Word To Mother, an artist I enjoy as much for his tags and pieces as his completely different indoor work, has a solo show opening in a few weeks at StolenSpace Gallery in London. StolenSpace actually has a show opening this week about posters that have been in Don’t Panic packs, but WTM’s show is much more interesting to me, so I’m posting about that even though it’s not the next show at the gallery.
WTM’s Blind By Stardom opens on October 7th and runs through the 24th (so I’ll unfortunately miss the opening, but be back in town to at least see the show – more on my upcoming trip back to London soon). This will be his 4th solo show at StolenSpace, with the previous shows being very warmly received. I’d say it’s common for “street art fans” and “street art collectors” to have very different ideas of what is good, but Word To Mother seems to be one that everyone agrees about. Work at his shows sells quickly and the regular Thursday-night crowd are at the gallery for the art, not just the free beer.
I vaguely remember Word To Mother saying something to me last year at FAME Festival about how he was going to be changing things up for his next solo show. While I enjoy WTM’s work, I must admit that I kind of brushed this comment aside as the typical artist plugging himself and feigning growth, but clearly I was wrong. From what I’ve seen so far, these paintings are a step forward for Word To Mother both in style and content.
The themes behind Blind By Stardom are meant to be celebrity culture and how people consume media. This is definitely something that a lot of artists deal with, but WTM doesn’t seem to be as annoying about it as so many Banksy-wannabes (and even sometimes masters like Ron English) are. I’m looking at these paintings and getting the message, but I don’t feel like I’m beaten over the head with it.
This is one show not to miss, so make sure to stop by Stolenspace between October 7th and 24th.
Blind By Stardom opens October 7th from 6-9pm.
Photos courtesy of Stolenspace Gallery