CONTEMPORARY ART

Social Organisation of Appearances

Death To Me, Death To Everyone, (c)2008 Edd Pearman
Death To Me, Death To Everyone, (c)2008 Edd Pearman

“The concept of ‘the spectacle’ interrelates and explains a wide range of seemingly unconnected phenomena. The apparent diversities and contrasts of the phenomena stem from the social organisation of appearances, whose essential nature must itself be recognised. Considered in its own terms, the spectacle is an affirmation of appearances and an identification of all human social life with appearances. But a critique that grasps the spectacle’s essential character reveals it to be a visible negation of life – a negation that has taken on a visible form.”[1]

Guy Debord from Society of the Spectacle

This Me Of Mine ! Art-Pie
Whilst I Breathe, I Hope, (c)2011 Edd Pearman

I didn’t have to delve far into Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle to find what I was hoping to find. This quote by Debord states the nature of the spectacle as an affirmation of ‘appearance’, while a critical look at spectacle reveals the spectacle to be a ‘negation of life’. This is the very essence of what Edd Pearman explores in his work. “Duality has a strong influence throughout my work, each work maintains a two-fold characteristic in its content i.e. Humour and horror, life and death, hope and despair.  All initially appear to embody one intention, yet possess in equal measure, opposite qualities,” says Edd.

Appearance is seductive – and deadly. Is that a hyperbolic statement for effect? Possibly, but think of all the little deaths you’ve experienced for the sake of appearance and you may find you agree with me.

Read more of our interview, False Together, for This ‘Me’ of Mine.

 

[1] Debord, Guy, Society of the Spectacle, trans. Ken Knabb, Rebel Press, London, pg.9

CONTEMPORARY ART

BT ArtBox eBay charity auction

BT Artbox 'Beacon' by Steven DrayIf you strolled in Central London recently, you must have come across these unusual looking phone boxes and maybe wondered what all this was about.

Peter Blake, Gerry Judah, Rob and Nick Carter, sculptor duo the DnA Factory and some 70 others artists and designers took part in the BT ArtBox project where they had to transformed the notorious red telephone box into a piece of art.

This project is sponsored by BT to raise money for ChildLine and all “artboxes” are u for auction until the 22nd July so get bidding today, it is for a gret cause.

Which ones do you like or have seen? We have included our top 5 below. See all BT ArtBox entries.

BT ArtBox by Gerry Judah
BT ArtBox by Gerry Judah

BT artbox ‘Utopia’ by Basson and Brooke
BT artbox 'Utopia' by Basson and Brooke

BT artbox ‘Dial M for monster’ by Lauren O’farell
BT artbox 'Dial M for monster' by Lauren O'farell.jpg

BT Artbox ‘Colour Wash’ by Rob & Nick Carter
BT Artbox 'Colour Wash' by Rob & Nick Carter

BT Artbox 'Beacon' by Steven Dray

PREVIEW

Under her skin: female tattoo culture at Atomica gallery

Under her skin at Atomica gallery | Art-PieAtomica Gallery is delighted to announce their first exhibition of original artwork: Under Her Skin, in association with Things&Ink, the magazine embracing female tattoo culture.

Celebrating the magazine’s first anniversary and launch of the new issue The Art Issue, the exhibition is curated by Things&Ink and will include work from twelve female tattoo artists who have featured in the magazine’s pages over the past year.

Founded by journalist and tattoo enthusiast Alice Snape in 2012, Things&Ink magazine reflects on tattoo culture from a feminine perspective. Differing from traditional, often male dominated tattoo media, the publication is both beautiful and thought-provoking and has fast become a collector’s item.

Under Her Skin marks one year of Things&Ink by bringing together a selection of today’s most talented artists for an exhibition celebrating modern female tattoo culture:

Amy Victoria Savage (Jayne Doe, Hornchurch UK) | Angelique Houtkamp (Salon Serpent, Amsterdam NL) | Charissa Gregson (Jolie Rouge, London UK) | Dominique Holmes (The Family Business, London UK) | Grace Neutral (Good Times, London UK) | Guen Douglas (Salon Serpent, Amsterdam NL) | Iris Lys (London UK & Paris FR) | Lucy Pryor (Into You, London UK) | Rachel Baldwin (Bold As Brass, Liverpool UK) | Rebecca Vincent (Nostalgia Traditional Tattooing, Leeds & The Circle, London UK) | Tracy D (King’s Cross Tattoo Parlour, London UK) | Vicky Morgan (Ghost House, Derby UK)

WHAT – UNDER HER SKIN – Celebrating one year of Things&Ink and launch of The Art Issue
WHEN – Thursday 12th September – Monday 30th September 2013
Opening Party: Thursday 12th September
WHERE – Atomica Gallery, Hackney Downs Studios, London

After-party at Doomed Gallery Dalston, 9pm til late www.doomedgallery.com

FEATURE, STREET ART

Mexican city giant mural by artists’ collective known as the German Crew

We are always happy to see people dedicated to bringing art into communities that typically remain miles away from it for various reasons, such as poverty.

So when we heard about this project, called “Pachuca Paints Itself”, in central Mexico by an artists’ collective known as the German Crew, we had to feature it on Art-Pie.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie

Hundreds of houses painted

The collective spent 14 months turning the steep hillside area of Las Palmitas into something a colossal and very much alive mural.  It was an incredible effort to change people’s perception of a neighbourhood previously seen as rather gloomy and rough – art at its best, art to its best use.

“We have painted 209 houses. Every color represents the soul of the neighborhood. It has been a community effort as each household has participated in some way,” said project director Enrique Gomez, who goes by MYBE.

MYBE is a reformed and tattooed gang member who is now focusing all his attention on graffiti art and muralism.

Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie

The project in numbers –

– 209 house painted
– 5,000 gallons (20,000 litres) of paint used
– More than 16,000 square feet (1,500 square meters) of murals covered

Even better, we hear that thanks to the huge success of this project, another impoverished area called Cubitos, is next to be painted happy.

Pachuca Paints Itself |Art-Pie Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie
CONTEMPORARY ART, URBANISM

A glow in the dark skate park

Otro by Koo Jeong-A | Art_PieWe all like when art means having fun, don’t we? How about then if you could skateboard on a sculpture and even better glow-in-the-dark skate park? Yes you would or at least you would support the concept.

The concept is out there in fact and in France precisely. Korean artist Koo Jeong-A has come up with a solution. The structure is called Otro, and is made from green phosphorescent concrete (how cool is that) so it gives off a radioactive glare at night. It is composed of different bowls, a cradle and three tunnels. See pictures below.

Koo Jeong-A invites anyone to share the physical and sensorial experience of her sculpture/skatepark. With OTRO, Koo Jeong-A tries out the fragile visibility of the artwork, its discrete appearance that tests our perception, obliging you to discover with patience the artwork’s essence. So if you are on holiday in France near Limoges, make a stop for Otro, you’ll like it.

Exact location: Lac de Vassivière | 87120 Beaumont-du-Lac, France | View the location on Google maps

Go onto the www.escaut.org website to find out more about the OTRO project

Otro by Koo Jeong-A | Art_Pie

Otro by Koo Jeong-A | Art_PieOtro by Koo Jeong-A | Art_Pie

Otro by Koo Jeong-A | Art_Pie

PREVIEW

BRP PAPER at Black Rat Press

Preview evening at Black Rat Projects, Thursday 8/09/2011, 6-9pm. The show then will run until the 16th October 2011.

Light as a feather yet inscribed with the heavy history of stories told, the blank page has long since lost its primary function: once instrumental for the post-enlightenment dissemination of information in the name of democratised knowledge, paper is now that detritus of the digital age. Just as painters, in the advent of the camera, sought experimental ways of reclaiming a trade absolved of all social utility, so today’s artists turn to this generation’s redundant material as a site of creative possibility.
In September 2011, Black Rat Projects offers a means of ingress into a field of art-making which presents a unique response to our contemporary situation. BRP PAPER ties Brian Douglas, Swoon, Leipzig based Annette Schröter, Polish artist Jarek Piotrowski, Armenian born Karen Sargsyan, Alex James Daw and Atlanta based Brian Dettmer through their common practice: the manipulation of paper. These are the artists who stand at the threshold of post-production practices and yet their aesthetic constructs Romantic landscapes and strives for a beauty long discarded by the history of art.
As they tear, rip, dye, cut, fold, recycle, trash, sew, stain, stick, mould, slice, slash, copy and paste their work into being, a narrative of materiality emerges that finds a unity between the post-punk adage and the ancient skilled crafts of origami and shadow puppetry. Labour intensive, their paper works create an opening where the sublime intentions of modernist painting meet the social pragmatism mobilised by the modern DIY spirit.
As all that was paper melts into data Black Rat Projects brings these international artists together for the first time to explore common themes in their work.

Words from Black Rat Press

Featured artists
BRIAN DOUGLAS | SWOON | ANNETTE SCHRÖTER | JAREK PIOTROWSKI | ALEX JAMES DAW | KAREN SARGSYAN | BRIAN DETTMER

CONTEMPORARY ART, PREVIEW

The Space Between The Stars at Scream

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The Space Between The Stars
Show flyer (click to enlarge)

‘The Space Between The Stars‘ opens this Friday at Scream. Expect London and international artists and the recurrent yet infinite “light” as a medium in art. Many artists in the past experimented with it, such as Robert Irwin for example, and as the artists in this show, gave an immersive experience for the viewer.

This show promises a variety of approaches in trying to break down light. 

Korean-born US based artist Bohyun Yoon gives us an installation of silicon rubber figures suspended like puppets from a steel bar with a spotlight. Caroline Jane Harris works with paper and will present us with an epic landscape titled Sylvan Landscape over two metres in width. Chris Bracey, a veteran in working with neon and lights and who has worked for big names or productions such as Vivienne Westwood or the Batman films will impress. James Hopkins’ will use sculptures to create illusions.  Regine Schumann also works with sculptures but made of acrylic glass and a special phosphorescent pigment that allow the works to glow from within.

The collaboration between Hsiao-chi Tsai (Taiwan) & Kimiya Yoshikawa (Japan), masters in Mixed-media textiles and Sculpture respectively, their light sculptures and installations might steal the show. Shane McAdams ‘ landscape made with a ball-point pen, oil and resin has also to be something to look for. Last but not least Sylvia Hommert experiments with a range of mediums including pigment, beeswax, holographic paper and glitter on birch panels to capture this ephemeral and iridescent quality.

Artists featured; Bohyun Yoon (Korea), Caroline Jane Harris (UK), Chris Bracey (UK), James Hopkins (UK), Regine Schumann (Germany), Tsai & Yoshikawa (Japan & Taiwan), Shane McAdams (USA) and Sylvia Hommert (USA)

Regine Schumann
Works from Regine Schumann

Exhibition opens on 11th January to 16th Febuary.
RSVP for Scream group show preview to info@leesharrock.co.uk

Facebook page related to the show – http://www.facebook.com/events/458881274161027/

 

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