Tag Archives: Art

Banksy new mural in London

March 17, 2024 butterfly

Elusive artist Banksy unveiled a new mural in Finsbury Park, North London on Saint Patrick’s day. Located in Hornsey Road, a social housing area, the council recently pruned a massive mature cherry tree, as part of their regular maintenance, and left it looking miserable.

Before Banksy mural – image courtesy of the artist

Using a pressure hose or fire extinguisher, Banksy painted a cascade of green colour on the façade of the nearby building, creating a trompe l’oeil effect. At the bottom the mural Banksy used a stencil to paint a lifesized person holding a pressure hose next to it. When stepping back, it looks like the tree is bursting to life.

Banksy’s attention to detail is noticeable with the green colour palette matching the one used by Islington Council for signs in the local area. This also helped him act unnoticed despite the bright green colour.

This fire extinguisher technique is a favourite amongst graffiti artists as it enables to cover large surfaces high and wide quickly without the need of a ladder or scaffholding.

Mural by Russian artist 0331© in Moscow, 2012

Local residents expressed joy and pride to the addition of this major cultural element to their streets.

Listen to the podcast on BBC with James Peak and Patrick Nguyen here

Placement and timing are key. A celebration of the green colour (perfect timing with Saint Patrick’s day), combined with a celebration of nature and the springtime season in full bloom.

Update 20.03.2024

Street art is ephemeral by nature.

The mural did not last long in its original state. Three days after unveiling the piece, the wall has received some white splash paint, as well as a little addition with a brick signature character by Ronzo. Can you spot it?

London, Shows

CUTE Exhibition at Somerset House

January 11, 2024 butterfly

A major new exhibition exploring the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture will be opening at the Somerset House in London from 25 January to 14 April 2024 .

Starting of with the celebration of the cat, to the influence of the japanese culture of cuteness ‘Kawaii’, CUTE brings together contemporary artworks, including new artist commissions, and cultural phenomena such as music, fashion, toys, video games and social media.

From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. But how has something so charming and seemingly harmless – adorable, doe-eyed animals, chubby-cheeked babies, flowers, hearts, stars, sweets and other such romantic motifs – gained such traction?

Examining the world’s embrace of cute culture and how it has become such an influential measure of our times, the exhibition will seek to unravel cuteness’ emotive charge, revealing its extraordinary and complex power and potential.  

Contributing artists include Mark Leckey, Sean-Kierre Lyons, Aya Takano, Mike Kelley, Karen Kilimnik, Nayland Blake, Cosima von Bonin, Hannah Diamond, Ed Fornieles, Juliana Huxtable, Rachel Maclean, Julien Ceccaldi, Paige K. B., Isaac Lythgoe, Alake Shilling, Wong Ping, Liv Preston, CFGNY, Ram Han, Maggie Lee, Bunny Rogers, Flannery Silva, Andy Holden, plus Somerset House Studios artists Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Sin Wai Kin and Sian Fan.

The exhibition will also feature a games arcade for all ages and will spotlight and celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of cute’s most iconic and ubiquitous figures, Hello Kitty, in partnership with Sanrio.

AI, Copyright

IP infringement: leaked list containing over 16,000 non-consenting artists allegedly used to train Midjourney’s AI

January 5, 2024 butterfly

We kick start 2024 with a growing issue related to AI, as to the ongoing debate on copyright and consent in AI image creation.

Lists containing the names of more than 16,000 artists allegedly used to train the Midjourney generative artificial intelligence (AI) programme have gone viral online.

The lists were both partially included in a recent class-action lawsuit and accidentally shared via a public Google spreadsheet named “Midjourney Style List”. While initially restricted, the list supposedly retrieved from Midjourney developers during a process of refining the programme’s ability to mimic works of specific artists and styles, is still partially visible on the Internet Archive ( by clicking on the Proposed Additions as well as Artists sections).

The partial list features over 4000 artist names from a variety of art periods, contemporary art like Keith Haring Haring, Damien Hirst, Yayoi Kusama, Barbara Kruger, Guerilla Girls as well as graffiti and street artists.

Some of the street artists include: Banksy, Invader, Shepard Fairey , Adam Neate, Cornbread, Jef Aerosol, Faith47, Olek, Os Gemeos, Paul Insect, Miss Tic, Miss Van, JR, Retna, Swoon, Stik, Vhils, Zevs to name a few.

Many of the artists and prompts also feature in publicly accessible court documents for a 2023 class-action lawsuit, within a 25-page list of names referenced in training images for the Midjourney programme.

Even though the practice of using human artists’ work without their permission to train generative AI programmes remains in uncertain legal territory, controversies surrounding documents like the “Midjourney Style List” shed light on the actual processes of converting copyrighted artwork into AI reference material.

Further details on the subject on The Art Newspaper

Art Fair

Basel: Scope Art Fair 2016

June 25, 2016 butterfly 1 Comment

Scope Art Fair, the satellite fair to ART|BASEL is celebrating its 10th Year anniversary with 85 international exhibitors and 10 breeder program galleries from over twenty countries. Offering the best of their local and rising talents, as well as some rarities from their collections, Scope puts special attention to their Breeder Program which introduces new galleries to the contemporary market.

Here are some of our highlights from the fair.

Scope Art Fair 2016

View the full set of pics here

Art Fair

ART|BASEL 2016 – Part 1

June 22, 2016 butterfly 1 Comment

Collectors, gallerists, critics and journalists, all the art world gathered for a week in Switzerland for the The 47th edition of Art Basel, the world’s biggest art fair, featuring an overwhelming 4,000 artists across stands by 287 galleries from 33 countries.

Curated by Gianni Jetzer, the Unlimited sector of Art|Basel is dedicated to 88 institution-sized works, focussing on politically engaged works, from massive sculpture and paintings, video projections, large-scale installations to live performances.

Ai Weiwei turned the remains of a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) wooden residential structure into an 80-square-meter installation covered in white paint namely titled ”White House’, and balanced on glass bowls.

Art|Basel Unlimited

A substantial work by Greek sculptor Vlassis Caniaris made during a period of ex-patriation in Berlin, called ‘Praise’ (1974) touches upon themes of stifled movement, ownership, possession, and displacement.

The most impressive installation is Hans Op de Beeck’s “The Collector’s House”, an immersive, gray-plaster piece that invites viewers to enter the Pompeii-like petrified home of an aesthete, complete with a grand piano in the lounge, a library full of books, and beautiful Roman sculptures surrounding a lotus pond.

Art|Basel Unlimited

The Gli (Wall) is a dazzling gold sculpture formed with aluminium and copper wire from 2010 by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui.

Paul McCarthy’s playful and highly expressive 1994 “Tomato Head,” is a play on the children’s toy Mr. Potato Head.

Peter Halley’s 2016 “Weak Force” is a colorful wall installation mixing new grid paintings with digitally printed wallpaper that echoes the hues and patterns of the paintings.

Art|Basel Unlimited