Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today. Artists featured are C215, Louyz and Vinie.
C215 – Located in Ivry (France)
Louyz – located in Paris (France)
Vinie – located in France
Fintan Magee – graffiti artist into rubbish
We met Fintan Scott-Magee originally from Brisbane and try to find out a bit more about his liking, it seems, for rubbish and bins in his art.
A-P: Tell us about yourself in a few words?
FINTAN MAGEE: My name is Fintan Magee, born in Brisbane Australia. I have been writing for 10 years now but I started to move away from traditional letterforms about 4 years ago and started to paint more canvas and street art. Really I’m just trying to have as much fun as possible with my art while I am still young and stupid enough not to know better.
A-P: What is your process/approach when making graffiti/streetart/art?
FM: I prefer to paint strait onto walls using oils, acrylic and of course spray paint. I like to paint in abandoned buildings a lot so I can relax and paint for as long as I want, the problem is my city is growing very quickly and becoming so developed that there is a shortage of empty and forgotten spaces. In my city almost everything painted on the streets is buffed within a week so I don’t really do many paste up’s or stickers any more, they say my city is clean but I just find it sterile.
A-P: Bin bags, rubbish seems to be an element that you like, why is this?
FM:The rubbish is just something thats developed over the last few months because I was painting still life images of things that have been forgotten or left behind on the streets, I guess I like to add depth to what may be considered bland or boring subject matter and not worth painting. I believe that we live in such a throw away and progressive society now that we overlook the beauty in many things that we consider expendable.
A-P: Where/what do you look for inspiration?
FM: I guess I look everywhere for inspiration, I think as an artist its important to take in the simple things around you, popular culture, nature, the city, your friends, etc. Keep looking and you will eventually find inspiration and influence where you least expect it.
A-P: Any upcoming shows/projects?
FM: I am travelling to Sydney and Melbourne in June for some group shows and to do some walls, I also have a Solo show at Jugglers gallery in Brisbane in August and another solo show in Melbourne’s Rtist gallery in November. After that I think another overseas trip is on the cards, possibly to the Americas. I have been back in Australia for two years now and I am starting to get pretty itchy feet.
Thank you to Fintan for taking time for this interview
Pictures below of some of Fintan’s works. More on this website: www.fintanmagee.com
Taschen book sample sale in Sloane Square
Taschen book sample sale in Sloane Square will be taking place at their store at 12 Duke of York Square, Chelsea, London SW3 4LY from 26-29th January.
Expect to find unique books and enjoy strolling through Taschen store in South West London. We included below a selection of some of the items you will be able to buy.
Gisele by Taschen
> Born in the Brazilian countryside, and nearly six feet tall by the age of 14, Gisele Bündchen grew from humble roots into the most successful supermodel in the world. This book celebrates her 20-year milestone in the industry with a unique and spectacular collection of jaw-dropping glamour and intimate, personal insights.
Mario Testino – in your face
> Mario Testino’s boundless talent with a camera must be maddening for other photographers working in a highly competitive field, but he remains one of the most revered stars in his profession. Often imitated and never equaled, Testino is graced with a natural ability to float effortlessly from studio to backstage to after-party, producing stunning shots in any kind of situation.
About Taschen
TASCHEN, founded as a small comic shop in Cologne, Germany in 1980, is today renowned as the world’s leading publisher of illustrated books. Our twice yearly warehouse sale offers open copies from our full program of fashion, design, photography, travel, lifestyle, art, pop culture, and sexy books for 50-75% off their list price.
This year our sale is from 26-29th January and the store at 12 Duke of York Square, Chelsea, London SW3 4LY is open 10am-7pm.
Drones in Deptford coming soon
We all like going to the movies, don’t we? But how about going to the movies and get a total immersion in it, how about an invasion by spaceships and robots whilst watching the 1972 eco-themed sci-fi classic Silent Running?
Immersive cinema company The Vanishing Point is throwing another mighty sounding event in association with nationwide film season Scala Beyond. The venue is the Utrophia Gallery in Deptford – a space which, conveniently, is already well equipped with rooftop machinery, and the feel of a ‘run down old spaceship’, according to Paul Reed, The Vanishing Pointco-founder and creative director.
From Paul Reed,
‘We don’t want to create a nostalgic reaction of the film but look at the themes, what was it getting at and how can we have some fun with that and keep people interested and excited.
The event will feature interaction with crew members from The Valley Forge space freighter, garden areas, a blast-off bar, food stalls and immersive installations inspired by the fiction of the film. We also hear that there will also be a retro video game installation.
The Vanishing Point Silent Running Screening takes place on 15 September at Utrophia (Rooftop screening), 120 Deptford High Street, London, SE8. For tickets and more information visit www.thevanishingpoint.org.uk
Find out a bit more about the concept
Slinkachu X Andipa Gallery "Concrete Ocean".
Slinkachu takes figures from miniature train sets and painstakingly modifies them so that they can be used as part of his almost invisible world.
He creates comical, satirical and sometimes slightly dark scenes with these figures, places them all over the world, shoots them with spectacular quality and then leaves them to become part of the scenery.
The first of this series was “the little people project” the photos were formed into a lovely little hard cover book produced in 2008. I purchased a copy of it and was suitably impressed with the content and quality of print.
This left us very excited for the new show “Concrete ocean”, hosted by the Andipa Gallery in South Kensington. It had been two years since Slinkachu hosted a show in London and when it comes to most artists after such a period of time you would expect to see significant progression in their body of work. This however was not the case with the Slinkachu show, but it really didn’t matter. The gallery was laid out with huge high quality prints showing the detail of the characters and the photographs almost bring them to life. The large prints were accompanied by very small location shots to show you just how much they disappear into their surroundings.
Andipa Gallery is a large space located in a very upper class area, totally different to the Hackney / Shoreditch spaces we are used to attending, yet it seem more than suitable for this body of work, it was extremely well organised and the 3d installations were well spaced so you could appreciate the minute detail.
It would come as a surprise to us if this show did not make you smile, laugh and sometimes feel just that little bit sad.
Check out our huge collection of shots from the evening here:
Artists pick from the 2012 London art fair – part1
If there is one art fair I have been and do not want to miss from now on, is the London Art Fair (LAF). Why is that? Just simply because it presents over 100 galleries featuring the great names of 20th century British art and exceptional contemporary work from leading figures and emerging talent.
Added to that, there are always a bunch of solo shows and curated group displays in the Art Projects section and even a showcase for contemporary photography. You’ll have understood by now, the LAF is my Thorpe park as a kid; always eager to go and never willing to go home once in it.
Here below is our artist pick (part 1) | Read part 2 | Read part 3
Sarah Hardcare via Paul Stolper
Habd pulled, four colour photo silk screen print on 300 gsm Caneletto paper
Thomas Allen via Foley gallery (left) | Shaun Doyle and Mally Mallinson via Paul Stolper
Chromogenic print (left) | Cast bronze (right)
Tom Ormond via Charlie Smith
Oil on linen
Rob and Nick Carter via Fine Art Society
Paint pigment photographs
Matthew Redford via Agnew’s gallery (left) | Paul Wright via Thompson’s gallery (right)
Oil on canvas (left) | Oil on canvas (right)
Carla Melegari via Thompson’s gallery
Oil on canvas
Cameron Gray via Sims Reed gallery
Photocollage
Simon Stalenhgas’s sci-fi digital paintings
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.
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.
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.
Herakut, C215 and Pipsqueak street art
Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today. Artists featured are Herakut, C215 and Pipsqueak.
Herakut
C215
Pipsqueak
A 97 year old, nearly blind man who works wonders with MS Paint
His name is Hal Lasko, his nickname Grandpa. What he did for living is something we will probably never see again – he was a graphic artist back when everything was done by hand. He then had to retired and his caring family had the genius idea to introduce him to the computer and especially to Microsoft Paint.
Since then Grandpa spends ten hours a day moving pixels around his computer paintings. Some would call his work pointillism, others 8-Bit art but it might be a bit of both.
Anyway, another inspiration that is Hal Lasko, The Pixel Painter. We have included below a video interview of the artist plus a few examples of his works.
Malika Favre – Hide and Seek at Kemistry gallery
Now in its summer break, the London art scene has slightly slowed down and galleries are either busy relaxing or putting altogether their next shows. One of these that has caught our eyes and attention is the “Hide and Seek” show by Malika Favre at Kemistry gallery.
This show is for the minimalistic art enthusiast and if you love prints, you should definitely come and see Malika Favre’s Hide and Seek show and become fascinated by the story of a furtive yet sophisticated woman very much looking like the elegant woman you would find strolling on the Champs Elysees in Paris. Malika Favre is from France and you can clearly feel a Parisian looking woman influence in her character.
The video that has been put together for the show – see below, is a real treat and is as funny in a way as intriguing. The woman keeps popping out of different patterns which are cleverly mixed together to lose viewers into them and thus increase the surprise effect when the woman appears.
From Kemistry gallery “Fascinated by patterns in everyday life, urban surroundings and architecture, French born Malika Favre has put together Hide and Seek, her first solo show in London. Malika’s work is bold and minimalistic, exploring the relationship between positive and negative space.”
From the artist “there is such beauty and intrigue in those repetitive concrete balconies, I felt like creating a series of abstract prints based on the architectural patterns that no one really notices.”
The 8 high end screenprints will be available for purchase at the gallery and online, each print is limited, signed and numbered by Malika Favre.
Malika Favre “Hide & Seek” | 6th Sept — 29th Sept 2012
Private View: Thursday 6th September 18:00 —21:00 | 43 Charlotte Road| London EC2A 3PD