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Melbourne: Da Mental Vaporz – Le Venin Part 2
After mentioning the top floor installation (covered here) we continue our coverage about the Da Mental Vaporz exhibition at Rtist Gallery. With a brand new series of works by all nine crew members consisting of Bom.k, Blo, Brusk, Dran, Kan, Iso, Gris1, Jaw, Sowat, ‘Le Venin’ contains over a hundred artworks, from screensprints, sketches, photos, mix media paintings, to solo and collaborative pieces.
The key piece of the exhibition is an Exquisite Woman Corpse, done by all nine members, featuring all topics the DMV crew are passionate about: graffiti walls, eroticism, and imaginary characters.
Combining all their strengths, the collaborative paintings called Exquisite Corpses are a delight for the eyes, explosion of colours and styles, like Hypnotic Skull.
Reflecting on current world events, the show presents many politically engaged pieces as well as a fight for freedom of expression. Arab Spring by Kan features a halftone graffiti portrait of Stephane Hessel, 94-year-old former French resistance fighter and author of Time for Outrage (Inspirez Vous), which inspired young people to take the streets. Pieces by Gris1 highlight globalisation issues and fight for freedom of mind.
The DMV also responded to the current presidential elections climate in France. Liberte Egalite Fatalite by Sowat, tricolored animals like Pigeons by Gris1, and a sheep by Bom.k are all reminders of never fulfilled political promises “Travailler plus pour gagner plus” (work longer to earn more), or even a crucified cockerel, a French symbol, “Vive la France” by Brusk.
Using only spray cans, the level of details of Bom.k and Jaw‘s large format canvases is hallucinogenic – self portraits, imaginary bestiary and erotic distorted corpses hypnotize the viewers, who are left shocked but still asking for more.
Oniric figures by Blo present a duality of happiness and melancholy, with a constant presence of life and death.
It is also nice to see the initial sketch from Blo‘s recent Wedding Walls mural in Berlin.
Also, the DMV crew enjoy playing with words, like the 3D pieces by Bom.k (Crime doesn’t spray) or the DMV letters forming Dieu Me Voit by Gris1/Sowat (God is watching me), symbolising the big brother society.
The exhibition features many lighthearted and dark-humored pieces, like Smiley by Gris1, a collection of post-it notes and memos to Dran‘s figurative characters like Mr Tea, or Mr Propre, (Mr Clean’s household cleaner) pissing to clean graffiti walls. At first glance at Trompe l’oeil by Dran, a cute koala is happily resting in the forest, but looking closer, all that is left is a tourist backpack.
A patchwork of smaller artworks cover an entire gallery wall with Sowat‘ drippings, Gris1‘ Throw-ups, ISO‘ graffiti lettering, Bom.k screenprints, JAW‘s sketches and more.
As Channel 9 Australia was streaming live in the middle of the gallery, uncensored and fearless Sowat set fire to his calligraffiti paintings to add some unique finishing touches.
View the full set of pics here
Eventually for those who couldn’t see this crazy show in person, here is a video:
London Opening: Conor Harrington Dead Meat
Irish painter Conor Harrington returns to Lazarides Rathbone in London for a solo show entitled”Dead Meat“. Making a departure from his military battles and masculine subject figures in his previous work, his new body of work revisits the 18th-Century period. From an elaborate photo-shoot involving 6 models, costumes, taxidermy and props, Harrington has recreated an 18th -Century feast, reminisicent of a last supper combining ostentatious excesses, power, decadence with crumbling beauty.
Using a clever mix of spraypaint and oil painting techniques, Conor Harrington manages to create an harmonious balance between graffiti and fine art, with a beautiful rendering of textures and his figurative subjects.
View the set here
Conor Harrington Dead Meat
2 March 2012 – 2 April 2012
Lazarides Gallery, 11 Rathbone Place, London
Melbourne Streets: New Mural by the DMV crew
As the Da Mental Vaporz crew is currently in Australia for an exhibition at Rtist Gallery, they couldn’t resist leaving a massive mural. Combining a patchwork of their different styles, the DMV crew consisting ofBom-K, Blo, Brusk, Dran, Gris1, ISO, Jaw, Kan, and Sowat just completed an imaginary bestiary on a four-storey building in the heart of Chinatown, making it the largest graffiti mural of Melbourne.
To view the entire set, click here
The Australian magazine Acclaim did a video of the mural
Melbourne: Da Mental Vaporz – Le Venin Part 1
Aboard “Le Venin”, the French graffiti crew Da Mental Vaporz crossed oceans and snow storms for a spectacular show at Rtist Gallery in Melbourne. The top floor of the gallery has been totally transformed with a massive installation. The tunnel shaped space hosts a life size version of the raft ‘Le Venin’, while on the side a treasure chest reveals a multitude of gold and silver objects like spray cans, tools, toys, drinks.
Inside the cabin, viewers can enjoy detail shots of the Squatters mural done at Le Palais des Congres in Toulouse last summer, and look at accessories that survived this epic trip. While sharks are swimming around the raft, the dark horizon features a short documentary of “Squatters” directed by Emile Sacre.
For further pics of the exhibition, click here
A poster of “Squatters” is currently available online at Edition Populaire. 
Photo by Big Addict
Stay tuned for the part 2 covering the rest of the exhibition.
Da Mental Vaporz – Le Venin
Until 4 March 2012
Rtist Gallery
Melbourne, Australia
Toulouse (FR): Da Mental Vaporz – Squatters
Back in summer 2011, while they were showing in Toulouse at the GHP Galerie, the Da Mental Vaporz crew couldn’t resist leaving their mark on an iconic building: the former Palais des Congres of Toulouse (exhibition center). Famous for its political corruption and dirty money, the place was being left abandoned following legal disputes and is currently being squatted by a small community of local residents.
During a week-end, all members of the crew Bom-K, Blo, Brusk, Dran, Gris1, ISO, Jaw, Kan, and Sowat revisited the building and gave it a second life. Featuring harmoniously their distinctive style, the prolific DMV crew created a skull headed giant with his heart on his sleeve.
Eight months later, while France is being crippled by snow storms and presidential elections delirium, the Da Mental Vaporz have decided to head to sunny horizons down under, boarding their vessel “La Misericorde – Le Venin” with a pirate flag reminder of the “Squatters” face. Direction Melbourne, Australia…
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London: Philippe Pasqua at Opera Gallery
Opera Gallery London is providing a complete insight into the art of self-taught French artist Philippe Pasqua through a broad collection of artworks featuring paintings, drawings and sculptures.
The show includes monumental provocative nudes, as well as sensual up close and personal portraits. There are also Pasqua’s signature large “palimpsests” – works on paper mixing silk-painting techniques, printing and painting, where the painter goes back over his own work and adds patches of colour to them or redesigns them.
Another major aspect of Pasqua’s work lies in his series of “vanities”. For years the artist has been collecting human skulls, which he covers in gold or silver leaf and decorates with butterflies with iridescent colours. Other gigantic skulls have been sculpted in Carrara marble, and tattooed with delicate motifs of imaginary flowers interleaved with mythical animals.
View more pics from the opening HERE
Philippe Pasqua
Until 15 February 2012
Opera Gallery London
London: Unweave the Rainbow at Scream
Scream Gallery is currently presenting their second annual exhibition entitled “Unweave the Rainbow” with emerging artists from the USA, UK, China and Poland, each with a unique style, who have in common a psychedelic, other worldy or surreal sensibility.
Featured artists include Andrew McAttee, Cain Caser, Caroline Jane Harris, Jen Stark, Malgosia Stepnik, Scott Hove, and Ye Hongxing.
More pics from the opening HERE
Unweave the Rainbow
Until 17 March 2012
www.screamlondon.com
Paris: Futura 2012 Expansions at Jerome de Noirmont
Graffiti legend and contemporary artist, Futura recently opened his newest exhibition Expansions at Galerie Jerome De Noirmont in Paris.
The new body of works on canvasses explore spontaneity and geometric abstract forms through a vibrant colour palette, where viewers might recognise either real or imaginary landscapes. Futura happily signed books and invites for the eager crowd.
View the full set of pics of the opening HERE
Guillotine also did a video of the Futura mural in the gallery
Futura 2012 Expansions
Until 29 February 2012
Galerie Jerome de Noirmont Paris
Paris : Damien Hirst – The Complete Spot Paintings
Damien Hirst’s latest exhibition, The Complete Spot Paintings, is being held simultaneously at all 11 Gagosian Galleries across the world, from London to Paris, Geneva, Rome, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles.
Presenting a retrospective of Hirst’s infamous spot paintings between 1986 and 2011, the exhibition features dotty canvases of all shapes and sizes, from miniature dots to large format spots. Viewers are submerged by this colourful pharmaceutical universe where no colour is being repeated within any single piece.
The artist is even offering a personalised signed spotty print to the lucky few who complete the polka-dot marathon and visit the 11 locations within a month.
We stopped by the Paris exhibition which expands over two floors:
View the full set of pics HERE
