Icelandic conceptual artist and abstract painter Katrin Fridriks returns to Lazarides Rathbone in London for a new solo exhibition entitled ‘Macrocosm‘.
Alongside the 2014 installation Perception of the Stendhal Syndrome – Gene&Ethics Master Prism with a giant magnifying glass, the exhibition features a whole new body of works, with canvasses bursting with vibrant and swirling energetic coloured shapes of splashing paint.
The role of the magnifying glass is to enhance the intensity of the experience of being overwhelmed by the artwork, evoking a phenomenon that is called “beauty nausea”.
The two dichotomies contained within the gallery space represent the elusive philosophical idea of macrocosm with one canvas being a micro particle of the other. ‘Macrocosm’, originating from Ancient Greek philosophy, refers to everything that exists, an infinite, complex structure that can be regarded as a universe, or the cosmos. The microcosm, however, is just a small representative part of it. Since the time of Plato, human imagination has been drawn to an idea of an analogy between the macro and the microcosm. Thus ‘as above, so below’ was a leading motto in the doctrine of ‘correspondences’ between the two dimensions.
The spatial arrangement of this show invites viewers to participate, to adopt various viewpoints, and to discover new perspectives and hidden depths within the paint through the magnifying glass.
Sotheby’s Contemporary art gallery in London. S|2, is currently showing an exhibition of new works by Charming Baker (covered) entitled ‘Sweet Nothing’, featuring canvasses and a series of studies on paper, and large scale drawings.
Known to purposefully damage his work by drilling, cutting and even shooting it, Baker intentionally puts into question the preciousness of art and the definition of its beauty, adding to the emotive charge of the work he produces.
Working towards his new exhibition Sweet Nothing, Charming Baker hasdescribed his overriding influences as “…Schrödinger’s cat, Pavlov’s dog, bitter nostalgia, sex, joy, folly, loss, Don Quixote, tended gardens, gypsum foundations, concrete ideals, loose morals, nature, nurture, sweet nothing…”
Earlier this year when Angoulême, one of the world’s biggest comic-book festivals, failed to include a single woman on its 30-strong Grand Prix shortlist, it created a widespread of fury and several prominent artists and campaigners threatened to boycott it.
Women have always been present throughout the evolution of the comics medium and produced some of its defining works, but their contribution has been often overlooked. Debunking the myth that there are very few female creators in the industry, Olivia Ahmad has been working together with journalist and comics enthusiast Paul Gravett to curate a new exhibition called Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics at the House of Illustration in London.
Featuring original comic artworks, graphic novels, comics and zines from 100 pioneered female comic artists from 18th-century caricature to today’s graphic novels, it is the UK’s largest ever exhibition ever displayed, working across genres and generations, from observational comedy to surreal fantasy, challenging biography to subversive dissent.
Mary Darly’s 1775 portrait, Corporal Perpendicular, is the earliest work in the exhibition. She was among the first professional caricaturists in England. When working in the 1920s and 30s British cartoonist Anne Harriet Fish signed her work with the gender ambiguous ‘Fish’ to avoid discrimination, drawing cartoons satirising the ‘flapper’ lifestyle for the Tatler, American Vogue, Vanity Fair.
Other highlights include work from Jackie Ormes, the first African-American woman to create a syndicated comic strip in Torchy in Heartbeats (1954), as well as Miriam Katin’s We Are On Our Own, a moving account of her escape from the Nazi invasion of Budapest. No subject is taboo, art of protest or with hard hitting social themes also feature prominently at Comix Creatix: Una addresses the ocean of unreported sexual assault in Becoming / Unbecoming. Nina Bunjevac’s Fatherland traces the life of her father Peter, a Serbian nationalist who was killed in an explosion while preparing a bomb intended for supporters of Yugoslavian President Tito.
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Images courtesy of the House of Illustration
The 100 artists are: Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Alison Bechdel, Alison Sampson, Angie Hofmeister, Angie Mills, Anke Feuchtenberger, Anne Harriet Fish, Annie Goetzinger, Art is a Lie, Asia Alfasi, Audrey Niffenegger, Aurélie William-Levaux, Aya Morton, Barbara ‘Willie’ Mendes, Barbara Yelin, Blackjack, Brigid Deacon, Carla Speed McNeil, Carol Swain, Cat O’Neil, Catherine Anyango, Chantal Montellier, Charlotte Salomon, Chie Kutsuwada, Claire Bretecher, Claudia Davila, Corinne Pearlman, Dale Messick, Denny Derbyshire, Donya Todd, Eleni Kalorkoti, Ellen Lindner, Emma Vieceli, Evelyn Flinders, Fay Dalton, Florence Cestac , Francesca Ghermandi, Hannah Berry, Hwei Lim, Isabel Greenberg, Jackie Ormes, Jacky Fleming, Joana Estrela, Josceline Fenton, Julie Doucet, Karrie Fransman, Kate Beaton, Kate Brown, Kate Charlesworth, Kate Evans, Katie Green, Kaveri Gopalakrishnan, Kripa Joshi, Laura Callaghan, Laura Howell, Leela Corman, Leila Abdul Razzaq, Lily Renee, Lizz Lunney, Lorna Miller, Lynda Barry, Lynn Paula Russell, Manjula Padmanabhan, Marcia Snyder, Maria Stoian, Marie Duval, Marion Fayolle, Mary Darly, Maya Wilson, Miriam Katin, Nadine Redlich, Naniiebim, Nell Brinkley, Nicola Lane, Nicola Streeten, Nina Bunjevac, Pat Tourett, Patrice Aggs, Philippa Rice, Posy Simmonds, Rachael Ball, Rachael House, Ramona Fradon, Reina Bull, Reshu Singh, Roz Chast, Rutu Modan, Sarah Lightman, Shirley Bellwood, Simone Lia, Sophie Standing, Suzy Varty, Tarpe Mills, Tijuana Bibles by Horizontal Press, Tillie Walden, Tove Jansson, Trina Robbins, Tula Lotay, and Una.
So do not miss this fantastic exhibition as it is running until 15 May.
Until 15 May 2016 House of Illustration 2 Granary Square King’s Cross London N1C 4BH
Swiss painter Andy Denzler is having his first London solo show at Opera Gallery. Featuring a series oil canvasses and bronze sculptures, the exhibition “Between Here and There” explores the romantic idea of young urban creatives’ existence in the inner city life: a creative mind surrounded by the decay of buildings a search for identity within the fast paced world.
The artist weaves nostalgic photorealism with gestural expression in his style of painting. Through the use of intricate and detailed images, staggered by recurrent flowing horizontal sweeps of the brush, Denzler’s works resemble at once a still from a paused film and a fuzzy dreamlike memory.
Bronze sculptures represent life size urban individuals holding their cellphones or taking a selfie. With the decayed texture, they look suspended in time during their everyday actions.
Andy Denzler – Between Here and There
Until 20 May 2016
Opera Gallery London
New Bond St. London
A huge and comprehensive exhibit of Andy Warhol’s best work, Warhol Icons has opened at the Halcyon Gallery, narrating a layered social and cultural commentary from the mass consumerism society, music, politics to the celebrity culture.
Following a three years complex process the Halcyon Gallery has been gathering a significant collection from all over the world featuring over 100 pieces by collecting portfolios, key works and never-before-seen works.
Unique in its breadth, the exhibition spans over three floors and retraces Warhol’s career across three decades, from his early illustrative works of the 1950s through to the iconic works of the late 1980s. Creating a visual experience with an explosion of colours, forms and ideas, it gives viewers the opportunity to see original works on canvas, paper and some of his most important portfolios.
The mezzanine space in the gallery has been rearranged to display Campbell’s Soup I installation, as a tribute to Warhol’s first exhibition with Irving Blum in 1962, where his famous soup can paintings were displayed in the gallery to represent the supermarket shelves on which the soup cans were stored.
Five of the artist’s other famous portfolios from 10 have also been displayed including Cowboys and Indians and Endangered Species, looking at the nature of conservation and how Warhol viewed the environment – a lasting concern for the artist who frequently liked to bring these views into his works on the subject.
His classic 1981 signed Myths Invitations – with images of fantasy icons the Wicked Witch of the West, Santa Claus, Mammy from Gone with the Wind, Superman, Garbo, Uncle Sam, Mickey Mouse, Howdy Doodie, Boris Karloff – is one of many of his most recognisable pieces on show.
Warhol’s fascination with the celebrity is illustrated by his colourful portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger, Muhammad Ali, Ingrid Bergman or within one of his rare Self Portrait in Fright Wig.
As visitors come, take photos to share on social media, Warhol’s legacy and celebration of ‘mass culture’ continue to show us his influence and relevance.
Such an extensive collection of Warhol’s iconic works has rarely been seen in one space. It’s a delight for art lovers, WARHOL ICONS is not to be missed at Halcyon Gallery.
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