All posts by Pierrick Senelaer

Founder of the Art-Pie site. I design and code websites and apps Monday to Friday from 9 to 5 and enjoy drawing, painting and visits to museums and galleries at night and weekends.

Gimme gimme abstract art at the London Art Fair

On our way to the Business Centre, where the London Art fair takes place, we could not help but speculating about what we would see and remembered all the wonders we saw in the past years.

A quick ushering through by the fair staff and we were in. Thursday evening is a good day to go at the fair as you are sure to find on your path some waiting staff eagerly willing to hand you over free bottles of beers.

We thought we’ll go around the ground floor as well as the first floor today where you normally find the “mammoths”. By this I mean the heavy-weight art galleries which mainly deal “fine art”. As we were hopping from one booth to the other, it was becoming obvious to our eyes: abstract art we were seeing was awesome and stood out from almost anything else.

We have included below the best pieces we thought we saw.

Wilhelmina Barn Graham | Art-Pie

Alan Davie | Art-Pie

Andy Stewart | Art-PieMartyn Brewster | Art-Pie

Alan Davie | Art-Pie

Pamela Clarkson x Atta Kwam | Art-Pie

Onkurodano Unjaku | Art-Piewilliam-crozier

JeeYoung Lee or turning her studio into crazy worlds

Artists pushing the boundaries or going the extra mile are always worth talking about so meet Korean artist JeeYoung Lee who put together crazy dream-like worlds that she then use them as a back drop for her imaginative self-portrait photos.

The artist builds all this in a 10-by-20-foot studio and we heat that some constructions can take months! you can catch a glimpse of her portraits at the Opiom Gallery in Opio, France, February 7 to March 7, 2014.

We particularly like the LEGO one, don’t you?

JeeYound Lee | Art-Pie

JeeYound Lee | Art-Pie

JeeYound Lee | Art-Pie

JeeYound Lee | Art-Pie

First see on Laughing Squid

“The Ugly American” by Saber at The Outsiders

“The Ugly America” show opening today at The Outsiders is the work of legendary graffiti artist Saber’. The artist spent 8 weeks immersed in the Outsiders Newcastle branch last autumn and created all the works on display in the gallery this time in London.

We stepped in and were hardly wowed by what we were seeing: a series of pale wooden pallets works. We quickly realised that they were all depicting “The Star-Spangled Banner”, understand the American flag.

But then we remembered that “The Ugly American” refers to a multi-million-copy best selling book and 1963 movie, in which Marlon Brando starred, and is all about telling about the dark side of the American foreign policy. I looked again at the pale stuff and could relate now. Off downstairs…

The Ugly American by Saber | Art-Pie

The Ugly American by Saber | Art-Pie

The mood was slightly happier down here and colours from Saber’s pieces smiling at me. The artist’s technique that consists of mixing aerosol art with oil and even charcoal pleased my little eyes.

The Ugly American by Saber | Art-Pie

The Ugly American by Saber | Art-Pie

The Ugly American by Saber | Art-Pie

What – “The Ugly American” by Saber
Where – The Outsiders London | 8 Greek Street, Soho, London W1D 4DG | Monday – Saturday, 11:00AM – 7:00PM
When – Friday 10th of January 2014 to Saturday 15th of February 2014

10 Banksy facts – did you know?

He was behind a famous hoax in 2004, where Photoshopped copies of Paris Hilton’s album were distributed in HMV shops.
Banksy | Art-Pie

The same year, he created and distributed fake £10 notes.
Banksy | Art-Pie

This piece was commissioned by Bono when it was a guest editor at The Independent
Banksy | Art-Pie

He has had 6 exhibitions since 2002. These are Existencilism, 2002, LA. Turf War, 2003, London. Barely Legal, LA, 2006. Village Pet Store And Charcoal Grill, 2008, New York. The Cans Festival, 2008 London. Banksy vs Bristol Museum, 2009, Bristol.
Banksy | Art-Pie

The highest ever price for a Banksy work at auction was over £102,000 for his piece “Bombing Middle England”.
Banksy | Art-Pie

He visited New Orleans in August 2008, marking the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. But some of the pieces are now gone. Banksy told Time Out: “In New Orleans I painted on a dilapidated shop in a street littered with abandoned cars and rotting mattresses, then two hours later the piece was gone. It turned out I’d picked the side of a crack house and the proprietor didn’t like the attention.”
Banksy | Art-Pie

He designed the cover of Blur’s Think Tank.
Banksy | Art-Pie

He was nominated for an Oscar for his 2010 documentary Exit Through The Gift Shop.
Banksy | Art-Pie

He illustrated the opening credits to The Simpsons in 2010.
Banksy | Art-Pie

In 2007, a photo purporting to be of Banksy was released.
Banksy | Art-Pie