On my way to BRP (Black Rat Press), I knew I was up for a treat. I knew I would hang out for a while and enjoy ROA’s installation.
What makes ROA so popular is definitely his unique style – (very often) large black and white scale wildlife animals made of spray paint but also his ability in putting together quite clever installation integrating his wildlife characters. Flip out/ flip in some wood panels or just walk round and get a new angle on the installation and you can now see something completely different, the inside of the animals or the outside in this case.
We appreciated also ROA’s effort to push its creativity further by integrating x-rays light effect in one of his work. Close the flap and you see the fur of the animal, open it and the inside of the animal is revealed with an X-ray effect (see below)
ROA’s wildlife is powerful and definitely worth seeing with your own eyes. More pictures of the installation below.
How would you feel if you were the suspect of a murder? And what if the investigation would last 17 years? You might go mad one might say. Or you might transpose this situation into some form of art.
Meet Robin Lee and his paintings depicting real murders scenarios, including the one in which he was a suspect. All 10 paintings were brought to the artist’s attention from the news, his sister and from various friends within the legal profession or from common history.
As I stepped into Tapestry gallery, I was not aware of the context of the artworks on display, blame this on a mad day in the office leaving no time for anything else but working, and was immediately drawn to the large pieces flanked on the wall I was facing.
The other thing I quickly noticed was the rather dramatic look of all the characters depicted in Robin Lee’s pieces and the colour red standing out in most of them. Blood that will turn out to be.
A quick look a the board located at the entrance and all became very clear and slightly darker: I was looking at some artist’s visions of murder scenes but not imaginative ones, actual ones.
From that point onwards, it was quite difficult to focus on the visual aspect of the pieces since the only thing I wanted to know is HOW these people got murdered.
However, 20 minutes into looking at the exhibit and my morbid curiosity had worn off and I was able to appreciate the skilful brush stroke and the ability to really give a dramatic aspect into those eyes.
I did not expect to walk through what, actually, turned out to be a truly enjoyable experience. I am talking here about the new urban development named Central Saint Giles, comfortably wedged between Bloomsbury and Soho in London.
I suspect the sunny weather that day helped here, but I was truly amazed by the imposing and colorful buildings that make up this very modern workplace, which includes office space, shops, restaurants, cafes, apartments and an outdoor public piazza. Bright green, yellow and orange are the colours used for the huge facades, which clearly make them stand out amidst the surrounding urban buildings.
While enjoying a walk on the spacious and bright piazza, I was happily surprised to encounter a couple of sculptures, one of which is by the artist Steven Gontarski; a five-meter-tall piece, adding another layer of colour to the landscape.
Urbanism like this can be beautiful, by either inspiring the architect (Renzo Piano) or being integrated into it.
For a long time, artists have had to rely on their desktops and laptops to do work. Even with the dawn of smartphones, which are now as powerful as some PCs that were released over a decade ago, people still preferred working with their traditional computing devices. That all changed, however, when tablets were popularized by Apple. Now, professional artists can work in the comfort of their own home as well as on trains or buses when they need to do some work en route to the office.
If you’re in the business of producing art for a living, and are a tablet user, here are three apps that you might want to consider using.
Tayasui Sketches
Let’s start with the one of the most basic apps out there. If you don’t need a lot of advanced tools for drawing on your tablet, TayasuiSketches can be a good app for you. It is very easy to get used to, with over 8 essential brushes for users to choose from including watercolors, charcoals, and pencils. It’s free but those who are willing to pay for its premium fee get two extra brushes. It’s also a great tool for creating quick sketches and portraits.
We included a few examples of what can be achieved with the app
ArtFlow
ArtFlow is being marketed as a tool for kids but with over 70 paint brushes to choose from, it can easily become a professional’s best friend. It even has support for pressure-sensitive pens to help artists turn their tablet into a proper digital canvass.
What’s great about ArtFlow is that it supports high-resolution digital canvasses for up to 4096×4096. If you’re planning to use this resolution, however, make sure to keep an eye on your battery life. The last thing you want is to loose unsaved work. Alchemy Bet, an associate of the software company that runs Spin Genie Slots, suggests that people should check for apps that are running in the background and close them to save battery life. If possible, artists should only rely on WiFi and not data to save on juice since most tablets have short battery lives especially Apple products.
We included screenshots of the app
Procreate
Now this is for the seasoned veterans out there. Procreate is a fine app from world-renowned app maker Savage Interactive that allows people to create quick and accurate drawings of highly-detailed and striking artworks. It has advanced features such as GPU accelerated filters, and even a 64-bit support for high-end tablets. Check out the artworks that you can create with Procreate and see just how amazing this app is for work and leisure.
We included screenshots of the app
Do you have a favorite painting or drawing app that you use for work? Share them with us in the comments section below.
On the ground floor, international cult cartoonists Modern Toss present the ‘Seasonal Nik-Nak Hut’, featuring their unique brand of precision swearing and stylishly cack-handed drawing, an incredible range of top notch, limited edition prints, interactive art pieces and assorted, hilarious paraphernalia. Continue reading Modern Toss & Christmas group show at The Outsiders→
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?”
Part of Banksy’s “Barely Legal” show
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
One of the if not the only and definitely most known authorised graffiti area in London is living up to the expectations. Artist, loads of them showed love here and keep doing so like the only guy I met that morning who was dropping up what looked like a piece that is worth coming back very soon to check out.
To coincide with (another) David Bowie exhibition, namely “The many faces of David Bowie” opening tonight at Opera gallery, Jimmy C unveiled a large scale portrait in Brixton, where David Bowie is from. You will have recognised the the iconic Aladdin Sane image here.
Now on to the show at Opera Gallery. We hear that a bunch of artists including street ones will share their visions of the iconic singer. Some of the artists includes Paul Alexis, Joe Black, C215 and Nick Gentry
What – The Many Faces iof David Bowie Where – Opera Gallery (new bond street) When – 21 June to 21 july
The exhibition that opens at the New Bond Street gallery on Friday (June 21) will consist of contemporary visions of ‘Bowie Mania’ with one-off masterpieces and tributes with street artists including Mr Brainwash, Joe Black and The London Police.
When we got the email about this show –The Golden Age of Grotesque by SEPE (aka Michał Sepe Wręga), we immediately got very excited as we knew for sure that it would be a good one.
We have been following SEPE at Art-Pie for a while now and know he’s destined to great things and achievement in the art world.
> More pics at the bottom of this article
What is the show about?
“Lawrence Alkin Gallery are thrilled to present ‘The Golden Age of Grotesque’, the provocative and alluring UK debut solo show from Polish street artist Sepe. The brand new body of work explores current socio-political issues, demonstrating Sepe’s unique ability to cross the boundary between subjective and abstract depiction. ” Sam Rhodes, Director at Lawrence Alkin Gallery.
This is the artist’s first solo show in the UK presenting 19 brand new works prepared especially for the exhibition, most of them done in 2015.
There you have it. We unfortunately missed the opening night but to be honest, it is sometimes difficult to fully enjoy the art on display when galleries are overcrowded with people. Instead we visited the next day, only encountering one or two souls wandering the premises. This actually worked out very well as we could thoroughly enjoyed Sepe’s artworks.
As soon as you enter the Lawrence Alkin gallery, you cannot miss a rather imposing piece – “Follow the leader”
Follow the leader by SEPE | Art-Pie
Details below of the “Follow the leader” piece
You can’t help but notice the illustrative feel that Sepe’s art transpires.
The artists himself agrees on it “My paintings are strongly rooted in illustration. This way of perception works the best when supported by some kind of story behind it.”
He adds “We managed to gather all humans’ knowledge into one place. Made it available to everyone, everywhere by creating a worldwide network and we use it mainly to share sweet photos of puppies. What is it then if not The Golden Age Of Grotesque…?”
What is the underlying story behind “The Age of grotesque”?
Like many artists featured on this site, Sepe’s background lies in graffiti. He has been an active member of the Warsaw (Poland) graffiti scene where he currently lives.
This exposure to the energy of the city and its streets has definitely opened the artist’s sensitivity and increased his social awareness. Indeed with this show, Sepe wanted to emphasise how the “world gets totally dominated by the vain celebrity culture, focused on creating fake images of itself just for the show and turning everything into pop mush for sale.”
“Hunters” by SEPE | Art-Pie
SEPE’s work is centralised around you and me, around humans and perhaps it is about where we are heading to – Modern societies tend to alienate individuals;our only refuge is seemingly joining the crowd where acknowledgment matters most. We then share moments via social media, often with souls unknown to us, and yet somehow that makes us feel good, as though we somehow now belong.
Rhythm and energy
Another remarkable aspect of SEPE’s work is how well he captures life moments on the canvas: bold, energetic and rhytmic. Indeed, his way of applying fat brush strokes gives the viewer a sense of movement and that takes away the static notion of a still scene.
As we were wandering around the gallery, this in particular became more and more obvious as well as remarkable.
“Far from ok” by SEPE | Art-Pie
The artist’s vision of our current society is not that reassuring and the somewhat recurrent use of circus related elements – circus music, belly dancers, clowns on stilts, monkeys riding small bicycles and firework displays adds to it, making the whole thing very chaotic and scary.
How often are sad clowns used in movies to scare the sh*t ouf of you uh?
The show runs until the 4th July 2015. Find out more about The Golden Age of Grotesque show at Lawrence Alkin Gallery
