Chris Brown and his monsters

Yep, as loads of people these days, Chris Brown seemed to have also embraced street art and decided to paint what looks like monsters on his very expensive Beverly Hills mansion walls.

No exception here though, Chris Brown or not, multimillionaire singer or not, street art isn’t welcome. It scares the children, it would appear. The singer has been ordered to repaint the walls otherwise it will have to pay a fine, a £250 fine. This is probably what he earns per minute.

Scares the children? Really? Have you looked at them, they are adorable. Yes, I must admit, I kind of like them. I never thought I would ever approve anything Chris Brown did.

Let’s move on.

Chris Brown monsters | Art-Pie

Chris Brown monsters | Art-Pie

'Air I breathe' – the new Gazelli Art House show

I have been looking forward to this new exhibition by the guys at Gazelli Art House, not just because of the promising line-up of artists but also about the venue this show is held at – Rochelle school. This is one of those venues any artist would love to have at disposal for shows – it is on two floors, airy, high ceilings, great light, several rooms. It just works for art shows and shall leave up to the expectations for this show which is installation based sculpture focused.

‘Air I breathe’ is the 4th show of a series of 5 exploring the classical elements, and in particular the contradictory nature of air.

Mila Askarova, curator of this show and founder of Gazelli Art House has gathered top talents for this show and John Wynne’s sound installation(whose speaker installation in Saatchi’s ‘Newspeak’ exhibition was critically acclaimed) will resonate throughout the venue . Hyper-real sculptures of people from the duo Little Whitehead (AKA Craig Little and Blake Whitehead) will also provoke reactions

Add to this, Kate Terry‘s work of dramatic, tense, thread installations and Yoonjin Jung‘s site-specific installations marrying oriental painting with a desire to explore the idea of ‘Seeing the Unseen’ and you know you will be up for a fine evening of must-seen art.

PV 8/9 6-9pm | Show: 9 till 7/10/11
Rochelle School, Arnold circus, London E2 7ES

RSVP at RSVP@GAZELLIARTHOUSE.COM

John Wynne
John Wynne
Little-Whitehead
Little & Whitehead

10 inspiring photo manipulation by Erik Johansson

This is no the first time we write about Erik Johansson and his extraordinary ability to photo manipulate daily life scenes. Erik  is a full time photographer and retoucher from Sweden.

Erik doesn’t capture moments, he capture ideas in the form of little pieces which he later turn into an imaginative photo manipulation.

We included 10 inspiring works from this digital artist as well as video from Erik who explains how he goes about to create such images. It is definitely worth a watch!

Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie Erik Johansson | Art-Pie

Find out how Erik does it!

The Regent's canal art festival

Regent's canal festivalI like walking down the Regent’s canal, just for a stroll but also to spot street art. Many famous street or graffiti artists such as Banksky or Team Robbo have let their spray cans go wild on the walls of the surrounding buildings or bridges along the path.

Come to the canal this summer and get away from the Olympics madness and enjoy art, from performances, visual art to music. The Regent’s canal festival will be held from the 13 to the 15th July 2012. The submissions are being taken right now and until the 10th June 2012 so hurry and get this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Link to follow to submit your work – http://bit.ly/JzTdbk

“Regent’s Canal Festival celebrates the 200th anniversary of the formation of the Canal, while engaging local communities provides an excellent platform to deliver a wide range of artistic disciplines – such as audiovisuals, performances, visual arts, live experiences, events and music.

The Regent’s Canal Festival is taking place alongside the canal, crossing boroughs from Little Venice to Limehouse Basin. The Festival will be transforming the Regent’s Canal into an artistic and cultural hub raising awareness of environmental issues through the arts.

In order to create this, we are looking for art works that thematically fits our artistic vision, enhancing the look and feel of being surrounded by water.

The pieces may be interactive or purely visual spectacles, they can potentially incorporate elements of water or fire but they must be relatively durable and suitable for all weather conditions. Floating and light sculptures are particularly welcome.”

Regent's canal festivalThis application is most applicable to existing art works that you would like to exhibit to a wider audience. But if you have a new project that you like to create for the Festival don’t forget to send all the budget details.”

Deadline for project submission: Friday 1st June, 10pm

For all enquiries please contact laura.bottin@regentscanalfestival.org.uk

If you are interested in hearing about the upcoming programme of the Regent’s Canal Festival please email info@regentscanalfestival.org.uk to join our mailing list.

Follow as http://www.facebook.com/regentscanalfestival

The very evocative Victor Lundy’s sketchbook

Victor Lundy | Art-Pie
(Victor Lundy)

We were instantly moved when we looked at Victor Lundy’s sketchbook.

The quality of the drawings is impressive and the story behind them heart breaking : Victor Lundy’s documented his time in the army and fighting in the second world war.

We appreciate the soft yet very efficient touch in Lundy’s drawings. We feel that his drawings were done in one sitting, no erasing but a driving hand screen printing, if you like, what his eyes recorded.

_____

A ‘natural-born’ skilled individual

We learned that Victor Lundy was born in New York City in 1923 and very young, he showed some artistic skills which will lead him to attend New York University to study architecture, specialising in the Beaux Arts style.

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

A will to help post-war

Lundy did not have to be involved with war but the thought of  doing his bit in rebuilding Europe once World War II was over was very strong, so much so that he voluntarily joined the Army and very quickly ended up at the very forefront of the action.

This is at that time where he would capture any faces, scenes or moments in his sketchbook.

We included a few drawings of the very evocative Victor Lundy’s sketchbook (all images below are courtesy of LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Victor Lundy's sketchbook | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Blackall studios: abstract-ive

I have always been sceptical about abstract art, never knowing whether I like it or not. I can enjoy it but can rarely get ecstatic about it. Well Remi Rough and the likes of Augutine Kofie or Jaybo Monk are maybe about to radically change this.

They are (and a few others – find out who here) are members of what is called the urban abstract movement which has for starting point the reshape of letters of the alphabet and their integration into an urban context – find out more here

A exhibition presents us with works from Remi Rough and Steve More but I will here focus on Rough’s stuff and what an amazing display I had in front of my eyes!

Rough’s mix of shapes and forms combined with an excellent choice of colors make his works come alive. The perspective he manages to bring to his compositions seems to give some sort of pace to the whole thing making it anything but boring.

I may be well on track to love this stuff and ask to see more of it.

The show is now over.

PS: You will excuse the so-so quality of the pictures below but I had to use my i-phone that day.

Remi Rough at Blackall Studios
Remi Rough at Blackall StudiosRemi Rough at Blackall Studios
Remi Rough at Blackall Studios
Remi Rough at Blackall Studios

Editions group show at Arch402 gallery

ARCH 402  gallery has now been running for just over a year but has already become a major London venue to show and promote street art and this upcoming show – Street Art @ Arch402 should be another cracking show.

Often here,  works from East London’s street art scene will be put on show so expect wonders from Ronzo or Sweet Toof. New works, prints and crafted objects will make up this show and tunes will be played by a DJ.

All unframed work will be available to take away on the night and throughout the show.

Featured Artists: Cept | SweetToof | Grafter | Stik | Ronzo | McBess | Melody Rose | Nathan Bowen | Pure Evil | Run

When – 2 December 2011 – 13 January 2012 (Opening party – 1 December 2011 18:00-21:00)
Where –  Arch402 gallery | Cremer street | London

Edition show at Arch402

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS