Opening

Peek at Swoon’s “Anthropocene Extinction” Opening at Boston’s ICA

September 3, 2011 Artists, Boston, Events, Features, Museum, Opening

Swoon (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Opening tonight at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, is an exhibition of new work by Brooklyn Street Artist SWOON, called Anthropocene Extinction.

“The title addresses humanity’s impact on the environment,” says Pedro Alonzo, the Adjunct Curator of the show and the guy who brought the very successful Street Art exhibition “Viva La Revolucion” to San Diego last year.

Swoon (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Kind hearted and focused powerhouse SWOON continues her efforts to engage viewers at ICA with her hand cut wheat pasted installations of real people and mythical ones, symbolically telling a tale that brings responsibility for the environment directly to our feet. Wholistic in many respects, we find familiar recurring themes in the subject matter, the construction techniques, even the manner of fruition of the installations; The localized environment in which Swoon’s work evolves mirrors the collaborative vision and processes that will be necessary to address the very real issue of sustainability and disaster more populations are facing.

Swoon (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

For the politically charged time we’re in, a show like this could open itself to charges of smug liberal self satisfaction if the artists’ body of work and projects to create shelter from the storm were not so consistent and authentic. A person entirely engaged in every process, Swoon facilitates others’ stories and incorporates them along with more material considerations, like the 400-pound bamboo temple structure hanging from the ceiling here that uses traditional Chinese construction methods the artist has been studying (It’s excellent when viewed while riding the elevator). Balancing the durability of reinforced joints with the fragility of cut paper species floating through air, the exhibit calls to mind the range of responses we will need to employ if the march toward planetary destruction is to reverse, and if SWOON’s characters are going to survive.

Our thanks to photographer and BSA contributor Geoff Hargadon, who has been documenting Swoon’s installation for the show and who shares images with you here.

Swoon and assistant Alyssa Dennis work on a linocut print (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

An assistant helps Swoon with final touches on this wall. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Swoon (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

An assistant helps Swoon with this portion of the installation. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

An assistant helps Swoon with final touches on this wall. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Support for the Swoon installation is provided by Fotene Demoulas and Tom Coté, Geoff Hargadon and Patricia La Valley, Tim Phillips, and Connie Coburn and James Houghton.

Learn more about the exhibition Anthropocene Extinction at the ICA website HERE:

Read BSA’s interview with Pedro Alonzo here about his curatorial experiences on Viva La Revolución at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego last year.

Listen to an interview with Swoon and Pedro Alonzo on Boston’s WBUR.

Black Rat Projects Presents: “BRP Paper” (London, UK)

September 1, 2011 Artists, Events, Gallery, London, Opening, U.K.

BRP PAPER
Welcome Back! Here’s hoping everyone had a fantastic month of August despite the cold and rainy conditions. The Black Rat team is back from the far corners of Europe and we are thrilled to open our doors once again and welcome you to our September show ‘BRP Paper’ opening Thursday 8th of September through to October 16th.

Skilled and labour intensive, paper works respond to the rise of the digital age in small carefully crafted rebellions. Through the manipulation of paper today’s artists turn to this generation’s redundant material as a site of endless creative possibility. ‘BRP Paper’ will present bringing these international artists together for the first time to explore common themes in their work.

Another autumn milestone getting us excited is Black Rat’s participation in Christie’s Multiplied 2011 a fair devoted exclusively to Contemporary Art Editions. Running from 14th-17th October at Christie’s South Kensington, Multiplied will showcase the hottest new names and the best in contemporary art editions and Black Rat will be there right in the centre of the action so come by and say Hi!

See you all on the 8th!

Black Book Gallery Presents: ASVP “Down to Earth” (Denver, CO)

September 1, 2011 Artists, Colorado, Denver, Events, Gallery, Opening

ASVP

Opening reception September 2nd @ 7pm – Open to the public
Artists in attendance

Denver, CO (August 24, 2011) – ASVP is a New York based artistic team of two that began working together over 8 years ago and has more than 20 years of combined creative experience. The team has created paintings, murals and poster art that has been displayed in major cities across the world including London, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Hawaii, Zürich, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Varanasi India as well as New York City.

“The clean look and feel of the work comes from our commercial training in graphic design and advertising, but for us, many of the actual images are reflective of “a break-out” from a certain type of creative jail that we both found ourselves in. We felt like we were in the Creative Matrix—and we finally figured out how to unplug.”

ASVP’s work collages eastern and western images from multiple influences including; retro advertising, pop and comic book culture, mixed with bold typographic elements. The team uses dramatic multi-layered compositions with bright tones of pop-inspired color.

“The more aggressive imagery in the show comes from a defensive, almost resentful place, and more strongly shows the idea of us “breaking free” from our past to create things that are more honest. Other images in the show exhibit more restraint. When viewed together, the diversity of the work shows an honest depiction of our voice as a work in progress.”

ASVP’s first solo exhibit comes on the heels of two recent group shows including “Bushwick Open Studios” and most recently, “Can’t Hear the Revolution” at Kunsthalle Galapagos.

“Down to Earth” is comprised of nearly 40 silk screened pieces on paper and canvas with hand and spray painted elements in many of the works. Exhibit opens at Black Book Gallery on September 2nd and runs through September 30th.

Phone:
303-941-2458

General Info:
info@theblackbookgallery.com

Orders:
orders@theblackbookgallery.com

Black Book Gallery is located on the West side of Santa Fe Dr. Santa Fe is a North bound one-way street. Meter free parking is available on both sides of street.

Gallery Address:
555 Santa Fe Dr. Denver, Colorado 80204

Hours:

Tuesday – Saturday*
2pm – 6pm

Trinity College, Widener Gallery Present: Poster Boy Solo Show “Street Alchemy” (Hartford, CT)

September 1, 2011 Artists, CT, Events, Gallery, Hartford, Opening

Opening Reception:
Trinity College, Widener Gallery (Hartford, CT)
Thursday, September 15
4-7pm
Free Food & DJ

www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=154710841279080

After Party, Drinks & DJ from 8pm-? Location TBA

In case you don’t already know:

Poster Boy is a political street artist(s) from Brooklyn, New York. Poster Boy is known for spontaneously altering and collaging street and subway billboards with only a razor. The work ranges from incisive social commentary to satire to toilet humor, but like all unsanctioned graffiti and street art, it is considered vandalism and thus deemed illegal. All the while, the corporate graffiti that bombards our senses and pollutes our visual environment with advertisements remains unquestioned. This hypocrisy is the driving force behind Poster Boy’s work. In turn, the viewer is forced to consider the difference between what is legal and what is right.

Pure Evil Gallery Art Auction and Fundraiser for ROBBO (London, UK)

August 31, 2011 Artists, Events, Fundraising, Gallery, London, Opening, U.K.

ROBBO

We’ve just started putting up a few of the pieces handed in so far for the Preview of the ROBBO auction @ Pure Evil Gallery
The preview of the auction opens Thursday evening at 6pm but some images of the work donated so far is up already because we want to get on it straight away… so far we have already raised abut £25,000 selling paintings and prints which is going towards Robbo and his family… he has a baby who is 1 year and 8 months old and other children and we’re trying to help the family out.

The guy is in a coma still, but he seems to be responding to some commands… anyone who has speculated about his injury and what actually happened to put him in hospital heres the scoop : He fell outside his house and hit his head really badly on some stone steps and he has been in hospital ever since.

I dont care about the graffiti / street art politics behind Banksy vs Robbo thats just a falling out between 2 painters. In the bigger picture of things its meaningless . This is more important than all that, we’re just trying to help out a mate. He’s no angel but he’s had a hard knock (literally) and he needs our help.

Hold Up Art Gallery Presents: “Cluster Mess” Gosha Levochkin New Works and a Collaboration with Cyrcle (Los Angeles, CA)

August 31, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Los Angeles, Opening

Hold Up Gallery

HOLD UP ART GALLERY

PRESENTS

New Works by Gosha Levochkin

Cluster Mess

Opening Reception

Saturday, September 3, 2011 from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM

Exhibition runs through Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Hold Up Art

358 E. 2^nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Hold Up Art presents the work of Los Angeles-based artist Gosha Levochkin, whose latest collection of ink and watercolor works entitled CLUSTER MESS will be on display from September 3 through October 5. Twenty-seven original paintings, depicting a surreal urban environment and the characters that dwell there, will fill the space. This exhibition will also feature a collaboration between Gosha and Cyrcle, the Los Angeles street art collective whose “cut it out” works have taken the city by storm.

CLUSTER MESS refers to Gosha’s approach to the urban landscape, something that has always intrigued him. His work often strives to capture the aging of a building through the effects of time or use, and how people live among the dense clutter of the city and make it work, while still maintaining an underlying sense of humor. His fans have come to expect playful and thought-provoking compositions. This new collection of paintings from Gosha is marked by a conscious departure from his previous works in palette and narrative.

“My palette is different this time. I wanted to add more colors and I kind of let them do their own thing,” says Gosha of CLUSTER MESS. “I also added a storyline to my characters which is something that I haven’t done before. My installation will be a good example of showing how everything is disconnected yet connected at the same time.”

Gosha’s goal with this new exhibit is to make the viewer want to learn more about the characters; to imagine themselves in the world that he’s created.

Pandemic Gallery Presents: “Heat Beaten” A Group Show (Brooklyn, NY)

August 31, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, Events, Gallery, NYC, Opening

Heat Beaten
Well it’s been hot… DAMN HOT! The heat has beaten us yet again. But the summer is about to start winding down into fall, and to the eventual cold grip of winter. So in celebration… or acceptance… of this annual de-swelter we are hosting a multimedia group show with 9 great artists hailing from New York and Philadelphia. With work ranging from painting, printmaking, sculpture and installation, as well as murals painted directly on the gallery walls. The show will be a great farewell to the hot summer and a welcome mat for the cool autumn season.

Please join us for:

“Heat Beaten”
A summer’s end art show
Saturday, Sept. 10th
opening 7-11pm

Featuring:
Abby Goodman
Buildmore
El Hase
Ellis G
John Skibo
KA
Noah Sparkes
Sofia Maldonado
W. Thomas Porter

PANDEMIC gallery
37 Broadway btwn Kent and Wythe
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.pandemicgallery.com

Gallery hours:
Tues.-Fri. 11-6pm
Sat. & Sun. 12-7pm
closed Monday

or by appointment

L train to Bedford ave, J train to Marcy ave, or Q59 bus to Broadway/Wythe

New Image Art Presents: “2 of Amerikas Most Wanted” Neck Face & Fuck This LIfe (West Hollywood, CA)

August 31, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Opening, West Hollywood

New Image Art

“2 of Amerikas Most Wanted”

new works by

Neck Face and FUCK THIS LIFE

September 18 – October 14, 2011

Opening Reception Sunday September 18, 7-10pm

New Image Art

7908 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

Brooklynite Gallery and FB Gallery Present: Guy Denning “Purgatorio” (Manhattan, NY)

August 31, 2011 Artists, Events, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, Opening

Purgatorio
Guy Denning
“Purgatorio”
September 8 – 25
Opening Night: Sept. 8th, 6-9PM
*New York City ‘Pop-Up’ Location*

Brooklynite & FB Gallery
368 Broadway, Tribeca, NYC
BrooklyniteGallery.com
FBGallery.net
____________________________

On the heels of his highly successful “Inferno” exhibition in Italy earlier this year, Guy Denning presents the second of his three part series of oil paintings on Dante’s Commedia in New York City for the aptly titled exhibition, “Purgatorio”.

Originally drawing inspiration from Dante’s writings, Guy’s intention has not been to recreate the poem in a visual or literal sense, but instead let it act as a framework for his own personal interpretation. As with the writing of Shakespeare, Guy finds a perpetual relevance in Dante’s work where the specifics of name, situation and place are easily adapted to the modern world; as if time moves on but the problems of humanity remain essentially the same.

The events of September 11th and the emotional toll it took on the American individual is final and critical element to this body of work. Guy suggests that the suffering of America is too often defined by the media in terms of the political rather than the personal, leaving the individual voice of ordinary people sometimes unspoken in the narrative of history. His work sets out to make a small and personal amendment to that omission. Poignantly enough, this exhibition will be held in a NYC ‘Pop-Up’ location just blocks from Ground Zero and on the 10 Year Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

The work, though tied to Dante’s writing will also feature elements of images found on the internet, particularly of people in New York City on that terrible day. Significant press images are also used as reference for Guy’s work in hopes that they will be scrutinized that much more intensely than the photos we glance at far too quickly in newsprint. He has also constructed one large landscape painting, in the fashion of the traditional ‘history’ genre, made from connected canvas panels. This oil painting, derived from studying still frame images from amateur video footage, aims to create an assumed and complete narrative of the major elements of the day from a New York perspective.

Guy states that this is a collection of work recognizing the suffering of the American people on September 11th and immediately thereafter – when the United States had the sympathy of the world. He wants it to be viewed as nothing short of respectful to the memories of all those that died and suffered as a result – both in New York and beyond. Guy quotes another English artist William Blake who wrote “Can I see another’s woe, and not be in sorrow, too? Can I see another’s grief, and not seek for kind relief?” Despite the many cultural differences of the peoples of the world we are all essentially united by our humanity; our common desires, hopes and despairs. It is the ordinary people’s common humanity that will take us forward and not politically inspired violence.

Spoke Art Gallery Presents New Works by: Handiedan, Craww, Charmaine Olivia and Tatiana Suarez (San Francisco, CA)

August 29, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Opening, San Francisco

Spoke Art

Spoke Art Gallery

September Group Exhibition

Featuring: Handiedan, Charmaine Olivia, Craww and Tatiana Suarez

Opening night September 1, 2011 6pm – 10pm

show on view through September 22, 2011

Spoke Art is pleased to present our September Group Show featuring four artists from around the world. While there is a similar subject matter, each artist has their own individual aesthetic, form of medium and exploration of technique for representing the female figure in a substantially different way. We are excited to announce that all four artists will be in attendance.

Handiedan’s layered and intricate collages are influenced by old pin-up girl posters and movie images. She collects found items in the streets, old buildings, flea markets, and during her travels which she then later alters to create new works. In her artwork you can find Chinese post papers, cook book pages, old stamps, fabric, rusty nails, dried flowers, currency, and old movie posters. Charmaine Olivia’s arresting oil paintings capture sensual tattooed women. Whether they are wearing a fox mask, a feathery headdress, or there is a ship emerging from a tangle of black hair, it is hard to pull your eyes away from these beauties. In a recent interview she says, “As most of my paintings are some sort of reflection of me, this is me living vicariously through them.” Craww uses graphite and acrylic paints to fabricate seductively dark and fantastical women who come to him in his day-dreams. He enjoys seeing his creations evolve into something unexpected as he paints. He describes his work as “stream of consciousness doodlings and paintings. Steeped in ambiguity, often melancholic and usually featuring big hands and crows.” Tatiana Suarez is a multifaceted artist who primarily uses oils although you can also find her on the streets painting murals with a graffiti can. Her fascination with faces and emotional facial expression inspires her to create unique and vivid portraits. Touching on symbols and mythology from her Brazilian and El Salvadorian background, her trademark wide-eyed girls conjure other-worldly fantasy.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Handiedan, also known as Hanneke Treffers, was born in 1981 in a small town in the Netherlands. Recently, her work has been shown at: Phone Booth Gallery (Long Beach, CA), Mondo Bizzarro Gallery (Rome, Italy), and a solo show at Unit 44 (Newcastle, UK). She now lives and works in Amsterdam.

Charmaine Olivia is a self taught artist originally from San Diego, CA. Some of her clients and projects include: Urban Outfitters, Lady Gaga, Volcom Stone, Element, Nylon Magazine, Eyes on Walls, and Society 6. Recently she has had shows in San Francisco at Project One Gallery, Public Works, 111 Minna, Vessel (Oakland) , and C.A.V.E Gallery (Venice, CA). She is currently living in San Francisco.

Craww Recently he has shown with London Miles Gallery, Phone Booth Gallery (Long Beach, CA) and had a successful solo show entitled Crooked Comfort at C.A.V.E. in Venice, CA. Craww currently resides in Sheffield, England.

Tatiana Suarez was born in 1983 and is a graduate of the University of Miami’s graphic design program. Her work has been seen at Primary Flight, Art Basel (Miami, FL), Art Whino Gallery (MD) and our own Quentin vs. Coen show (NYC). After living in Miami, she has recently migrated to Brooklyn, NY where she is a full time artist.

http ://spoke –art .com /

Spoke Art Gallery

816 Sutter St.

San Francisco, CA 94109

Primary Projects Presents: “His Wife & Her Lover” A Group Show (Miami, Florida)

August 29, 2011 Artists, Events, Florida, Gallery, Miami, Opening

Primary Projects

Primary PROJECTS Presents – His WIFE & Her LOVER

A Group Exhibition featuring New Works from :

Valerie Hegarty, Mark Jenkins, George Sanchez Calderon, Dead Dads Club Corporation, Manny Prieres, Emmett Moore, Franky Cruz, Andrew Nigon, Cleon Peterson, Nick Klein, Johnny Robles, Jessy Nite, & Edouard Nardon

“The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”
– Pablo Picasso

“Destruction is the process of causing massive amounts of damage to something so that it no longer exists. This curatorial project is a response to this standard definition. With His WIFE & Her LOVER, causing damage to something breathes new life into the work and redirects its existence.”
– Primary Projects

Miami, FL (August 5, 2011) – Primary Projects is pleased to present His WIFE & Her LOVER, a group exhibit of thirteen artists with a healthy range of artistic discipline and defiance. Much like the cause and effect commonly associated with the love affair, Primary Projects has assembled a group of artists to call-and-respond to destruction, secrecy, violence, social class, pride and desire.

The opening reception of His WIFE & Her LOVER is slated for Saturday, September 10 from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. at Primary Projects (4141 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 104, Miami Design District) and is free and open to the public; complimentary beverages are provided by 42 Below and Perrier. Curated by BooksIIII Bischof, Typoe and Chris Oh, the show will be on view until October 1, 2011. For more information, please visit www.primaryprojectspace.com or call 954.296.1675.

Valerie Hegarty embodies the soul of this exhibit in her works. The joy of her approach lies in its destruction rather than its creation. Centering her practice on the politics of the American myth, Hegarty’s canvases and sculptures replicate emblems of frontier ethos – colonial furniture, antique dishware, heroic paintings of landscapes and national figures – only to demolish them by devices associated with their historical significance.

Los Angeles-based Artist Cleon Peterson presents a world in which contrasting schemes of morality result in eruptive hostility between social classes. Common in Peterson’s work, he depicts upheavals that embody these inner workings of the individual that can easily correspond to the mechanisms of society. Ultimately, it’s up to the viewer to take sides and feel sympathy or schadenfreude, indignation or catharsis.

Respond, destroy, create, destroy; a cycle that can be viewed as a simplified narrative to Edouard Nardon’s work entitled “Only the Strong.” Nardon fabricates twenty authentic shivs in the jailhouse tradition with objects assembled from common prison materials. Nardon then breaks down these objects and reassembles with the sole purpose to destroy again.

These brief examples are a glimpse into the overall mood and complexities romantically displayed in this ominously bright exhibit. Primary Projects is a multidisciplinary, multifaceted, experimental project space. Powered by artistic collective Primary Flight, the organization’s mission is to develop intelligent projects and installations that can be considered noteworthy achievements for both the artists and curators alike. Primary Flight’s mission is to supply patrons with an alternative destination for creative vision, inspired by years of street level curatorial endeavors at Primary Projects.

The revival of public art over the past 20 years has found an incubator in Miami with Primary Flight, which since 2007 has produced a thoughtful, new brand of outdoor works transcending genres and labels. Primary Projects takes cue from the attitude and intellect commonly associated with this genre of art.

Exhibition Duration | September 10 – October 1, 2011

Opening Reception | Saturday, September 10, 2011 | 7 – 11 pm

Private Collectors Preview | Friday, September 9, 2011 | 6 – 9 pm

Artist Panel Discussion | Moderated by George Sanchez Calderon | Friday, September 16, 2011 | 7:30 pm SHARP

High Roller Society Presents: “Metamorphosis” LUDO (London, UK)

August 29, 2011 Artists, Events, Gallery, London, Opening, U.K.

LUDO

Drawn with the precision of botanical illustrations, Ludo sociological imagery and malevolent creatures are as elegant as they are fierce. Hailing from France, Ludo has been creating attention around industry-fueled consumer culture for over a decade. Seamlessly fusing nature wondrous species with its man-made destructive counterparts, these works intend to jolt us out of a longstanding collective denial: despite repeated natural disasters, we refuse to acknowledge our own fragile state. Ludo resulting quasi-mutant images so effortlessly evoke contemporary creative canons that they might almost go unnoticed, underscoring the impact of “commercial propaganda” on both taste and decency. For his first London solo exhibition, Ludo transmutations are an accumulation of new works spanning sculpture, drawing, and print. This exhibition also heralds the international launch of a 72-page full colour book, OPUS #23, with an Introduction by Marc & Sara Schiller of Wooster Collective. A limited 25 signed copies will be available for sale during the exhibition.
Opens 9.9.11 High Roller Society Unit 10 Palmers Road Bethnal Green London E2 0SY
Hopefully I will see some of you there.
all the best,
ludo

For further information regarding this show visit the gallery site:

http://highrollersociety.com/

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