london art

art that moves - part 1

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:39:00 -0800

Kinetica Art Fair 2012
Ambika P3 Gallery
08-12.02.12

The annual Kinetica Art Fair is back in Ambika P3 gallery this week, with many exhibits, seminars and performances lined up for visitors to indulge themselves into art that moves and performances that intrigue.

There is a shift in the people who exhibit this year - more universities are showing student works, Kinetica Art Museum also seems to be occupying a larger area to showcase their collection. The programme also present the Musion Academy MAMAs Awards.

Overview of the venue this year

The followings are some highlights of this year, with more to come in part 2 in our next post.

Titia Ex's Flower from the Universe is the welcome piece visitors will see by the entrance

Titia Ex featured in Deutsche Welle's youtube video - link

Linear UV drawing (2012) by David Ogle - David's florescent fishing lines remind viewers of the metal wires installation by Lygia Pape showing recently in Serpentine Gallery

Gear Mobiles by Jonathan Miller has a retro sense of elegance & precision

Gear Mobiles by Jonathan Miller - link

Karen Neill's Liquid Crystal art

The booth of Alexander Berchert has 3 wonderful installations on display

Water Wheel (2011) by Alexander Berchert - video link

Xylophone Wheel (2011) by Alexander Berchert - video link

*****

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a bright start for the year of dragon

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:31:00 -0800

The Trafalgar Sun

Trafalgar Square

23.01.2012

What could be better to have the Sun shining in Trafalgar Square on the first day of the Year of Dragon (Chinese New Year)? A sponsored comission made by Greyworld is up for today in Trafalgar Square.

Similar to the artifical sun once shining in Tate Modern? Well it's outdoor this time!

Andrew Shoben from Greyworld introducing their work - video link

It does look better when the sky is dark (because the crane holding the sun is... yellow!), so perhaps you can try to get a look after sunset if you are around. Check out the making-of video below if you want to know how it was made.

Full photo set here

*****

Further Readings -

page - official website of greyworld

video - official making-of clip from Tropicana

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the frieze art week 2011 - part 2

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:35:00 -0800

Frieze Art Fair 2011
Regent's Park
13-16.10.2011

This is the long over-due part 2 of our frieze art fair review. Although the sculptural park seems to be quite disappointing this year, we found some encouraging development in the tent.

Frieze Projects has selected a handful of cool works this year, and arranged them to be scattered around the fair. Laure Prouvost plays jokes about the physical environment and the visitors. Christian Jankowski puts a boat in the venue, and ironically it does not actually look odd among all these contemporary art works - the nature of an art fair as the flea market for the rich is spelt out loud. Bik van der Pol's slogan-generating scoreboard is an attempt between installation and performance. And Pierre Huyghe leaves his work to the hand of mother nature for his aqua creatures to entertain the guests.

Laure Prouvost - one of the Frieze Projects this year

Laure Prouvost for Frieze Projects - http://www.friezefoundation.org/commissions/detail/laure-prouvost/

Christian Jankowski - one of the Frieze Projects this year

Christian Jankowski for Frieze Projects - http://www.friezefoundation.org/commissions/detail/christian-jankowski/

Bik van der Pol in Frieze Art Fair 2011 - one of the Frieze Projects this year

Bik van der Pol for Frieze Projects - http://www.friezefoundation.org/commissions/detail/bik-van-der-pol/

Pierre Huyghe in Frieze Art Fair 2011 - one of the Frieze Projects this year

Pierre Huyghe for Frieze Projects - http://www.friezefoundation.org/commissions/detail/pierre-huyghe/

We are also very pleased to see many galleries have devoted time and efforts to create a presence in the fair by a unique booth design. This creates an identity to the gallery and a set for the art works featured inside the booth. The followings are our favourites this year -

IBID Projects (London)

the IBID Projects booth - video link

Alex Zachary (New York)

Ken Okiishi / Alex Zachary at the Frame section - video link

Galerie Eigen & Art (Leipzig/Berlin)

Carsten Nicolai in Galerie Eigen & Art (Leipzig/Berlin)

Galerie Eigen & Art (Leipzig/Berlin)

Georg Kargl (Vienna)

Sies & Höke (Düsseldorf)

There is an official Stand Prize of £10000, and it was given to Gavin Brown's Enterprise this year. The gallery has displayed works by Turner prize winner Martin Creed, Elizabeth Peyton, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Joe Bradley and Alex Katz in the booth. From the office website's announcement, “the judges agreed that the stand articulated a long-term commitment to and understanding of the artists represented.” No further elaboration is provided.

Winner of Frieze Art Fair's Stand Prize - Gavin Brown's Enterprise (New York)

The tent itself also gets a breakthrough form - no more total white prefabricated assembly. We hope the fair has the money to keep this exciting move next year.

The cafe, as well as other parts of the venue this year, designed by Carmody and Groarke

Video link

If you haven't read part 1 previously, it's here. Have a happy new year in a few hours!

*****

Further Readings -

Page - Official website of Galerie Eigen & Art

Page - Official website of Galerie Georg Kargl

Page - COS supports Frame

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the white disguise duo

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:26:00 -0800

It comes to our attention there are two shows within walking distance in Shoreditch that co-incidentally share a common feature in the works they are showing - a 'white-out' treatment.

Taliban Bullet Holes & Crude Oil Silksreens by Piers Secunda

Aubin Gallery

16.11-24.12.2011

the "Bullet Hole" series

Piers Secunda has developed into a specialist using "paint" as a sculptural material, rather than the medium in his career. He flew to Kabul in summer 2010 with the sole intention of specifically casting Taliban bullet holes. Two suicide bomb attack sites were located in advance and existing bullet holes were confirmed on site by witnesses and the Kabul police to be Taliban. The first site was an attack on a private security firm in a residential area of Kabul. At the outset of the Taliban’s assault on the building, two drivers for the security firm were fatally shot inside their car on the street. The works in this exhibition were created directly from the casts of bullet holes made as members of the Taliban shot through and around this car – killing the drivers and pock-marking the wall behind. These bullet hole casts have been integrated into a series of wall mounted paint “relief” sculptures, their hanging devices also cast from paint.

Six-minute documentary about the Taliban works

'Painting' on paint in the "Crude Oil Silkscreen" series

As the curator of the gallery Stuart Semple said, “Piers has always made an important contribution to both painting and sculpture, but now with the materiality of the work being harnessed to record extreme politics, we have his most powerful series to date. I feel absolutely privileged to have the opportunity to show this in the gallery.”

Piers' bullet holes series is equivalent to an isolated replica of war crime evidence. And the way he creates them is similar to a forensic officer, reconstructing the crime scene by extracting residues of available material evidence. These works are bound to be controversial in their nature, but as Piers said in his interview, "I've come to accept that this stuff happens throughout the world all the time so I document it." The choice of white colour in the paint gives a cynical touch of sterile operation which authorities often employ to underplay issues they do not want to arouse attention to.

Full photo set here

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*****

Let Us Build Us a City & a Tower by Richard Galpin

Hales Gallery

14.10-19.11.2011

Brace V (Boom), 2011 peeled photograph

Different from Piers Secunda's efforts to replicate the subject matter to his audience, Richard Galpin strips away the superficials on his selected urban scenes and reveals the underlying orders (or chaos) in the city. And he only uses a scalpel in the whole process to intricately score and peel away the emulsion from the surface of the photograph. The end product sometimes look like a collage, but it is not the case at all. You can see in the video below how precise and time-consuming the process is:

Working process and influences by Richard Galpin

Graduating from the Goldsmiths MA in 2001, Richard has been holding solo shows every year since 2005. His works are also collected by the V&A Photography Collection. The 'edited' photographs are probably not an overall depiction of the environment where they were taken, but they symbolise the spontaneousness, hierarchy and diversity of every contemporary city.

Close up of Stem II (Span), 2011 peeled photograph

Full photo set here

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*****

We feel very grateful to see art shows with works directly confronting the social-political situation in the more and more gentrified Shoreditch. And the "white-out" is a powerful visual approach to bring the audience's attention immediately to the subject matter.

Further Readings -

Page: Official page of Piers Secunda

Page: Official page of "Taliban Bullet Holes & Crude Oil Silksreens by Piers Secunda" in Aubin Gallery website

Page: Interview with Piers Secunda, Almanac Christmas 2011

Page: Official page of Richard Galpin

Page: Official page of "Let Us Build Us a City & a Tower" in Hales Gallery website

Video: "Richard Galpin, Viewing Station, The High Line, New York" by Richard Galpin

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the frieze art week 2011 - part 1

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:27:00 -0700

Frieze Art Fair 2011

Regent's Park

13-16.10.2011

Icon (2011) by Will Ryman

The Frieze art week is as busy as usual, with returning fairs Sunday, "Pavilion of art & design" & Moniker. This year we also saw newcomer Sluice joining the party. Headmaster Frieze is spearheading the crowd with its blockbuster programmes in addition to over 170 exhibitors.

Frieze Sculpture Park is one of Frieze's unique programme, only Frieze has the privilege to have a collection of large-scale art works to be displayed outdoor in Regent's Park. However, this year's line up is arguably a little bit disappointing compared to the past 2 years which we had also witnessed.

video link

Non-profits arts organisation Measure quoted curator David Thorp's comment on the selection this year - ‘This year’s Sculpture Park continues to provide a fascinating cross section of sculpture being made today from the monumental to the socially engaged. The twelve works on display by established and emerging artists build on a dialogue begun in previous years, developing a debate about art in public places and the condition of sculpture as an evolving conversation that proceeds by example, as an exchange of ideas between artists and artworks.’

However, the background of the selected works and their creators is practically invisible in the official website. The official page of the Sculpture Park has only a list of artists' names and the titles of their works. In a thorough search across the whole website, we still cannot find any further details. Should a curator's statement at least be displayed? Is it too much to ask to have some basic information for the general public or new art fan who knows nothing about Frieze & contemporary art in the website? Only the hardcore fans or insiders would pick their time of visit to the park to catch a guided tour. And does Frieze really think that by not providing any basic information, people would then be forced to buy the official catalogue? All we want to say here is this approach does not help promoting art to the general public and does not help Frieze to develop an educated audience which would be more likely to purchase art than just attending for the sake of ticking the box off the social calendar.

Despite the perception that contemporary art is more about the concept than the technique, one may wonder why some of the works are selected. Just look at the art piece below -

Ajar (2011) by Gavin Turk

We understand that sometimes it needs radical approach to bring the message out, but simply placing a door with frame in the middle of the park without any explanation about the intent of the artist is not working. All we hear from the 'official' source on site is the confirmation from the security guard the green plastic bag taped on the door was due to vandalism. A lack of understanding and sense of ownership are common causes of vandalism. We hope this message is clearly shown to the organiser now. Also in our memory there are no security guards by the side of every piece of works in previous years - is this a new clause in the insurance contract or else?

Full photo set here

We do find some encouraging developments in the fair this year inside the main ehibition tent, and would talk about them in part 2.

*****

Further Readings -

Page - official page for Frieze Sculpture Park

Page - Sculpture Park Showcases Stunning Creations by Pippa Jane Wielgos and L. Meir for MutualArt.com, 18.10.2011

Interview with David Thorp - The Age of Discover - Frieze Education Programme 2010

Video - Frieze Sculpture Park 2010 by vernissage.tv

Page - our review on Frieze Sculpture Park 2009

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top picks at london design festival 2011

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:06:00 -0700

Wallpaper* & Bernhadt Design's launch party at St Pancras Hotel

Here are our top 10 picks (in no particular order) for London Design Festival this year, with a bit of art power! -

1. AL_A's Timberwave at the V&A - Amanda Levete's comeback masterpiece after her split with former partner in Future Systems

2. David Chipperfield's Size+Matter at the Royal Festival Hall - the minimalist master's attempt to unite technology and simplicity

3. Designjunction at Victoria House Basement - 30 furniture & lighting brands in 1 location, events on top of showcases

4. Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby at Haunch of Venison - the duo's first solo show with the gallery

5. Faye Toogood at Phillips de Pury - new and old furniture collection by the magazine editor turned stylist and designer

6. Cristian Zuzunaga at EB&Flow - brilliant photographic works by the spanish artist/designer

7. Formosa Show at Candid Arts - taiwanese art & design at your door step, London!

8. John Pawson's Perspective at St Paul's Cathedral - see how the master can attract eyeballs by doing nothing

9. Superbrands at Tent London - it's worth to go all the way to the east with all these big names

10. De la Espada at Tramshed - suffocatingly beautiful timber furniture by the Spanish brand

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how to fill up a space with flowers or cardboards

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 20:11:00 -0700

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2011

by Peter Zumthor and Piet Oudolf

01.07-16.10.2011

The black box exterior has a reclusive swiss flavour often found in Zumthor's architecture

To enjoy the annual Serpentine Pavilion under the summer sun is not something you can plan to do in a weekend, because of the english weather. But in the latest edition of the Pavilion series which began 11 years ago, we conclude that the pavilion has equal charm whether you're going there on a sunny or rainy day (but probably not so good if it's overcast).

While Jean Nouvel's signature red pavilion has never tried to blend in the surrounding landscape, Peter Zumthor's pavilion is by no means relating itself to the gallery next to it either, although it is much more understated. However, when we see pictures of this year's pavilion online under the rain, the rain doesn't simply fall along the roof - it transforms the pavilion when it glides along the roof. A curtain of water dripping from the roof down divides the seating area and the central garden, giving the whole experience its Zumthor's touch of zen.

The 'secret garden' reveals once you walked into the pavilion

The highlight of the pavilion is the flowers in the central courtyard. And they are best experienced when the sun is present. So if you come to visit the pavilion on a sunny day, you will not be able to feel the effect of the rain on the architecture. And if you come in a rainy day, the blossoming flowers would be less vivid than they are under the sun.

Dutch landscape design Piet Oudolf's selection of plants capture every visitor's admiration

Serpentine Pavilion 2011 - video link

Texture of the walls

The sun beams through tree shades and the pavilion's roof

Full photo set here

*****

The Mirror of Judgement by Michelangelo Pistoletto

Serpentine Gallery

12.07-17.09.2011

Michelangelo Pisolleto's use of ordinary corrugated boards has a distilling effect of calmness despite the lack of order in the folds of the boards

The exhibition inside the Serpentine Gallery is equally dramatic as the Pavilion's floral show. Italian artist Michelangelo Pisolleto created a labyrinth path experience within the gallery and placed objects at several stops within the maze. The random nature of the corrugated board folds resembles the organic variety of the flowers in the pavilion.

The gallery is transformed into a maze

Both the pavilion and the exhibition have invited the visitors to indulge in a journey of discovery and re-discovery, creating a subtle link which one may not realise in the beginning but connect to the element of labyrinth in traditional european gardens. We truly enjoy this co-incidental surprise.

*****

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Further Readings -

Page - official page of the Pavilion (2011)

Page - official page of the exhibition

Review - Piet Oudolf's garden at the Serpentine Gallery pavilion by Joanna Fortnam for the Telegraph, 29.07.2011

Review - by Florence Waters for the Telegraph, 28.07.2011

Wiki - entry for Piet Oudolf

Archive - blog post on Serpentine Pavilion 2009

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interview with the berliner luft duo

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:45:00 -0700

Berliner Luft
the Residence Gallery
03-26.06.2011

The photographers with the guests in the private view opening evening

Famous for its lively art scene, Berlin is undoubtedly Europe's capital of art production over the past decade. Residence Gallery has brought a photography show from Germany to London this month featuring the reborn German capital in the eyes of two young(-ish) german photographers Benjamin Tafel (BT) & Dennis Orel (DO).

Originally from Stuttgart and studied visual communications in Weimar, both Benjamin & Dennis are award-winning members of the Art Directors Club, which is a global organisation for visual communication professionals. Here is a short interview with the two photographers about their exhibition -

Q1: Who were the people featured in the photos? Are they residents of the neighbourhood or just models? Do they have a say in how they are featured?

A: All the people we are shooting with had a background or connection to the situation or location. Our aim was to stage the situations but never lose the connection to reality. The coincidence plays an important part in our work to keep the people in their part of the real life and not to fall in a pose like a fashion model. Our purpose: Everyday life is theatre.

Q2: There's an overall tone in all the photos - colours with some kind of hard contrast (or even conflict) and a deliberate use of flash. What is the reason for this take?

A: The use of a calculated composed light is our way to shape out the location or the people to gain a new interpretation out of it. Its a way of remodelling it with light to stage a situation which shows the viewer a far side. Using the light in this way boosts our graphical view that we use in our work.

Q3: If you have to pick your favourite neighbourhood in the city, which would it be?

DO: One of the interesting places right now is in the western part of the city. The bird view from the Top of the Pan Am Lounge. To one side into the penguin area at the Berlin Zoo and to the other the naked people jumping in the rooftop-pool of the "Europa-Therme".

BT: It depends what you're looking for. The southeastern part of Kreuzberg is one of the hotspots at the moment. You still find a neighbourhood that has grown over decades, but a lot of new spots and young creatives move there. The mixture you find there is the key. Turkish greengroceries next to young galleries next to a typical Berlin drinking hole. Because everyday life is theatre!

Video by the Residence Gallery

The duo also has another photo exhibition currently in Kunstschwimmer Berlin called Hundesalon running till 08.07.2011.

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*****

Further Readings -
Page: Official facebook Page for Berliner Luft
Page: Official Page of Benjamin Tafel
Page: Official Page of Dennis Orel

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summer exhibition 2011

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:08:00 -0700

Summer Exhibition 2011

The Royal Academy of Arts

07.06-15.08.2011

It's time for the annual pilgrimage of art fans in town to the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) for its Summer Exhibition. Some key observations are -

1. There is a lack of digital works - only 6 videos are included in the last room; and while works in all other media are displayed on their own physically, these 6 videos are all squeezed in a tiny monitor screen. Not sure if the artists selected are happy about such arrangement - is that fair to them, dear curator? Or, would it also be the own fault of digital artists that they don't bother to submit works to the Summer Exhibition and hence the fewer quality works to choose from by the curator? And has RA considered placing more emphasis on emerging formats which connects with the younger audience? Is video art not profitable enough to get more attention?

2. The RA-only installation room curated by Michael Craig Martin is pretty impressive, although some people argue it is merely a branding exercise rather than promoting lesser-known talents. Well, given the total number of works displayed in the show and the price RA charges for entry, it seems fair to have a blockbuster room to satisfy the audience with a taste for big names.

3. Most rooms are still just only displaying works in the same medium, curators are not taking the efforts to select works from different media to compose his/her story. The way which RA picks curators may be the cause of this phenomenon - if these people are not multi-media artists, they would tend to look into works in the medium they practise. However, this does not necessarily benefit the audience - look at how amused people are in the room curated by John Wragg after they walked through 5 other rooms with drawings & prints only in the left wing.

4. The artists' books series is awesome and all the selected works are of high quality and craftsmanship.

5. For those who has a smart phone and intend to visit the show, remember to download the official app before you go. For those who cannot visit the show in person, this £1.19 app could provide a virtual guided tour and over 50 streaming video clips to let you know more about the show.

6. If RA is going to take the Haunch of Venison portion of the Burlington House back for its expansion, it should consider allocating more rooms for the show to give curators more freedom to compose their stories.

7. Although RA is opening late on fridays till 10pm, it is advisable to get up early over the weekend instead if you plan to visit but are not able to do so on weekdays. We love the play of natural daylight shining into the rooms which gives a sense of celebration to the works, rather than the cold artificial light casting on the works after dark which feels like suspect interrogation.

Here are our top picks for the Summer Exhibition 2011 (in no particular order) -

Self Portrait with Budget Box (Red & Black) by Cornelia Parker

Look Closer & Closer by Rob Ryan

Butterfly Army by Frederick Higginson

The Emperor's Castle (Book 1 of 2) by Thomas Hillier

Untitled (2011) by Edmund de Waal

Monogramm by Georg Baselitz

Meyer's Encylcopedia, Volume II by Alexander Korzer-Robinson

Funnel by David Nash

Bullet Drawing 2011 by Cornellia Parker

Joseph's Leonarvilions by Karl Singporewala

Dog in a Bin by Simon Brundret

Looking Good (Scattered, Cross-eyed, Doubled) by Katy Kirbach

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*****

Further Readings -

Page - Official page for the show in RA's website

Review - The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2011: A Culture Show Special, BBC2 (via iplayer, available within UK until 12:19 24.06.2011)

Review - by Alastair Sooke for the Telegraph

Review - by Ben Luke for the Evening Standard

Review - by Mark Sheerin for Culture24

Review - by Gillian Darley for the Architect's Journal

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new meanings to classic entities

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 07:58:00 -0700

Fearful Sphere by Sam Knowles

Simon Oldfield Gallery

11.05-11.06.2011

The Great Enterprise (2011) - in-situ installation

Managed to catch Sam Knowles's 1st solo show on the last day. Seeing Sam's works in Simon Oldfield's gallery feels like walking in the fantasy of a maverick writer's residence. The physical twists he made from vintage books are like a whimsical mind liberated from the written thoughts in these publications.

The Great Enterprise (2011) - in-situ installation

overview of the show - video link

The Prince of Talleyrand (2011)

There're 2 general directions to which Sam detours the meanings of the classic entities - treating them simply as a 2D canvas predefined with meanings and applying gold plates on that; or treating them as patterned 3D raw materials and arranging them in ways to create a twisted perspective.

Death Comes as the End (2011)

Death Comes as the End (2011) - close up

Death Comes as the End (2011) - the 3 book covers used

In today's world of flooding symbols & icons, Sam has re-discovered the hidden classics in everyone's bookshelves and made them into relevant objects again - after all, who would spend a day to read a book today?

Full photo set

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*****

the fragile act of balance

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 19:35:00 -0700

I Did It My Way and Took the High Way by Alejandro Almanza Pereda

ROVE gallery

13.05-11.06.2011

Hoxton square is becoming an essential gallery circuit recently with power player White Cube as well as 20 Hoxton Square (which has hosted a show brought in by Mario Testino earlier this year), the yet-to-be-rebuilt-by-zaha-hadid ROVE (founded by New York art dealer Kenny Schachter), the newish Ibid Projects relocated from the Vyner Street circuit and the funky multifunctional space KK Outlet (a communications agency with a gallery and bookshop). Each of them has its own character but they all bring in exciting shows all the time to visitors who may be just coming over to enjoy a picnic in the lawn. Even though you may not be a huge art fan, it seems often that you can find one show you like among these galleries around the square.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends (2011)

Take the current show in ROVE for example. It has joined force with Fundacion Magnolia to launch this 1st UK show of Mexican artist Alejandro Almanza Pereda. The exhibition includes new commissions and recent works in the form of installations, video and drawings.

After All These Years I Realise That it is Better to Live Outside the Garden with Her Than Inside Without Her (2011)

Known for questioning and challenging the rules of physics Alejandro fiercely explores the concept of gravity in his work. Relentlessly pushing these boundaries, Almanza Pereda relies purely on the forces of resistance to hold his works in place. He also religiously searches through ﬂea markets, gathering used objects, many with local historical connection and others with the global presence of mass market goods.

People that Live in Glass Houses Should Not Throw Stones (2011)

The gallery staff told us Burning the Candle at Both Ends(2011) by the entrance window (the top image above) is an on-site creation which the artist has spent almost a week finding the balance to hold the objects on the ceiling lamp. It was a pity we visited only after the artist has left London. Below are 2 interviews a few years ago -

Interview with the artist for his exhibition in Minneapolis Minnesota by TheSoapFactory, 08-01-2008

Alejandro with one of his neon tube construction in this interview by jun60mx, 12-02-2007

Alenjandro's way of creating art can be said as resembling the ancient nomadic tribe - wherever he goes, he would cultivate there and harvest his crops to make a living. It can also be said as organic - the ultimate appearance of his sculptures is largely decided by the force of nature, not his own will. In these gravity defying installations, the universal and the individual co-exist beautifully.

Full photo set

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*****

Further Readings -

Page: Official website of the artist

Page: Profile of the artist in Magnanmetz Gallery

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two distinct neighbours - part 2

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 17:27:00 -0700

The Space Between by Nigel Hall

Annely Juda Fine Art

31.03-14.05.2011

Stretched/compressed (2006)

Next to its ground floor neighbour Blain|Southern, Annely Juda is a gallery specialising in 20th century art and working artists producing minimal or geometric works. The show we attended is the 10th solo exhibition of british artist Nigel Hall.

front - Chinese Whisper (2010); back - Drawing no. 1546 (2010)

The minimal, smooth geometric forms in Nigel's works under the rooflight has an uplifting spiritual feel compared to the near-gothic dutch designs next door in Blain|Southern. Nonetheless, it is an interesting juxtaposition and one can feel the change in zeitgeist on the difference in works by artists in two generations.

video link

There are charcoal & gouache paintings as well as sculptures made by various materials in the show. Observing the play of different forms on the 2D paintings and the 3D sculpture is an enjoyable exploration through the show, way better than trying to find the differences of certain Hollywood movies have in 2D or 3D formats.

Full photo set

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*****

Further Readings -

Wiki: Entry for Nigel Hall

Page: Official page for the show in Annely Juda's website

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two distinct neighbours - part 1

Sun, 22 May 2011 07:30:00 -0700

The Curious Image by Jeroen Verhoeven

Blain|Southern

12.05-16.07.2011

The 2 pieces exhibiting at the gallery's space in 21 Dering Street

There are two galleries adjacent to each other in Dering Street, Mayfair - Blain Southern & Annely Juda. Their shows are not really the same dish but it's interesting to see them both together.

The Blain Southern is the offspin from Haunch of Venison's founders Rory Blain & Graham Southern, and it has been producing some cool shows with great reviews since its opening but we haven't checked it out yet in person bizarrely until now. We missed out, obviously.

In the current exhibition with Jeroen Verhoeven, the gallery is showcasing the dutch designer, whose design house Demakersvavn is famous for making use of technology in design with a playful twist (common among dutch designs). Increasingly contemporary art galleries are exploring ways to increase their pool of represented talents (and those with larger profit margins), product design is a field which was absorbed into the mainstream art world. The boundary between installation art and interior design has diminished rapidly with star designers increasingly pursue personal art projects with galleries or commercial brands. After all, what defines art is very subjective, and works with high quality should be welcome and those galleries which sources them are worth mentioning for credit.

In this show, two pieces are shown - a table and a lamp. Not your average ones, of course. Within the amazingly crafted table, two silhouette portraits of the artist’s design collaborators, Joep Verhoeven and Judith de Graauw, are subtly shaped into its undulating surfaces. The construction of the table is exposed at the back of itself, where normal design products would usually conceal these as if it is trade secrets.

panoramic view of Lectori Salutem (2010) - video link

As for the lamp, it gets its power source from the butterfly-shaped solar cells. Instead of real moths destroying themselves flying towards a bulb, these artificial butterflies actually make the lamp alive. A contradiction in its own existence (as you won't probably need a lamp when there's light to power up the solar cells), it makes a beautiful art piece even though impractical to be mass produced as a product.

Virtue of Blue (2010) - close up

Full photo set here

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*****

Further Readings -

Page: Official website of Demakersvan

Review: Jeroen Verhoven's show by designws.com

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Travelogue - Berlin Paris spring 2011

Thu, 12 May 2011 21:18:00 -0700

During the Easter + Royal Wedding double long weekend getaway, we escaped to Berlin & Paris and here are 4 shows which we like, 2 of them are from London artists.

*****

Andy Harper - Truthwall

Morgen Contemporary

29.04-18.06.2011

Andy Harper's previous show in Danese - 02.11.2009 video by ballenato63

Full photo set

*****

Sterling Ruby - I am not free because I can be exploded in any time

Sprüth Magers Berlin

08.04-28.05.2011

Overview of the show - video link

Full photo set

*****

James Franco -

Peres Projects Berlin

12-22.04.2011

Close-up view of one of the Exhibits

Overview of the exhibition set in Peres Projects' Kreuzberg Gallery - video link

Full photo set

*****

Antony Gormley - For the Time Being

Galerie Thaddeus Ropc

30.04-04.06.2011

State (2011)

the MEME series (2011) - video link

Full photo set

*****

the miniature world of little people

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:09:00 -0700

Concrete Ocean

Slinkachu's solo show at Andipa Gallery

03.03-02.04.2011

Managed to see this fabulous new solo show of miniature artist Slinkachu on the last day earlier this month. It has been two and a half years in the making since his debut solo show in Soho, summer 2008.

Relationship in a Bottle (2011)

Slinkachu has once again applied his sense of humour to fabricate intriguing scenes in an urban background. The show features a good mix of street art he actually created outside the gallery (and then photographed as limited edition prints) and standalone installations produced without physical site context.

Natives (2011)

Although most of the installations are surreal at first sight (this is partly contributed by the use of brightly colour model human figures as subjects of the scene), there is some sort of irony and reality in each installation, which adult viewers would find it bitter while kids just love the toy-like nature of them.

Sustainable Living (2011)

Check out the following clips and the list of further reading :)

Full photo set here

View Larger Map

*****

Further Readings -

Page: Official page for the exhibition in Andipa Gallery's website

Page: Official blog of Slinkachu

Review: "Street art scales down: why Cordal and Slinkachu are masters of miniature" by Tom Lamont for the Guardian

Video: Slinkachu's work at Belsay Hall by Benjamin Wigley

Video: Little People in the City (by Slinkachu), by theguywhowatchmovies

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a showcase of peruvian talents

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 08:09:00 -0700

Bruma

20 Hoxton Square

24.03-30.04.2011

20 Hoxton Square Gallery brought a selection of emerging artists from Peru to town in this collaboration with Revolver Gallery & Mario Testino. Mario is an avid supporter for this gallery in his hometown, and would like to showcase their artists to the British audience. ‘Bruma’ is the spanish word for veil or cover. The show includes works by artists Miguel Andrade Valdez, Jerry B. Martin, José Carlos Martinat, Ishmael Randall Weeks and Giancarlo Scaglia.

Huaca (2010) by Ishmael Randall Weeks

This sculpture by Ishmael Randall Weeks is made by bricks and looks like a miniature of an anicent town in a mountainous region with dwellings craved out from the rock/mud.

"Untitled 1 (Emesis Series)" (2011) by Giancarlo Scaglia

This body-less head from Giancarlo Scaglia is made by garbage bags and evokes a sense of terrorist and the everyday conflicts of guerilla fighters with local authorities, usually depicted by the media. (not saying this happens in Lima now, just a thought)

Superficial exercise #9 (2011) by Jose Carlos Martinat

There are also site-specific works by Jose Carlos Martinat in the show. This once above is a cast version of the opening & stair in the room, pelt-off from its origin and hung up on its own. These is a security man warning people not to walk onto the steps :)

Apart from the exhibition, the toilet of the gallery is also a must-see. The wall on the left as shown above is apparently made of soap or wax - quite impressive!

Full photo set here

View Larger Map

*****

Further Readings -

Page: Official page for the show in Galleria Revolver's website (english/spanish)

Page: Official page for the show in 20 Hoxton Square's website

Page: Mario Testino's 15 favourtie galleries - vogue.com, 20.12.2010

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when a splash falls on the matrix

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:32:00 -0700

Psycho Boogie - Rory McCartney

Arch 402

25.03-28.04.2011

Come Clean (2011) by Rory McCartney

I do not know who Rory McCartney is until I came to see this show. Apparently he is london based, and is also the art director for Arena Homme Plus Magazine, which I was a dedicated reader a few years back (not any more for I have to implement a magazine spending cut after the crunch, and I don't have time to read all these magazines I bought any way). He has been commissioned by TfL for Platform for Art and has works shown in the Royal Acadmey of Arts and the V&A museum previously.

Hey! Hey! Can you Relate? (2011) by Rory McCartney

Them That's Not (2011) by Rory McCartney

The works in this show are all composed of a juxtaposition of random organic splashes on a geometric background. The contrast is very powerful - there is a sense of life seemingly jumping out of the canvas. Some pieces are vividly colourful, some pieces are confined to 2-3 tones only. Overall it is abstract and very graphical in nature, and all these brit bands out there should ask Rory to design their vinyl covers like these!

Opening reception at Arch 402, a new-ish gallery right next to the Hoxton Overground Station

Full photo set here

View Larger Map

*****

art against the cuts

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 09:29:00 -0700

Cuts

Studio 54 Architecture

54 Rivington Street

24-30.03.2011

Other than today's protest march on budget cuts, 16 young illustrators are voicing their anger in the form of a group exhibition. Drop by to see their amazing work until 30 March.

The illustrators are Georges Dupree, Jess Gerken, Rikki Hewitt, Paul Hickey, Ben Jennings, Nina Jorgensen, Nick Martin, Holly Monger, Suzie Patrick, Charlie Rallings, Josie Shenoy, Francesca Smyth, Lloyd Stratton, Louisa Taylor, Jade They and Sean Willmott

Ben Jenning's paper toy

Cu(n)ts by Lloyd Stratton

Further Readings -

Page: Official Blog

Page: A student protest by Suzanne Hinchliffe for design week blog

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spectacle of the east and modern tale of the west

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:41:00 -0800

Haunch of Venison kick off 2011 with Korean artist Meekyoung Shin's remakes of western statues and oriental objects d'art; paired with German artist Susanne Kühn's vividly coloured paintings of surreal environmental myths.

Translation - Meekyoung Shin

Haunch of Venison

16.02-02.04.2011

Translation Series (2009)

Meekyoung plays joke with collectors and challenges the viewers on the concept of authenticity, durability and artistic values through recreating antiques and sculptures with soap as the raw material. Translation series are mock antique vases, made to every detail of the original. You could appreciate the patterns in the original vase on her version, but how would these patterns look after a period of time when the soap molecules start to diffuse? If you like the piece because of its pattern, does it make the work lower in artistic value when the pattern starts to fade away? Or does such physical nature actually qualify as part of the artistic value?

Golden Buddha (2010)

Venus (1998)

Ghost series (2010)

The centrepiece of the show is the Ghost series, a collection of around 200 vases grouped in clusters of an imac colour spectrum. Although the artist's focus is the "notion of the transience of the original by stripping the forms of both their perceived solidity and their decorative markings, leaving only an echo of the original form", one cannot stop thinking such act has the usual commercial calculation in that each cluster would be eventually sold individually to collectors. And this rainbow spectrum is very much an open palette to cater for individual buyer's preference of his/hef favourite colour.

Ghost series (2010) - close up

Panorama of Ghost series (2010) - video link

Full photo set

*****

Garden Eden - Susanne Kühn

Haunch of Venison

16.02-02.04.2011

The Couple (2011)

While Meekyoung focuses on a twist of the aura of the original objects, Susanne's subject is a complete jam of the 3-dimensional meta-enironment in a 2-dimensional canvas.

Originally from East Germany (Leipzig), Susanna now lives in Freiburg. There is an inherent sense of the dark Grim tales in the ambience of her paintings. Things seems to be situated in a gravity-less space, so the interior and exterior flow and merge with each other. The human subjects inside her paintings, if any, are often only relating to a portion of this environment and not realising the extent of flux beyond that. That they seem all too happily living in the Garden Eden before Satan arises, is somehow a cynical reflection of the Black Swan phenomenon in the credit crunch.

Garden Eden (2010)

View Larger Map

*****

Further Readings -

Page: Official page of Meekyoung Shin's show on Haunch of Venison website

Page: Official page of Susanne Kühn's show on Haunch of Venison website

Page: Official website of Susanne Kühn

Page: Official page of Meekyoung Shin's 2007 exhibition in the Mongin Art Centre

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the circus at kinetica art fair

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:01:00 -0800

Kinetica Art Fair

Ambika P3 gallery

03-06.02.2011

Spotlight Entrance Sign

In its 3rd year from the debut in 2009, Kinetica Art Fair has gained the status of flagship event in London's art world for February, and provides a fundamentally different flavour to art-lovers from January's London Art Fair.

As of last year, there's a 'weclome' piece at the entrance to the fair - however it is ironically full of EXIT signs:

Exit-Wall by Cécile Colle & Ralf Nuhn

There are also some layout changes to various parts of the fair - the cafe has moved from below the main entrance platform to the platform, right behind the reception counter, replacing the souvenoir and kinetica publications / merchandise shop. One may wonder whether the sales of merchandise would be significantly affected because it exists only as one of the exhibition stands now, losing its prominent physical location. Or perhaps the sales of food & beverage is a much more profitable business which even the organiser can't resist the tempt to make more money from it?

The bar has moved from the main exhibition level to the entrance level

There is an anchor piece at each end wall of the gallery - a moving floral matrix (above) as the backdrop of the bar, and a video projection wall (below) at the other end. This actually helps to contain the space and give some visual stimulations to people when they are walking across the exhibition stands at the main exhibition area and looking up.

The rear end wall of the gallery is filled with video projections this year

Here are a few highlights (in no particular order) in the fair -

Tunnel View by Hans Kotter at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art

Seeper - interactive visualisation sphere

Moving objects no 486 - 501 by Pe Lang - there's a real sense of life in these cables if you keep looking at them!

Fascinating Revolving Installations consisted of calculators (front) by David Cranmer

Work, Eat, Sleep by New Opera Hero

Trailer of a similar show they have done at the Shunt last year - video link

Electro Set Visuals - these are part of the contents they performed in the fair - video link

Floatins Forecaster by Poietic Studio, with each foam sphere's motion individually customisable by an iphone app interface

The Particle by Alex Posada

Official video from the artist's vimeo - video link

Departures 2010 by the Trope Troupe - this screen-based travel information system is meant to help travellers to be aware of local laws

Moodski 2004 by the Trope Troupe - sample more here: http://t.co/CzBiggq

View Larger Map

*****

Further Readings -

Page: Official page of Kinetica Art Fair

Page: Works of Swiss artist Pe Lang

Review: "Art with a life of its own: ears, skulls and holograms by Roland Hancock" for the Telegraph, 04.02.2011 (with video clip)

Review: Kinetica Art Fair 2010

Review: Kinetica Art Fair 2009

Video report from the BBC - 04.02.2011

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