In response to the upcoming Jubilee Celebration in June, marking the Queen’s 60-year reign, a new Banksy stencil appeared in Turnpike Lane, North London, featuring a young kid working on a sewing machine. While some of the Union Jack flags didn’t last long, the one on the sewing machine has been screwed onto the wall…
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
First featured at the 1000 exhibition in Paris (covered here), this video by Raphael Haddad follows Space Invader as he attacks the streets, providing great insights into his creative process.
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
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.
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