover. 21×26 cm. 200 pages

DIGITAL ART

Immaterials: light painting WiFi networks

Light Painting WiFi is the creation of Timo Arnall, Jorn Knutsen, Einar Sneve Martinussen. Their work explores the invisible terrain of WiFi networks in Oslo urban spaces.

They put together a four-meter tall measuring rod with 80 points of light reveals cross-sections through WiFi networks using a photographic technique called light-painting. By the simple action of walking down streets, they are able to pick up the thousands of WiFi signals and with the help of a long exposure camera, transform them into wall, barriers of lights.

Beyond the art aspect of this work, this technique has also a research purpose as the data collected is used to evaluate the quality of the Oslo wireless networks.

Immaterials: Light painting WiFi from Timo on Vimeo.

Related links
> Flickr set

IN THE NEWS

Mannequin to save China – Greenpeace

Time to show some support and also to expose the polluted water issue that is happening right now in China.

“Not only is China one of the world’s twenty most water deficient countries, but irresponsible corporations and slack government has made water pollution highly prevalent in China. Today, as much as 70% of all rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in China are affected by water pollution, and with each passing day the situation only gets worse.”

Greenpeace is using what can called ‘street art’ and has launched a campaign by some creative street installations across the globe recently – mannequins bearing the Chinese symbol for water – ? ‘Shui’

Some have been spotted in London, see the pictures below.

Get yourself involved and follow @Greenpeace) and search for  the hashtag XM3N. Sign up today to support the campaign and check the Greenpeace facebook page too. You will also find more information here about the water pollution in China

BLOG, DIGITAL ART

Simon Stalenhgas’s sci-fi digital paintings

Simon Stalenhgas | Art-Pie

I always wondered if I could appreciate ‘digital painting’ as much as more traditional painting, what I mean by that is art which is made with brushes or pencils on some panels or canvases as opposed to via a computer.

Call me old fashion but I like thinking about artists spending hours in their studio, stroking or splashing paint on canvases but I must admit, I now also get exciting with this computer assisted method of painting that we call ‘Digital painting’

And how could you not be when you look at Simon Stålenhag | Art-Pie‘s works – keep on reading

About the artworks

Simon’s paintings and stories take place in an alternate version of Sweden in the 80s and 90s. The central location is the countryside of Mälaröarna, a string of islands and half islands just west of Stockholm. The background is this:

In the 1950s, the Swedish government orders the construction of a large particle accelerator. The state agency RIKSENERGI is tasked with developing this massive project. In 1969 the The Facility For Research In High Energy Physics is ready, located deep below the pastoral Mälaröarna-countryside. The local population soon calls it THE LOOP.

Simon Stalenhgas | Art-Pie

Simon Stalenhgas | Art-Pie

From it’s inception to it’s closure in 1994, The Loop was the largest accelerator in the world. The thousands of staff: scientists, engineers and maintenance workers, all serve Riksenergi during these years – and makes possible tremendous scientific advances. But the power of the Gravitron, the heart of the accelerator, proves difficult to control. The side effects of the project are dramatic. Strange sightings and bizarre rumours taints the scientific image of The Loop.

In the shadow of the weird machines filling the countryside, life continues as normal. The kids of Mälaröarna grew up living above the technological marvel of The Loop, but for them it was just a part of their very ordinary lives. Until strange beasts from another time showed up, that is.

About Simon Stålenhag

Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag burst onto the art scene in 2013 when his first series of paintings were shared on the Internet. His original blend of naturalistic landscape paintings with science fiction elements and a very low key recollection of growing up in the eighties struck a chord. Not just in Sweden, but all over the world.

Simon Stalenhgas | Art-Pie

Simon Stalenhgas | Art-Pie

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Simon uploaded his first digital paintings onto the Internet in 2013, since then he has become something of a phenomena in the art and sci-fi communities. Simon shares his time between a small cabin at Mälaröarna (the setting that inspires his work) and an apartment in Stockholm.

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS