Category Archives: Shows

London: Moniker Art Fair 2018

October 9, 2018 butterfly

Moniker Art Fair returned to East London last week, celebrating their 10th edition, by taking over the upper floor of The Old Truman Brewery and extending their 30,000 square foot fair space outdoors with their first-ever Formula-E art car painted by British street artist D*Face, as part of their ongoing collaboration with Kaspersky Lab.

Uncensored presented in partnership with Urban Nation

For the 10th edition, Moniker Art Fair has also partnered with Berlin’s Urban Nation Museum to present ‘UNCENSORED, a wholly unfiltered and unrestricted celebration of the revolutionary elements of urban contemporary art with a series of immersive installations.

Upon entering the upper floor of the Truman Brewery, visitors were greeted by a giant maze by French duo Lek & Sowat and had to navigated through to get to the entrance of Moniker.

Uncensored Installation Hall Co-Curated by Urban Nation features the works of Lek & Sowat (France) / Herakut (Germany) / FaithXLVII (South Africa) / Ann J Lewis (USA) / Li’Hill (Canada) / David Mesguich (France) / Dan Rawlings (UK)

In parallel Moniker also featured Artists Open Studios with VESOD (Italy) Vermibus (Spain) / Bom.K (France) / Axel Void (USA) / Dont Fret (USA) / Skewville (USA) / Louis Masai (UK)

Moniker also hosted a series of talks and conferences in partnership with the Nuart Journal, and film screenings including X Art documentary

Galleries and international artists showing works at the Fair include :
Under The Radar Gallery (London, UK) / Jewel Goodby Contemporary (London, UK) / Thinkspace Projects (Los Angeles CA, USA) – Solo show by Kaili Smith / Jealous Gallery (London, UK) / Landmark Street Art (Carlisle, UK) / BSMT SPACE (London, UK)/ 1963 Gallery (London, UK)/ Egle Zvirblyte (Lithuania) / Curious Duke Gallery (London, UK) / The Art Hound Gallery (Cambridge, UK) – Solo show by Lauren Baker / Well Hung Gallery (London, UK) / Graffik Gallery (London, UK) / Spoke Art Gallery (NYC and SF, USA) – Solo show by Erik Jones / The Moleskine Project presented by Spoke Art / The Secret Art Prize / Fοusion Gallery (Barcelona, Spain) / Fanakapan (London, UK) / Vinyl on Vinyl (Manila, Philippines)

Click below to view a photo gallery of the London Moniker Art Fair 2018

Moniker Art Fair
4-7 October 2018
Truman Brewery
https://www.monikerartfair.com

London, Shows

London: Hope to Nope – Graphics and Politics 2008-2018

July 8, 2018 butterfly

We are pleased to be part of the latest exhibition at the London Design Museum ‘Hope to Nope – Graphics and Politics 2008-18′.

Design can influence public perception, but great design can change it. From campaign designs to protest symbols, ‘Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-2018’ explores the impact of graphic design in political and social movements over the last ten years.

Alongside traditional posters and banners, the exhibition charts the rise of digital media and social networking, which have given graphic iconography an extraordinary new reach. The political events featured include: the 2008 financial crash; the Barack Obama presidency; the Arab Spring; the Occupy movement; the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; the Charlie Hebdo attacks; Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidency.

The exhibition is structured in three distinct sections: power, protest and personality – which explore how design is used in politics to change public perceptions.

‘Power‘ starts off with the Obama campaign’s unofficial, but hugely popular, ‘Hope’ poster by Shepard Fairey, which is later compared to the failings in the design of the Remain campaign’s materials. It also features examples of Brandalism subverts advertising posters from 2015 Brandalism ad takeover in Paris (covered) with VW spoof ad by Barnbrook and Curfew Zone by Dr.D.

Regarding UK politics, the Power section highlights the Union Jack flag made with fragile tape by Sarah Boris, which was featured during several marches against Brexit in 2016 as well as designs from the RemaIN campaign.

Examples show how graphic design is used by the establishment to assert national and political authority like the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, or used by its opponents like Soviet posters which were turned into a gay rights campaign and Dread Scott’s flag in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

A large graphic timeline dissects the gallery, charting the role of new communication technologies such as Facebook and Twitter in global events of the last decade.

Protest displays graphic design by activists and demonstrators. The largest section in the exhibition, it includes newspapers from the 2011-12 Occupy London camp, an umbrella used during the 2014 Hong Kong ‘Umbrella Revolution’ and a 2m-high replica of the inflatable duck from the 2016 protests against Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. This section also looks at the 2015 Je Suis Charlie and Peace for Paris marches, as well as responses to the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster with the 24 hearts initiative by Sophie Lodge, demonstrating the important role played by graphic design in channelling anger and creating solidarity.

An installation film by Paul Plowman evokes the experience of public protest, combining hastags, forage and images from five protests : #womensmarch, #grenfell, #turkey, #catalonia, and #southafrica. These demonstrations cover diverse political viewpoints, from fighting for democracy to calling for justice, and emotions ranging from solidarity to fierce anger.

The final section, Personality, examines the graphic representation of leading political figures. Donald Trump’s trademark features are caricatured across the covers of more than 50 international magazines, including The Economist, TIME and Der Spiegel.

As we approach the ‘Nope’ of the exhibition we are faced with a scary and entertaining animation: an animatronic (mis)fortune telling machine tells and distributes messages by the new US President. This is the work by Nathaniel Lawlor, Andy Dao, Jon Barco and Bryan Denman.
‘With the over-saturation and bombardment of Trump in the news cycle, we saw how easy it was becoming for people to tune out the banter of these soundbites and Facebook headlines, so we thought—what better way to remind people of their gravitas than by showing them this could be their actual future?”

View the full set of pics here

Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008–18
Until 12 August 2018
Design Museum London

Paris, Shows

Paris: Artists and Robots at the Grand Palais

July 2, 2018 butterfly

The Grand Palais (RMN) in Paris is currently showing an impressive exhibition ‘Artists and Robots’ dedicated to AI: artificial imagination, a common term to design robotic art, generative art and algorithmic art.

The exhibition invites audiences to experience works created by artists with the aid of ever more intelligent robots. Around thirty works offer visitors a glimpse into an immersive and interactive virtual world, a tangible experience of augmented reality, of space and time overturned.

Artificial intelligence is now transforming human existence and also affecting the very nature of the artist’s artwork , from its production, exhibition, to its distribution, conservation and reception.

Immersive works, paintings, sculptures, mobiles, cinema, design, and music: all the creations presented in this exhibition arise from artists working with robotic programs invented and provided for the purpose of art.

With the use of increasingly powerful software, artists gain a greater autonomy and an infinite capacity to work with shapes and interactivity. The software programs employed are not only intelligent, but also generate new shapes and figures that allow to see and give pause for thought.

The exhibition is structured in three folds.
The first section present ‘The creative machine’. Robots are always on the move and their movements are sometimes so ‘physical’ and amusing that it is could be easy to give them an animal or human dimension, or even a ‘psychology’.
Featuring works by Jean Tinguely, Nam June Paik, Nicolas Schöffer, Leonel Moura, Patrick Tresset, So Kanno and Takahiro Yamaguchi, J. Lee Thompson, Arcangelo Sassolino.

The second section is about ‘Programmed artwork’, where the robot is becoming invisible. Computing and algorithmic programmes infuse the artwork and technical expertise is set aside as we, the spectators, marvel at the majesty of infinite shapes that change according to the movements of our bodies.

Featuring works by Manfred Mohr, Vera Molnar, Iannis Xenakis, Demian Conrad, Raquel Kogan, Ryoji Ikeda, Pascal Dombis, Elias Crespin, Jacopo Baboni Schilingi, Edmond Couchot and Michel Bret, Miguel Chevalier, Joan Fontcuberta, Michael Hansmeyer and Peter Kogler.

And lastly the space is dedicated to ‘The robot frees itself’.
Deep Learning is making robots even more intelligent and active, to the point where they seem not only to rival humans, but to augment them, fuse with them, taunt them and possibly even duplicate them.

Featuring works by Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Catherine Ikam and Louis Fléri, Stelarc, Nicolas Darrot, Fabien Giraud and Raphaël Siboni, Koji Fukada, Oscar Sharp, Daft Punk, Pascal Haudressy, Memo Akten, ORLAN, Takashi Murakami.

The contemporary works presented in this exhibition give us a good idea of the questions artists are asking, which mirror our own: What is an artist? What is an artwork? What can a robot achieve that an artist cannot? If it has artificial intelligence, does a robot have imagination? Who decides: the artist, the engineer, the spectator, all of us? Can we talk about a collective artwork?

View the full set of pics here

Artists & Robots
Le Grand Palais
Until 8 July 2018

London, Shows

London: Sandra Chevrier – Les Cages: We Can’t Be Tamed

June 22, 2018 butterfly

StolenSpace Gallery is currently showcasing the latest body of work by Canadian born artist, Sandra Chevrier, as she makes her long awaited return to the UK. Evocatively titled ‘Les Cages; We Can’t Be Tamed’, the exhibition features a fresh series of Chevrier’s iconic ‘Cage Paintings’ – juxtaposing feminine subjects with comic book iconography in order to explore concepts of social expectation via the female gaze.

”A man can believe until his last breath that he is different from a Caged animal in a Zoo. But through all his life until his death; he will be living in a prison without walls and will still believe he is free when in fact, everyday he will be shackled, whipped, and exist in captivity. We are all slaves of something, of someone, of an idea.”

“The Cages series as been revolving around submission, oppression, unfreedom, confinement and imprisonment. Cages are Cages, whether they were build with steel or from the fabric of the mind. We cannot be free outside the Cage unless we are able to experience the freedom within it. The freedom is inside us. Freedom within a Cage. I have a dream. A dream that freedom is not just an idea or a word. Only; I am not sure what it is… Not yet.”

By applying the comic book trope of the masked figure, Sandra Chevrier conceals the identity of her subjects, rendering them as simultaneously heroic, yet restricted.
Obscured by scenes of hostility and struggle, they peer from the canvas, challenging the viewer to look beyond their own preconceived notions of femininity. Often the artist applies scenes of heroic downfall to her collages – images that display the vulnerability of their super-powered subjects and remind us of their limitations. Sandra Chevrier’s intention is to make clear the often impossibly high standards that society holds women to.

Sandra Chevrier
Les Cages: We can’t be tamed
Until 1 July 2018

StolenSpace Gallery
London

Shows, Street, streets

La Rochelle: Graff on Tour(s) with Lek & Sowat

June 18, 2018 butterfly 2 Comments

The Towers of La Rochelle, managed by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), are currently presenting Graff on Tour(s) until 25 June 2018 with a focus on historical graffiti as well as artistic interventions by contemporary artists ( see our first preview here. Following a month residency, internationally renowned graffiti duo Lek & Sowat were given total freedom to create contemporary artistic installations in the Saint Nicolas Tower and the city of La Rochelle.

After having archived and documented graffiti on the national monuments as traces of history and archeology for decades, and referenced graffiti on thirty historical monuments, the CMN is dedicating its 2018 cultural season on historical graffiti with a series of exhibitions and events called “Sur les murs, histoire(s) de graffiti“ on nine of its national monuments curated by Laure Pressac .

Wandering in La Rochelle, a few signs announce an atypical invasion.
Local buses adorn abstract geometric and dynamic shapes…

Bus Yelo La Rochelle, Lek & Sowat ©Théo Larmaillard/CMN

Looking up we noticed that the French flag on the Saint Nicolas Tower has been replaced by a pirate flag floating high with graffuturism and calligraffiti letters. There is no doubt: Lek and Sowat have taken over La Rochelle.

Known for their interventions both in abandoned places such as Mausolee ( see here) or institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo ( more here), Lek and Sowat were particularly interested by the historical monument of the Saint Nicolas Tower due to its architecture, context and history.

Some quick historic facts: during the 14th century La Rochelle was a centre of maritime trade and the Towers were controlling entry to the port by the many trading ship. From the 16th to 18th centuries, the Saint Nicolas Tower and the Chaine Tower were also used as prisons for Huguenots (French protestants) and foreign sailors, followed by military prisoners from the 19th century. Over 600 graffiti have been recorded, engraved in the walls of the Rochelle Towers, as testimony of imprisoned sailors during the various wars.

Lek & Sowat were inspired and intrigued by the story of the junction between the Saint Nicolas Tower and the Chaine Tower, mentioned in an old historical book of La Rochelle, added to the calculations of the architect Juste Lisch whose illustrations concurred with the possible existence of an arch between the two towers.

Illustration by Juste Lisch (1864)

Based on this historical and utopian idea, they have imagined a graffuturist gateway with the help of their friend David ‘Tcheko’ La Tulipe.

Lek & Tcheko

In the continuity of their work done at the Pavillon du Carre Beaudoin , both artists pursue their quest to push the boundaries of graffiti and contemporary art, this time by creating a multisensorial and immersive installation inside the Saint Nicolas Tower.

They wanted to recreate the feelings of fear and unknown so present when doing urbex (urban exploration), not knowing what you might find, but being excited as the same time.
Visitors descend the Saint Nicolas Tower’s stairs in total darkness until their feet touch the floor of the lower ground space. Then the adrenaline kicks in: Boom !

It’s an explosion of lighting effects and shadows, revealing a three dimensional metallic bridge with geometric shapes, reminiscent of the abstract geometric shapes found in Lek & Sowat graffiti paintings.

Vibration sensors connected to a set of nine lights trigger an infinite combination of light variations which evolve through the stamps of visitors. All the surfaces from the floor to ceiling are transformed and the shadows appearing from the metallic structure create characters and shapes on the walls of the Tower.

The immersive installation creates a new dynamic dialogue between the viewer and the historical tower, a vibrant and interactive display for all ages, where the viewer is also an active participant in the creation of the installation.

Shy visitors start an impromptu dynamic dance to activate additional lighting and discover more fractal shadows and projections, characters and shapes. The interaction is fun, liberating and addictive.

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View the full set of pics here

The arched shape of the ground floor combined with the artistic installation also reminds us of a cathedral and its colourful stained glass windows with the graffuturist metallic structure recreating the stained glass windows outlines, giving a sacred aura to the historical space.

With their installation Lek and Sowat successfully take graffiti and contemporary art to another dimension, while giving a second life to the historical monument.

Simply magical.

In addition to their installation, Lek & Sowat are releasing a special limited edition Tote Bag to support the protection of the French cultural heritage, available in CMN’s gift shops.

Stay tuned as we continue our visit of the CMN Cultural season across the summer
“Sur les Murs, Histoire(s) de Graffiti”.

Graffs on Tour(s)
Until 25 June
Saint Nicolas Tower
Lantern Tower
La Rochelle