Banksy’s Police SWAT Van Is About To be Sold At Auction

Banksy SWAT Van | Art-Pie
Detail of one of the two painted sides

Banksy fans will remember this SWAT (police units used in specialised operations such as dealing with gunmen) van which the artist painted back in 2006 as form of provocation towards the police force.

Well, it is time to empty your pockets if you want it parked on your drive way, indeed the street artist’s van is included in the auction house’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auction on June 29.

The formal estimate is at between £200,000 to £300,000. The present owner bought the van directly off the artist and vanished from the public eye until today but rest assured, it comes with a certificate of verification from the Pest Control Office, Banksy’s authorisation service which confirms pieces as genuine.

Here is what Bonhams‘ Ralph Taylor,senior director in its Post-War and Contemporary Art department –

The van shows Banksy’s bravado, imagination and technical skill

About the work itself

Both sides are painted.

One one side, a little boy is depicted and is about to prank a SWAT team -gun-toting officers in riot gear, who are about to be surprised from behind by a young boy clutching a blown-up paper bag,

On the other side you will have recognised Dorothy (played byJudy Garland) from The Wizard of Oz standing among heavy tagging and graffiti on the other.

But what people may describe as the main message in this work is the sign saying “How’s my bombing?” rather than “How’s my driving?

Banksy SWAT Van | Art-Pie

Banksy SWAT van Wizard of OZ Judy Garland | Art-Pie

Part of  Banksy’s “Barely Legal” show

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

The vehicle, restyled with household gloss and spray paint in 2006, was displayed that same year in a Los Angeles warehouse for Banksy’s “Barely Legal” show — his US debut.

Despite little advance notice and its location near Skid Row, the event received considerable publicity and was attended by stars such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

We included a couple of pics below of the show. the top one giving you an overview while the other shows a truck that was used outside the show venue – click any pictures to enlarge

"Barely legal" Banksy Los Angeles | Art-Pie Barely-Legal-2006-2

 

Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery

Ben Levy | Young masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art_pie
By Ben Levy

“Young Masters” is the latest show from Curious Duke gallery and is now in full swing. We went down to check it out what the group show has to offer.

If you have never been to the gallery, your first impression, as you step in, might be that the gallery is tiny but keep walking on and head downstairs where the main exhibition area is. The place is actually big enough to host a decent amount of work from several artists. “Young Masters” present us with artwork from 11 different artists.

What strikes you right away is the diversity of works that this show offers – you will encounter steel sculptures from Sam Shendi as well as amazing BIRO drawings from Mark Powell. You are greeted by ben levy’s portraits which always try to transpire current political, racial or sexual issues the artist cares about by using well-known pop references such as McDonalds.

Head towards the stairs and find yourself facing with an odd sculpture made of steel which will catch your curiosity. Head downstairs and find scattered around the place several other pieces from the same artist. Sam Shendi’s sculptures use bright colours, often red, yellow and blue and the shapes are straight ones. You cannot walk past them and not stop and have a closer look. We particularly like “Freedom Of Speech” which consist of three small boxes, one yellow, one red and one blue all showing you a face where the freedom of speech os broken down. Simple but clever.

Oil on canvas has been a technique that has been around almost forever and the show via Richard Goold and Danielle Hodson gives the visitors eyes something to look at again and again. Danille Hodson portraits are somewhat quite traditional but with sometimes a twist – “Piggy” is a perfect example, the face depicts a pig instead of a human face. Richard Goold on the other hand does surrealism and does it well. If you like Dali, you will like this artist.

Richard Goold | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-Pie
By Mark Powell

2 more artists caught our attention. Kate Knight and Mark Powell.

Kate Knight watercolour on canvas pieces are soft and delicate and will seduce the romantics out there although her subjects can sometimes be awkward. You will find yourself in from of series of encrusted blackened heart which for some reason comes across as beautiful. Maybe the metal leaf added on all Danielle Hodson pieces have got something to do with it.
Mark Powell drawing technic is mind blowing. Armed with only a ballpoint pen, his drawing are just so detailed and realistic, you wonder how much time it must take the artist to get these drawing done. We also appreciated that the artists use unusual support such as a 1853 letter/envelope or an antique map of France.

If the show tells you anything is that there are still out there, talented artists that keep their creativity up by using good old painting or drawing techniques, oil on canvas often wins you over I must say.

Exhibiting artists: Andrea Tyrimos| Ben Levy | Dannielle Hodson | Darren MacPherson | Hannah Downing | Kate Knight | Kareena Zerefos | Mark Powell | Otto D’Ambra | Richard Goold | Paul Don Smith | Sam Shendi | Sue Young Lee

SAM SHENDI
Sam Shendi | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-PieSam Shendi | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-Pie
Sam Shendi | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-PieSam Shendi | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-Pie

Richard Goold (left) | Danielle Hodson
Richard Goold | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-Pie Danielle Hodson | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-Pie

Kate knight
Kate Knight | Young Masters at Curious Duke gallery || Art-Pie

Mark Powell

Gordon Cheung at Room: multi media artist

I always find fascinating when an artist can juggle between medias or techniques, when artists can be as varied as Gordon Cheung is. It is definitely a sign of open mindedness and in this case also talent.

Pyrographics, spray paint, oil, acrylics, sculpture, animation… Gordon Cheung seems to explore everything in is art. THE JOURNEY (ink, acrylic gel and spray paint on canvas), BEAR and BULL (both being acrylic gel and spray on canvases) are definitely my favorite pieces. Acrylic gel is superb to get incredible texture and relief. Continue reading Gordon Cheung at Room: multi media artist

The Factory: Warhol and His Circle

Warhol, just the name conjures up an instant catalogue of artworks/images that transcend generations – the Campbell’s Soup tins, the Jackie Kennedy prints – and define the pop art movement.

This exhibition gives viewers a glimpse into something other than the primary colours and consumerism images of Andy Warhol. Proud Chelsea is exhibiting a photographic memoir of a year at the Factory – Warhols working world of creativity and notoriety. The images were taken by David McCabe who was a rising star on the New York photography scene during the 60s, he was contacted by Warhol and asked to collaborate with him in documenting life at the Factory between 1964 and 1965.

David McCabe Philip Johnson's Glasshouse 1965McCabe was asked to conform to two conditions by Warhol: that he didn’t use a flash and that he was someone who would fit in; David became part of the Factory’s entourage and took over 2,500 photographs at the Factory and other locations around New York.

This is McCabe’s first UK exhibition and highlights this world that Warhol created the exhibition features snap shots of other artists Warhol knew, such as Salvador Dali.  In one image Dali is seen to be explaining one of his paintings to Warhol, almost in a teacher/professor like manor.

This small display at Proud Chelsea of McCabe’s photographs are a peek into Warhol’s world and the stars of the Factory,  one of these was Edie Sedgwick, for whom this display is for; commemorating the 40th anniversary of her death. She features across many of the images and her contemporary look could be straight out of a bar in Chelsea today.

One striking image for me is Philip Johnson’s Glasshouse1964/5  something about the angle, the glass and space that perhaps say a lot about Warhol and the world he was cultivating, his look of almost a surveying nature. It also reminded me of a clothing advert – the slick, clean cut look and serniness of the image –  it could almost be for Burberry.

The  images still feel modern and some are more candid than others, such as one featuring Edie, Chuck Wein and Warhol at a party at the Empire State building in1965, which could almost be a Facebook picture, the three of them are huddled in close, looking up at the camera.DavidMcCabe Spring nyc 1965

The display  features images that Warhol decided did not portray him in a light he was keen to cultivate and they were put away by McCabe and left. Some of these unique photographs have been untouched or unprinted, for nearly 40 years so its well worth a look.

Downstairs are some of Proud’s other images by terry ONiel and others. My favoruites is a shot of the Rolling Stones with paige boy hair cuts from 1963, an open shirted Mick Jagger striking a pose for an image entitled ‘Mick’s Lips’ and the sultry Marianne Faithfull in knee high socks and Mary Janes. All of the images no matter what the year still look modern, with looks straight out of today’s catwalks.

The exhibition opens today at Proud Chelsea and runs till the 4th December Mon, Tue, Thu – Sun 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM; Wed 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM.

Miss Van – Twinkles at Magda Danysz Gallery

One of the first stops on our European tour is Paris, France.

We spent the first day just walking the streets taking as many shots as we could of the amazing amount of street art. On the second day we made way to the Magda danysz Gallery to check out the latest show from Miss Van entitled ”Twinkles”.

The gallery is a huge space, set over two floors with a series of stretching white wall.We are familiar with Miss Van’s colourful street work featuring her trademark female figures. This show was a step in sightly different direction with the ground floor focusing on a series of works with a distinct Victorian feel, dark tones set in very heavy wooden frames.

The first floor has a carnival theme, still darker imagery yet a little more colour than the works you see on other floors. Some other reviews have pointed out that the difference in themes is due to the fact that the body of work is combination of paintings from earlier shows mixed with some later works.
This didn’t bother us, as this was the first show from Miss Van that were able to see, we enjoyed seeing the progression of themes over a few years work.

This show is very enjoyable, if not slightly dwarfed by the sheer size of the gallery, yet well worth checking out.

The show runs until the 30/4/2011

When: 19/3 till 30/4/11

Where: Magda Danysz gallery (Paris)

View all the pics on our Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chasingghosts/sets/72157626300739007/

James George or how to use Kinect (Xbox)

Microsoft must have amazed quite a few of us with their latest innovation, I want to talke here about Kinect by like for all genius products, there is a sleepy hacker waiting to exploit and excel in using such products.

James George had the idea to modify the Kinect accessory and with the help of a HD SLR, he presents us with these amazing shots below taken across the NYC subway.

For the techies, James is using the depth image in a custom open framework application.

James Georges

James Georges

James Georges

Related links
> James George’s blog – www.jamesgeorge.org
> Set of James’ Kinect work on Flickr

Opening night of Cape and Cowl exhibition at Kachette

A quick stop at home to drop our bags and off we went to Kachette in Shoreditch for the Press launch night of the latest show curated by Moniker Projects front man, Frankie Shea. We were thrilled for the invite and looked forward to seeing the artworks in person after reading about it.

In a nutshell – the exhibition reimagines the Caped Crusader’s iconic Cape and Cowl headpiece. WB Games UK has teamed up with twenty contemporary artists and celebrities to celebrate the launch of Batman: Arkham Knight.

More pictures can be found below the article 

Batman : Arkham night | Art-Pie
By INKIE

Immediately upon entering this disused tube station you are struck by the iconic silhouttes of Batman. Or rather the Batmen! Lined up across the whole length of Kachette and its brick archways are tall and imposing figures. We started the tour…

Each were unique but some replicas stood out from others, such as the ones by INSA, INKIE or CYCLOPS… but we’ll let you decide and report back onto here. Below you will find full details of the artist line up, as well as information about the show.

Batman : Arkham night | Art-Pie
A view of some of the replicas

Featuring artists Nancy Fouts, Lauren Baker, Hayden Kays, Inkie, Pam Glew, INSA, The Connor Brothers, Zeus, Matt Small, Jon Burgerman, CASE, CRASH, Cyclops, Kid Acne, Logan Hicks and Pure Evil and celebrities from the worlds of TV, film, music and fashion, such as Jonathan Ross, Noel Clarke, Eliza Doolittle and Jodie Kidd.

WHAT – The Batman: Arkham Knight Cape & Cowl Exhibition
WHERE – Kachette, 347 Old St., Shoreditch, London, EC1V 9LP (nearest stations Liverpool Street, Old Street & Shoreditch High Street)
WHEN – Tuesday 23 to Saturday 27 June – 11am to 9pm and Sunday 28 June – 11am to 5pm

Batman : Arkham night | Art-PieBatman : Arkham night | Art-PieBatman : Arkham night | Art-PieBatman : Arkham night | Art-Pie
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