Viviane Sassen | Umbra
UMBRA will feature a series of non-commissioned pieces by Sassen in a kaleidoscopic presentation in which shadow often functions as a metaphor for the human psyche.
Holly Blakey
In August 2015 Hales Gallery London is delighted to invite Choreographer and Director Holly Blakey to present Some Greater Class, a newly imagined live performance work exploring the complexities and contradictions of contemporary performance and its context.
'The Fantasy of Representation' curated by Andrew Salgado
This stunning group exhibition showcases the work from both emerging and established painters, including Hurvin Anderson, Francis Bacon, Gary Hume and Alexander Tinei among others such as Dale Adcock, Alison Blickle and Scott Anderson. This beautifully constructed line up celebrates the position in which abstract representational painting finds itself in today.
Summer Salon Exhibition
Artists exhibiting:
Eddie Rego
Nara Walker
Maria Naranjo
Sarah Hill
Katarzyna Korzynska
Katie Weller
Colin Robson
Barbara Ash
Roy Wood
Wayne Chisnall
Sabatin Bascoban
Lesley Humphreys
Chang Yang
Rebecca Chitticks
Sam Kerridge
Dagmar Thompson
Sophie Green
Jennifer Kaplan
Sue Roche
Jess de Wahls
Charlie Chrobnik
Karolina Albricht
Michelle Dow
Anna Laurini
Carla Raffinetti
Janis Lee Johnson
Tom Cardew
Positions: Film Series
Hales Gallery is delighted to present Positions, a series of week-long, single channel video art displays by internationally prominent contributors to the field.
Daisy Bentley, FOUND NOTES
Five years in the making, Daisy Bentley’s ‘Found Notes’ collection is an engaging and often humorous unbiased social commentary on the lives of people living in the 21st century. From her vast collection, Daisy has selected just over 150 of the notes to be showcased at Stour Space in her most ambitious display of the project so far.
“This exhibition showcases a selection of my Found Notes collection. This is the result of over five years of note collecting; of scanning the floor everywhere I go which has resulted in accumulating over 1000 notes. I love to make assumptions about the authors of these notes, imagining all of the things forgotten when the list was lost and all of the letters where we’ll never know if they were lost or discarded by the writer or the recipient. Visitors should expect to find the notes engaging, humorous and often emotional.” – Daisy Bentley
Yazan Khalili’s city of ‘past futures’: The Island, Art Dubai 2015
Next month, Palestinian artist Yazan Khalili will be collaborating with Absolut to provide what’s set to be an exciting, head turning installation in the form of an Art Bar for the city’s ninth annual Contemporary Art Fair and will be located on the popular Madinat Jumeirah’s Fort Island in Dubai.
Drawing inspiration from Dubai’s surrounding desert landscape and its juxtaposing façade of urban modernity, Khalili will be working closely with artist Arnar Ásgeirsson, to transform the complex into a mecca for contemporary visual art and live performances, introducing some of Dubai’s freshest, emerging local talent and with it, a selection of Absolut’s irresistibly smooth cocktails to get your creative juices flowing.
Step outside and Khalili’s bar will take the form of a towering mountain set amidst a back drop of jutting sky scrapers, serving to remind us of Khalili’s concept of ‘past futures’ but also indicative of a forward thinking city that nearly two centuries ago, was built upon nothing but a bed of sand and imagined futures.
“There is a complex idea behind the project touching on identity, constructed realities and constructed pasts and futures, but at the end of the day, it’s a bar and I would just want people to have fun in the space. I really hope people enjoy it’.
Open daily from 17 – 20 March, 2015
For more information about The Island or Absolut’s International art programme visit ABSOLUT
The Rise, Fall, and Urban Decay of Ponte City
Erected in 1975, Ponte City—a residential high-rise in Johannesburg—has loomed above the city’s skyline for decades. While initially intended as opulent accommodations for South Africa’s elite, it has since turned into a corrupt haven for prostitution, illicit drugs, and crime. In order to fully illustrate the rise and fall of this cursed landmark, South African photographer Mikhael Subotzky and British artist Patrick Waterhouse have teamed up to document the phenomenon in their series, Ponte City, on view at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh from December through April.
With shared interests in both art and social storytelling, Subotzky and Waterhouse began this project in 2007. At this time, promising plans to completely refurbish the building were abruptly halted while already underway. Years later, left in disarray and disrepair, Ponte City’s gutted rooms remain half-occupied, providing shelter to residual tenants and new squatters alike.
In order to accurately portray the current state of the high-rise, Subotzky and Waterhouse opted to focus on the desolate dwelling’s inhabitants in a five-year study. Through interviews and photographs, the pair has crafted a poignantly accurate portrait of Ponte City, paying particular attention to the contrast between its initial bright future and its somber current state.
Ponte City will be exhibited at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery from 6 December through 26 April 2015. Don’t miss this captivating series!
Chris Moon
Chris Moon is currently presenting a pop-up show, 'Carousel' featuring six large new paintings (images of the work will follow) in New York. This coincides with the Independent Art Fair, which takes place just across the road from the space in which he is exhibiting. Moon spent 3 months in New York at the latter end of last year, and this pop-up show is a culmination of his exploration of the city of New York, and a prequel to his debut NY solo show later this year.
Hollywood’s Pre-Code Epoch: Merrily We Go To Hell at the Cob Gallery
This month, London’s female-led, multidisciplinary Cob Gallery will show Merrily We Go To Hell, a 1932 Hollywood film born during cinema’s legendary pre-code era. The film will be screened as an apt celebration of the space’s current campaign to create the first full catalogue of works by artist Nina Mae Fowler.
With a sensational plot, dramatic and alluring cinematography, and an audacious femme fatale (played by Sylvia Sidney and opposite Fredric March and a young Cary Grant), the film exemplifies the themes explored by Nina in her celebrated drawings. Directed by Dorothy Arzner, it also represents the controversial work of one of the era’s few female directors, fitting both the gallery’s feminist approach to art and the artist’s interest in striking female portrayals.
The screening will take place on 22 February at 5:30 pm and will be followed by a discussion panel lead by film historian and theorist Dr. Margherita Sprio in conversation with Nina Fowler, Hamish McAlpine, Katie McCrory and Sam Ashby.
Don’t miss this cinematic celebration, and be sure to check out the gallery’s crowdfunding campaign to support the cause!
Yazan Khalili’s city of ‘past futures’: The Island, Art Dubai 2015
Next month, Palestinian artist Yazan Khalili will be collaborating with Absolut to provide what’s set to be an exciting, head turning installation in the form of an Art Bar for the city’s ninth annual Contemporary Art Fair and will be located on the popular Madinat Jumeirah’s Fort Island in Dubai.
Drawing inspiration from Dubai’s surrounding desert landscape and its juxtaposing façade of urban modernity, Khalili will be working closely with artist Arnar Ásgeirsson, to transform the complex into a mecca for contemporary visual art and live performances, introducing some of Dubai’s freshest, emerging local talent and with it, a selection of Absolut’s irresistibly smooth cocktails to get your creative juices flowing.
Step outside and Khalili’s bar will take the form of a towering mountain set amidst a back drop of jutting sky scrapers, serving to remind us of Khalili’s concept of ‘past futures’ but also indicative of a forward thinking city that nearly two centuries ago, was built upon nothing but a bed of sand and imagined futures.
“There is a complex idea behind the project touching on identity, constructed realities and constructed pasts and futures, but at the end of the day, it’s a bar and I would just want people to have fun in the space. I really hope people enjoy it’.
Open daily from 17 – 20 March, 2015
For more information about The Island or Absolut’s International art programme visit ABSOLUT
Young Gods: Emerging Artists You’re Sure to Worship in 2015
By Kelly Richman
This month, East London meets West as two venues – Griffin Gallery and Charlie Smith – present Young Gods, an “annual showcase of a multi-disciplinary presentation of London’s most exciting graduates from the summer of 2014”.
Spanning stunning works on paper, captivating sculptures and installations, and experimental multimedia pieces, the work featured in Young Gods offers a glimpse into the emerging oeuvres of London’s up-and-coming talents. While each promising artist highlighted in the exhibition is sure to take 2015 by storm, we have selected three particularly exciting individuals we’ve got our eye on.
Specialising in both two and three-dimensional pieces, the work of Gabriele Dini “is focused on the collective behaviour of natural and artificial decentralised phenomena also called 'Swarm Intelligence'”. This fascination with nature is evident in Gabriele’s honeycomb-inspired sculpture, Swarm’s Scale, on view in Young Gods. Excelling in sculpture, drawing, mixed media, and printmaking – his focus while studying at the Royal College of Art – Gabriele is just one artist to watch out for.
Having recently studied Fine Arts at Chelsea College of Art and Design London, Tezz Kamoen is now a resident artist at Griffin Gallery. While she predominantly produces eccentric and undeniably fascinating sketches, New Gods features a colorful, intricately-rendered mixed-media work on paper. Measuring 750 x 320 cm, you can’t miss it!
Intending to “to strip back current affairs by dissecting the hypocrisy of those in power questioning ideas of taboo and shame”, the sculptures of Joshua Raffell evoke an inherent duality; though composed of playful patchwork and reminiscent of traditional marionettes and dolls, his figures are simultaneously sexually-charged and physically disconcerting. “By pushing the boundaries of sexual taboos and images of an erotic nature”, he explains, “the work is intended as a liberation from social correctness around gender and sexual identitie”.
Curated by Zavier Ellis and featuring the work of Gabriele Dini, Russell Hill, Tezz Kamoen, Hilde Krohn Huse, Joshua Raffell, Zhu Tian, and Newton Whitelaw, Young Gods is on view at Griffin Gallery from 8 January – 6 February 2015 and Charlie Smith London from 14 January – 14 February 2015. Don’t miss this exciting annual event!
The painted faces of RODRIGO BRANCO
Brazilian street artist Rodrigo Branco paints the most incredible portraits in some of the most incredible locations. Branco’s pieces typically work on a monumental scale, clambering across gargantuan façades around city streets. His painted faces seem to bring such harsh, contrasting colours and lines that breathe a new life into whatever he chooses as his canvas.
This week, Branco is bringing his street flair to the walls of Ben Oakley Gallery for a very special exhibition of unique paintings produced especially for the gallery. Typically high up on the sides of buildings, his images stare across towns and streets, bringing a smile to every viewer. This exhibition canvas work incorporates the same strong feelings as his street pieces, but Branco allows himself more time for detail that really brings the paintings to life.
We can’t wait to see what Branco has brought to Ben Oakley Gallery, and it will be very intriguing to see how the monumental scale he usually works at translates to a gallery scenario. Running from September 13th to 28th, this is not one to be missed.