Tag Archives: London

London: Hassan Hajjaj – La Caravane

January 3, 2018 butterfly

Somerset House is currently hosting Hassan Hajjaj: La Caravane, a homecoming exhibition of the British-Moroccan artist, showcasing his vibrant fusion of contemporary cultures through new and celebrated works.

The exhibition is the first UK solo show of his work in seven years, celebrating his multi-layered works which fuse traditional and contemporary North African culture with familiar Western imagery and iconography.

Born and raised in Larache, Morroco, Hassan Hajjaj moved to London aged twelve and his artistic practice sees him spend much of his life travelling between these two countries and cultures. His artworks reflect his neo-nomadic lifestyle and the relationships he has formed with a variety of characters along the way, from musicians to artists and athletes to street performers. These individuals inspire Hajjaj’s diverse artworks from photographic portraits to video installations, sculptures, music, design and handcrafted objects.
Infused with a bold palette, the materials Hajjaj uses include patterned textiles, furniture, clothes and props often created by the artist to inform our understanding of the person in the image. All of these elements, including the frames made out of everyday items in which his images sit, are chosen deliberately to highlight these individuals’ identities.
He is perhaps best known for his colourful photographic portraits, including the Kesh Angels series, from which many new works feature in the exhibition.

Blending the glossy aesthetic of a fashion shoot with Moroccan tradition and street culture, these witty and poignant images, although outwardly light-hearted, challenge Western perceptions of the hijab and female disempowerment.

Another new body of work in the exhibition is My Rock Stars: Volume 2, a nine screen installation of distinctively dressed musicians. Each musician occupies an individual screen and takes it in turns to play their instrument, while the other performers turn to watch. The clothes and brightly patterned backdrops in each screen have been carefully selected by Hajjaj to highlight each player and their individual performance.

Visitors can view the performances from Hajjaj’s signature Le Salon installation, which takes the form of a customised sofa, whilst the music travels throughout the whole exhibition.

On 6 January a free special event will take place to celebrate the final weekend of the exhibition and Somerset House’s season of African Art, including live music and a family workshop inspired by elements of Hajjaj’s work.

View the full set of pics here

Hassan Hajjaj – La Caravane
Somerset House
London

London

London streets: Ludo

November 6, 2017 butterfly

French artist Ludovic Vernhet aka Ludo (covered) is back to the London streets with new large paste ups. Continuing his ‘Nature Revenge’ series, Ludo created three artworks on the theme of love, violence and fame using his signature neon green paint and monochrome paste ups. Featuring hybrid creatures mixing nature and technology and weaponry, Ludo highlights societal and environmental issues.

Ludo – Have a Nice Day, London 2017

Ludo – Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes, London 2017

Ludo – Love at first sight, London 2017

Here are further works from Ludo in the streets of London we enjoyed throughout the years:

Ludo – London 2015

Ludo – London 2014

Ludo – London 2011

London, Shows

London: Chapman Brothers – Disasters of Everyday Life

October 14, 2017 butterfly

Jake and Dinos Chapman (covered), known for their provocative and pessimistic ruminations on human violence and barbarity , have created seven bronzes of suicide vests for Blain|Southern Gallery.

Made from images found online, the “life and death vests” are extremely detailed and real, apart from one which is based on a Hollywood film prop used in a Jackie Chan film.

The Chapmans’ work is often a response to the work of other artists. In this case, they were inspired by Jeff Koons’ Aqualung from 1985 (check our coverage on Jeff Koons retrospective here )

Jeff Koons Aqualung 1985

The bronzes clearly address world events but the artists have declined to speak about the new works. Each bronze is being sold as a one-off, apart from the one based on a prop used in the Jackie Chan film Rush Hour, which the brothers bought from a movie props website. That comes in an edition of six.

Also on display, Jake & Dinos Chapman continue to expand on their career-long preoccupation with Francisco Goya’s series of etchings, The Disasters of War. The Disasters of Everyday Life presents three full sets of Goya’s prints, each set substantially reworked in collage, watercolour and glitter by the Chapman brothers with their own wit to depict the absurdity of war.

Jake and Dinos Chapman
The Disasters of Everyday Life
Until 11 November 2017
Blain|Southern
4 Hanover Square London W1S 1BP

London, Shows

London: War Boutique – MAS*HED

September 29, 2017 butterfly

Scottish artist War Boutique (covered) is currently showing at London’s Lawrence Alkin Gallery. The exhibition entitled M*A*S*H*E*D presents a new body of work using original military armour, weaponry and bullet-proof textiles.

War Boutique’s work conveys strong anti-war messages, exposing the interface between the civil and military spheres, and playing on the parallels between the uniforms and tools of war and the development of mainstream cultural trends and fashions. M*A*S*H*E*D features more than 20 mixed-media pieces by War Boutique, spanning over a decade of his practice, and including his signature bulletproof vests, riot shields and batons.

The top floor of the gallery focusses on ‘military’ themed works, and a ‘civil defence’ theme downstairs, including some of his ‘wearable’ artworks.

The show debuts his new “Camoufleur” series of large-scale oil paintings on military textiles. These canvases recollect the abstract expressionist movement, with references to the founding of the New York School, Jason Pollock and its initial promotion to the art world through a covert CIA program. The Camoufleur series explores the interdependencies between war and art from two perspectives: the long history of military intelligence services ‘surprising ‘interventions’ in popular culture; and how artists themselves have been conscripted into war efforts, either consciously or covertly.

The exhibition also features new works from his new ‘Shot-At’ and ‘Blast’ series – subverting the traditions and history of the Action Art movement. The shot-ats are huge reflective metal shields contoured by the impact of 9mm rounds on a firing range. The works echo the patterns of star constellations, also a reminder on how faith and spiritual beliefs play a key role in the soldier’s ability to risk his life.

War Boutique commented: “With these new works I wanted to physically manifest some of the real force and impact of modern-day weaponry, and perhaps invoke our collective responsibility and choices around the use and development of such forces”
“My art seeks to address the political and material dimensions of war, and the destructive patterns we are weaving into our cultural fabric”.

For ‘Bomber’, a NYPD jacket looks like a suicide bomber jacket, but on closer inspection instead of dynamite sticks, it has been filled with graffiti pens, suggesting that an alternative approach to change is always possible

A key piece within the show is ‘Big Game’, a multi-layered textile artwork exploring the history and complexity of the conflict in Afghanistan. The title is taken from the term used to describe the strategic rivalry between Britain and Russia over trade routes through Afghanistan during the 19th century. The military fabrics that make up the letters are a chronological history of combat uniforms worn by British soldiers during the repeated Afghan wars from 1839 to the present day. This striking work is part of War Boutique’s “The Great Game” series, the first of which was acquired by the National Army Museum for its permanent collection in 2014. The Afghan Farsi version – ‘Big Game’ – was first shown at the Dresden Museum as part of the international touring exhibition ‘Caught in the Crossfire’, but M*A*S*H*E*D will be the first time this work has been shown in the UK.

Peacemaker recycles original Police batons, while Filth is a full UK police riot uniform enhanced with S&M paraphernalia, questioning the balance between justified discipline and the abuse of power.

War Boutique – M*A*S*H*E*D
Until 30 September 2017
Lawrence Alkin Gallery
42 New Compton Street London WC2H

London, Shows

London: Herakut – ‘Sad but Happy’ Solo Show

September 6, 2017 butterfly

After five years travelling and painting throughout the world , the German duo Herakut is returning to London for a new solo exhibition at Stolenspace entitled ‘Sad but Happy’.

Hera and Akut first came to London in 2010 when they painted their enigmatic character on the walls of the Moniker Art Fair, followed by a solo show in 2012.

Herakut at the Moniker Art Fair in 2010

The public discovered the magical energetic duo with their spraycans with Hera starting the figurative outlines and setting the rhythm like she’s dancing graciously while Akut focusses on photorealistic feature details like the eyes, conveying a myriad of emotions.

Additionally, the incorporation of poignant messages in their works creates a sense of wonder when observing their art. Specifically, their words take you into what seems to be the childlike, pure essence behind Herakut while delivering a punch to the imagery they provide.

What’s more, the recurrent theme of both animal imagery and hildren subjects transport us back to our childhood where innocent imaginary friends were an embraced accompaniment to our creative minds.

On the title for the show ‘Sad But Happy’, the duo stated; ‘It fits every single piece, we think, and fits our style in general. Ambivalence. Schizophrenia even. That’s us. That’s the essence of Herakut.’

This series of new works sees the duo progress with their distinctive and dark style. Depicting children and animals with large emotive eyes, they draw the viewer in to their mysteriously eerie world, making them contemplate the statements scribbled across the canvas and their relationship with the characters in the works.

Their dark use of colour contrasts with the bright and fast use of movement and brush work. Their style welcomes a kind of imperfect perfection, the brushstrokes seeming erratic and fluid but also so beautifully placed.

Their joint creative art process is about storytelling, the creation of imaginary worlds and inspiring their figures with individual characters:

The message on a canvas where two little girls with kitty masks hidden in a cardboard box says ‘She said lets go back to when all was perfect’, while a portrait of a thoughtful little girl mentions ‘ Stop destroying my city says the dragon’.