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      Debut Solo Show by Jess Valice at Carl Kostyál Gallery, London

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      Jess Valice’s debut solo show in London will open at Carl Kostyál, 12a Savile Row on Wednesday, April 6th, private view 6-8 pm to coincide with the Mayfair West End Gallery HOP.Born 1996 in San Fernando Valley, California, Valice lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Having initially studied Biopsychology she later decided to become an artist instead. She is precociously gifted, both as a painter and in her handling of space. For this exhibition, she has made a series of large and small scale portraits in oil.Bold in scale and unflinching in their gaze, the face of the artist gazes out at us, like selfies rendered confidently, masterfully in oil. The artist as meme. Pensive, uncertain, lost in mourning for her father, who hailed from Italy and whom she recently lost, all too young, Valice’s compositions nod to a classical tradition of portraiture, their signifiers clear. Their distorted perspectives and the romantic stylised backdrops beyond the faces to 17th Flemish pastoral landscapes. But her characters, and she becomes such as the subject of her own painting, share a cartoonish voice that recalls the clownishness of George Condo, the outrageous figures of Phillip Guston, the bold and monumental gestures of Dana Schutz, their exaggerated extremities, feet, hands and ears, loom large, oversize, like Popeye’s bulging biceps, pulling the rug of assumed gravitas from underneath the painting as we study it.Jess Valice has exhibited at Carl Kostyál, Milan and Stockholm; Bill Brady, Miami; ATM Gallery, NY, The Pit, LA; Wilding Cran Gallery, LA; The Lodge, LA; and the Library Street Collective in Detroit. More

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      DesignerCon UK Lands In London

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      DesignerCon, the hugely successful US event, makes its UK debut this month. Bringing together urban art, cult toys, sneakers, fashion, NFTs and more all under one roof, this is a must-do for all modern collectors and superfans.DesignerCon is an annual art and design convention that smashes together collectible toys, customs, plush, designer apparel and so much more with urban, underground and pop art in a celebration of all aspects of design from all over the world.For all those interested in non-fungible tokens, DesignerCon will be joining NFT Art guru Ricky O’Donnell as he hosts a world exclusive live NFT event. Fans can learn how to buy, sell, collect and bask in the glory of NFT platforms and networks, or ask Ricky questions directly in an open forum.Kingdom of Trainers boss Franklin Boetang will be hosting “The Kingdom”, an exclusive showcase of creative urban brands. In this arena, you’ll also be able to join Forcefield, who launch their UK website at the event, ride a special bike track created by Mate Bikes, view a bespoke installation by KarlaCorn and shop brands such as Cabral Mercer and Sailing Soul. For toy collectors, there will be collectables available exclusively to buy at the show, celebrating the Designer Con mascot “Vincent”. Check out Bearbricks Marty Vincent by Scott Tolleson , Dissected Vincent by Jason Feeny or Kidrobot Vincent Dunny.The Mighty Jaxx Artist Spotlight will showcase up and coming talent such as Amr Design, Christopher Luke, Da Star, anti-suicide toy Grum Reapur and more.Kicking off at the ExCel Centre, the event opens this Friday, August 20th.  Tickets are priced at £50 for Weekend VIP, £20 for standard Weekend and £10 for Day Passes.VIP ticket holders will receive a variety of products and perks that general admission does not receive. From Friday VIP night, to weekend early bird entry, exclusive giveaways, VIP line access for faster entry, VIP lounge access and a whole bunch more…GET YOUR TICKETS HERE  More

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      “22 Years Smiling with Friends” Group Show by Pez in StolenSpace Gallery, London

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      After 2 years since the success of Pez’s group show, “20 Years Smiling with Friends”, Stolen Space Gallery is excited to welcome back Pez and his “fish friends” for “22 Years Smiling with Friends” – a celebration of artistic and personal kinship. 25 artists will take part in collaborating with Pez across mediums, including on print, paper, and canvas. Each artist will bring their own unique style and characters into the world of Pez!The show will be open to the public from August 6 to August 29, 2021. Opening night is scheduled on the 5th August, 6-9pm. The event is free for all to attend, no need to RSVP.Spanish street artist Pez began painting the streets in 1999, creating his signature character of the Fish. This character comes from the experimentation and the desire to do something constructive on the walls of his city. The always smiling fish is his alter-ego of sorts. It is present in all his works, and composed with a colourful palette of positivism. His artwork is a journey full of joy, that ranges across classic graffiti to experimental pop art.Check out the images and posters to see “22 Years Smiling with Friends” artist lineup. More

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      “Proud Little Pyramid” by Adam Nathaniel Furman in Kings Cross, England

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      As Pride month draws to a close, King’s Cross will explode with camp, colour and creativity as British Argentine-Japanese artist and designer Adam Nathaniel Furman unveils their ‘Proud Little Pyramid’ in Granary Square. Known worldwide for their irreverent architectural creations and infectious love of colour, pattern and ornament, Furman’s ‘Proud Little Pyramid’, which will remain in place throughout the summer, is designed to monumentalise joy during Pride after such a difficult year. The 31ft pyramid, which has communal seating integrated into its base, is designed to act as a beacon in the centre of King’s Cross signposting the entrance to Coal Drops Yard, reinforcing Granary Square’s reputation as a place for people to meet and come together.During the six-month residency – their first for a destination – Furman will use King’s Cross as a creative playground, delivering multiple ‘fabulous’ artworks across the site as well as a series of pop-up retail experiences, in person and virtual events. Furman will also launch and co-judge the destination’s first annual poster competition in the run up to London Design Festival which would be open to all with a prize value of £2,500 for the winning entry.  Up to 60 posters from the competition would be showcased during the autumn in the Outside Art Project, an outdoor gallery spread across King’s Cross.King’s Cross has built a reputation as a London arts and culture destination, using its public spaces and buildings to showcase artworks from a huge variety of artists and sculptors such as Eva Rothschild and Tess Jaray, street artists such as Andy Leek and Rana Begum, and painter and curator Rashid Araeen.“King’s Cross has been the backdrop for so much of my life – I have learnt, loved and laughed here. In the 90s I was regular at iconic nightclubs The Cross & the Scala and later a student and then teacher at Central St Martins. Whilst I have taken inspiration for my residency from King’s Cross’ recent queer history from the 80s through to the early 2000s, I have also looked back to London’s Victorian heritage in which dramatic monuments of all sizes, from water fountains and public loos, to tube stations, memorials and town halls  brought accessible decorative art to  public spaces. I want to make history – and its complexity- instantly present and fun. And the opportunity to use this vast and striking space – once my playground, now my canvas – is beyond thrilling.” Furman exlplains.Anthea Harries, Head of Assets for King’s Cross, comments “We are proud to be working with Adam Nathaniel Furman as our latest Artist in Residence. At King’s Cross we are committed to delivering outstanding places, and art is a fundamental part of that. We have been working with artists to create installations at King’s Cross for 15 years now and the site is home to numerous spectacular pieces that act as orientation points for meeting friends and loved ones, as well as to interact and play with. Now more than ever we need to bring as much joy and opportunity to everyday life as possible, and King’s Cross remains the ideal backdrop for embracing these simple pleasures and looking forward to the future with optimism.”Photo credits: John Nguyen/PA Wire More

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      “Revenge Body” by Emma Stern at Carl Kostyál Gallery, London

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      Carl Kostyál London is proud to present Revenge Body, Emma Stern’s first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition is open from 13th May to 12th June 2021.Borrowing from the visual vocabulary of online niche subcultures such as fursonas, fandom and 3D erotica, Stern plays with the quasi-pornographic representation of women in the virtual world, combining traditional painterly techniques such as monochromatic underpainting and chiaroscuro with virtual 3D programmes and modelling to create eerily anonymous, finely-worked ‘portraits’, reclaiming these man-made avatars for the female domain.“What my work is most critical of is the inherent inclination toward pornographic (or at least porn-adjacent) representations of women throughout cyberspace. As our virtual selves become ever-more inextricable from our physical selves, I’m interested in how the preferences of the programmers are imposed on virtual female bodies within the largely male-dominated arena of software and technology.” – Emma Stern in conversation with Evan Malachosky, Cool Hunting, 2019.“There are recurring female archetypes that appear all throughout history but are especially pronounced in the world of 3d fandom and pornography: the cheerleader, the cowgirl, the pin-up girl, the bimbo, the secretary, the girl next door… and then when you start involving all these niche internet/gamer subcultures, you get these fantasy elements and wind up with the slutty elf, sexy centaur, the warrior princess and so on. All these characters are recognisable even if you’ve never seen them before, so they have their own narratives in a way, because they are archetypal.” –Emma Stern, De:Formal, 2020.Emma Stern (b. 1992) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She holds a BFA from Pratt Institute’s School of Painting. Her recent solo shows include ‘Slow Fade’, The Newsstand Project, Los Angeles (2020); ‘Works’, Jorge Andrew Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2017); ‘Tabs’, Stream Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2015). Stern has an upcoming solo show at Carl Kostyál, Stockholm in November 2021.Recent group shows include ‘Stockholm Sessions’, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm (2021); ‘Resting Point of Accommodation’, Almine Rech, Brussels (2021); ‘The Artist is Online’, Konig Gallery, Berlin (2021); ‘Friend Zone’, Half Gallery, New York (2021); ‘06’, PM/AM, London (2020); ‘Escapism’, Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York (2020) and ‘American Woman’, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece (2020).Check out below for more images of “Revenge Body”Fiona, 2020. 3D printed PLA plastic, pearlescent acrylic enamel paint, clearcoat laquer.Erowid + Emily, 2020. Oil on canvas.Gabbi (Flexing) 2, 2020. Oil on canvas.Nina, 2020. Oil on canvas.Jess 2, 2020. Oil on canvas.Emily and Fiona 1, 2020. Oil on canvas. More

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      in Exhibitions

      SOS – Dscreet

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      SOS is a new body of work from Australian artist, Dscreet. The well-toured owl lover previously painted extensively in London, as part of the infamous Burning candy Crew, a collective that included artists such as Cept, Pegs, Sweet Toof, Cyclops, Tek33, and occasionally SickBoy. Now repatriated in his home country and forced to spend hours alone during Melbourne’s draconian lockdown, drunkenly trawling Tinder, Dscreet finally put down his phone and picked up a paintbrush, putting the many bottles of booze he’d drained to better use. This is the result.
      SOS – Dscreet‘I spent a lot of time in isolation walking around alone, first depressed, then I found a way tolook at things differently.’‘The world was upside down so it was time to discover new places to keep my mindoccupied. To find new uses for the detritus in my brain and on the streets. This city becamea strange jail with one hour of outdoor time to breathe, no painting and no surfing allowed,few outlets for anyone like me who funnels freedom into my art. I felt like we were allsharing a special kind of crazy. At first I began to go a little insane, listening to the media,trying to make sense of it all, trying to deny my relative misery, but there were a lot ofconflicting stories coming out, no-one really knew what was going on. I meditated, didyoga, breathwork, exercise and then drank a lot of alcohol. I felt the same conflicting storyin myself, trying to stay healthy and positive then destroying the good work with the polaropposite force. Somehow a balance evolved, staring into the empty bottles, I decided toput them to good use and decorate them with the profound lyrics of those who have beendrunk and isolated before me, after all, many of us creative types spend even the mostnormal times in isolation, sometimes confused and conflicted. Sometimes there’s thosemoments of clarity at the end of a cycle.’‘In memoriam to my personal journey, through the schizophrenic stasis of the world, eachof these painted bottles represents a piece of my creative therapy and struggle throughlockdown. The other pieces represent found objects and prose I’ve salvaged from personalhikes through the streets and wilderness and songlists. The surfboard is a monument tothose opposing forces that keep clashing in the media and in our minds, ready to flowbackwards or forwards, I reached an acceptance that nothing can be taken for grantedanymore and nothing is absolute. I’m happy to be sober and surfing and painting again.’– DSCREETView the full catalogue here.COLLECTOR ENQUIRIES: [email protected]@backwoods.gallery@dscreetsheet
      SOS – Dscreet More

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      Cloaked in Neon, Tate Britain Celebrates Diwali Through an Eclectic Technicolor Installation

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      Art

      #installation
      #light
      #London
      #neon
      #pop culture
      #public art
      #religion

      November 16, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      “Remembering a Brave New World.” All images © Chila Kumari Singh Burman, courtesy of Tate Britain
      A new installation by artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman masks the stately columns and ornate flourishes of Tate Britain’s facade, enveloping the London museum in a blanket of neon. In “Remembering a Brave New World,” technicolor symbols, pop culture references, and religious iconography transform the neoclassical structure into an illuminated space for celebration. The public artwork was revealed on December 14 to coincide with the start of Diwali, the five-day Indian festival of lights, and casts a kaleidoscopic glow on the surrounding area.
      The eclectic collection draws on Punjabi Liverpudlian artist’s own life and family history, which manifests in pieces like the multi-colored ice cream truck. After moving to England, her father purchased one of the vehicles, an experience that imprinted her childhood.

      Other elements focus on the United Kingdom’s history of imperialism: the Britannia figure at the building’s apex, for example, is camouflaged with Kali, the Hindu goddess of liberation and power, while the lower region features Rani of Jhansi, the warrior and leader of the Indian resistance against the British in 1857. “It’s important to critique buildings like this because they’re very Eurocentric,” Burman said in an interview with Dezeen. “So, I just thought: why not do something that captures what we’re all going through right now? I felt like it needed a blast of joy and light. And Diwali is about good over evil, about hope, unity and the light at the end of the tunnel.”
      Glowing Hindu deities sprawl across the windows and arches, as well, including Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and purity, and Ganesh, the god of prosperity. The religious figures juxtapose the more playful elements, like a life-sized tiger, peacock, and pair of lips.
      “Remembering a Brave New World” is the fourth annual winter commission by Tate Britain. The public artwork will be on display through the end of January, even while the inner halls of the museum are closed to visitors due to the ongoing pandemic. Follow Burman’s projects that explore questions of power and identity on Instagram.

      #installation
      #light
      #London
      #neon
      #pop culture
      #public art
      #religion

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      “Airhead” by SHOK-1 IN Hackney, United Kingdom

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      Bristish artist SHOK-1 just worked on a new mural in collaboration with London Mural Festival. The said mural is located in Hackney, United Kingdom. It features SHOK-1’s unique spraypaint X-ray style.

      b-sm = 300×250; sm > none;

      A cool blend of street and science, SHOK-1’s artworks have tremendous resonance with a wide range of demographics: from fans of pop culture, contemporary and street arts, to surgeons, radiologists and scientists. Darkly beautiful and packed with subtle layers of intricate detail, X-rays are one of the most difficult subject matters a painter could attempt. SHOK-1 has pioneered cutting-edge freehand techniques using no tape or stencils to render his X-ray style.
      Check out below for more images of “Airhead” More