About 10 years ago, Chris Sammartano (Eddie Breen is his ‘brush name’) stumbled upon a “horrible” painting at a flea market. He bought it for a dollar, picked up some art supplies, and got to work transforming the staid church scene into his own vibrant vision.
An hour or so later, he had created “Piggyback Art,” an exuberantly surreal style that reimagines found works with layers of text, color, and offbeat graphic elements. Continue reading Meet Eddie Breen: piggyback art
Whatever some may think about the London 2012 Olympics, it is bringing a lot art and life to the city making it not only the sport capital of the world but very much a cultural hub right now. We have started to enjoy the many exhibitions and pop up art shows part of the London 2012 festival that is running along the Olympics and actually right into September.
We made our first stop at Art Drive and we so glad we did. The NCP Car Park, 35 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3ER which I ignored so many times as I walked past, is now cocooning the BMW Art Car Collection. 17 cars turned into pieces of art. I will never see again that car park with the same eyes.
You have to go back in 1975 to see the first ever BMW Art Car burning some rubber at the famous Le Mans 24-hour race. From there 16 other Art cars followed which all competed in this very race until the current and last one ever painted – The Jeff Koons one, see below for pictures. Some of the artists who got involved in this 35-year long project are Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, Cesar Manrique or Frank Stella.
But enough about the history, let’s go and see the cars! The settings for this show are completely surreal: the car wash team, based outside of the car park was at it while I was greeted with a big smile by the the Art Drive team and quickly ushered inside the car park and rapidly wafted in a huge lift that can most definitely contain a couple of cars but above all that made me feel right into some sort of action or sci-fi movies like Alien. I was excited now.
The girofar then went off, a strident sound soon followed that smashed the relative silence that had settled during my journey up to the unknown. The door slid open: I had reached the 8th floor and was about to see my first Art Car.
Enjoy the pictures below and leave a comment if you like any of them! Consult this website to read more about the cars, designs and artists that took part in this project
A bit of trivia for you – the BMW Art Car M1 by Andy Warhol was the most successful car on the circuit de la Sarthe, it took sixth place overall in 1979.
The latest and last BMW Art Car by Jeff Koons
ALEXANDER CALDER
SANDRO CHIA (left) | ESTHER MALANGU
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
FRANK STELLA
ANDY WARHOL
We have come across La Pandilla art and have liked very much the uniqueness of it. The recurrent theme it’d seem is the animal morphology: different species of animals are blended together creating totally unique specimens.
Definitely odd at first, this approach appears powerful and give the viewer plenty to think of what and why we look the way we are. You will find a few examples of their work below.
Make sure to check out the video too about the duo artists.
Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today: How x Nosm, Look x Vidam & Seko x Venok.
How x Nosm
Look x Vidam
Seko x Venok
Photo London brings together 80 of the world’s leading galleries in a major international photography Fair, combined with an innovative public programme supported by the LUMA Foundation.
Photo London is located in the heart of the city and benefits from the support of London’s best photographers. Click here to watch these photographers discuss their love of photography, and why London is an important cultural hub for photography, in a special video for Photo London.
From the 19-22 May, Photo London will be celebrating the ever popular medium of photography across the capital by bringing some of the world’s leading practitioners, curators, exhibitors and dealers together with the public. Photo London have collaborated with 80 of the best galleries from around the globe to put together a stellar line up of both exhibitions and events, such as book signings and discussions, with those renowned in the field.
Amongst those attending is Don McCullin. Recently named Photo London’s Master of Photography 2016, the legendary war photographer will be the subject of an exclusive exhibition at Somerset House. McCullin will also be in conversation with Simon Baker, Photography Curator at Tate in a public talk on 19 May. This opportunity is available to anybody who purchases a ticket to Photo London thanks to the support of the LUMA Foundation, who work to support the activities of independent artists and pioneers.
Elsewhere, specially-commissioned exhibition, Photoprovocations, is set to be on view at the West Embankment Galleries. This showcase recognises Sergey Chilikov as an outstanding practitioner of the ‘new’ photography which emerged in the USSR in the 1970s. The work of Wolfgang Tillmans will also be displayed in Between Bridges at Somerset House. Stepping aside from the sensationalism surrounding the ‘Brexit’ coverage in the media, Tillmans aims to inform the public about the democratic and humantarian benefits of remaining within the European Union.
Photo London’s main exhibitors section welcomes a wealth of established galleries including Beetles+Huxley, London; Polka Galerie, Paris; The Photographers’ Gallery, London; Magnum Photos, Paris-London; and Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney-Berlin. In addition, new and emerging organisations will also have a place at the event in Photo London’s newest section Discovery, reserved specifically to introduce praiseworthy, but less well known, galleries to new audiences. Exhibitors include Tiwani Contemporary and TJ Boulting. Already one of the top 10 visitor attractions in the UK, Photo London’s home, Somerset House, is itself a cultural hotspot and a centre for art and culture in the heart of London.
London’s public museums and galleries will also put the spotlight on photography this month: Martin Parr will curate Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers at the Barbican Art Gallery; National Portrait Gallery hosts Vogue 100: A Century of Style; Science Museum/Media Space displays the work of William Henry Fox Talbot; the V&A presents Paul Strand: Photography and Film for the 20th Century; and Tate Modern examines contemporary work in Performing for the Camera.
This year’s Photo London edition will feature the talents of two rising practitioners from the London art scene. Walter and Zoniel will transform the uncanny underground spaces of The Deadhouse at Somerset House into a giant camera for opening night. By doing this, the artists plan to create the largest ever Ambrotype portrait as a live ‘happening’, energising visitors ahead of the following four days, which promise to be filled with world class photography and photographers.
Photo London 2016, 19-22 May, Somerset House, London.
For more information, visit www.photolondon.org.
We had wanted for a while to have Kerry Beall in one of our edition of The Creative Bubble, a multi-discipline pop up event atRoxy Bar and Screen, London.
Art-Pie – Can you tell your readers about yourself in a few words?
Kerry Beall – Hello! my names Kerry, I’m a Graphic Designer by trade and been working in the industry for about 8 years, in the last few years I’ve really got into fine art, I wanted another creative outlet away from the computer screen so I went and bought loads of inks and brushes, it wasn’t something I was overly confident in until I drew a face that actually looked like the real deal! that was pretty exciting, and now painting and drawing is definitely a big part of my life 🙂
Art-Pie – Can you tell us about your creative process and where does your inspiration come from?
Kerry Beall – I tend to draw lots of portrait pieces as that’s what excites me, drawing eyes and watching a face come alive from a blank piece of paper is magical to me!
I work with ink and charcoal, I love the unpredictable nature of ink when it hits the page, coupled with the accuracy and precision you can get with charcoal. So I tend to use them both together.
I’m inspired by interesting fashion photography and nature, I gather inspiration from pinterest and instagram, and then visual ideas start forming from there…usually at four in the morning, so I often leap out of bed and draw it before I forget!
Art-Pie – Give us the name of three artists you admire or like?
Kerry Beall – I really love collage, and masking imagery, I came across Joe Webb’s stuff, and fell in love with it a bit.
I also really like Françoise Nielly’s work, with the bold, striking colour portraits.
Lastly I have to say Dali, as he’s a childhood favourite and triggered my first interest in art.
Art-Pie – Street art is something we like at Art-Pie, what is your take on that form of art?
Kerry Beall – I’m a fan of street art, especially having lived in Bristol for a long time, the appreciation for street art is really apparent there, as it’s Banksy’s home town…I like the way whenever I visit there’s something new to look at 🙂
Art-Pie – Are there any other projects or shows that you will be involved with for the rest of 2015 that you want share with us?
Kerry Beal – I’m working on new stuff all the time, my main focus for this year is a project I started called Beyond Words – Gaza
https://www.facebook.com/beyondwordsgaza?fref=photo
I am currently painting the lives that have been lost in Gaza with the intent of raising enough money to have all the portraits framed and exhibited, hopefully in a few places, with the final destination being Palestine, where the family members of the victims can keep the portraits that are of their family.
I know what’s happened can’t be undone, but I just felt a strong urge to do something, by trying to somehow immortalise these people in some form so they don’t fade away forever.
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WHAT – The Creative Bubble, POP UP Art Gallery, Spoken Word, Poetry, Short Films, Music & Networking
WHERE – Roxy Bar and Screen, 128-132 Borough High Street, London SE1 1LB
WHEN – Wed 29/4/2015 (POP UP art gallery opening night) / Thursd 30 (Spoken word)
Last time I went to Pure Evil gallery I was blown away by the exhibit I saw from ROA (read post here) as well as the gallery itself and the way it was used: clever and original display of the artwork and above all fresh works from the artist himself on the walls – really like this approach where you feel the gallery is owned by the artist so once again, well done to Charles at Pure Evil.
Even more so when you learn that all the works I was looking at that day has been created just for that show. Continue reading Busk Bleach Zadok at Pure Evil gallery
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.
3,074 paint chips in 36 colours, a few glue guns and a bit of elbow grease and you get that well-know face.
Inside Stolen Space and looking around Usugrow’s artwork and it is obvious to me: if you are into black and white with punk rock visuals such as skulls and roses, you may well forget the price tags and get the gallery staff to immediately stick up one of those red stickers next to your favorite piece. Continue reading Usugrow at Stolen Space: meet hasadu
