It’s finally open. The new space for The Lazarides Gallery at Rathbone Place in London opened last Thursday for their latest group show called “Grow Up.” I went to, and tweeted, the opening, but I’ve waited to do a proper post on the show because it took until today for me to get back when it wasn’t so crowded.
As usual, Lazarides puts on a good show. Even though they seem to have lost their #1 star, Lazarides reminds us that it wasn’t just The Banksy Show over in SoHo. Vhils, JR, Faile, and many others are doing great work there too.
Two giant pieces by Vhils are impressive and I definitely enjoyed them, but almost too big to fully appreciate. You get close enough admire the craftsmanship, and you lose the image, you get far enough away, and the image is clear but simplistic. Hopefully his upcoming solo show (July I think?) will have a range of sizes.
As always, the work from JR was absolutely gorgeous. I can’t say enough good things about the best photographer street artist. There was even one piece from his recent trip to Africa where he pasted his work into trains.
This piece is probably old, but it’s a nice Faile and a bit different:
Of course, there was plenty more interesting work from artists like Invader and David Choe (among others), but one worth mentioning in particular is Charlie Isoe. Isoe is the newest artist as Lazarides. All I know is that he’s from Australia and paints very well. This portrait of Marilyn was my favorite. Yes, his work is a bit like a combination of Anthony Lister and Antony Micallef, but umm… okay let’s just ignore that bit for now.
While I enjoyed “Grow Up,” I’m just glad to see Lazarides finally in a space fitting of the gallery’s importance, and I look forward to the solo shows they have lined up for later in the year.
Photos by WallKandy/Ian Cox