PREVIEW

Pam Glew at Blackall studios

‘Beautiful and Damned’, the shows title, is of course taken from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1922 novel, which explores the listless lives of moneyed society during the Jazz Age.

This captivating era, drenched in glamour yet tinged with tragedy is the decadent setting for this extraordinary series of work. The exquisitely beautiful movie starlets, society icons and characters on display capture the spirit of the age all who are caught in the unforgiving glare of the limelight and some sadly burn out before their time.

As Pam states, “the tragedy amongst the beauty is what has inspired this show, the sharp contrast between a blessed life and one that ends in scandal, hedonism or destitution”.

Words from Mauger Modern Art

When – 25th till 29th May 2011 (late opening on the 26th)

Where – Blackall Studios

STREET ART

Jimmy C does David Bowie in Brixton

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.

David Bowie by Jimmy C | Art-Pie

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.

CONTEMPORARY ART, PREVIEW

Hayley Lock at Transition gallery

Launched at Ickworth House in Suffolk in July 2011 (Now that would be) Telling is a collaborative project between the artist Hayley Lock, curator Catherine Hemelryk and writers Jessica Hart, Lucinda Hawksley, Ben Moor, Hallie Rubenhold and Liz Williams.

Lock and the writers have created a series of site-specific works in English stately homes. Part myth and part encrypted biography, these works reveal/conceal parallel histories of the residents of these remarkable homes.

For Transition Gallery Lock is showing a series of works originally made for a grand home proudly situated in rural Bedfordshire. These portraits of the real and imagined lovers of the Lady of the House use mirrors and light to form a multiple of 28 and include a new portrait of the Lady herself. Lock meshes a range of sumptuous materials including velvets, brocades gilt and fringing into the portraits referencing the imagined interiors of Caddington Hall the family house. Elsewhere the digitally enhanced landscapes play out their stories of love, romance and deceit in an uncanny space where truth and fiction, history and scandal collide.

Words from Transition gallery

14 Jan – 5 Feb 2012
Fri–Sun 12-6pm

STREET ART

DEIH and his Insider Series

DEIH The Insider Series | Art-PieWe talked to the Spanish born graffiti/street art artist DEIH who is part of the XLF CREW. We asked to tell us about him –

“I’m painting graffiti since 1993, and I still love it. I draw, I breath. I am developing a project called “The Insider”, which is part of an introspective investigation on my feelings and my life.

I draw my inner life, as I consider that the particular way of relating to the others and oneself (and the impasses one undergoes through that process) are the very core of any attempt of creation.

Thus, I understand science-fiction representational codes as a way to achieve (to construct) a personal truth, as I think that truth has a fictional structure.”

We have included a few photos of DEIH’s works along with some related links

http://www.eldeih.com
http://deih.blogspot.com

DEIH - THe Insider project | Art-Pie

DEIH - THe Insider project | Art-PieDEIH - THe Insider project | Art-Pie

DEIH - THe Insider project | Art-Pie

DEIH - THe Insider project | Art-Pie

FEATURE, STREET ART

Mexican city giant mural by artists’ collective known as the German Crew

We are always happy to see people dedicated to bringing art into communities that typically remain miles away from it for various reasons, such as poverty.

So when we heard about this project, called “Pachuca Paints Itself”, in central Mexico by an artists’ collective known as the German Crew, we had to feature it on Art-Pie.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie

Hundreds of houses painted

The collective spent 14 months turning the steep hillside area of Las Palmitas into something a colossal and very much alive mural.  It was an incredible effort to change people’s perception of a neighbourhood previously seen as rather gloomy and rough – art at its best, art to its best use.

“We have painted 209 houses. Every color represents the soul of the neighborhood. It has been a community effort as each household has participated in some way,” said project director Enrique Gomez, who goes by MYBE.

MYBE is a reformed and tattooed gang member who is now focusing all his attention on graffiti art and muralism.

Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie

The project in numbers –

– 209 house painted
– 5,000 gallons (20,000 litres) of paint used
– More than 16,000 square feet (1,500 square meters) of murals covered

Even better, we hear that thanks to the huge success of this project, another impoverished area called Cubitos, is next to be painted happy.

Pachuca Paints Itself |Art-Pie Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie Pachuca Paints Itself | Art-Pie
PREVIEW

Sage Vaughn at Lazarides

Introducing a brand new series of paintings, Children of a Lesser God furthers the artist’s exploration into notions of control and release as well as the fundamental need for survival, love and liberty. Vaughn’s new works manifest these concepts through bleak, dystopian cityscapes that he juxtaposes with child-like imagery and untouched scenes of nature.

Gradations of oil paint are slowly built up layer by layer with brilliantly hued subjects taking centre stage within a muted urban backdrop of dreamy pastels. Wild animals run freely through the urban setting and masked children void of inhibitions heroically feature within downtrodden neighborhoods. Such imagery embodies the limits of humankind’s ability to outright conquer the exterior world as well as completely repress inner desires. Vaughn says, “These compulsory wild impulses propel both the feral and the tame throughout our lives, causing beautiful and sometimes savage moments.”

Children of a Lesser God invites the audience to project their own thoughts about personal existence irrespective of location. Through the contrast of minutely detailed wildlife and child superheroes against diaphanous cityscapes, Vaughn’s body of work in provides a eerily familiar setting which somehow both comforts and inspires his audience with visionary designs of freedom.

Where – Lazarides (Rathbone place, London)

When – 5th May till 4th June 2011

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS