@londonart blog

art october in london - part 3

Apart from the Frieze & Zoo art fairs, there are numerous other happenings going on in town. Here are some of the ones which are still running, so you could still catch the one you like before it's too late:

*****

The Age of the Marvellous by All Visual Arts

till 22.10.2009

One Marylebone

As manifested in the official website, the show is inspired by the Wunderkammer or Cabinet of Curiosities, popular in the late Renaissance through the Baroque period - an era characterized by a revival of learning, the sum of all of man’s knowledge could be represented in rooms filled with natural wonders, artificial exotica and relics or art works concerned with the supernatural.

For Laplace [Fear] (2008) by Paul Fryer

There is a "gothic - evolutionary" sense evoked both from the atmosphere of the venue and the nature of the works. Good timing in the age of swine flu, thinking robots and overdosed celebs. Keith Tyson's Mastering (image via It's Nice That) is my favourite.

Full photo set here

*****

Castellani/Flavin/Judd/Uecker

Jamie Shovlin

both till 31.10.2009

Jonas Burgert

till 07.11.2009

Haunch of Venison

Donald Judd

Monument for V. Tatlin (1967) by Dan Flavin

Haunch of Venison London explores the connections between four major artists: Enrico Castellani, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd and Gunther Uecker in the art fair season. The exhibition showcases works from 1964 to the present day. All four artists were born within six years of each other (1928-1933) and their practices offer an opportunity to compare the strong aesthetic influences, interests and objectives their generation shared, despite developing on either side of the Atlantic. (excerpts from the official page)

Jamie Shovlin

For Jamie Shovlin, 'The Evening Redness in the West' is the final instalment in a trilogy of exhibitions which examined the disparity between reality and idealism through an exploration of the narratives and fictions that a nation projects to the world. (excerpts from the official page)

Jonas Burgert

This is the 1st UK solo show for German artist Jonas Burgert. The grotesque and the mystical provide the subject-matter for the majority of Burgert's art. Bold, sensuous and opulent, the atmosphere in his paintings is of a world of destruction and decay. (excerpts from the official page)

Full photo set here

*****

Fruit & Flowers

till 23.12.2009

ROVE Hoxton Square

Furniture and Interior Decor by various designers (including Arik Levy, Zaha Hadid, Carolyn Quartermaine, Mathias Bengtsson, Based Upon, Maria Pergay, Peter Harvey, Max Lamb, Tom Dixon, Richard Woods, and Brendan Cass) are on display in this show. These design-pieces are more down-to-earth to the audience than abstract contemporary art found in most galleries.

Full photo set here

art october in london - part 2

Thomas Heatherwick: Extrusions
until 07.11.2009
Haunch of Venison

Produced using the world's largest extrusion machine normally used in aerospace industry, and each piece being polished for over 300 hours to produce that hyper-surreal mirror finish, this 18-years-old idea from Thomas Heatherwick is clearly not an easy dream comes true.

Thomas Heatherwick shows off his extrusion by TheStouche.

from TheStouche in flickr

thomas heatherwick's extrusions by you.

It was reported that Heatherwick is investigating to develop the application to wider commercial uses to create architectural components (such as facade modules) and mass-produced seating.

See for yourself - they looks like polished junks celebrated in the gallery! And, finally... :)

from TheStouche in flickr

full photo set here

art october in london - part 1

Anish Kapoor
until 11.12.2009
Royal Academy of Arts

Shooting into the Corner (2008-9)

The powerful red splash is one of the two moving works featured in this show (the other is the Svayambh). Anish Kapoor has again presented simple geometric elements in a magnificient scale. The moving works, using blood-red wax brought into motion by the installation, have an element of "slowness" literally shown to the audience. This "slowness", contrast sharply with the ever-accelerating society we are living in.

Even you are not paying to see the indoor exhibition, there is still a masterpiece at the front yard of the academy which is free for the passers-by to get amazed. The spectacle of reflections actually work really well in this outdoor location, I am pretty sure it would be less impressive if placed indoor. It changes with the colour of the sky, as well as the movement of the people and the clouds. There are so much to be discovered in-between the different spheres...

Tall tree and the eye (2009) - video link

full photo set here

Anish Kapoor

until 14.11.2009

Lisson Gallery

Kapoor is here, could you find him?

At the same time, Lisson Gallery, which represents the artist, hosts a show of his new works to maximise their media exposure during the Frieze Art Fair. These colourful curvy "mirrors" are, probably, a delightful distractor for an economically hard time to many people.

The visual black hole that "draws" you in...

Train your eyes

The concave untitled (2009) "eye" made with fibre glass and paint with sparkle coating - video link

Further readings -
Official page of the RAA show

Official page of the Lisson Gallery show

Review of the RAA show by Richard Dorment for the Telegraph

Review of the RAA show by Adrian Searle the Guardian

Review of the RAA show by Tom Lubbock for the Independent

Video tour of the RAA show from Time Out

london design festival recap - part 2

further from part 1, here are the remaining highlights of the festival -

Design Less Ordinary at the Brick Lane Gallery

This architectonic blind/partition by Rikako Iwamoto looks great in the front but not-that-appealing at the back with the connection threads to form the shape running everywhere

*****

Norwegian Prototypes at East Gallery

These matt aluminium mirrors by Daniel Rybakken are pretty sexy, especially it conceals any imperfrections on your face and make you look - mysteriously remote - from your true face. The shape also make it versatile - either wall-hung or stand-on-its-own

full photo set here

*****

Tent London

Tent London has remained relevant and maintained a healthy number of exhibitors this year despite the economic downtown (unlike 100% Design which looks empty once you walk out of the main hall). The variety of exhibitors has kept the show interesting, bringing in a considerable number of korean exhibitors (but their ideas are not that bright compared to their european counterparts in my opinion) as well as the portugal area (which I had missed totally due to no clear signage at the main entrance when I left - don't tell me to read the map, get better wayfinding next year!)

Handsome solid wood furniture from London's own de la espada

Tokyo Wonder by W0W at the digital section - this japanese establishment has the ability to transform ordinary elements into impressive super-cool silk-smooth motions

See the action by yourself -

'tokyo wonder' by W0W - strongly recommended to watch in HD

Horizon by Flynn Talbot - motion-sensitive colour-changing background/screen

Minimal furniture by british hundreds tens units

Face clock by japanese Yoshihiro Yoshida

High chair at the Polish area

The clock clock by bastian bischoff & per emanuelson, one of the winners in the talent zone

full photo set here

*****

Design Overtime at Design Museum

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Design Museum, this night was arranged with live DJ and a few gimmick events. Those who has bought tickets could not only see the 3 shows currently running in the museum, but also took part in the events. Not very impressed with no free drinks - rather pay a few quids more for entry and at least get a free glass of champagne. But then, perhaps they aim at getting the number up instead of making everyone in happy...

Logo of the Super Contemporary show

One of the Bake-off entries

VR demo

Street light chandelier by Thomas Heatherwick - romantic and beautiful

The timeline is a very good exhibit, dividing events from 1950 to 2009 into 4 main aspects - social-political on top, the built environment (architecture & interiors) the second, graphics & media publishing the third, and product design at the bottom.

The launch issue of Dazed & Confused

The beautiful bottle of Tyrant water

full photo set here

The other show is on Spanish designer Javier Mariscal. The creator of the Barcelona Olympics mascot, this show has demonstrated the talents of the master. The overall set arrangement is also better than the Super Contemporary show, probably due to the fact that all works are only from a single designer so it is more consistent in style.

full photo set here

Mariscal - Drawing Life exhibition timelapse from Design Museum

Character Wall - Muro Cobi from estudiomariscal

The garriris on the road from estudiomariscal

The show next to Mariscal is dedicated to the passed-away architect of the Future Systems, Jan Kaplicky. His signature 'futuristic' touch on the works shown is also a symbol of the outlook of cityscape towards the 21st century. Now we have already entered the 'new' century, technology is evolving at an unprecedented speed, there are many possibilities lying ahead which await our exploration. Jan's neo-post-modernist style maybe more suitable to remain as a memory of the era that we dreamt about the future, not living in one.

National Library in Prague - can you imagine this would appear in the medieval Czech city?

full photo set here

Further reading -

official website of Mariscal's show

official website of Jan Kaplicky's show

Wikipedia's entry for Javier Mariscal

Official website of Future Systems

london design festival recap - part 1

So many happenings around town in the past few weeks, I have to clear the backlog before Frieze Art Fair otherwise these would be never posted. Here are some recaps of the London Design Festival (LDF), hope you have enjoyed yourself if you have been to these places like me. If not, you haven't missed everything as I'm sharing them with you here : )

The Tournement at Trafalgar Square

the tournament at trafalgar square by you.

The main official event for LDF, Spanish designer Jaime Hayón created this playful giant chess set, with 2m-high ceramic chess pieces on a Bisazza mosaic glass chess board. The chess pieces design is inspired by iconic London buildings; their domes, towers and spires; plus a signature spice of Hayón's style. Seated upon elevated platforms, contestants from the British Chess Federation and members of the public battled it out over the five days to become The Tournament champion. I haven't found out who's the champion, but I surely enjoy the actions the chessboard brought to Trafalgar Square and would love to see something as spectacular as this to return as the crown jewel of the festival next year.

Public gathered to watch the game

The MC introducing the helpers who would move the chess pieces, the players and the guest commentators

One of the players sitting on his "commander chair" thinking about his next move

When a piece is moved away from the board, it would go to the back of the main stage

the tournament at trafalgar square

full photo set here

*****

Open House London - Village Underground

Open House provides a valuable opportunity once in a year for the general public to get behind the doors of many public and private properties to have a look on what's inside. Village Underground is a private-initiative containing studio spaces for creative and event venue. The studio part is open to public during Open House this year and you could find disused underground carriages being converted to workspaces here -

Lovely graffiti on the tube

The upper level carriage overlooking the lower level carriages and the event gallery (the one with roof lights)

Facilities are minimal inside the tube - you could imagine it's quite harsh during the hot days in summer and much worse during the chilly days of winter

The tube carriage formerly belong to the old Jubilee Line before its millennium extension - Charing Cross was the terminal at that time

full photo set here

*****

Size & Matter at Southbank Centre

Marc Newson's Supercell

Shigeru Ban's Paper Tower

I'm a bit disappointed on this year's Size & Matter pavilions. Perhaps they don't have big budget this year for all the obvious reasons, I don't understand why they don't just put all the resources to make one impressive pavilions rather than having 2 not-so-attractive ones instead.

They may be nice public installations, but certainly not good enough compared to previous works displayed in the same venue to me.

full photo set here

******

art september in london - part 2

Abstract America
until 17.01.2010
Saatchi Gallery

abstract america at saatchi gallery by you.

Untitled (Unfinished Hand) (2006) by Peter Coffin

This main exhibition in the gallery shows the talents american artist have. As the show focus on works with a so-called abstract theme, one wonder that isn't most contemporary art creations are 'abstract'?

To be honest, some of the pieces shown are not very impressive. Nonetheless there are some amazing pieces and you would just be stunned when you see in first sight, like the spiral staircase by Peter Coffin. The beauty of the piece comes from the simplicity of the geometry, and the harmonious bending of something you would feel so secure and hard everyday as a metal staircase. That is a universal beauty in its overall form, its materiality and its symbolism all combined.

Three (Cross with Balloons) (and 2 details)

Untitled (Can Sculpture) x3 views (2007) by Paul Lee

Nose (2005) at the front and Glamour Wig (2005) at the back both by Rachel Harrison

Untitled (Spiral Staircase) (2007) by Peter Coffin

Continent (2007) by Jacob Hashimoto

Another of my favourite piece is Nine -

Nine (2007) by Guerra de la Paz

When I walked into the room and saw this tree-like installation, I was not entirely sure what the intention of the artist is. But you would want to approach it. You want to look inside and down under the clothes to explore it. You want to walk around and experience it. It is fun. It is inviting. And I started to let my mind go figure out what exactly this work is about - why there are so many layers of clothes like a crown of a tree covering up the identity of the standing feet? Is that what we do everyday, trying to dress ourselves up in a masquerade that nobody could see our real faces?

Forming (2007) by Patrick Hill

full photo set here

*****

Korean Eye: Moon Generation

until 01.10.2009

Saatchi Gallery

Homo Animatus (2007) by HyunKoo Lee

Also showing in the gallery is this show on contemporary Korean art. A fairly obvious common character among many of the works is a sense of humanity, be it the subject or the interpretation. Even some of the works may seems a bit abstract, they are in no way as abstract as the ones in the American show on the other side.

Shamoralta Shamoratha (2007) by Inbai Kim

Jangdockdae (2008) by Yi HwanKwon

Pla Mountain 09-188 (2009) by Whang Inkie

Close-up:

full photo set here

interview with damien weighill

Interview with Damien Weighill about his multiple-faced blog & some more -

Image from Damien's page

Q1: How did you get into illustrations in the beginning? Are you now a full-time illustrator?

A:

I studied graphic design at uni which involved a fair bit of illustration. From the work I exhibited at our degree show I was lucky enough to pick up my first commission and got approached by an agent. After that I worked as graphic designer for 3 years working on illustration projects on the side. So far I've been making my living solely as an illustrator for just over a year.

Advertising Meeting - from Damien's flickr

Q2: Are there any particular influences throughout your artistic career, e.g. other artists, certain types of music, certain social phenomenon etc.?

A:

I'm inspired by so much it would be impossible to single any one artist out but I guess the most consistent influence would be the people I spend most of my time with. I'm lucky enough to have a group of friends all pursuing various creative paths. There's no way I could sit back and see what they create without attempting to keep up.

Banner of Damien's "Your Face" blog

Q3: Your 'yourfaceblog' started in Jan 2007 and I guess it's been doing quite well from all the people sending photos and various comments received. How the process work? How do you develop the character of each 'face' based on just a single photo people sending in? Do you ask them what they would like to 'look like' in your illustration?

A:

Some people tell me a little about themselves and others send a blank email with photo attached but I usually just draw the first thing that comes into my head that amuses me. That could be inspired by something they wrote or maybe some little thing in the background of the photo but I don't really do requests. I think if I was just drawing from people's requests then I would have got bored of this project before it even got into double figures. There would also be a lot more portraits involving cats on the blog (and a lot less portraits with abundant facial hair). I get a frightening amount of emails from people telling me they like cats.

The queen on T-shirt, available in a shop at Earlham Street or online

Q4: Of your commercial commissions, which one(s) do you enjoy the most in terms of overall experience, or final outcome?

A:

There are a lot of commercial projects I've enjoyed working on but two recent projects come to mind first.

A book I worked on for Conqueror paper - Coming up with ideas is the part of illustration that really interests me so this job was perfect. I was given a number of broad themes like Nature or Transport and then was given room to fill the book with hundreds of ideas.

Conqueror - Endless Possibilities - Spread 2

Image from Damien's page

Then there's the Giggle Party music video. Almost all of the time I'm working on projects on my own so it was really great to have someone else to throw in ideas into the ring that I would never have come up with and to take things in new directions (co-director and animator Stephen Wake). The music throws up some pretty crazy scenarios so it was a lot of fun getting together to try and match that in the visuals.

Q5: A more technical question - how much time (proportionately) in general you spend between hand-drawing and computer-illustration on your works?

A:

90% Hand-drawing. 10% Computer. I keep my work in my head and sketchbook as much as possible. I mainly like to colour illustrations digitally because of the flexibility it allows and the fact it means I can spend less time colouring and more time focusing on the ideas.

Q6: Any future plans? What's next?

A:

I've got superhuman powers when it comes to making plans, plotting and scheming so I'll stick to the most immediate ones. Next is salad - Most likely involving mozzarella and pine nuts. Then I've got a bit of an obsession with ideas for birthday/greeting cards. I just printed a couple (http://damienweighill.com/2009/09/thinking-of-you/) and intend to print more as soon as I can. Oh, and portraits of course. Lots more portraits.

Further reading -

Damien's flickr collection

Damien's MySpace

Another interview Damien's done before with atribecallednext.com earlier this year

art september in london . part 1

Salon (London)

02-11.09.2009

295 Regent Street

full photo set here

The pop-up space at 295 Regent Street are filled with interesting works ranging from photography & installations to paintings and live performances. Having a colourful walking man in the middle of a disused floor space is quite an amazing encounter.

*****

Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton

09.07-20.09.2009

Whitechapel Gallery

Elizabeth Peyton's show in Whitechapel Gallery, as reported by "art & music" magazine (summer 2009 issue)

Something special about her works is that she seems to use small formats most of the time - 95% of the paintings are so small that they could be fit in your handbag or messenger bag. Yet despite the tiny size of each piece, the subject is usually of big fame. As seen in the show and as listed in wikipedia, her celebrity subjects have included Noel and Liam Gallagher of the rock band Oasis, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Chloë Sevigny, Princes William and Harry, Abraham Lincoln, Graham Coxon, Keith Richards, John Lennon, Marc Jacobs, Kurt Cobain, Eminem, Ludwig II of Bavaria, and members of The Kennedy Family.

Another signature of her works is the vivid palette she uses. However, the vivid background and/or surrounding would very often leave the subject looks particularly pale and stand-out in the painting. She also manages to capture gestures well.

To see the show is like witnessing a period of time which Elizabeth Peyton captured with her selection of the 'icons of the era'.

*****

Anthony Burrill: In a New Place

24.07-05.09.2009

Kemistry Gallery

Kemistry Gallery at Shoreditch featuring Anthony Burrill's trademark at the garage door

Anthony Burrill's new works in Kemistry Gallery is a collection of rainbow synthetic perspex cuts with the very mastery black, white and a bits of reflective mirror surfaces. There are also a few pieces about the meterological symbols - clouds, lightning and so on. Highly conceptual yet simple and pleasant.

For those who don't know him, A.B. (as his initials like what's shown above) is a reknown designer famous for his many websites for Air, Kraftwerk, David Holmes etc.

*****

Cold Corners by Eva Rothschild

Duveens Commission series

30.06-29.11.2009

Tate Britain

The pointy metal pipes bounce up and down across the main passage

*****

The Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground

rootstein hopkins foundation parade ground by you.

First time I visited this place which is next to Tate Britain. Nice open ground ideal for public exhibitions and/or performances. Would get to know more about its upcoming events and the works &/or artists on display.

Further reading -

Official page for Salon - 295 Regent Street

Wikipedia's entry for Elizabeth Peyton

Official gallery of Anthony Burrill's installation for the Kemistry Gallery show

Anthony Burrill's interview with Pixelsurgeon

Official page of Anthony Burill's show in Kemistry Gallery's website

Official page of Eva Rothschild's installation in Tate Britain

Official page of the Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground

Anish Kapoor Opens London's New 'Gallery Without Walls' by Marian Cleary for culture24

Chelsea College of Art & Design's online archive about the parade ground

art august in london - part 3

Beyond these walls

South London Gallery

24.07-20.09.2009

sign at the entrance

If you would like to know what site-specfic art is, this exhibition is a good opportunity to get some understanding. The South London Gallery is currently constructing an extension at the backyard area, which originally has a back entrance to the gallery and now beingn restored by Danish artist Tue Greenfort.

a corner at the backyard

the central space

Some of the works utilise existing materials on site and the twist created is by placing them in an unusual/extraordinary situation, something similar to détournement. All of the works are site-specific, disorientating or reinterpreting references from geographical, spatial or historical context of the gallery and the existing components they use (if any).

Untitled (2009) by Pieter Vermeersch - acrylic

Untitled (2009) by Leon Vranken - wood, varnish, glue

Untitled (2009) by Esther Stocker - foamboard and pins

The following one and the Corridor are my favourite. The gallery provides a very detailed factsheet on the exhibits, the artists and some further background on the exhibition. I believe it is in line with their education / community program, which has been very well executed with reference to its track record listed online.

Construction (2009) by Ayşe Erkmen - handwritten text on builders' helmets

The gallery is undergoing a £1.8-million expansion in which 6a Architects designed that would almost double the exhibition space. If you would like to know more about this extension, join their open house behind-the-scene tour in which the architect would be showing the attendant around on site and talking about their design.

full photo set here

overview of the central space -

Further reading -

Official website of South London Gallery

Review by Charles Darwent for the Independent, 02.08.2009

Looking under the skin at the south london gallery by Oliver Basciano for Building Design, 28.08.2009

art august in london - part 2

A Net of Eels

09.07-23.08.2009 at the Wapping Project, London

29.08-04.10.2009 at the Babylon Gallery, Cambridgeshire

outdoor seating in the evening

the restaurant part - atmosphere in the evening seems to be quite romantic-ish

The Wapping Project is a gallery in the former Wapping Hydraulic Power Station. There's also a restaurant in the same venue. Since I haven't been to this building before, it is a double reward to me on this visit.

rubber stamp - a very japanese set-up, you could see these in every train station and some tourist attractions in japan

With their personal backgrounds, what you see in this exhibition could be quite a diverse range of multimedia exhibits, from drawings, photographs, collectibles to audio recordings. The aim is probably to create a terrain of objects related to the culture of eels, mainly from the japanese population, for the visitors to explore and experience. Whether it was meant to encourage the visitors to engage in a self-reflection of culture-consumption or simply an appreciation of the dedication to a delicacy, it is up to the audience to decide.

a selection of art work related to the eels are presented

When one walk under the speakers of various fish markets from Tokyo to London, the bustling sound of people in transactions give an eerie feel to the deserted power station the exhibition is taking place. It is almost taking a volume of what's used to be white noise in the city and broadcasting it in a vacuum - anybody inside would be forced to listen to all the conversation and sound delivering out from the speaker. It's easy to say that by stepping back one could have a clearer view on things, but to a certain extent this is becoming increasingly difficult to do with information filling up the ambience every second nowadays - giant TVs in the city, speaking billboards in metro platforms, mobile boardband, twitter, facebook, etc. Everyone is trying to grab attention from everybody else. In the end, would all these white noise be productive to us? How could we tackle the dynamics and make good use of it? That remains a question to be resolved.

In the mean time, perhaps we could take inspriations first by observing how the eels navigate in water :)

Full photo set here

@londonart blog

Independent London art tweets & bites since 2009

Tag 2009

art october in london - part 3

art october in london - part 2

art october in london - part 1

london design festival recap - part 2

london design festival recap - part 1

art september in london - part 2

interview with damien weighill

art september in london . part 1

Anthony Burrill: In a New Place

art august in london - part 3

art august in london - part 2