Sweet Toof and the Burning Candy crew as a whole (Sweet Toof is part of it) are heavy-weight champions when it comes to street art in London. If you have ever wandered around East London, you must have come across these ‘bubble-gum’ faces with protuberant teeth characters always bursting with flashy colors but this is not what it is about here or not quite. Continue reading Sweet Toof at ARCH402 gallery: have a mouthful of it!
Ben slow x Guy Denning, Nychos and Bisser x Renil Emil street art
Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today. Artists featured are Ben Slow x Guy Denning, Nychos and Bisser x Renil Emil.
Ben Slow x Guy Denning
Nychos – located in San Francisco
Bisser x Renil Emi – located in Leuven (Belgium)
Paul Normansell
Paul Normansell painted the album art for The Killers No.1 album “Day and Age” which sold 2.4 million copies worldwide and Rolling Stone called “The Best Album Art of 2008.” MTV called Paul’s art the best album art of the decade. NME nominated it as Best Album Art of 2008. Continue reading Paul Normansell
The OS GEMEOS street art plane for the Brazilian football team
We need transportation for the players of the 2014 World Cup football, don’t we? How about a mean that will definitely stand out of the crowd and make us the coolest football team out there?
Well, as if the Brazilian team needed to become even cooler, they actually did. Their team’s airplane for the World Cup follows the street art theme that Brazil authorities have been using to get the word out there. They asked street artists Os Gêmeos to come up with some ideas and give their plane a face lift.
The result, an unmissable aircraft which took over 1,200 cans of spray paint to be done.
Another cracking collaboration between REMED and OKUDA
Okuda (Spain) and Remed (France) have renewed the symbolic sculpture located in the vineyards of the winery Campo Viejo in La Rioja, Spain this past week. The work entitled “A Bridge Between Sky and Earth” pictured by the artists was built in 2013 and became an icon for the wineries. Three years later, the sculpture is reborn with a new look, colourful and vibrant with the unmistakable graphic line of the two artists.
A 6 meters hight sculpture
The renewed appearance of this large public artwork, more than six meters high, is a celebration of the Campo Viejo Wineries with the art and this intense collaboration of the two artists.
The fourth limited edition label of Campo Viejo Art Series range signed by Okuda and Remed, will be presented with the image of the sculpture as well.
A long running collaboration between the two artists
Over the past four years we have had the opportunity to witness how this duo of artists, Remed and Okuda, has gradually created a lot of artwork and participated in several places around the world teaming up with Campo Viejo.
Places as diverse as Mexico, Miami, Toronto, Warsaw, Madrid, London, Oslo, Zurich, Brussels, Dublin… have hosted the multiple stops of the Streets of Color, Rioja winery project in which the two urban artists have created a recognizable style in which the bright colors and geometric shapes intertwine in a unique way. “It is like a third artist were born from the collaboration of our two styles.” Remed says.
This ongoing collaborative journey between Okuda & Remed with the Campo Viejo winemakers celebrates the expressive nature of the wines and the sculpture in the vineyards was the first work and starting point for all other collaborations that have emerged on the edge of the years between the renowned Pernod Ricard brand and the two artists.
The artistic collaboration is managed by the cultural enterprise Nobulo since 2012.
More about the artists
REMED
Remed (Paris, 1978) is an expressive French Artist based in Madrid who is well known for his bold use of shapes and colour and large-scale murals. He started painting in 1995 in the privacy of his studio in his home town of Lille, but felt limited by a canvas framework so quickly moved his art to the streets.
OKUDA
Born in Santander, Spain, in 1980 and based in Madrid, Okuda is a passionate and internationally renowned Urban Artist.
Okuda has developed over the years a unique style of artistic expression characterized as “pop-surrealism meets Urban Art”. He uses geometric, bright-coloured abstract shapes with interplay of grey bodies and organic forms to depict contradictions about existentialism, the fake freedom of capitalism, the war between humans and themselves, and the meaning of life.
Since 2002, Okuda has received international recognition and now gets invited to participate in group shows and art events across the world. He has showcased his work at over 56 exhibitions and his portfolio expands a range of mediums from conceptual mixed media installations and mixed media canvas to mural paintings and Street Art.
About CAMPO VIEJO WINERIES
Ever since two local winemakers – Beristain and Ortigüela – created the first vintage in 1959, Campo Viejo has represented the expressiveness, colour and vibrancy of Rioja.
The Rioja winemaking region is situated in the north of Spain, in the heart of the Ebro valley. It’s the most important Spanish wine region and in its heart lies Campo Viejo.Campo Viejo’s winemakers work hard to ensure that Campo Viejo wines are the very best expressions of contemporary Rioja, conveying the vibrancy of the region in a way that is in keeping with the expressive, fruit-driven style which today’s wine drinkers are actively seeking.
Photos: Iñigo Martínez.
A Beautiful Disorder – sculptures from Chinese artists
A major exhibition of new outdoor sculptures created by 18 contemporary Greater Chinese artists is about to open at Cass Sculpture Foundation.
A leading sculpture foundation in England will display the first major exhibition of outdoor sculpture by contemporary Greater Chinese artists to be shown in the UK.
The exhibition invites the viewer to reflect on China’s past, present and future relationship with the world at large, and provides valuable insight into the state of Chinese culture, politics and society today from the perspective of some of its most dynamic and engaging artists.
From July 2016, eighteen monumental outdoor sculptures will be on display throughout the grounds of CASS. These artists employ a variety of ambitious sculptural techniques across a range of materials including bronze, stone, steel and wood. The historical relationship between English and Chinese landscape aesthetics is the starting point and inspiration for these contemporary artists. The title of the exhibition, A Beautiful Disorder , is a quote from an influential letter written by the Jesuit missionary and artist Jean Denis Attiret in 1743 that had a tremendous effect on English garden culture.
Attiret used the term to describe the ability of the Chinese garden to provoke violent and often opposing sensations in the viewer through a series of theatrical framing devices. Cass Sculpture Foundation’s Executive Director, Clare Hindle, says: “To date, Cass Sculpture Foundation has commissioned over 400 works – A Beautiful Disorder is a landmark moment for the Foundation as it is the first time we are commissioning works for a major exhibition by international artists. The exhibition will showcasecontemporary sculpture by some of the leading Greater Chinese artists.”
Participating artists for A Beautiful Disorder include: Bi Rongrong, Cao Dan, Cao Fei, Cheng Ran, Cui Jie, Jennifer Ma Wen, Li Jinghu, Lu Pingyuan, Xu Zhen (Produced by MadeIn Company), Rania Ho, Song Ta, Tu Wei-Cheng, Wang Sishun, Wang Wei, Wang Yuyang, Zhang Ruyi, Zheng Bo and Zhao Yao.
More details: http://www.sculpture.org.uk/event/a-beautiful-disorder
Woozy at the outsiders
The Outsiders is proud to present I Dont Care About My Face, the first UK solo exhibition by the artist Woozy. Downstairs in The Dungeon, Woozy will exhibit a colourful showcase of his most recent canvases, works on metal and paper.
Originating from Athens Greece, Woozy is renowned for his large-scale murals and outdoor wall paintings that have graced the international urban landscape. Collaborating with a wide network of street artists most notably Os Gemeos, he has travelled his utopian vision across Europe into China and down to Brazil. Whilst maintaining his passion for painting the outdoors, Woozy has now after 20 years turned his focus inside to brightening gallery walls.
Woozys latest series of work retains his signature minimal, yet colorful forms interweaving
an array of diverse materials, styles and techniques. Transcending the limitations of a specific setting or known face, the characters in his paintings are those who journey through space and time embracing a sense of universal beauty found in the abstract.
Texture, light and colour are the Woozys means for the collective expression of freedom.
From the artist on the subject of his forthcoming show: There is a moment, an instant, an incident, a point of contact where the mind pauses. Painting is an action and the action of a painter is a scream. Society has no face. Its the echo of voices, the scent of life. Colors are the expression of movements in the light. When one looks behind his shoulder, everything will fade away, flames will burn out and the bombs will take away the veil from the eyes of those who have lost their freedom.
When: 18th March – 9th April 2011
Where: The Outsiders, 8 Greek Street, W1D 4DG | Monday – Saturday 11am – 7pm, free entry
Meet the little workers in Clerkenwell
Looking down as usual when I am on my way to the office, I must have heard them calling on me that day. I looked up that morning. One was proudly sat down on a wooden pillar while another little man and a woman had found refuge in small cavities of what looks like a very depraved wall. But they were all very glad, I spotted them as so many by-passers never do, they told me.
At first I loved them but was also eager to know what the hell these little characters were all about. After a what seemed to me a long chat, I did not know more than before I talked to them. What I knew for sure is that they were over the moon that someone took them out of their boredom by spotting them.
Slightly puzzled by this encounter, I was trying very hard to remember whether I had seen these guys elsewhere when right there in front me, was another little worker but this time amongst the display of some kitchen and bathroom furniture shop on Clerkenwell road. I was stunned and started to believe they were either following me or spreading all around.
I decided to step in the shop and find out once for all…
These little workers are actually part of an advertising campaign to increase awareness about the imminent opening of a new DOMUS shop on Great Sutton street. DOMUS is speacialising in tiles. Representatives have been around shops in Clerkenwell and gave away these little figurines to scatter around willing shopkeepers’ shop windows as well as right on the street nearby the new store.
Whatever this is, street art used in advertising, this is a genius idea and if the guys at DOMUS had in mind to get people to find out and talk about these guys, well they got it right. Look above, I mentioned three times their brand in this blog post and are about to insert a link about their new shop which is about to open. Clap, clap, clap.
Read more about the new DOMUS shop (might be of interest to you, huh?). Find out what they look like with photographs below.
Gordon Cheung’s at Edel Assanti gallery
This is it. It is lunch and I am craving, not food, but a good art show to go and check out, preferably a short distance from the office.
I quickly gathered my thoughts and here I am on my way to Zari gallery on Newman street (London) or this is where I thought I was going, should I rather say.
I stand there now and as I look up, I realise that I am in front of a gallery called Edel Assanti (the galleries are next to each other but I had never realised there were two separate ones until that day).
As I step in the gallery, I cannot help but noticing the simplicity and sobriety of the venue, which is not a bad thing at all, since it enables the viewer to focus only on what matters – the artistic output from the current show.
A quick nodding to the gallery assistant and here I am, almost trotting towards the back of the gallery to look at ‘Great Wall Of Sand‘.
This very large piece drew my attention right away, because all large pieces usually do, but also because I could not make out what I was looking at from far.
I still can’t.
Now, what really needs your attention is the relief in this piece, which you cannot figure out at first but come closer and closer and you’ll see that actual sand (see below) is included in Gordon Cheung’s work.
Samples of what looks like newspapers also help to make up some of the background of this artwork.
A beautiful and dreamy piece.
Alongside the large pieces (of what looks like sceneries – more pics below), 2 other different types of works are on display –
The first one is using plain pigment paste (and later painted on) and stuck sand on canvas again (see previous post) and depicts flowers in a vase like I have never seen it before. Although, the aesthetics of the piece did not wow me, I can appreciate the various technics and the ‘refreshing’ take on such a subject.
The second type of work is radically different with the rest and is a series of what may look like collages. It also reminds me of some times where you watch TVs and the signal gets weak – you know what I mean I am sure.
I must have been distracted by the other type of artworks in this show, since as I was going through the photographs I took, I felt urge to go back and have another look at those.
Last time we saw Gordon Cheung’s works was 7 years ago and we are glad to see that the artist is still pushing the boundaries as much as in terms of the colour palette he used than disrupting the usual and common perception of a painting being flat
More – http://edelassanti.com/artists/33-gordon-cheung/exhibitions/
Titi Freak, Case Maclaim & Hopare street art
Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today: Titi Freak, Case Maclaim & Hopare
Titi Freak – Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Case Maclaim – for the 40º Urban Art Festival in Dusseldorf (Germany)
Hopare – located in Orsay (France)
