All posts by butterfly

Studio Visit: Mike Dargas in Cologne (DE)

June 30, 2016 butterfly

We dropped by the studio of hyper-realist painter Mike Dargas in Cologne, Germany ahead of his upcoming solo exhibition at Opera Gallery in London, curated by Jean-David Malat and opening on 6th July.

Mike Dargas - Studio Visit

Drawing his inspiration from masters like Dali, Caravaggio and HR Giger, Mike Dargas studied various techniques and since his youth developed a passion for realism, which he narrowed down to hyperrealism over the years.

A first look at Mike Dargas’ artworks, they can easily be mistaken for large scale photographs. Years of practice mastering the oil painting enabled him to create hyperrealist portraits with very intricate details. The German artist’s love for precision, in an almost obsessive manner, brings models to life under the brush stroke and draws one into a dreamlike world where time has suspended.

Like photography Mike Dargas loves to play with shadows, focus and depth of field to create mesmerising portraits. In his liquid-series, the photorealism of the dripping effect on the faces of his models is breathtaking and exults in sensuality.

Mike Dargas - Studio Visit Mike Dargas Studio Visit

View the full set of pics here

Mike Dargas – Opera Gallery
6 – 20 July
134 New Bond Street
W1S 2TF London

Auctions

London: Banksy SWAT van to be auctioned

June 27, 2016 butterfly

A van that was once used by the SWAT team and then spraypainted by elusive artist Banksy is to be auctioned in London at Bonhams on 29 June.

It was first displayed at the infamous Barely Legal exhibition in Los Angeles back in 2006, where Banksy also featured a live painted elephant in the room.

On one side of the van, Banksy has spraypainted heavily armed special forces agents being hoodwinked by a small boy. On the other, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz is caught in a storm of graffiti. On the back it says: How’s My Bombing? Call 1-800-648-0403.

Ralph Taylor, senior director of Bonhams’ postwar and contemporary art department, called it “probably the most significant piece by the artist to ever come to auction and without doubt the most ambitious”. The work has been verified by Pest Control Office and comes with an estimate of £200,000-300,000.

Banksy Swat Van 05 Banksy Swat Van 06

Photo credit: Butterfly & Bonhams

Update: The Banksy SWAT van sold for £218,500 inc. premium.

Art Fair

Basel: Scope Art Fair 2016

June 25, 2016 butterfly 1 Comment

Scope Art Fair, the satellite fair to ART|BASEL is celebrating its 10th Year anniversary with 85 international exhibitors and 10 breeder program galleries from over twenty countries. Offering the best of their local and rising talents, as well as some rarities from their collections, Scope puts special attention to their Breeder Program which introduces new galleries to the contemporary market.

Here are some of our highlights from the fair.

Scope Art Fair 2016

View the full set of pics here

Festival, Street, streets, Toulouse

Toulouse: POES and JO BER for Rose Beton

June 24, 2016 butterfly

French artists POES and JO BER just completd this new mural for the ROSE BETON Festival in Toulouse, Southern France. They continue their collaboration like they recently did in Marrakech (covered) with a playful storyline about the Epic of Gilgamesh and his perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life.

Rose Beton Festival - Toulouse

View the full set of pics from Rose Beton Festival here

London, Shows

London: A. Giacometti and Yves Klein at the Gagosian

June 23, 2016 butterfly

Gagosian Gallery in London is currently presenting the first-ever exhibition to pair key works by Alberto Giacometti (1901–1966) and Yves Klein (1928–1962).

At first glance, Giacometti and Klein, artists born a generation apart, could not be more different: Giacometti was a master of material form, and of the representation of the figure; Klein was an influential theorist whose art married the conceptual with the cosmic. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the two artists lived and worked within a mile of each other, in Montparnasse, Paris, but there are few clues in their work to suggest that they shared the same artistic milieu. What they did have in common was an acute consciousness of the catastrophic effects of the Second World War and its aftermath on European culture. Each dealt with it in his own way: in his sculptures, Giacometti struggled to evince a vital human presence from nothing; Klein shunned the personal, autobiographical mark, attempting to dematerialise painting to the point of pure saturated colour.

Curated by Joachim Pissarro, Giacometti’s nervously modelled figures and heads are confronted by Klein’s intense and expansive colours. Each artist is generously represented by works on loan from the Fondation Alberto Giacometti, the Yves Klein Archives, the Beyeler Foundation, and distinguished private collections.

A. Giacometti & Yves Klein