CONTEMPORARY ART

Social Organisation of Appearances

Death To Me, Death To Everyone, (c)2008 Edd Pearman
Death To Me, Death To Everyone, (c)2008 Edd Pearman

“The concept of ‘the spectacle’ interrelates and explains a wide range of seemingly unconnected phenomena. The apparent diversities and contrasts of the phenomena stem from the social organisation of appearances, whose essential nature must itself be recognised. Considered in its own terms, the spectacle is an affirmation of appearances and an identification of all human social life with appearances. But a critique that grasps the spectacle’s essential character reveals it to be a visible negation of life – a negation that has taken on a visible form.”[1]

Guy Debord from Society of the Spectacle

This Me Of Mine ! Art-Pie
Whilst I Breathe, I Hope, (c)2011 Edd Pearman

I didn’t have to delve far into Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle to find what I was hoping to find. This quote by Debord states the nature of the spectacle as an affirmation of ‘appearance’, while a critical look at spectacle reveals the spectacle to be a ‘negation of life’. This is the very essence of what Edd Pearman explores in his work. “Duality has a strong influence throughout my work, each work maintains a two-fold characteristic in its content i.e. Humour and horror, life and death, hope and despair.  All initially appear to embody one intention, yet possess in equal measure, opposite qualities,” says Edd.

Appearance is seductive – and deadly. Is that a hyperbolic statement for effect? Possibly, but think of all the little deaths you’ve experienced for the sake of appearance and you may find you agree with me.

Read more of our interview, False Together, for This ‘Me’ of Mine.

 

[1] Debord, Guy, Society of the Spectacle, trans. Ken Knabb, Rebel Press, London, pg.9

BLOG, PREVIEW

Dan Baldwin’s new show ‘The Fear Of Letting go’ at Lawrence Alkin gallery

'The Fear Of Letting Go' by Dan Baldwin | Art-PieIn conjunction of Dan Baldwin’s new show, ‘The Fear of Letting go‘, we are offering a copy of the book that the artist is simultaneously releasing.

Entitled ‘The Fear of Letting go’, you will find all the artworks from the show and more. Last but not least, Dan will sign the book!

To win this book, you just need to subscribe to our newsletter by filling out the form below.

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About the show

‘The Fear of Letting Go’ charts a new direction in Dan Baldwin’s creative practice. His approach to making this new work is more structured and, for the first time ever, Baldwin is planning and constructing his paintings, methodically creating links and dialogues between the different media on show.

Following his sell out New York show ‘The End of Innocence’, this latest collection on display will feature new paintings, bronzes, ceramic vases and original works on paper and wood. ‘The Fear of Letting Go’ will be Baldwin’s most autobiographical and intimate body of work to date.

The work on display successfully retains Baldwin’s signature dense and multifaceted aesthetic, as well as continuing and progressing his engagement with bronze sculpture. His obsession with incorporating found objects and sentimental ephemera is still abundantly apparent as he invites the viewer to delve deep into his past, reassessing feelings of nostalgia.

'The Fear Of Letting Go' by Dan Baldwin | Art-Pie

“This new work is a lot to do with memory, childhood and innocence –
most of the new paintings are contained within a room, or an environment. I’ve always said it’s about life and death, but in this body of work it’s more personal…” Dan Baldwin

Read the interview of Dan Badlwin by Lawrence Alkin gallery –

WHAT- ‘The Fear Of Letting Go’ by Dan Baldwin
WHERE – Lawrence Alkin Gallery, 42 New Compton Street, London, WC2H 8DA
WHEN – 1st October- 14th November, Monday to Saturday 11am –7pm, or by appointment

www.lawrencealkingallery.com

We will pick up the 50th entrant to this competition as the winner!

Uncategorized

Meet the little workers in Clerkenwell

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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.

DomusAt 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.

Domus

Domus

PREVIEW

Remi/Rough and Steve More at Blackall studios: urban abstract

Remi/Rough and Steve More are leading a new school of post-graffiti artists and this will be the first UK exhibition to showcase the movement.

A is an exhibition at the forefront of an urban abstract movement whose roots come from a time before the hype of street art. Interest in this movement is steadily gaining momentum and Remi/Rough and Steve More are amongst its finest exponents. Continue reading Remi/Rough and Steve More at Blackall studios: urban abstract →

STREET ART, URBANISM

Color Jam

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At last there is something for the “looking down while walking” individuals. There is a good reason to ignore your siblings, there is the new work from Jessica Stockholder to look at.

“Color Jam” is the name of the installation and is a make-over of State and Adams streets in downtown Chicago. A flow of colors have landed on the concrete and are licking the surrounding building.

Orange, lime green and turquoise shapes seem to wait for the bypassers in the hope of lighten these often bleak faces. Jessica Stockholder hit again with what she does best – site-specific works that merge painting to a three dimensional element.

ART-PIE - Color Jam by Jessica Stockholder

ART-PIE - Color Jam by Jessica Stockholder

Below is a photo of another installation made also in Chicago back in 2009 where brightly colored plywood platforms and metal bleachers were assembled to turn a section of Madison Square Park in New York into an abstract painting, “Flooded Chambers Maid.” Children instantly appropriated it as a playground, and adults used it as an informal seating area.

ART-PIE - Flooded Chambers Maid by Jessica Stockholder

GRAFFITI, STREET ART

His name is #codefc

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If you are keen on graffiti, you must have seen #codefc stuff on some walls, one of his latest and probably most seen is the Olympic runner with the message “Fuck 2012 – I am ready now ”

The man behind #codefc has been active as a graffiti artist for a long time, for about 22 yrs actually but he has been using #codefc for the last 12 years. #codefc references to a hexadecimal color code use in web technologies which coincidentally can be broken down into the word “code” and “fc”, the initials of our artist in question.

#codefc started to do graffiti in Rome where he got arrested doing a train carriage. Keen on using stencils, most of his stuff are location related, some of his projects are coDe-DAY in Normandy , stuDIED in Cambodia or viet-code in South Vietnam where fictive characters are invented and stencil on a surface.

Some of you will have notice the use of what looks like a filming camera. Talking to #codefc, we found out that he is also a keen film maker and that the camera depicted in his works is S8 cinecam which is also used as a logo.

#codefc paint as much as in London than abroad and some of of his works can be seen below.

2012Sprinter from #codefc on Vimeo.

STREET ART

JR photo booth in Paris

JR has been busy for the last recent months and even more since he won the TED prize earlier this year.

PARIS –
JR is always keen on putting interaction and social aspect right into his work. I present you “Photo Booth”, the new social art project currently help at the George Pompidou Centre. The concept is simple, enter the photo booth and get yourself on a full scale printing from JR. The end date for this project is the 5th September 2011.

Source: Arrested Motion

NEW-YORK

JR has also been busy and stuck on various streets of NYC. Take a look at the pictures below to fill the iconic Bowery and Houston Mural space, as we’ve seen(here).

Bowery and Houston Mural space

NYC streets

Source: Arrested Motion

REVIEWS

Joram Roukes at Signal gallery

Another show that was one not to miss so I pressed on to get there asap. Joram Roukes is a regular at Signal gallery, this is not his first show in the premises – Find out more

As soon as you step in, you cannot get your eyes off the large canvases that run along the walls. Joram Roukes mainly paints on a large scale with his preferred medium : oil once again. He clearly masters it and give us another set of figurative paintings where humans, animals and objects assemble.

As always, the artist’s work composition is simple: characters or simply a face on a plain background which emphasizes the figurative work. Joram Roukes breaks down to the extreme the usual sight we may be used to normalize when it comes to people’s apperances.  You find yourself spending some time on each artwork, there is so much going on the canvas. Look closer and paintings within the painting shows up – see an example below.

ART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal galleryART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal gallery

ART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal galleryART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal gallery

ART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal galleryART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal gallery

ART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal galleryART-PIE - Joram Roukes at Signal gallery

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS