Video: “Disaster Collection” by Majida Khattari

June 15, 2017 butterfly

After the success of her art performances “Luxury, Oil & Arrogance” And “Merchant Migrant” at the FIAC Art Fair and Art Basel, for which she already created the “Killy” Bags , in tribute to the”Kelly bag’ from Hermes, Majida Khattari is the link between this luxury accessory and political commitment.

The video-performance “Disaster Collection” is a response to the video by Louis Vuitton and Jeff Koons announcing the release of the “Masters Collection” .

Contemporary art is now becoming a factor of influence on the way of life of our Western societies in the same way as fashion and more particularly, the universe of luxury. Artists such as Jeff Koons know how to use the language of Marketing and Advertising to be successful. This is how art can be heard, spread to a wider audience and help disseminate its ideas.

Majida Khattari has been working on the links between fashion and society, luxury and art for more than twenty years. Inspired by the ‘Masters Collection’ by Jeff Koons for Louis Vuitton, the artist created a video- who wishes to question us about the influence of the universe of fashion and luxury on our perception of the world.

Because the backdrop of its bags are images of conflicts to attract our attention to victims: the war in Syria, the destruction of the cultural heritage, terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Paris, Manchester, the European calvary …
Using the same codes as fashion and luxury, Majida Khattari succeeded in raising awareness, and make us reflect on the current conflicts and their victims.

For more info: mkdisastercollection@gmail.com

Paris

Paris: Brusk ‘ In Memoriam’ Solo Show @Galerie Strouk

June 11, 2017 butterfly

Famous for his large scale multicoloured murals on his own or with his crew, the Da Mental Vaporz, French street artist Brusk, is back to Paris for a new solo show ‘In Memoriam’ at Galerie Laurent Strouk. It is his second solo show ( see Ad Vitam Eternam coverage here) in Paris.

The prestigious front sign ‘Matignon’ has been cheekily striked through with black spray paint while highlighting the letters ART in the Gallery name.

Combining a Fine Arts background with more than twenty years of graffiti, Brusk’s gestural painting is instantly recognizable. The artist creates questions, variations, wanderings through a poetic fantasy, mastering his signature multicoloured dripping effects to create an abstract-figurative lyrical mix where all the misery of the world is transformed by the force and tension of bodies and forms. For the artist, the drippings no longer define a style effect but rather a technique in its own right, Brusk successfully tames it to create movement, relief, lightness and fluidity.

The themes touched upon by the artist resonate with the formal duality mentioned: opposing love to death, urbanity to animals, the nobility of creation to the triviality of news.

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More recently, Brusk has started experimenting with volume and created two sculptures-installations for the exhibition, transferring his vision into sculpture.

References to his graffiti roots appear in numerous artworks from the high speed train ‘TG Vaporz’ to ‘Hors les Murs’ ripped building.

Often tainted with a touch of humour, the artworks sometimes reveals a more acerbic and more committed criticism. Brusk is also politically engaged and aim to raise awareness about societal issues such as global warming, pollution and the migrant crisis.

At the core of the exhibition, a series dedicated to Refugees illustrates the often unfair fate of these populations in Europe. A sculpture represents at totem of refugees stacked on paper boat, while poignant sound recordings from migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea play in the background ( these were recorded by SOS Mediterranee, an association rescuing migrants across the Mediterranean Sea). Deeply affected by the current situation, part of the proceeds of the artworks in the ‘Salle des Refugies’ will go to support SOS Mediterranee.

The artist endeavours to demonstrate that art can modify our view, play a political role, and trigger actions.

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Brusk – In Memoriam
Until 15 July 2017
Laurent Strouk Galerie
2 Avenue Matignon
75008 Paris

Bristol

Bristol: Banksy Girl with UK Balloon Print – Product Recall

June 3, 2017 butterfly 1 Comment

Coinciding with the UK elections, Banksy just announced on his website the free release on 9th June of an exclusive new print, featuring his iconic Girl with Balloon with the heart being replaced by the UK flag. He hasn’t released any prints since 2010, so this is very exciting news. But there are some conditions.

‘This limited edition artwork on archival quality paper is completely free, but is only available to registered voters in the Bristol North West, Bristol West, North Somerset, Thornbury, Kingswood and Filton constituencies. Simply send in a photo of your ballot paper from polling day showing you voted against the Conservative incumbent and this complimentary gift will be mailed to you.

Lawyer’s note: this print is a souvenir piece of campaign material, it is in no way meant to influence the choices of the electorate, has no monetary value, is for amusement purposes only and is strictly not for re-sale. Terms and conditions to follow, postage not included ‘.

Since the announcement on the website on 3 June, this generated a frenzy of discussions and debate, the role of the artist and political influencing power but also as to whether this was legal or not. Mentioned on the BBC website, due to the increasing number of complaints to the Somerset Police, an investigation has been launched.

Police said anyone taking part in the offer could also be prosecuted.

A police spokesman said: “We’ve received a number of complaints about an offer of a free Banksy print to people living in six Bristol constituencies in exchange for them voting in a certain way in the forthcoming election and we can confirm we’re investigating the offer. It is a criminal offence under the Representation of the People Act 1983 for any voter to accept or agree to accept a gift or similar in return for voting or refraining from voting. Any person participating in an offer to receive a gift is at risk of being prosecuted.”

As a result on 5 June a message on Banksy’s website is now mentioning a product recall.

BPR

www.banksy.co.uk

Paris, Shows, Uncategorized

Paris: Aya Takano – The Jelly Civilization Chronicle

May 26, 2017 butterfly

Japanese painter, illustrator, sci-fi writer and manga artist Aya Takano, is exhibiting ‘The Jelly Civilization Chronicle’, a selection of 26 paintings and several drawings on celluloid, all preparatory studies for a 186-page manga, unveiled in its entirety at Galerie Perrotin in Paris.
Aya Takano belongs to the Superflat movement and Kaikai Kiki, the artistic production studio created in 2001 by Takashi Murakami. Inspired by all art forms, from erotic stamps of the Edo Period to impressionism, from Osamu Tezuka to Gustav Klimt, the artist has built a universe all her own. Her mythology has constructed itself little by little, through her creations and visions of the unknown.

The 2011 tsunami that struck the north eastern coasts of Japan and led to the nuclear accident of Fukushima was a real wake-up call for the artist and this catastrophe deeply influenced her work. Preferring oil paint, which is more natural, to acrylic paint, for example, Aya Takano seems to pursue a new artistic quest, both humble and spiritual, influenced by a unique interest in science and guided by an absolute respect for nature and human life.

Aya Takano has a special gift for storytelling, which she expands and enriches from one image to the next. She has created a 186-page manga entitled The Jelly Civilization Chronicle, exhibited in its entirety at the Galerie Perrotin, in English. After taking form in her imagination, the work came to life in very colourful preparatory oil paintings and drawings on celluloid. We find all the themes and obsessions of the artist from the beginning of her career, 20 years ago: self-discovery, feminine beauty, science fiction, the fight between light and shadow and the pursuit of an immaterial ideal, freed from all restraints of gravity.

The manga stages the adventures of Naki and Minaka in a journey from the “Machine Civilization” to the “Jelly Civilization”. In a back-and-forth voyage between eras and spaces, the two characters meet in the sky and travel to the outer edges of the universe via unexplored places or planets with unknown magical powers…

Initially dressed in emblematic high school uniforms, they are in turns nude or swathed in traditional kimonos or dreamlike clothing made of a mysterious jelly, a living organism that feeds off of water and oxygen. Surrounded by fabulous creatures, they are also accompanied by their ancestors, represented in the form of animals. They learn about the stars, meet a queen in an owl mask and encounter beings with star-tattoœd skin.
On the ruins of a nuclear reactor, after numerous trials and metamorphoses, the herœs return to the peaceful society they originally came from. This “Jelly Civilization” combines tradition, memory and eternity: “Memories of all the people wearing ‘jelly’, memories of all the ‘jelly’, memories of what is happening now, of what might happen…”
The result is the fruit of an imagination that feeds itself, full of every possibility of illusion, like an ideal space on the border of dreams and desires. “I think it is omnipresent inside ourselves and everywhere,” explains Aya Takano. The Jelly Civilization Chronicle represented a real challenge for the artist, who devoted herself to telling the recent story of Japan, while crystallizing within it her worries and obsessions as she never had before: it took an entire year to develop this original and ambitious work, presented and distributed first time in Paris, at the Galerie Perrotin.

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Aya Takano
The Jelly civilization
Galerie Perrotin, Paris

London, Street, streets

London streets: Fanakapan

May 21, 2017 butterfly

Street artist Fanakapan recently completed series of murals in the streets of East London. Using a shiny silver inflatable 3D style, the artist painted a silver balloon dog, a duo of clown characters holding a smiley balloon , and a tribute to Peanuts fictional characters by Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip featuring a flying helium balloon of the bird Woodstock and Snoopy.