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.

CONTEMPORARY ART, STREET ART

‘Nuit Blanche’ in Toronto, street art encounters

December 10, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer

We bring you, somewhat in a belated way, Nuit Blanche or when Toronto was transformed for one night only by hundreds of artists. Stroll all night long and get amazed by the works on display. A big thank you to Paul Snell for sending in the pictures below and no we aren’t jealous that he was out there and not us!

Green Invaders, 2012 | Yves Caizergues – Lyon, France
Light Installation – more about this project

Vertical Constructions: Dancer #1 and #2, 2012 | Max Streicher – Toronto, Canada
Sculpture (left) – more about this project
The Way Things Are, 2012 | Chris Hanson – Brooklyn, USA | Hendrika Sonnenberg – Brooklyn, USA
Sculptures – painted street lamps (right) – more about this project

Pair, 2012 | Neil Campbell – Vancouver, Canada
Sculpture – more about this project

Applications for next year are already open, find out more here – http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/

Here below is a video of the event – A sneak peek of some of the projects that were on display across Toronto for one night only, during Scotiabank Nuit Blanche on Saturday, September 29, 2012.

CONTEMPORARY ART

Splatter series from Hua Tunan

December 8, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer 1 Comment

Chinese Art has been pushing its way through Europe and America lately and many movements and talents are starting to emerge from it. One of this very skilled and inspiring artists is Chen Yingjie (aka: Hua Tunan) who lives in the coastal city of Foshan, China.

With a background of classical Chinese painting and illustration, Hua Tunan has diverged into a remarkable and unique street art style. His art is a perfect example where two radically different styles – Classic Chinese painting v. Western Graffiti are married to give eye watering results. Hua Tunan would use ink painting, drum rhythms and a variety of cultural symbols.

Pictures of the ‘splatter’ portraits series are shown below. Look closer and what might appear as a splash to you actually reveal a face or shapes. The color palette is another remarkable thing in Hua Tunan art. Thumbs up all round.

STREET ART

RUN has hit the walls of Village Underground

December 8, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer

Artist RUN just finished his piece on the walls of the Village Underground project space and has kindly sent in a few pictures which are shown below. This commission came as a bit of a surprise for the artist since the guys at VU rang him at the last minute and asked him whether he would like to fill the 6 days off advertising gap by painting the outside walls

The job took about 5 hours and depicts one of classic RUN’s feaure already seen across London streets and beyond.

STREET ART

Meet Sluggo, the character made of chalk

November 22, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer

If you are from Michigan, we may have stumbled upon Sluggo, a rather alien looking green thing. Ann Arbor – Michigan is where Sluggo lives and chalk is what he is made of. Locals seems to have accepted him since he moved to the town back in 2008, some even say that he is some sort of celebrity now…

“He has built a reputation as a semi-subterranean creature, architecturally flexible staff and a soft spot for the flying pigs” says its creator, David Zinn.

Like Sluggo on Facebook, yes it is on Facebook.

CONTEMPORARY ART, REVIEWS

Dale Grimshaw at Signal gallery – Moreish

November 19, 2012 Pierrick Senelaer

We made our way down to one of our favorite art galleries to check out the new set of works from Dale Grimshaw that makes up his new show entitled “Moreish”. Having seen a few previous shows from the same artist, we knew that we were up for another display of strong emotions from the artist and we were right.

This time, the artist looks at the notion of “excess” that is spreading in modern societies and which seems to affect an increasing number of people. Here is what the artist had to say about it “It is a case of enough is never enough. The ‘haves’ want more and the ‘haves not’ can pay for it. Once we get that acquisitive taste, we just want more and more”

As the title of this show suggests – Moreish, the food element is everywhere in Dale Grimshaw’s pieces and they are piling on top of each other and dripping down faces of the characters the artist using in his paintings. This certainly gives a sense of a “too much” but also of a “waste” which “moreish” behaviour might lead to. The color palette used here – black/dark background in most cases combined with fiery colours, clearly translate the negative artist’s view on that notion of excess spreading in our societies according to him. A a result, the atmospere of the show is rather thick and heavy and you can almost feel its weight on your shoulders.

It is also worth pointing out the variety of characters that are depicting in Dale Grimshaw’s work, from the sweet and soft women’s faces to the rather alien looking “thing” which, apart from perhaps warning us what will happen if we embrace “excess, will add even more tension to the show.

From a more technical point of view, Dale Grimshaw’s techniques are just amazing. Oil and acrylics are the main mediums for this set of new works while canvases and wooden boards are the main supports used here. If we had to pick a piece out of the lot and on a pure aesthetic point of view, ” The Platter” (oil on board) would be the one. The color palette is striking. See pictures below

The Platter

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The show runs until the 23rd November 2012
Signal gallery | 32 Paul Street London EC2A 4LB | 020 7613 1550

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS