Category Archives: London

London: David Walker – A Blank Canvas is a White Flag

November 21, 2014 butterfly

Lawrence Alkin Gallery is presenting brand new works by David Walker at the Hoxton Gallery in London. The show entitled ‘A Blank Canvas is a White Flag’ features sculpture, photography and printmaking, made in collaboration with RYCA and Schoony.

David Walker & RYCA

Working only with spray paint, his signature multi-layered colourful portraiture has evolved through different techniques. For his ‘Pour Paintings’, David Walker created portraits by literally pouring paint onto canvas.

A medical cabinet displays a series of colourful multilayered fragments, results of years of spraypaint accumulation. These are featured in his new photographic series.

The main body of new works in the show titled as ‘arrangements’ are made of single portraits created across multiple canvasses each with their own self-contained colour theme and nuance, from monochrome to photorealistic sections.

On this collection of works, Walker comments:“The arrangements are a way for me to revitalise my process, the different coloured backgrounds suggest different approaches and colour logic to each, seeing both the individual and the whole. This is what I want the viewer to experience- first acknowledging the portrait in its entirety – then as the eye moves across each canvas the image is decoded and in some instances its elements become abstract.“

View the full set of pics here

David Walker – ‘A Blank Canvas is a White Flag’
Until 30 November 2014
Lawrence Alkin Gallery
9 Kingsland Rd, London E2 8AA

London, Shows

London: Duane Hanson – Reality Check

October 28, 2014 butterfly

American sculptor Duane Hanson is currenly on view at Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery. The mini retrospective ‘Reality Check‘ features a selection of his most important lifesize hyper-real sculptural portraits of middle class Americans, from a Man on mower, a High School Student, a Bodybuilder, a Bus Stop Lady and a Baton Twirler.

During his career he only produced around 180 unique works, many of which are held in major museum collections around the world, making “Reality Check” a rare opportunity to survey Hanson’s work.

View the full set of pics here

Duane Hanson – Reality Check
Until 7 November
S|2 Gallery
31 St. George Street
London

Art Fair, London

London: Frieze Art Fair 2014 – Highlights

October 18, 2014 butterfly 1 Comment

The leading international contemporary art fair, Frieze London, returns to the heart of the UK’s capital, London’s Regent’s Park, for its 12th edition.

This year’s event brings together 162 of the world’s top contemporary galleries in the UK and features exhibitors from 25 countries.

Artist Carsten Holler transformed the Gagosian booth into a giant and fun playground ‘Kinder Garten‘, with oversized dice and giant scrabble, where visitors were invited to squeeze a plush octopus, much to the children’s delight.

With a price tag of $300K, Jamie Lee Byars created a pink silk ‘Hat for Ten” for the Michael Werner Gallery. Ten participants, all dressed in black, interact and collaborate in a form of contemporary dance, all connected through the hoods.

New York based artist Kaws was heavily present at the Perrotin Gallery, from his giant Companion sculptures to colourful canvases.

Frieze 2014

Brit artist Mark Wallinger selected works by different artists in order to recreate Sigmund Freud’s Hampstead study for the Hauser&Wirth booth. In the corner, oblivious to the dialogue between the conscious and unconscious, is Christoph Buchel ‘s Sleeping Guard. And for 80,000 Euros you can buy the concept, not the man.

The most expensive price tag goes to Damien Hirst at the White Cube Gallery. The two part work of fish in formaldehyde from 1993 ‘Because I can’t have you I want you’ sold for £4 millions within the first 15 minutes of the VIP opening.

Sunny smiley objects from Takura Kawata, Jayson Musson and the Smile Face Museum adorn the walls of the New York gallery Salon 94 with a canary-yellow floor, bringing a happy face to the visitors.

Frieze 2014

Colour is also a big theme for several galleries, from Yves Klein and Jason Martin at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, to Steven Shearer & Lothar Hempel at Stuart Shave/Modern Art.

View the full set of pics here

Frieze Art Fair
13- 18 October 2014
Regent Park, London

London, Shows

London: Jonas Burgert – Stuck Hirn Blind

October 17, 2014 butterfly

This week London is being taken over by the art world as Frieze kicks off, so we attended the first London solo show of German painter Jonas Burgert in over five years, following his last exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in 2006.

‘STÜCK HIRN BLIND’ (Poison Against Time) at Blain|Southern gallery features monumental paintings illustrating the meaning of existence through apocalyptic scenes with unearthly creatures, amazons, skeletons, animals, as well as bronze sculptures.

Jonas Burgert - Stuck Hirn Blind

View the full set of pics here

Jonas Burgert – Stuck Hirn Blind
Until 22 November 2014
Blain|Southern gallery
Hanover Square, London

London, Shows

London: Yoshitomo Nara @ Dairy Art Centre

October 13, 2014 butterfly

London’s Dairy Art Centre is presenting a major solo exhibition by the Japanese contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara. This is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition in the UK to date and is featuring seminal pieces by the artist, many of which have never been shown before in the UK including paintings, sculptures, and a unique retrospective of Nara’s drawings spanning 30 years.

View the full set of pics here