Metazoa, a new show by ROA

April 10, 2015 Pierrick Senelaer

Belgium, the country where Roa is from, must be a far away from what this artists get to travel to. I remember seeing a few years back the first street art pieces from ROA across London and thinking: what this guy does is quite fresh.

Now, look what he is up to: a show in New York city at the Jonathan Levine gallery. Nice one.

Then, when I heard about that show, I thought it is going to be the same shit: wildlife subjects, 2 colour artwork (black and white) on some wooden panels which can be manipulated by viewers to reveal the inside of the depicted animals.

Guess what? Bang on. However, I noticed that the quality of the paintings is sharper and that the artist uses in a bolder way, the red colour to emphasise the inside of his painted animals.

A friend actually sent me a link to that show and when I said to him, ‘You know what, I am sure I have seen it before’, he replied that accomplished artists have a style of their own, a signature and if people like it, and I am sure you are all like it, why change it. He, like of all us, need to fill his pockets with money so if what he does, sell, then be it.

Point made and agreed. Yes I have seen it before but I would fly to New York right after I finished writing up this post just because seeing ROA’s stuff is always enjoyable and fun.

The show runs until the 2nd May 2015.

Lucky enough to live in New-York and actually planning on checking it that show? We would love if you could share your pics and thoughts about it so get in touch today!

What – “Metazoa”, a solo show by ROA
Where – “Jonathan Levine gallery, 529 West 20th Street, Gallery I, New York (USA)
When – until the 2nd May 2015

First seen on Mashkulture

Uncategorized

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

September 6, 2011 Pierrick Senelaer

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

STREET ART

Jimmy C does David Bowie in Brixton

June 20, 2013 Pierrick Senelaer

To coincide with (another) David Bowie exhibition, namely “The many faces of David Bowie” opening tonight at Opera gallery, Jimmy C unveiled a large scale portrait in Brixton, where David Bowie is from. You will have recognised the the iconic Aladdin Sane image here.

Now on to the show at Opera Gallery. We hear that a bunch of artists including street ones will share their visions of the iconic singer. Some of the artists includes Paul Alexis, Joe Black, C215 and Nick Gentry

What – The Many Faces iof David Bowie
Where – Opera Gallery (new bond street)
When – 21 June to 21 july

The exhibition that opens at the New Bond Street gallery on Friday (June 21) will consist of contemporary visions of ‘Bowie Mania’ with one-off masterpieces and tributes with street artists including Mr Brainwash, Joe Black and The London Police.

GRAFFITI, STREET ART

Keith Harring would have been 54 today

May 4, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer

On February 16, 1990, at age 31, Keith Haring’s life was cut short due to an AIDS-related illness. He would have been 54 today and as a homage, here are a few words and a tribute to his most iconic pieces of art.

I wonder what Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) would make of the global phenomenon that street art is now, art form very much confined to the street of New York City at the time when he decided to move there in 1978, aged 19.

Having studied commercial art and then Fine Arts, he took a keen interest in graffiti art, Haring would go out there and paste collages of fake New York Post headlines on lamposts or news stands. He explored the likes of SAMO (Jean-Michel Basquiat) or Fab Five Fred (Fred Brathwaite) graffiti art to quickly put in practice his own interpretation of this form of art and would develop his future vocabulary of primitive cartoon-like forms. The Haring’s chalk-drawn “radiant babies” and “barking dogs” were born (see pictures) and woud become familiar sights on the matt black surfaces used to cover the old advertisements in the subways.

These chalk drawings in the subways of New York got Haring in the public eye and he would go on from there to have his first exclusive exhibition in the Tony Shafrazi Gallery which put together a retrospective a few years ago about it – see picture. Willing to reach a larger public, he immersed himself in popular American culture and befriended individials such as Andy Warhol, Madonna or Grace Jones (whom he would body-paint).

Haring was also a keen social activist and as a result of his ever increasing political involvement; he designed a Free South Africa poster in 1985 (see picture) and painting a section of the Berlin Wall in 1986 (see picture). Other works include design for Swatch watches or the Absolut Vodka advertisement (see picture)

Keith Harring’s work are just simply one of the best examples of how consumerism, popular culture and fine art merged in the 1980s.

Recommended readings
Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography by John Gruen (1991) includes interviews with the artist and those closest to him and is an invaluable source for understanding the art and life of Haring.

The early work is illustrated in Art in Transit: The Subway Drawings (1984) and Keith Haring (Shafrazi Gallery, 1982). An enlightening interview by David Sheff appeared in Rolling Stone (August 10, 1989).

Elizabeth Aubert directed an insightful video entitled Drawing the Line: A Portrait of Keith Haring (Biografilm, 1989).

Later an attempt was made to place Haring within a broader art historical context in Keith Haring, edited by Germano Celant (1992). □

DIGITAL ART

Project Mighty and Napoleon by Adobe

May 8, 2013 Pierrick Senelaer

The last few years have seen the rise of digital art. Devices such as Ipads have been at the forefront of this and some artists already master the new medium.

Adobe could be taking this a bit further with their new projects Mighty stylus and Napoleon ruler. These two pieces of hardware are designed to work with Adobe’s touch and tablet apps. Project Mighty is a pressure sensitive stylus, and Project Napoleon is a small ruler that projects straight lines onto the tablet for more precise drawings.

Watch the video below to get a better understanding

CONTEMPORARY ART, IN THE NEWS

THE UMBRELLA REVOLUTION AND ITS REBELLIOUS ART

October 2, 2014 Pierrick Senelaer

The umbrella, as a symbol of the protests that are going on in Hong Kong, resulted from police pepper spray, used against activists, who used it as a shield. In no time, this was picked up by creatives, artists or just supporters who via that object, represent their support to the cause through art and imagery.

The Umbrella Revolution was born

#OccupyCentral and its demonstrations began peacefully last week but turned more intensive at the time where we are writing this article. The uprise is about activist who are calling for democracy in Hong Kong and free elections in 2017 (See more photographs about the events on the Mashable website).

We have collected a fe examples of the art and imagery incorporating the umbrella and other symbols of resistance on social media.

Another symbol widely used is the the yellow ribbon, which protestors are using as a symbol of democracy and suffrage and we found this awesome piece below

More imagery/art from protesters and artists below

CONTEMPORARY ART, REVIEWS

Dale Grimshaw at Signal gallery – Moreish

November 19, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer

We 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

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

STREET ART

Banksy new pieces in Los Angeles

February 18, 2011 Pierrick Senelaer

Everybody is talking about so it would be almost rude not to feature the three new pieces Banksy has just dropped in Los Angeles.

The first piece depicts Charlie Brown holding a gas can, this piece was dropped on what looks like a house that burnt down. The second one is a child holding a gun and firing crayons.

And the most recent and probably the bolder one can be spotted on Sunset Boulevard and features the vision of the artists on Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

We will all have understood here that Banksy is preparing the ground for the upcoming Oscars.

REVIEWS

ROA at Pure Evil gallery: raw

April 12, 2010 Pierrick Senelaer

I have been going around London many times to try to snap up some street art and came across ROA’s stuff on several occasions. I knew little about the guy from Ghent (Belgium) and was therefore very keen on finding out more about him and his obsession with picturing large scale urban wildlife through his spray paint cans.

I headed then to Pure Evil gallery for what I was pretty convinced would be something very different with most exhibitions I have seen so far this year. Continue reading ROA at Pure Evil gallery: raw →

CONTEMPORARY ART

Floor designs made of vinyl tape

September 6, 2016 Pierrick Senelaer

There is no much to say about Jim Lambie‘s work apart from what he does with vinyl tapes rolls is simply amazing and definitely eye catching. Gigiantic and intricated geometric floor designs is what I am talking about here. Each design takes him several weeks to complete. Included below are a few examples.

Art-Pie