Alias Arts

Great new video of  work by Vhils that really documents his creative process. <br>

Ridiculously this work from Dep only lasted about a week after complaints from local residents. There will be more from this wall in Curtain Road, Shoreditch tomorrow.

Dep

Solo One / Dep

15,000 people have signed up to see a free event taking place in the dank, dark Victorian Tunnels underneath Waterloo station during this week. Details are very sketchy of what to expect – the official website offers very little in the way of clues as it hides behind the façade of a railway track cleaning company with only a booking form and a rough map to guide the visitor. Reports detail that it’s a head on collision of ideas between performance art company Punchdrunk, Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic and a multitude of artists, many of whom are loosely connected with the ‘urban/outsider’ art scene – certainly Lazarides is listed amongst the contributors. Arriving at the entrance located on the taxi run up to Waterloo station you are ushered inside to a lobby where the minimum of information is given to you by black clad masked guards who tersely instruct “No photos, do not speak to other visitors, wear this face mask’. I’d asked earlier about taking photos and was told “absolutely not, not even for the press” so you’re going to have to use your imagination from hereon in to visualise whats down in the tunnels. Getting your eyes accustomed to the dark you walk down a slope to a series of interconnecting rooms with significant pieces of art picked out by spotlights. There’s a ridiculously (as in bling) over the top gold statue of two angels fighting by Antony Micallef and tucked away in small corners are deftly lit model railway sized street scenes of bingo halls and service stations by Slinkachu. Looking at a coffin the guy next to me attempts to take a picture on his mobile phone and a guard immediately slinks out of the shadows and forcefully tells him “no photos, respect the dead”. In fact there are guards everywhere, watching and ticking off those who fail to obey the rules. Its hard to tell whether they are acting a part (strangely there’s another guy wandering around untroubled with a large camera taking as many photos as he wants), protecting image rights to the place or are just no different to the attendants who would tell you off for attempting exactly the same things in Tate Modern. And that is in part my problem with the show. Kevin Spacey had the idea for the place after seeing Banksy’s Cans Festival in the tunnel next door to these ones. That show was also free but had no restrictions on taking photos – hell you could even rock up and paint the walls yourself if you fancied a go. Here, in Tunnel 228, everything is controlled which left me wondering about the reasons why. Was it because if people could take pictures or talk it would take away from the chilly atmosphere generated by the guards? I can certainly understand that as a reason and I respected it during my time there but something else gnawed at me – were the restrictions simply about ensuring control? There were to be ‘No press photos’ – so why does the Evening Standard and Guardian have a gallery of shots taken at the show on their website? And the free book that you receive on exit (a very nice touch indeed) lists amongst the sponsors Bloomberg – yes that Bloomberg – the chief herder in the financial markets. It might just be me but I’ve been used to seeing work by the artists involved being free from this kind of ‘support’, certainly in such a visible way. There’s a fantastic Vhils ‘Boss Face’, cut out of the render on a wall and stained with coffee but unlike any other pieces of his work it felt as protected as if it had been in the National Gallery. There’s a great deal to see, much of it is very good (I particularly liked the miniature train that disappeared off into the darkness, rising up into the air only to return a few minutes later). The worker walking upside down on a track in the ceiling just to plant a flower was another favourite. No doubt about it – if you’ve managed to get a ticket you’re in for a treat – I just wish I could get rid of this feeling that something is being lost in our connection to this art…and yet I understand fully that without sponsorship an event on this scale would be almost impossible to be kept free. Outsider art sponsored by Bloomberg…I’ll leave you to make your own mind up where this is all going….

Against my better judgement you can now follow artofthestate on twitter.

Well maybe the titles a bit harsh because its not exactly their fault that Eine‘s tour de force of a screen print of his shutter font has sold out online. This only leaving tonights event at Nelly Duff as probably the final opportunity to get one. And I can’t make it. Hence the title.

Anyone wondering what all the fuss about Eine’s shutter font is about should take a look here.

Show flyer is below:

Yesterday I finally managed to make it over to see the London Police show at Stolen Space. It’s one I’ve been looking forward to ever since it was announced as TLP were once prolific on these streets and it’s about time they had a London gallery show of their work. They’ve produced a stunning set of canvases all painstakingly hand drawn in indelible ink. The results are, in my opinion, incredible in their complexity and their obvious talent. I liked the small details which only become apparent on closer inspection such as the inclusion of self portraits on one canvas and setting the time on Big Ben to include 20 12. The show finishes soon so if the pictures below whet your appetite get there while you can. If you can’t make it you can also see a very nicely shot complete set of pictures from the show on Wallkandy’s Flickr stream.

I blogged about Shunt recently (the cooperative running one of London’s most interesting venues in tunnels and vaults under London Bridge station) and a return visit was in order after several artists were invited to paint its walls. The work below will more than likely remain in place until Shunt’s permit to use the space expires around May 2009.

Dep paintshopstudio.com

Orko

Mishfit

Finbarr DAC

Hutch

delete

foundry

Left to right

Fark FK / Snub23 / Dan Kitchener

More photos from Shunt on the artofthestate Flickr photostream

I don’t normally post about print releases – all of these are covered much better elsewhere on other blogs – but I thought I would make an exception for this one from Above as I made a special effort to see the original on which it is based back in 2005.

The original location was in New Haw in Surrey under the M25. Unless you wanted to get very wet (!) you had to go on a long walk to get to take a picture like the one below from the other side of the canal.

There has always been some dispute if the flag should be referred to as the ‘Union Jack’ or the ‘Union Flag’. The Royal Navy call it the Union Flag when it is on land and its only called the Union Jack when it is flying on one of their ships, i.e. ‘at sea’. I guess in this location Above is more than entitled to call it a Union Jack!.

There’s a new print available of this based on Above’s photo for both £69.00 and £99.00 from Above’s website. More details below or order from here: http://goabove.com/main/?p=256

(Green and red special edition)

PRINT NAME: “UNION JACK ARROWS”

EDITION SIZE: 70 REGULAR EDITION (RED/BLUE) + 20 SPECIAL EDITION (ORANGE/GREEN)
PRICE: REGULAR EDITION (RED/BLUE) = 69.00 BRITISH POUNDS /// SPECIAL EDITION (ORANGE/GREEN) = 99.00 BRITISH POUNDS.
LIMIT PER PERSON: 2 PRINTS PER PERSON TOTAL  *(ONLY 1 SPECIAL EDITION PER PERSON)
PAPER/INK: 7-COLOR HAND PULLED SCREEN PRINT ON 22 IN. X 15 IN. ( 56 cm. X 38 cm. ) LENNOX 100  ARCHIVAL WHITE 250 GSM.
*EVERY PRINT IS CUSTOM EMBOSSED, SIGNED, DATED AND NUMBERED BY ABOVE.
AS ALWAYS, ABOVE DESIGNED AND SCREEN PRINTED EVERYTHING HIMSELF. IT DOESN’T GET MORE PERSONAL THAN THIS!

OFFICIAL PRINT INFO: Above first painted these UNION JACK Arrows in LONDON during his “2005 EUROPEAN TOUR” where he painted and installed his signature Arrow’s in 14-countries. We think this prints image and reflection transforms the already good looking UNION JACK motif transform into something mesmerizing. The directional symmetry of the arrows going up and down are a great balance with sharp colors to draw you in even closer. Above spent a lot of time making sure each print was “perfect” and we all agree that this is his best screen print has pulled thus far. We hope you enjoy this print as much as we do. We thank you in advance for your support.

New work from Fake in Hoxton Street, London. Great idea, great execution. Painted on (I’m guessing) a permissioned spot in Hoxton Street.

Its Easter time and to celebrate this time of year Above has completed a new stencil scene which combines this theme with more topical issues. Welcome to the Easter AIG hunt. There’s a video here too.