Category Archives: Shows

London: Blek Le Rat at Opera Gallery

April 27, 2012 butterfly 1 Comment

Xavier Prou aka Blek Le Rat opened a new exhibition at the Opera Gallery in London. Despite exhibiting all over the world, this is the French artist’s first London exhibition since 2008. With this being his 30 year career anniversary, the new body of work pays tribute to the people that inspired him from his childhood including figures from the Renaissance era as well as people he met during his travels. He also celebrates “Street Art” as in “Arts in the Streets” with his street dancer and musicians.

Many graffiti and street artists joined the frenzy crowd at the private opening including Risk, Remi/Rough, Stik, Ben Slow to name a few.

Fans started queuing overnight for a chance to get one of the 100 free signed prints by Blek. The next morning 300 persons were waiting around the block.

View the full set of pics here

Blek Le Rat
27th April 2012 – 17th May 2012
Opera Gallery
134 New Bond Street
London W1S 2TF

Books, London, Shows, Street, Videos

Paris Opening: Mausolee with Lek x Sowat

April 23, 2012 butterfly 2 Comments

On August 12, 2010, French graffiti artists Lek and Sowat found an abandoned supermarket of 430,000sq. ft in the north of Paris. For a year, in the greatest of secrets they invited forty French graffiti artists to collaborate and create an illegal graffiti Mausoleum.

As the monument is not accessible for safety reasons, Lek and Sowat recreated a few murals and installations in an abandoned apartment to share their experience with the public .

During the two years, they discovered traces of life from squatters that left in a rush. For the exhibition, the artists brought back toys, letters and objects as a tribute to the families living in the Mausolee.

An installation made of found signage on site, staff instructions and reports reminds of the golden days of the supermarket as key role to the community.

The opening was also the occasion to celebrate the release of the book (available here) and a video retracing all the visual process of this adventure.

The stop motion video made of 8000 pictures is now visible online

More info on the project and participating artists at mausolee.net

London, Shows

London: Hypnagogia By ROA

April 20, 2012 butterfly

After portraying large scale monochrome animals in London’s city streets and on derelict buildings all over the world, Belgium artist ROA returns to London for a solo show titled ‘Hypnagogia’ at Stolenspace. The exhibition is held in two spaces, featuring installation work & originals on recycled found-objects, as well as outdoor work across east London.

The title of the show refers to the transitional state between sleeping and awake. ROA explores the ‘interstate’ with his portrayals of sleeping animals, whilst quietly around us the world awakens from a long winter, and the creatures he depicts experience a period of seasonal transition. Interaction plays also a significant part in the artworks as moving panels or drawers reveal another side of the animals, whether an half skeleton or part organ dissection.

To coincide with this show opening will also be the launch of the artist first book ‘Roa: ‘An Introduction To Animal Representation’ by Mammal Press, an hand crafted book featuring ROA’s art around the world through photographs, sketches, and reference material with 2 screen prints enclosed.

View the full set of picshere

‘Hypnagogia’ By ROA
Solo Show & Book Launch
20.04.12 – 06.05.12

Stolenspace, Truman Brewery
The Stone Masons, 17 Osborne Street London E1 6TD.

Melbourne, Shows

Melbourne: Da Mental Vaporz – Le Venin Part 2

March 11, 2012 butterfly 2 Comments

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, Shows

London Opening: Conor Harrington Dead Meat

March 4, 2012 butterfly

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.