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Kaws at Gallery Perrotin in Hong Kong

Kaws at Gallery PerrotinToo late to go this year, the Hong Kong International Art Fair, opening this Thursday 17th, is something I should definitely pencil in for next year as when its popularity ever increasing, the quality of the art on display is becoming something.

Take this event for example – KAWS, or Brian Donnelly at Galerie Perotin. First solo show in Asia for KAWS and debut event for the latter, you know it is going to be good, don’t you. This Hong Kong branch of Galerie Perrotin is the newest outpost of the Paris based gallery.

This show focuses on KAWS’ latest paintings and CHUM, the Michelin Man-inspired caricature is well represented again, as it has been in loads of his past shows but this time CHUM looks ominous almost threatening. About 50 vertical paintings, 7 feet tall and 1 feet wide, definitely give a sense of grandeur to the show

The Nature of Need by KAWS
Galerie Perrotin Hong Kong
50 Connaught Road Central |Floor 17| Hong Kong
Exhibition Dates: Now – June 30th, 2012 (Saturday)

Kaws at Gallery Perrotin

Kaws at Gallery Perrotin

STREET ART

Black Duke Art

A LATVIAN artist, who’s work can be found in a number of European locations, has been revealed as the person responsible for the two giant pirate murals that have recently appeared on an iconic landmark, on the North Wales Coastline.

The two pirate-like characters seemed to appear overnight, earlier this month, on the side of The Fun Ship, formally The Duke Of Lancaster, which has become a well-known landmark in Llanerch-y-Mor, near Mostyn. It has now been confirmed that they are the work of KIWIE, a street artist from Latvia.

The artwork appears to be orchestrated by a group calling themselves Dudug, who have set up a website reporting on the works. Shortly after the murals appeared on the 17th August, a You Tube video was posted on their site.

The video depicts the work being done illegally at night; however a new video has since been added to the website, revealing the original version to be a spoof. The intricate artworks did in fact take a number of days to complete, and was done under the watchful supervision of site security, which remains 24 x 7 at The Duke.

The painted characters, also known by the term KIWIES, are each 9 metres in height making them the biggest works ever created by the artist. They also include some key details about the Duke’s history in their design – with the year the ship was built (1956) on the blue pirate’s ear, and the year the ship was docked in Llanerch-y-Mor (10th Aug 1979) on its stomach.

Members of the Duke of Lancaster Appreciation Society (DOLAS) have been so far unable to shed any light on the appearance of the artwork but it appears none of them had any idea the cruise liner was going to be targeted by the street artist. It can also be confirmed that DOLAS and DUDUG operate completely separate from one another.

BLACK DUKE from KIWIE on Vimeo.

www.dudug.co.uk

www.dukeoflancaster.net

www.kiwie.com

BLOG

Katrina Rupit new show at Westbank gallery

Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Kathrina was born in Mexico City and studied visual arts and photography at the University of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Her native country means that her work is infused with a rich vitality and a colourful exuberance. As an Urban artist, she produces work which is perhaps softer and more lyrical than her male contemporaries. She has a deep admiration for iconic female figures, especially her compatriot Frida Kahlo.

Over the last couple of years Kathrina has lived and worked in Dublin, Ireland and has become a vital fixture of the vibrant street art scene there.

Kathrina uses an array of mediums to achieve an extraordinary effect – From spray paints, newspaper collage and urban markers to assemblage of cardboard, door parts and even Popsicle sticks. She is constantly challenging the means of urban representation, reinventing the genre in a feminist context.

Her work is deeply tied to her Mexican roots, addressing social issues such as racial discrimination and embracing a culture without the curse of violence and gangs.

She is the voice of a new generation, producing artwork that is bold and seductive. Like Frida before her, she is conscious of the innate power of her gender. She excites the male gaze with her portraits being alive with a raw sexual energy. They are alluring and even provocative.

download (1)

Kathrina’s technical ability and artistic representational skill are first rate, creating both an awareness of environmental issues and tapping into the Mexican concept of the cycle of life, seen in the celebration of ‘Dia de los Muertos’.

The physicality of life in Kathrina’s work is seen in her numerous performances and live events, which is a crucial aspect of her practice. She wants the work to be alive, she wants the audience to see the process in action and feel the creative energy as it happens.

IN THE NEWS

The Stitch project, raising environmental issues awareness through art

Stitch is an organisation that raises environmental awareness through the arts. Stitch does this by hosting events that use art to inspire and engage people with environmental issues. The guys at Stitch will use a variety of different events such as art exhibitions, photography competitions and short film festivals to appeal to people in different ways.

The next Stitch show is right upon us: “Focus on Nature” Open Photography Competition Submissions. It opens this Monday 5th March and will run until the 23.

They ask for a £5 donation per image you submit. These funds go towards contributions to these two fantastic organisations listed below. Find out more information about the show from the Stitch Facebook event page or on the Stitch website.

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/
http://www.back2earth.org.uk/

A video of a previous show held at The Diary is included below

<iframe width=”649″ height=”330″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/GLiEXPnLA2k?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>

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

STREET ART

Dublin Street Art

Espo | Art-PieWith some spare time available while on business recently in Dublin I had to put aside the Guinness and amazing Irish stew for a bit and not pass up the chance to check out what the streets had to offer.

The creative festival Offset had recently took place with international talent like JR and Faile taking the chance to add their mark to the streets and complement the local artists like Maser and James Earley. The festival birthed a collaboration effort between Maser and JR, while the duo of Faile hit the town at an impressive rate with a number of tags and stencils.

When in Dublin you can’t fail to visit Temple Bar for all its drinking establishments but it is also home to an excellent Conor Harrington piece down one of the areas quieter streets as well as a few galleries. A bit further a field is where you really find gold though and in the Tivoli Theatre car park is a range of work including a large number of pieces by Steve ‘Espo’ Powers and one from El Mac.

Dublin seems very receptive to street art and an initiative caught my eye called the Dublin City Beta project which first project has seen a number of traffic light boxes given an overhaul by a number of artists, with a forum to gather feedback on whether the art is good for the area.

A hub for the community is the shop All City, which stocks sprays cans, records and even has a spot to get a quick trim. Any time I visited this was a hot bed of activity with artists and DJ’s conversing while the weekend commencing my visit they were holding the annual All City Tivoli Jam.

I’m already looking forward to a return visits to see what more work has cropped up. Dublin is definitely worth a visit if you fancy your street art with a good craic.

CONOR HARRINGTON at Temple bar

Conor Harrington | Art-Pie

El Mac
El Mac | Art-Pie

ESPO
Espo | Art-Pie Espo | Art-P:ie

DIGITAL ART

Soundsculpture by Daniel Franke & Cedric Kiefer using Kinect

When I first watched this video of Daniel Franke & Cedric Kiefer’s soundsculpture project, I was fascinated and watched it again several times.

Not for me to try to breakdown to you how this is done as it is quite complex. I’ll invite you to read the complete explanation from Creative Applications Network. In short,  you are looking at a moving sand sculpture from the recorded motion data of a real person.

Uncategorized

Remed and Okuda at Southbank London

REMED & OKUDA | Art-Pie

Artists REMED and OKUDA have flooded the streets of Southbank in London with colours and passion for the second consecutive year.

After the success of the previous editions of Streets of Colour, this creative union between the two artists and Campo Viejo continues bearing fruits and they have surprised us again with an unusual art action: this time Remed and Okuda have worked inside of a cube of methacrylate of 40 cubic metres (2.4409e+6in³) next to the Thames river in Southbank, offering to the thousands of pedestrians who have been there during the four days that have lasted the action, the unique experience of watching the artists painting in front of the public and not turning their backs as it is the usual when painting a wall.

The transparency of the methacrylate has allowed us to be privileged witness of the creative process of these two vibrant artists of international renown, that as well as a year ago in London, and in other experiences in Logronio, Madrid and Brussels have offered us a stimulating show with lights, colours and passion as protagonists.

remed-okuda2

BLOG, PREVIEW

Thomas Allen at Foley gallery

Foley Gallery is very pleased to present Thomas Allen’s solo exhibition Paint by Numbers.

Inspired by a View-Master and “pop-up” books as a child, Allen became interested in recreating these three-dimensional experiences by using old books and pulp fiction paperbacks as still life subjects.

Thomas Allen - Art-Pie

In producing his new series of photographs, Paint by Numbers, Allen has gone to the hardware store and has selected standard paint swatches to use as his primary generative medium. As announced at Allen’s 2009 solo show Epilogue at Foley, Allen has parted ways with his signature use of cutting from book illustrations.

Utilizing wit to illustrate titles such as Birthday Cake, Carnival Candy, and Sweet Tea, Allen playfully employs the idea of color with historical and cultural associations. Titles offered in the paint swatches are implicative: his deftly cut figures reference popular subjects, each of which are enlisted by the name of the paint sample they are carved into.

Allen selects figures such as Donald Trump or Gene Wilder, subjects able to perform the lexicon of narrative titles like Blowfish and Golden Ticket. In the process of assemblage, Allen is able to create narratives that reveal the constructed nature of images and incorporative aspects of collage, photography, and montage.

What – “Paint numbers” by Thomas Allen
Where – Foley gallery 59 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002
When – Until 24/01/15

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS