John Stezaker once said of Collage that it “is a yearning for a lost world and reflects a universal sense of loss”. Those sentiments are certainly reflected in the work of artist and radical feminist Linder Sterling (also known as Linder).
In her series Pretty Girls, Linder reacted to visual world she occupied, a society of inequality and the gender specific rhetoric. Linder used the magazines of the late 70’s and 80’s as her painters brush. Splicing images of naked women from pornography, and kitchen appliances from those awful home improvement catalogues, she created a curious and slightly disturbing, yet telling depiction on the representation of women of the time.
Looking back at these images from the 70’s and the post punk era it’s amazing how contemporary they feel. Is this due to the inherent nature of collage and it’s yearning for a lost world (as Stezaker put it). Or is it that in a time when we are bombarded with imagery on a daily basis that more and more contemporary artists and looking back in time in an attempt to decipher it all?
We arrived in Zurich to find that the centre of town, near where we are staying is insanely upper class. Ferrari’s and Bentleys cruising the streets typically driven by what looked like teenage boys and the main streets lined with cafe’s filled with people wearing Gucci sunglasses laughing and sipping their cocktails.
It was not something that we were expecting and thought that it was extremely superficial, until we ventured of the beaten track in search of Starkart gallery that was hosting the LUDO solo show.
The neighbourhood that Starkart is located in is very culturally diverse and much more down to earth.
Starkart is one of the most understated spaces we have come across, set inside an old residence turned commercial space that gives no impression of what is happening behind the scenes.
The Ludo show is set over multiple rooms on two levels, it is a minimalistic show, with the works widely spread out to make use of the vast space provided.
The ground floor displays originals from his “nature’s revenge” series and the basement features two video installations of his work processes, from creation to installation on the street.
It really felt like urban exploration venturing into this show, moving from room to room, some brightly lit and others very dark with the sound of what seemed like a old French record echoing from the basement.
In 2007 the global population living in urban environments passed the halfway mark, and that trend is accelerating. As cities become bigger and denser, and within the rigid structures of a mass-market society, truly meaningful personal interactions become increasingly elusive. Read the full preview here.
Artists featured: Swoon, Os Gemeos, Banksy, Shepard Fairey
Where –
Black Rat Projects When –
20th May – 23rd June 2011 (Preview – 19th May – 6-9pm)
Photos of the opening night below
Shephard Fairey
Swoon
OsGemeos
PS: “Where are the Banksy shots” you may think. Well, I thought the pieces from the three artists above were a lot more worth being photograph than his so I did not snap any but I am sure you have seem them all already anyway.
Codefc has just come back from Ibiza where he spent a few weeks (what?!). He obviously took the opportunity to leave his marks on a few surfaces and kindly sent us a few pictures of his work.
TEASER project is an enthusiastic collective effort which document the Paris street art scene. You will come across artists like Atlas, FKDL, Da Cruz or C215.
We like the interactive map telling about where you can find street art work. We like even more the video tout together to showcase the project – good work indeed.
Stickers fans out there have been waiting for this one – yes Stickers Bomb 3 is out today!
We published a similar post last time round when Stickers Bomb Skulls came out and gave you the opportunity to grab a free copy.
We are reiterating this again and have 2 copies of latest Sticker Bomb 3 up for grabs! Look to your right to find out how you can win a copy –>
We were delighted to receive again in the post this collection of over 240 peelable stickers from our favourite publisher Laurence King.
This book is part of the ever growing Stickerbomb series which includes other similar books such as Stickerbomb, Stickerbomb 2, Stickerbomb XL, Stickerbomb Letters and Stickerbomb Monsters.
D*Face foreword
As D*FACE warns us in his foreword for this edition of Sticker Bomb, “Stickers are seriously addictive, self indulgent, egotistical, and can be life altering – and thank fuck they are. They rescued me from a life of punching hours in the 9-to-5 grind, working for the man”
Artists in this edition includes –
Bisser (Belgium)
BareOne (UK)
Dres13 (US)
FatGomez (Italy)
Killer Acid (US)
Luis Pinto (Mexico)
Mr Four Fingers (UK)
Space MCK (Australia)
Train Of Thoughts (Switzerland)
About Studio Rarekwai, the studio behind the StickerBomb book series –
Ryo Sanada and Suridh Hassan of Studio Rarekind (SRK) specialise in the promotion of international culture and music through documentary production and film. Their documentary film on Japanese Hip-Hop culture – “Scratching the surface: Japan” – has been broadcast Europe. This was followed by successful screenings at the 12th Raindance Film Festival in London and Vancouver International Hip-Hop Film Festival.
Detail of “Hofbauergasse” | This piece will be in our next show
We were thrilled to receive James’ submission for our upcoming edition of The Creative Bubble, a multi-discipline pop up event atRoxy Bar and Screen, London. James has been following us for a while and we are delighted to give him the opportunity to showcase his work.
We asked a few questions to the man about himself and his art –
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Art-Pie – Can you tell our readers about yourself in a few words?
James Kinsella – I am Visual Artist, practicing and living in Vienna, Austria. I received my M.A. in Visual Arts Practices from IADT Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.
I have an ongoing work The Socialmaterialbank project, it is an art platform that identifies and maps critical issues that are of immediate concern to our global community. We present the public with questions on these issues and invite the participants to share their responses on the Socialmaterialbank. We collect and document the participant’s responses and collective instructions, on our platform – the Socialmaterialbank. Website at www.jamespkinsella.org
Through painting and screen-printing I explore how we build and perceive our concept of home by ‘investigating’ my subconscious and unconscious records and views of Vienna!
Art-Pie – Can you tell us about your creative process and where does your inspiration come from?
James Kinsella – I believe that through art we can engage with local communities and through participation, commoning and consensus arrive at and create a better and more sustainable world. I paint, draw, photograph and create instillations and I have a social practice (Participatory) where I use my varied art skills to engage with local people at festivals, events and galleries here in Vienna.
Art-Pie – Give us the name of three artists you admire or like?
James Kinsella – I really like all artists as they dedicate so much of their energy to the arts. But as I presently live in Vienna, here I admire Egon Scheele, Gustav Klimt and Viennese Actionism – Brus, Mühl, Nitsch and Schwarzkogler.UK artists, Tracey Emin, David Hockney and Lucian Freud
Art-Pie – Street art is something we like at Art-Pie, what is your take on that form of art?
James Kinsella – Street art has always engaged and impressed me, it occupies public space and is an ancient effective, low cost, un-censored way of communication with the public. To me it’s sort of a democratic way of claiming public space and questioning the statuesque. My wife is a Roman Archaeologist and I had the privilege to attend a lecture by an American Lecturer, that included text on Roman graffiti and street art – it was amazing, shocking, surprising and beautiful lots of sex and erotica. I really admire Art- Pie for their consistent exposure, support and promotion of Graffiti artists, please keep it going as support is needed.
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?
James Kinsella – I post my up and coming shows on my website: www.jamespkinsella.org I am organising a number of shows presently but no fixed dates at the moment.
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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)
Herakut has been busy recently and produced a very expressive piece on the walls of children’s home № 32 in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Not only the work is remarkable, they also put together a very well shot and edited video to support “the struggle with the monster of irresponsibility”, name of this another awesome association between these two artists.
If you have not got Herarkut book, get it from Amazon now. It is full of wonders.
HERAKUT – the perfect merge flexcover. 21×26 cm. 200 pages
We have already featured Clemens Behr‘s cardboards installations and are again very happy to do so. This time, the playground is in Paris and the collaboration is with French painter Romain Froquet.
The fruit of this partnership are two eye-catching 3D installations enhanced by Froquet’s neat and intricate abstract paintings which can be seen below. The video of this collaborative work has also been included below.
