Tag Archives: London

Auctions, London

London: Sotheby’s Bear Witness Auction

Sotheby's - Bear Witness Auction

For their upcoming auction ‘Bear Witness‘, Sotheby’s has been turned into a giant party house inside out. The facade is ornated by a giant bear neon sign, and even the wallpaper and walls have been redecorated with bear patterns.  Sothebys wanted to recreate the house of an eccentric collector who gathered one of the most extraordinary collections to have ever been assembled, and acquired over decades since 1976.

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Bear Witness features a wonderland of astonishing art and curious artefacts with major works by the pioneers of post-war and contemporary art alongside countless artefacts, curiosities and objets d’art drawn from across the globe. From Warhol, Haring, Koons, YBAs like Hirst, Chapman Brothers to Renaissance era marble skulls, Art Deco sculptures and 19th-century theatrical props – from the classical to the kitsch – it is a collection with no parallel or precedent.

The collection is unified by two recurring motifs – the bear, symbol of power, strengh and life, and the skull, a reminder of our own mortality, a memento mori.

Three sales will take place over three consecutive days, culminating with the first, and most probably only, dedicated “Bears & Skulls” auction on 12 March. The sheer breadth and diversity of the works on offer is reflected in their estimates, which range from as little as £20 to in excess of £2,000,000.

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View the full set of pics here

Sothebys – Bear Witness auction
10 – 12 March 2015
New Bond Street
London

London, Shows

London: Bicicleta Sem Freio – Fera

Bicicleta Sem Freio - Fera

Following their recent  monumental murals across Europe and the US in major cities likes London, Berlin, Miami, Las Vegas or Los Angeles, the Brazilian duo of illustrators Bicicleta Sem Freio (“Bicycle Without Brake”), aka Douglas de Castro and Renato Perreira just launched their first London solo exhibition with Justkids and RexRomae.

The show entitled “Fera”, which means ‘wild’ in Portuguese, features a series of black and white ink illustrations as well as vibrant and colourful paintings juxtaposing 80’s iconography, female figures, exotic animals and rock’nroll imagery.

Bicicleta Sem Freio - Fera
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View the full set of pics here

Bicicleta Sem Freio – Fera
JustKids
Until 8 March 2015
9 Kingsland Road
London E2 8AA

London, Shows

London: Mehdi Ghadyanloo – Perception

Mehdi Ghadyanloo - Perception

Having painted over a hundred murals in Tehran, Iranian artist Mehdi Ghadyanloo is making his debut London show ‘Perception‘ with Howard Griffin Gallery. The show features a series of paintings, miniature sculptures and a cube installation with visual effects playing with perception and depth.
Ghadyanloo’s work provides an insight into an impenetrable Iran, revealing a struggle and a desire for expression and a wider exploration of the human condition and life – carrying universal themes of hope, anticipation, loss and sadness.

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In parallel the artist also created a large scale mural in Shoreditch entitled ‘We did not start the game”, where three girls are jumping rope, while giant crows are overlooking them. For Ghadyanloo, the purpose of street art is to ‘beautify’ this grey and polluted city. Through the use of optical illusion, he portrays impossible scenes and gravity defying figures from radically altered perspectives. His escapist, surreal imagery aims to project an image of a utopia on the walls of the city, bending reality to provide a shared public space for dreaming.
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View the full set of pics here

Mehdi Ghadyanloo – Perception
Until 2 April 2015
Howard Griffin Gallery
189 Shoreditch High St
London E1 6HU

London, Shows

London: Borondo – Animal @ RexRomae

Borondo - Animal

Following our recent Borondo’s studio visit (covered here) where we could see some of the work in progress, it is great to see the final installations in the gallery space. ‘Animal’ aims to explore the relationship between human and nature. Visitors experience a journey through eight thematic spaces, with a multitude of techniques and artworks, from glass scratched painted windows and shadows, raw classical paintings on wood to collaboration with Carmen Maín (ES) on video installations and impressive sculptural installations with Edoardo Tresoldi (IT) and  Despina Charitonidi (GR).

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View the full set of pics from the show here

Borondo – Animal
Until 26 February
Rex Romae
London Newcastle Project Space London

London, Shows

London: dran – Public Execution (Part III)

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Dran - Public Execution

We returned to the  dran show ‘Public Execution’ (covered here) on its closing day on 21 February. Since the past two weeks the white empty walls with spray painted frames have gradually become more colourful and different characters have started to appear.

The Gallery assistant got a brand new desk. Playing with architecture, a little green hood in the woods reveals two skeletons from another angle. Dran’ signature characters evolve through different situations, from love relationships to being chased by the police, or simply have fun and spring for freedom.

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On a darker note, dran also highlights housing and homeless issues, with a reversed ad campaign promoting green areas coming soon to the grey city center.

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Here are some before / after shots to spot the differences:

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And if like the devil, you are turning green when looking at the electricity bill, need some oil to make your machine work or power up like Superman, if you are getting insanely cluttered with folders, listen to the advice on the computer ‘ Take some holidays’ and you’ll be flying high like the cat…

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View the full set of pics here