BLOG, CAUSE, REVIEWS, STREET ART

Dale Grimshaw’s Pride & Prejudice new show at WellHung gallery

Dale Grimshaw street art on Chalk Farm London | Art-Pie
Click to enlarge

Dale Grimshaw‘s Pride & Prejudice new show at WellHung gallery was one of these shows you do not want to miss.

As soon as we got the email about it, an entry in the calendar was penciled to attend the Private View.

We had already been to some of Dale Grimshaw’s shows as well as seen a few murals throughout London so we could not wait to see what this new works will be all about.

As you step in the gallery, they are all looking at you, even stare at you. “They” are the indigenous people, mostly from Papua New Guinea, Dale Grimshaw, quite recently, has become involved with the political struggle to free West Papua from Indonesian occupation which he thinks aren’t covered enough in the medias.

More recently, Dale has become involved with the political struggle to free West Papua from Indonesian occupation. This bitter and hard fought struggle is rarely reported in the West and through his work, Dale has been supporting Benny Wenda, the campaigns leader and long term champion Peter Tatchell, in raising awareness in the UK.

[] WellHung galllery

 

 

Dale Grimshaw Pride & Prejudice show at WellHung gallery | Art-Pie
Click to enlarge

Dale Grimshaw Pride & Prejudice show at WellHung gallery | Art-Pie

The activist aspect of the new set of artworks obviously means a bunch of political messages and symbolic can be observed throughout but what we really also appreciate – beyond the apparent technical painting skills-  it is the juxtaposition of two cultures, the  Western society – we are convinced that it is Shoreditch you can see in the background of the piece just above) and the Papua New Guimes where the indigenous depicted in Dale Grimshaw’s set of works.

Dale Grimshaw Pride & Prejudice show at WellHung gallery | Art-Pie

It was a delight to see again Dale Grimshaw’s mastery in the flesh. We are glad to see him engaged him for a cause and can definitely tell that by doing so, his style has become less dark than his last show – “Moreish” at Signal gallery we attended. What you will also find out by reading our review of that show, is that the technic does not seem to have evolved as much.

A must see-show. Runs until the 13/05/2017.

DIGITAL ART

Jim Campbell: art and pixels

1 Comment

A man runs. He falls down. He struggles back onto his feet and he runs some more. It’s a simple narrative. Even without much detail, you can understand what’s going on. Pause the video, though, and the scene isn’t nearly as clear. Movement makes up for the lack of other visual information. Your brain can read and understand a video at much lower resolution than it would need to make equal sense of a still frame.

Meet Jim Campbell, a former Silicon Valley engineer turned visual artist. Inspired by early Bell Labs experiments with pixelated images, and by his own engineering work with digital filters, Campbell makes art that toys with the human brain.

Much of the inspiration for Campbell’s current work comes from a story in that magazine, written by Bell Labs’ Leon Continue reading Jim Campbell: art and pixels →

CONTEMPORARY ART

How to Spot Street Art

If you love spotting street art, but you’re never quite sure where you should look for it, then worry not. There are plenty of ways in which you can make sure you encounter great street art on a regular basis.

Where as street art was once considered to be little more than vandalism, these days it is a hugely popular art form. This means that there are plenty of books, magazines and websites dedicated purely to the subject of street art and where you van find it. Many works of street art are now protected, so you you may find that you have much more time to visit them. Spend time researching an area before you visit, and you are more than likely to be clued up on where to find local street art before you arrive.

However, some street art is far more temporary, and you’ll need to be on the ball if you want to be in with a chance of spotting it. Sites like Twitter can be a great way to keep up to date with the latest street art discoveries. If you’re keen to keep an eye on where new works of street arts have cropped up, whilst playing online games like Partypoker and checking your email from the comfort of your own home, then using sites like this can be the best way to do so. They’re also perfect if you’re on the go, and don’t mind making a detour to see some great street art before it’s gone.

Lastly, it is important to simply keep your eyes peeled. Even street art which may not have a big name attached to it can still be well worth seeing. Certain locations are fairly well known for attracting street artists, so it can be well worth keeping a look out should you happen to be passing through.

IN THE NEWS

Bonhams' Urban art auction – beyond expectation

The art auction market has been around for years, certainly a lot more than street art has been but yet, this emerging form of art seems to be on everybody’s lips and wallet indeed.

Bonhams’ auction, which just happened, has definitely showed us that. The bidding was fierce, the desire to own pieces from street artists, a must. The total sale from this Urban Art Sale at Bonham’s New Bond Street reached 455,760 GBP, with almost half of the works selling above their high estimates.

Here are some of the best sales

Banksy
‘Save or Delete Jungle Book’, 2001. This piece was originally made for Greenpeace
Sold for £78,000

Banksy - Jungle book

Ben Eine
Circus A-Z’, 2010
stencil spray paint and glitter on canvas
Sold for £6,600

Ben Eine - Circus

Futura 2000
Untitled, a performance piece created live on the Clash’s ‘Combat Rock’ tour, circa 1983
Sold for £38,400

Futura 2000 - Untitled

via Hang-Up

CONTEMPORARY ART, PREVIEW

Artcrank – your bike is art

Artcrank | Art-PieThere is still time to go and see Artcrank “A poster party for bike people” in Hoxton where cycling is broken down into art under the form of posters. Yes you heard me you hipsters, this is the place YOU HAVE to be so hurry and enjoy illustrations from international artists such as Dark Star Brewing, Pista Collective, Lezyne and Otesha Project UK to feature bike-inspired poster art by UK artists.

Admission is free, and limited edition, signed and numbered copies of all posters will be available for £30 each. We have included some pf our favorite posters below

What – Artcrank “A poster party for bike people”
Where – Plain Wall Projects in Hoxton | 2A Corsham St Shoreditch, London Borough of Hackney, London N1 6DP, UK
When – 7 till 14th September 2012

Artcrank | Art-PieArtcrank | Art-Pie

Uncategorized

Our Aim is to Survive, photographs by Brian J Morrison

Our aim is to survive by Brian J MorrisonThis work is the result of an exploration into the area of masculinity and social stereotypes. As a documentary photographic essay the work opens the doors to a lesser-seen area of society in an attempt to challenge pre-existing British stereotypes surrounding male identity and firearms.

Our aim is to aim is to survive focuses on Blackpool Pistol and Rifle Club: it’s physicality as a space, the people who use it and the inter-relationship between the two. These images are bound together through their formal presentation yet each image contains a strong individual presence in many cases confirming expectations but in others, interestingly confounding and challenging both the preconceived ideas attached to firearms and Shooting Clubs.

The Blackpool Pistol and Rifle club as been running since 1948 and is a typical example of what you would find in many shooting clubs throughout the United Kingdom. After a 1997 firearms amendment outlawed all but muzzle loading and single shot pistols, the membership to these clubs dwindled. As with many things within contemporary society the unfashionable quickly becomes lost and the
traditions of old soon turn to nostalgia. The walls of this club speak of a time gone; the faux wooden panels and the photographs proudly displayed offer an insight into “the good old days”. However they spoke as much about an acceptance of their fate as it offered a reminder into the past. The unfashionable has already become nostalgic whilst still in existence. To emphasize the idea of ever shifting social opinions I have offered a critique on the normative opinions associated masculinity and firearms by mixing the past and present contained within each frame.

Throughout the work the viewer is encouraged to draw off there own pre-existing opinions before eventually having these opinions subverted. By using masculinity as a focal point, symbolic links are drawn between the continually changing view of masculinity and the decline in popularity of those things that
do not fit within today’s society.”

““an acceptance that photography at the least can capture the present and the visible, he (Coekin) adds an understanding that what we know of the present what we know, and don’t know, of the past and the future”
David Campany on Chris Coekin’s piece Knock Three Times.

Words from Brian J Morrison

See more on Brian J Morrison website

Our Aim Is To Survive by Brian J MorrisonOur Aim Is To Survive by Brian J Morrison

CONTEMPORARY ART

Mikael Alacoque – Mitty and Badbabysitter

This is badbabysitter!
This is mitty!

Artists Statement:

Initially trained as a traditional figurative sculptor and Mouldmaker. I now seek to find new meaning and relevance in old outmoded techniques.

I’m fascinated by the idea of the public monument and much of my work revolves around the need to investigate the way in which society records events and people by casting them in metal and stone.

I seek to rip the idea of the public monument asunder and then re-build it in a new order with a revised iconography. My work seeks to expose and examine the insecurities and frailties of society, and our place within it.

Recent works ‘Gnome Kone’ and ‘Bad Babysitter’ are part of a series of sculptures that are concerned with a playfully sinister bastardization of familiar objects. The pieces have an initial feeling of innocence and irreverence but on closer inspection seem more bizarre and
unsettling.

More of Mikael’s stuff here

Pictures and statement taken from the A GALLERY website

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

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS