Category Archives: REVIEWS

Art Drive – BMW cars turned into artwork

July 31, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer Leave a comment

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

REVIEWS

Ron English and Risk at Black Rat Projects

July 17, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer Leave a comment

We managed to get a look at the latest show at Black Rat Projects called “Letters From America” where works from Ron English, TrustoCorp, Risk and Saber are on display. Pictures of the artworks below.

As soon as you step into the gallery, you are greeted by the “Big Boy”,an original 7 foot or so statue customized by the Los Angeles graffiti writer RISK Big Boy is a brand of meal kits for kids which infamously got in turnmoil when some of their products were tested positive for Listeria contamination back in 2009, but instead of a burger Big Boy holds a spray paint can which will remind visitors that they are about to see artworks from street artists.

Very quickly, another piece from RISK acts as a magnet for your eyes and illuminates the whole room. A graffiti made of neons. Sublime. What a piece to be made when you know how difficult neon making can be. Looking on the ‘Big Boy’ quietly from the back of the room, are pop surrealist painter Ron English’s colourful pigs that will make smile even the hardcore vegetarian out there. Just above them, a series of photographs by the same artist all very loyal to the artist’s style – pop surrealism. The “Telegrinnies” series have to be our favorites one, you will have figured out that Ron English’s work here is base on the “Teletubbies”.

Slightly hidden in a corner of the gallery, we enjoyed reading and laughing at TrustoCorp small scale signs

This show runs until the 18th June 2012 and is linked to another project that launched on June 30 at the London Pleasure Gardens where outdoor installations can be seen by the same artist until december 2013. Read the article about it on Arrested Motion website.

Big Boy by RISK (left) | Pigs by Ron English(right)

Neons by Risk (left) | Spray paint and acrylics by Risk (right)

Telegrinnies by Ron English

Signs by TrustoCorp

CONTEMPORARY ART, REVIEWS

Wonderful World, solo show by Gérard Rancinan

June 16, 2012 Christopher Digby Leave a comment

Where: Londonewcastle Project Space
When: 7-24 June 2012

Thursday evening I managed to drop by the Londonewcastle space to see first hand the Rancinan show presented by The Future Tense. I had known about the exhibition for some time and was really keen to visit. I was not disappointed.

Opening from The Future Tense

“Gérard Rancinan is one of the world’s leading contemporary fine art photographers. For the past 7 years, Rancinan, along with writer Caroline Gaudriault, have been developing the ‘Trilogy of the Moderns’ – a revolution in three acts. Pitched somewhere between comedy and tragedy, this vivid photographic tableau and accompanying texts paint a picture of a confused humanity, blindly groping in the darkness, obsessed with fame and guided only by an absolute desire for generalised happiness.”

Walking through the show I envisioned myself watching the film Donnie Darko and playing out scenes from which include the infamous bunny head. In addition the irony was that I was humming “Mad World” the corresponding score to the film. Batmanesq and cartoon imagery which although perhaps has been included within other contemporary art, I do not feel this is in any way reproduced. It feels new, yet old, fresh yet re-worn and very much engaging.

The narrative which accompanies the show, actually does not waffle or meander through meaningless meanings, it provides a commentary, which I find sits well with me. This is the first time for many months where the ideals which are being conveyed actually mean something to me. References to a society documenting its own history via social mediums are made and the act of me writing these very words endorse this. In addition the term ‘non places’ and ‘non people’ have been used which when used in conjunction with the virtual Twitter & Facebook world actually have a relevant description of contemporary society.

The works themselves are comparable to hyper realistic painting, coupled with well staged and well shot content arranged in such a way that just works. The sheer size of the works give an air of importance to them whilst drawing you in to the content. Another perfect fit to the show is that the final piece of work for the series was actually shot in real time at the exhibition using real people attending the show. This for me bridged the gap between aesthetic and interactive art in a way which I hope everyone can appreciate.

Ed Bartlett of The Future Tense said to me that “to fully appreciate the show you must come back” and he is right.The show runs until 24 June 2012. For more information visit: http://londonewcastle.com/arts-programme/events/2012-06-07/wonderful-world

REVIEWS

Joram Roukes at Signal gallery

June 8, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer Leave a comment

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.

CONTEMPORARY ART, REVIEWS

Catlin Art Prize 2012

May 17, 2012 Christopher Digby 1 Comment

Julia Vogl's "lets hang out" - Catlin art prize winner — Let’s hang out by Julia Vogl

Catlin Art Prize (www.artcatlin.com)
When: Wednesday 16 April 2012
Where: Londonnewcastle Project Space, London, E2 7DP

The winner of the 2012 Catlin Art Prize is Julia Vogl, a 2011 graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London. She is the sixth winner of the annual Catlin Art Prize, a competition showcasing the work of recent graduates of UK art schools.

Julia Vogl won the 2012 Catlin Art Prize for her ‘social sculpture’titled ‘Let’s Hang Out’. The work invites visitors to create a communal area by selecting and affixing coloured carpet titles that colour-correspond with Julia’s suggestions of various pastimes (such as ‘call Mum’, ‘tweet’, etc.). The work will evolve throughout the duration of the Catlin Art Prize exhibition while encouraging visitors to interact – and hang out.”

The official comments on the Art Catlin website confirming the recipient of the £5,000 award, now it its 6^th year.

The exhibition showcasing the finalists of the artists compiled in the Catlin Guide was hosted at the Londonnewcastle project space and in my opinion was laid out and staged to create an explorative feeling when entering.

Before hearing the winner I was one of the first people to interact with Julia’s “lets hang out” and felt that for me this was quite rightly a centre piece, seemingly the concensus as it turned out.

In addition to film and other mixed media work the next most enjoyable piece was marbles and sand staged in one of the corners of the show. A mystical and engaging feeling from starting at the work and felt very much similar to my own thoughts on moments in time.

The second piece which was a stuffed horse on its back clamping on to a made object. This was very striking but wasted on me.

The guide is fast becoming as much a tool for collectors as it is for the artworld in showcasing talent and clamouring for the prize.

For more information visit: www.artcatlin.com

Art-Pie