Tag Archives: London

Bauhaus: Art as Life

BauhausLast week The Barbican Centre opened its doors to a major exhibition about the highly influential Bauhaus movement. The show explores the German art and design school that ran between 1919 and 1933 and made a profound impact on our contemporary world by uniting art, craft, design and technology. Bauhaus: Art as Life brings together over 400 works and highlights the scope of the Bauhaus vision. Throughout the exhibition are examples of architecture, paintings, film, sculpture, furniture, costume design, photography, children’s toys, typography and textiles from names including Paul Klee, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Josef Albers and Oskar Schlemmer. Nothing it seems was too ambitious or insignificant for the Bauhaus masters to tackle, from redesigning teapots and ashtrays, to creating vast housing estates and design manifestos that aimed to change the world they lived within.

Bauhaus: Art as Life is displayed in a loosely chronological order, starting with Walter Gropius founding the school in 1919 by merging of the Arts and Crafts school and the Academy of Fine Art, a radical move that incorporated the disciplines of art, craft and technology. Having lived through the horror of the First World War, this collective of artists and designers were keen to use their creativity to herald a brighter future and you get a sense of the optimistic, utopian force behind the work. However the Bauhaus was not just about high design for the greater good, the students and teachers were also having a good time behind the scenes. The Bauhaus group put on events that could have rivaled Warhol’s infamous art happenings. Gropius actively encouraged socialising between the masters and students and this took the form of spectacular themed parties with a Bauhaus band, elaborate costumes and performances. Included in the exhibition are photographs documenting this playful side of the movement and party invites.

By the mid 1920’s we see architecture, advertising and photography added to the curriculum and the school started to become commercially successful by partnering up with manufacturers. There was a focus on branding and a unified approach to typography and layout, as we can see in the ‘instruments of communication’ section. Pioneered by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, the Bauhaus had started to produce its own promotional material to communicate with a larger audience and this bold style has since become highly influential to the world of graphics. Elsewhere in the exhibition we also see Gunta Stolzl become the first female master at the Bauhaus, raising the profile of the crafts with her beautiful woven wall hangings. Josef and Anni Albers take a graphic slant on textiles, with simple geometric shaped patterns created from cotton and silk. As many of the Bauhaus group were on the political left, they came under pressure from the Nazi government and following pressure from the Gestapo, decided to close their doors in 1933. However as the students and masters emigrated, the principles behind the Bauhaus movement spread internationally and became the driving force behind Modernism as we know it.

Bauhaus

The Barbican is embracing the experimental spirit of the Bauhaus by hosting a diverse series of events and workshops relating to the exhibition. They have done a good job in making the links between the Bauhaus and its relevance on our everyday lives. The schedule includes guided walking tours around the Finsbury area looking at the Bauhaus influence on local housing estates and a tour of the City of London focussing on the relationship between the Bauhaus and commercial architecture. The Barbican will also host an experimental two-week ‘Art School Lab’ where a chosen group of artists will collaborate to create work that contributes towards social change. To be considered you must apply via the Barbican website.

If you are looking to take home a slice of Modernist design, head to the Barbican Gallery Shop where there is a great selection of iconic designs, in keeping with the Bauhaus philosophy that design should engage with production. These including geometric plates hand woven rugs, DIY Paul Klee puppet kits and an exclusive range of Bauhaus inspired jewellery from the BA students at Central Saint Martins.

Bauhaus: Art as Life . Barbican Art Gallery, London, 3 May – 12 May 2012. http://www.barbican.org.uk/

Review by Zoey Goto, freelance art and design writer and PR. www.zazzipr.com

More photos of the exhibition below

Bauhaus

bauhausBauhaus

An afternoon on Brick Lane spotting street art

I got myself down to the mighty Brick Lane at the week end, the i-phone (to post photos on Instagram of course) in one hand and the camera in the other one and as always I spent a solid two hours strolling around the area looking for little wonders that is called “street art”.

I spotted a loads of C215 pieces but also a nice sets of PEZ smiling fish. Conor Harrington also has been at it and has produced striking artwork. Enjoy the pictures below. There was so much to see that I had to break into two parts, you are looking at part I, here is part II

Conor Harrington
Conor harrington

street art brick laneConor Harrington

street art brick lane

C215
C215

street art brick lanestreet art brick lane

street art brick lane

street art brick lane

Otto Schade

Ronzo

WeLikeStatic tomorrow at Whisper Fine Art

WeLikeStatic at Whisper Fine ArtWe met up earlier today with Tom and Craig, better known at WeLikeStatic to have a sneak peak at their solo show opening tomorrow at Whisper Fine Art on Eastcastle street, London.

The place was buzzing with still “loads to do” but the team was at it and the display was shaping up nicely; this show, I could tell, will be a good one. Portraiture is what this show will try to tackle and we all know that it is rather an hazardous path to take, it does not take long to get it wrong and bore your audience with lifeless portraits, emotionless figures.

WeLikeStatic has managed with this new set of works to actually put the actual character depictation at a second plan and rather draw your attention to the making process of their pieces of art, this is for sure what got me interested here anyway.

“Look at it straight on and it will appear as one dimension work, but do two steps to left (or to the right) and a multi-layered artwork fades in front of your eyes”, giving a complete and unique take to the viewer’s eyes.

Spray paint, acrylic, screen printing, stenciling on layers of glass, Perspex and aluminum, you name it. A rather inpressive bunch of techniques and mediums got into that show which has been in preparation for months, we were told. And the result is something quite unique or in line with a trend I first had contact with when I encountered Adam Neate’s shows at the Elms Letters Painting Rooms: three dimensional art made of 21st century material – Perspex.

We also got a glimpse of the making of the front window display – the now recognizable space woman face. So far it looked like it will be ace. I cannot wait to see the end result tomorrow.

WeLikeStatic at Whisper Fine ArtWeLikeStatic at Whisper Fine Art

RSVP to Ruth at ruth@whisperfineart.co.uk, who will make you some lovely tea if you get there completely soaking wet, and lose your mind in the layered world of WeLikeStatic art

When – 27-28 Eastcastle Street, London W1W
Where – Private view on the 26/04/2012 | Show runs until 26/05/2012

David Lee at Graffik gallery- 'Vive La France’

David Lee - Vive La FranceBorn in Doncaster in the fifties David Lee flew the nest at a young age to set up residence in London, which heralded a new phase in his life, as he discovered London’s burgeoning hippy scene. However, during his early thirties, his love affair with France began with the marriage of his French wife.

Inspired by modern French painters, particularly Cézanne, his exploration of the forthright nude and his radical brush strokes were the first step toward Impressionism.

Lee’s paintings are inspired not only from the South of France and Paris but from the era between the 1920’s and 50’s, which is a common theme in all of his work.

Lee readily adopted the cafe culture of our continental cousins where Paris seized him. Spending so much time in the City of Lights, enjoying such impassioned vibrancy, the cafes were the creative enclaves where his artistry was honed.

His work embodies a delightful image of French café culture. The distinction from Lee’s work is how he captures this hustle and bustle of Parisian cafés giving us canvases splashed with vivid colour, radiating gaiety and the joy of life.

A second love interest later developed and this new ménage-a-trois between London, Paris and the South of France was a source of nouveau inspiration. With a palette full of colour from the warm South, Lee has brought back from the azure shore paintings that palpitate with hot sunlight and dazzle with their audacious colour.

Exclusively for Graffik Gallery David Lee has also painted a series of French inspired pop-art portraits.

To celebrate Lee’s Anglo-French love affair the preview will feature a themed party, which includes feasting on French delicacies, a wine tasting and a mime artist.

‘Vive La France’ 26 April – 9 May 2012 – Daily 11am to 6pm
To RSVP to the Private View (26/4) please email art@graffikgallery.co.uk

More information about Dave Lee’s show