Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today. Artists featured are Ceon, Liliwen x Bom.K and ROA.
CEON
Liliwen x Bom K
ROA – Located in Malaga (Spain)
Ceon, Liliwen x Bom K and ROA street art
Wanderlust Hotel, a show by Pam Glew at Woolff gallery
Pam Glew is a well-established, contemporary British artist, best known for her unique bleaching technique on fabric, vintage flags, and handmade vintage quilts. We’ve written about her previously and are excited to again with her fourth London Show since 2011, Wanderlust Hotel.
Wanderlust hotel?
Inspired by the goings on in legendary hotels such as Chelsea Hotel and Hotel Marmont,’Wanderlust Hotel’ is a fictional guest house frequented by illicit overnight guests and dark secrets. Self-staged photo shoots make up the majority of the subjects.
Populated by the weekend girlfriend, the bride, the maid, the mixologist, the sleeping porter, the receptionist and the VIP guest all swapping roles and sweeping in and out of the pictures frames.
Formerly trained in Theatre Design, in this series the artist explores an imaginary world; a fictional hotel, an invented environment and a narrative where the players in the hotel encounter each other within the hotel. The archetypes are empathetically reflected on in the Bellboy sleeping, and the melancholic maid, sometimes humourous (the Call Girl on a visit to Vegas encounters the ‘Glitter Gulch’ signage), and turned on their head (the bride has a revolver, who is also the same model as the call girl).
Acting is a common theme, and the ‘play’ idea is explored in the miniature hotel model. Here the hotel is bereft of people as if the residents are now only present in the paintings. The models in the work occupy more than one role, as a metaphor for how fate and luck play a part in our lives. In ‘Sisters’ the artist explores a meeting of 2 estranged identical twins. One of which is the maid, one the VIP. An imagined rift is between them as if they have not spoken in years. The heavy quilt is embellished with swarovski crystals which appears to elevate the characters appearance, the maid’s headpiece appearing more like a crown.
Let’s get technical
The medium Glew uses is dye and bleach. The use of fabric, and dyeing, washing and sewing is used as a metaphor for ‘women’s work’. Glew celebrates women in the history of art who have been overlooked due to an element of ‘craft’ in their work. Sourcing antique and vintage american quilts and national flags, the fabric of the work is as important as the image itself. Using quilts to insinuate sleep and slumber, the textiles are rich in both history and texture. Decontructing large American flags to just the stars they become less about the location and more visceral.
For further details contact +44 (0) 20 7631 0551 / info@woolffgallery.co.uk
Central St Giles – urbanism at its best
I did not expect to walk through what, actually, turned out to be a truly enjoyable experience. I am talking here about the new urban development named Central Saint Giles, comfortably wedged between Bloomsbury and Soho in London.
I suspect the sunny weather that day helped here, but I was truly amazed by the imposing and colorful buildings that make up this very modern workplace, which includes office space, shops, restaurants, cafes, apartments and an outdoor public piazza. Bright green, yellow and orange are the colours used for the huge facades, which clearly make them stand out amidst the surrounding urban buildings.
While enjoying a walk on the spacious and bright piazza, I was happily surprised to encounter a couple of sculptures, one of which is by the artist Steven Gontarski; a five-meter-tall piece, adding another layer of colour to the landscape.
Urbanism like this can be beautiful, by either inspiring the architect (Renzo Piano) or being integrated into it.
http://www.centralsaintgiles.com/
Ob 08 by Steven Gontarski
Locastro, Kiosk & Captain Borderline street art
Part of our 3 street art works series you should see today. Locastro, Kiosk and Captain Borderline.
Locastro – located in Miami (United States)
Kiosk – located at Университетский проспект, 9аin – Moscow (Russia)
Captain Borderline
Eating Robots: And Other Stories (Nudge the Future)
I have always been fascinated by SCI-FI subjects like AI – Artificial Intelligence.
AI is real and it’s slowly creeping into our lives, so I should probably not assimilate it to SCI-FI.
But I ask myself – how far will AI go in controlling our lives? Will it enhance them? Does AI mean the demise of the Human race – this is SCI-FI to me right now.
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If you feel the same way, Stephen Oram’s ‘Eating Robots: And Other Stories (Nudge the Future)‘ collection of short stories may bring you answers, or clues, as to what AI might look like in 100 years (or less, or more – I do not know).
The author’s imagination about the topic is vast and will definitely make you think more about what AI will actually mean to us as humans.
From the ability to share memories with someone you love, to reseting us every 1000 years, and even the ability to choose which celebrity hologram will drive your driverless car today.
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> BUY THE BOOK
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Stephen Oram goes from the very funny (which sometimes turns too silly for my taste), to the depressing and scary when it comes to AI, but why should it be one or the other.
Immerse yourself in these short stories and make up your own mind.
PS: Injecting some good old human anxiety into AI systems may be the answer for the fears we have. Described as the ‘anxiety loop’ by Oram, this sounds like a plan.
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> BUY THE BOOK
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Clerkenwell design week – Sarah Wiestner's installation
The Clerkenwell design week is back again from tomorrow, the 24th May, and will result in an exciting buzz where art meets design and vice versa. Not less than 60 showrooms and a pile of events (over 150 events) such pop up exhibitions, installations, talks, performances, music and workshops, the area is where to be for the next couple of days.
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Sarah Wiestner
One of the exhibitions that got me excited at this year’s Clerkenwell design week, is Sarah Wiestner’s axcrylics mirrors, MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) and LEDs lights installation or make over of the infamous House of Detention known to be haunted. The prison was demolished in 1890, but an entire underground section survived and lay undisturbed until the bombs of the Blitz saw it reopened as an air-raid shelter. After World War II it was again largely forgotten until, in 1993, it became a museum.
How Sarah plays with mirrors and make the space transparent is often deceived or shaken by the encounter of a dead end paths. Many openings were sealed off last century. The LEDs lights give back the light to this place once in a the complete dark. I have not been yet but can already sense a very interesting and exciting mix of elements and feelings.
Read more
> The website and blog of Sarah Wiestner (some awesome stuff) – http://maisdsarahwiestner.blogspot.com
> Cklerkenwell design week – http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com
> The House of Detention – http://www.london-ghost-tour.com/houseofdetention.htm
Bauhaus: Art as Life
Last week The Barbican Centre opened its doors to a major exhibition about the highly influential Bauhaus movement. The show explores the German art and design school that ran between 1919 and 1933 and made a profound impact on our contemporary world by uniting art, craft, design and technology. Bauhaus: Art as Life brings together over 400 works and highlights the scope of the Bauhaus vision. Throughout the exhibition are examples of architecture, paintings, film, sculpture, furniture, costume design, photography, children’s toys, typography and textiles from names including Paul Klee, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Josef Albers and Oskar Schlemmer. Nothing it seems was too ambitious or insignificant for the Bauhaus masters to tackle, from redesigning teapots and ashtrays, to creating vast housing estates and design manifestos that aimed to change the world they lived within.
Bauhaus: Art as Life is displayed in a loosely chronological order, starting with Walter Gropius founding the school in 1919 by merging of the Arts and Crafts school and the Academy of Fine Art, a radical move that incorporated the disciplines of art, craft and technology. Having lived through the horror of the First World War, this collective of artists and designers were keen to use their creativity to herald a brighter future and you get a sense of the optimistic, utopian force behind the work. However the Bauhaus was not just about high design for the greater good, the students and teachers were also having a good time behind the scenes. The Bauhaus group put on events that could have rivaled Warhol’s infamous art happenings. Gropius actively encouraged socialising between the masters and students and this took the form of spectacular themed parties with a Bauhaus band, elaborate costumes and performances. Included in the exhibition are photographs documenting this playful side of the movement and party invites.
By the mid 1920’s we see architecture, advertising and photography added to the curriculum and the school started to become commercially successful by partnering up with manufacturers. There was a focus on branding and a unified approach to typography and layout, as we can see in the ‘instruments of communication’ section. Pioneered by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, the Bauhaus had started to produce its own promotional material to communicate with a larger audience and this bold style has since become highly influential to the world of graphics. Elsewhere in the exhibition we also see Gunta Stolzl become the first female master at the Bauhaus, raising the profile of the crafts with her beautiful woven wall hangings. Josef and Anni Albers take a graphic slant on textiles, with simple geometric shaped patterns created from cotton and silk. As many of the Bauhaus group were on the political left, they came under pressure from the Nazi government and following pressure from the Gestapo, decided to close their doors in 1933. However as the students and masters emigrated, the principles behind the Bauhaus movement spread internationally and became the driving force behind Modernism as we know it.
The Barbican is embracing the experimental spirit of the Bauhaus by hosting a diverse series of events and workshops relating to the exhibition. They have done a good job in making the links between the Bauhaus and its relevance on our everyday lives. The schedule includes guided walking tours around the Finsbury area looking at the Bauhaus influence on local housing estates and a tour of the City of London focussing on the relationship between the Bauhaus and commercial architecture. The Barbican will also host an experimental two-week ‘Art School Lab’ where a chosen group of artists will collaborate to create work that contributes towards social change. To be considered you must apply via the Barbican website.
If you are looking to take home a slice of Modernist design, head to the Barbican Gallery Shop where there is a great selection of iconic designs, in keeping with the Bauhaus philosophy that design should engage with production. These including geometric plates hand woven rugs, DIY Paul Klee puppet kits and an exclusive range of Bauhaus inspired jewellery from the BA students at Central Saint Martins.
Bauhaus: Art as Life . Barbican Art Gallery, London, 3 May – 12 May 2012. http://www.barbican.org.uk/
Review by Zoey Goto, freelance art and design writer and PR. www.zazzipr.com
More photos of the exhibition below
Kit & Caboodle Exhibition by Quiet British Accent
When Quiet British Accent started working as a duo, someone told them that sport had no place in art. Since then, they seem to be hell-bent on disproving this through their textile and graphic slogan art.
The couple’s recent exhibition at Core at Nolias Gallery in London had two themes. They took the ‘sport in art’ argument as a call-to-arms and used risograph prints and vintage football shirts as canvases for their DIY sporting aesthetic. This theme expanded to include the powers (both real and imagined) of heroes to their fans. Not necessarily football heroes either, as Quiet British Accent place football within wider popular culture.
The following pieces are appliquéd textiles on vintage football shirts and risograph prints.
Andy Warhol Says Hello
Andy is smiling down at his still-pervasive influence over us all. Any connections to Warhol’s ‘Chelsea Girls’ film, or echoes of Campbell’s Soup cans in the shirt itself, are purely intentional.
What Would Johnny Rotten Do?
The ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ mantra applied to an Arsenal-supporting popular culture hero, crediting him with a deserved influence.
Sport& Art Don’t Mix
A poke at the proclamation Quiet British Accent are often faced with since deciding to limit themselves to working within the world of sporting culture.
I Don’t Know About Art, But I Noel What I Like
Yes, that Noel. QBA treat art the same as they treat football and music. Not belittling music at all, but putting it on an equal footing with art.
Hello Boys
The duo’s first large scale piece of work is stenciled onto giclée prints and hijacks a famous advertising slogan to give it social clout, mocking the echoes of sexism and homophobia in the sport.
The Multiplied Fair opens this week end
The third edition of the contemporary art in editions fair, Multiplied, returns to Christie’s South Kensington this October. Christie’s is pleased to announce forty-one international contemporary galleries will be participating, in what continues to be the UK’s only contemporary print fair.
Once again the salerooms in South Kensington will be transformed during Frieze week. The fair will be open to the public with free admission from 12-15 October 2012.
We have included below a few examples of what you will be able to purchase –
CFPR Editions
Parasol Unit Foundation
Fashion Illustration Gallery
www.multipliedartfair.com
@Multiplied_Fair (hash tag) #MAF2012
https://www.facebook.com/#!/Christies
Brick Lane street art
Another stroll along the mighty Brick Lane and another set of street art which we woud like to share with you. The LUDO and CRANIO pieces were our favorites. Which one is yours?
C215
LUDO (left) | #CODEFC
CRANIO
