Somerset House - Venturing Beyond Residency: Antwan Horfée and Russell Maurice

Somerset House lay host to two artists Antwan Horfée and Russell Maurice for the Venturing Beyond exhibition as part of Utopia 2016. From 13 to 20 April, both artists took residency in the Courtyard Rooms of Somerset House to create live works themed on the exhibition and exploring "comic abstractions".

The pieces will run alongside the main exhibition until 2 May 2016.

#utopia2016 #venturingbeyond

Somerset House - Venturing Beyond: Graffiti and the Everyday Utopias of the Street

The Venturing Beyond exhibition is produced and curated by A(by)P with Somerset House, and is part of the Utopia 2016: A Year of Imagination and Possibility. The exhibition provides a platform for the artists to explore in taking a "risk for something more". The artworks grow to address the visuals of going beyond the norm of what is depicted in society. The exhibition explores the experimentation of art in forcing down any barriers leading to different possibilities. 17 artists took part in this exhibition with some of them below:

Husmitnavn (L - R) Busy Doing Nothing, Watching Out. Roll Up

Husmitnavn (L - R) The Shadow, Escapism

Revok - _5.A_Magenta_

Lucas Dillon (L - R) The Blind Leading the Blinds, Expecting to Leave, Organic Shrapnel (I), The Sound of Confusion, The Eternal Drunk (Throwing Beans), The Baboonaries of Us

Antwan Horfée - Blur 1, 2 and 3

Mishap Hollenbeck (L - R) Uberraschunseffekte I, No News (1,2 and 3), Reformation I, II, III

Saeio (L - R) - Oil 1, 2 and 3

Saeio - Lacquer/Ink 1

 #VenturingBeyond #Utopia2016

Lights of Soho - Feature Series (Spotlight)

Soho has been synonymous with neon lights by Chris Bracey with his pieces making it across the sex establishments in the area. It was only fitting that a gallery opened featuring works that moths will find appealing as well that is the Light of Soho! I popped down to see their Spotlight exhibition which ends on April 2016.

Heading down during the day will give access to the member's lounge and installation in the window display is just as impressive as it is during the night. It's not hard to miss when walking down Brewer Street as you are hit with the wondrous colours of Neon Dog by Deepa Man-Kler, which was also featured in Lumiere London 2016, and comes complete with neon bones and poo.

The exhibition also features the works of M3 (Matt Mackman) and Illuminati Neon, who bring their own unique styling to their neon pieces.

Neon Dog - Deepa Mann-Kler

England's Dreaming - Illuminati Neon

Holidays in the Sun -

Ever Fallen in Love - Illuminati Neon

A+: 100 years of visual communication by women at Central Saint Martins

The A+ exhibition at the Central Saint Martin's is a striking exhibition with over 50 female students and staff from the institute. The exhibition highlights in bold form, the disparency between the rate of women entering the graphic profession following their studies and aims to bring to the forefront of the contribution they bring to the partition. The pieces are gathered from a century of works done by women dating back to the 20th century. Starting on 23 February, the exhibition will be running on to 23 March 2016.

The Mayor Gallery presents Calculations, Permutations, Notations - LAb[au]

The Mayor Gallery presents calculations, permutations, notations with all artworks created by LAb[au]. The exhibition coincided with Lumiere London 2016 festival in which Lab[au] is featured with their art installation binaryWAVES. The exhibition ran from 13 – 31 January 2016 at the .

The exhibition, very much like binaryWAVES, employs technology for the most part of the exhibition to animate their work as it plays on the geometry, shape and lighting to create different allusions and added textured layers to the artworks.

The pieces that feature origami has a subtlety to them which is further reinforced with the slender and occasional movements as a flap moves across playing on the surrealistic themes that run throughout the exhibition. More to the this theme is the concept of technology as also appears in print as well in oneOfABillionDays which features a series of alphanumerics that dances and dazzles upon the eye. LAb[au] presents the idea of “algorithmic logic” to challenge the idea of the contemporary vision and appeal.

mosaique 4x4x4 bw

signaltoNoisePermutation

origamiSquare 6x6x4

oneOfABillionDays

Origami Square 6x6x1

origamiSnubSquare 17x1

Sculpture in the City 2015

Sculpture in the City are a yearly sculpture trail found in the City of London, presented as part of City of London's Cultural Strategy. This year, there are 14 contemporary art installations created by international artists. This year's Sculpture in the City has won the 2015 Civic Trust Award recognising projects or installations that creates a significant contribution to its surrounding's quality and appearance.

1. Alter - Kris Martin - St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate Gardens
The installation is a metal representation of the multipanelled Ghent Alterpiece, original created by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck in the 15th Century, which was known as The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Reproduced with only the frame and without the folding panels, the work encourages spectators to glance through the windows into the cityscape.

2. Bells II - Kris Martin - 99 Bishopsgate
This installation features two bells which are linked together by the mouths. The bell changes were kept to the minimal and it was positioned in a way that symbolised a kiss as well as an air of silence as nothing can escape the seal. Martin was inspired by small things that can make us see and understand the world around us.

3. Days of Judegment - Cats 1 & 2 - Laura Ford - 150 Leadenhall Street
The artwork shows to very tall, skinny cats, named Adam and Eve, as they pace back and forth. As a projection of our own fears and concerns, the cats have featureless facial expressions as well as a hand that obscures their face.

4. Ghost - Adam Chodzko - Leadenhall Market
The artwork is a combination of a kayak, coffin and camera rig with the paddler in the back and the passenger in the front. The guest would lay out as if in a coffin and the journey represents a metaphorical journey to the Island of the dead. A camera on the bow record each passenger’s journey.

5. Old DNA - Folkert de Jong - Lime Street, outside Willis
A rework on a 3D scan of a suit armour of Henry the VIII, it is a psychological take on power and how it can endure the test of time.

“The scene De Jong creates does not feel like an official history, but rather a hidden or unseen moment – an uncovered conspiracy from the past” – Sam Lackey, Hepworth Wakefield museum curator

6. Rays (London) - Xavier Veilhan - Fenchurch Avenue, outside Willis
Part of the “Rays” series created since 2011, the series is a tribute to Jesús Rafael Soto and Fred Sandback. The artwork plays on its surroundings, focussing on light, shadow and architecture.

7. ‘O my friends, there are no friends’ - Sigalit Landau - St Helen’s Square
Shoes made from a traditional material being bronze, challenges monumental sculptures and is done as a “commemoration of the future, when we will be able to slip into these shoes and be part of the community that will create a better history, with more solidarity, more generosity and regeneration”. The sculpture is built on a pedestal making it anti-monument, while the bronze shoe laces made with real laces brings in the softness and vulnerability.

8. Red Atlas - Ekkehard Altenburger - 30 St Mary Axe (Gherkin)
This artwork is park of the Atlas series, where it seeks to create balance between the physical to the architecture in the environment around us. It is held in place by the weight, where we can see the physicality of it against the urban space around it, making an observation between the object, architecture and ourselves.

9. Carson, Emma, Takashi, Zezi, Nia – Tomoaki Suzuki - 30 St Mary Axe
The artwork is a contemporary interpretation on Japanese woodcarving and is the first work that employs the use of bronze by Susuki. The work is a reflection of the diverse youth in London which the artist draws on from living life in London. Due to its scale, Suzuki was able to add a lot of details to them as well as encouraging viewers to draw in closer.

10. Organisms of Control #8 - Keita Miyazaki - Bury Court
Miyazaki created a utopian of a dystopian Japan following the tragedy of the Japan tsunami and earthquake in 2011. This artwork was created from the rubbles of the devastation as a way to symbolise new beginnings. Music plays as part of the installation, using original composition found in Japanese supermarkets as well as sounds from London and Tokyo and Tokyo’s transport system, bringing out the geographical connection between London and Tokyo.

11. Forever - Ai Weiwei - St May Axe
Forever was installed in September 2015 to coincide with Ai Weiwei exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. The work features multiplications of stacked bikes as a statement of the mass-manufactured “Forever” brands of bikes that were produced in Shanghai in 1940, which are slowly disappearing left, right and centre, in favour of cars.

12. Charity - Damien Hirst - Undershaft
The 22 foot bronze sculpture is all too familiar with my partner who immediately recognised it as the Spastics Society (now known as Scope) charity collection girl, which were prominent in the 60’s and 70’s outside chemist shops. The installation depicts the virtue of charity as a vulnerable symbol in a single girl, as she is ransacked and vandalised with coins scattered around her feet and a crowbar behind her. This was featured in Hirst first solo exhibition in 2003 as part of Romance in the Age of Uncertainty exhibition in White Cube Hoxton Square.

13. Breakout II - Bruce Beasley - Undershaft - Hixcox
Breakout II includes cuboid forms as they overlap creating structures of natural crystal with an added layer of patinas. The installation was created with 3D-design software and then crafted into solid bronze. The work balances between precision engineering and organic form.

14. Broken Pillar #12 - Shan Hur - St Helen’s Bishopsgate Churchyard
The Broken Pillar #12 is part of a series of works developed over the last 5 years. Embedded is an object found on location, which aims to question the world around us and the objects hidden within it.

#sculptureinthecity

Ben Uri - Out of Chaos

As a way to celebrate their 100th year centenary, Ben Uri Gallery hosted their Out of Chaos exhibition in Somerset House, showcasing works that have seldom been seen by the public. The exhibition maps out 100 years of Ben Uri’s history in London. The exhibition contains archival materials, detailing experiences of both World Wars as well as exploring art through the mediums of migration and identity. In fact, Ben Uri has over 1,300 artworks mainly focussed around 20th century art that specialises in issues surrounding migration and identity. 

They artworks are split into their retrospective designated themed rooms which include:
Integration & Identity – A look at artists’ that have moved from their European homelands to the East End, often bringing forth their traditions and identities, or those who have become embedded in the British social and artistic life.

• Conflict & Modernism – Explores the rise of the ‘Whitechapel Boys’ group of Jewish artists’ contribution to British modernism.
• Forced Journeys – Explores the era of Nazi Germany surrounding issues of identity and migration.
• Postwar – Explores the change in the artistic landscape following the start of multiculturalism and change in the British society.
• 2001 - The Present – Focusses on the current artists exploring identity and migration through art since 2001 and of recent acquisitions. 
• The Future – Young artists across different nationalities explores art through different mediums which include film, video, installation and photography.

Sophie Robertson’s Rage and Release are companion pieces. Rage deals with the struggle as Robertson’s muse struggles to get into her corset and howls out in anger. This may reflect society’s expectations on how women fashion their body, which may have harmful consequences. Release is otherwise on the contrary to Rage as she bathes placidly, where she accepts that she is an object of desire.

Photographer Natan Dvir’s Homesh Evacuation #1 work mainly focusses on the political, social and cultural issues. He beautifully captures a powerful moment during an eviction of Jewish settlers at a settlement in West Bank of Homesh.

Shmuel Dresner’s The Ghost Town uses a collage of torn and burnt book pages as reference to the Nazi book burnings of 1933 and at the attempt of destroying the European Jewry.

Mark Gertler’s Merry-Go-Round is an illustrious painting with vociferous use of colours. It paints Gertler’s vision of a pacifist looking at a nightmare of conflict as the carousel riders have their mouths opened in an unending scream. Author D.H. Lawrence said that the painting was a “a real and ultimate revelation”.

Josef Herman’s Refugees is a poignant expressions of Jewish refugees as they try to escape the dangers during the Second World War as they leave their homes. The painting shows the deep fear in the family’s eyes as they try to make their way to safety, while a wolf in the distance has a bloodthirsty countenance.

Alfred Wolman’s Portrait of Mrs Ethel Solomon in Riding Habit presents Mrs Solomon in very minimal dark colours against her skin complexion giving her an air of control, adding to her stance of pose.

#BenUri100

Frith Gallery - Chen Zhen

A Chen Zhen exhibition was held at Frith Street on Golden Square, London. The exhibition was held on 7 July to 14 August 2015. Chen Zhen is known as one of the leading figures in Chinese Avant-Garde.

 

The first piece I came across in the exhibition is the Autel (Alter) Series which explores the artist’s experiences of the consumer society. The most prominent piece which is most striking is of the red ball which is a meteorite encased in Bauxite ore. Objects beside it shows the sacrifice of the consumer object as it gives itself to the birth and death represented in the meteorite.

 

The next installation is the Cocon du Vide (Empty Cocoon) which resembles both a “cocoon” and someone bent down in prayer. The installation is made with threads of prayer and abacus beads with a child’s toy in the centre made with a shell case and ammunitions. The title seems to suggest with the work the idea of rebirth and growth, especially with the juxtaposition between the toy and the cocoon casing.

 

On a table has atop the Crystal Landscape of Inner Body, made with glasswork, forms organs made up in the human body. Each piece also takes on a symbol of the 12 astrological signs.

Instrumental Musical is a series of works made up of traditional Chinese chamber pots. It is associated with the sound of cleaning, which is linked to Chen Zhen’s experiences in the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Un-interrupted Voice is are percussion instruments made from beds and chairs from around the world. The work is connected to the ideology of Buddhists would rather be beaten than speak out openly about faith. The drumstick, made from police batons, are to strike the instruments as a way of self-awareness or “drumming an awakening of the mind” and is not to imply any form of real violence.

 

Lands-Objectscape has these desolate settings illustrated with everyday objects in glass “coffins” to signify victims of the consumer society.

Hung from the ceiling is Lumière Innocente (Innocent Light) which is of a child’s bed which shares the same feel of Cocon du Vide.

“A child’s bed hanging in space … A transparent organic form … A silent life attached to a thread in the void, nascent and vanishing. A cocoon of light …” Chen Zhen describing Lumière Innocente

 #ChenZhen