Tag: lazarides

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Hell’s Half Acre Photo Exclusives

On Friday, I was graciously given an early preview of Lazarides highly anticipated new show, Hell’s Half Acre. Taking place at the Old Vic Tunnels by Leake Street, the off-site display hosts new works from heavy hitters Conor Harrington, Vhils, George Osodi, Antony Micallef, Doug Foster, Todd James, Paul Insect, Mark Jenkins, Boogie, Ian Francis, Polly Morgan and Jonathan Yeo.

The team at Laz still had a lot of work to do before the private opening tomorrow, but from what I could tell, this is sure to be one of the most talked about shows for months to come. Loosely basing the concept off Dante’s The Inferno, the works themselves reek of death, destruction, fantasy, and myth. The dark and wet tunnels create an ambiance that not only makes viewers uncomfortable, but forces them to react to the art. I don’t want to give too much away, but all of the work is brand new and most of it was made specifically for the show, especially the large scale installation spaces. At every turn in the tunnel’s maze, there is something new to be discovered, attempting to shock and intrigue viewers.

Here are just some of the pictures I have as well as the Babelgum preview video that is circling the Internet like crazy this weekend.

Photos by Stephanie Keller

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Hell’s Half Acre: Laz’ turn in the tunnels

Mark Jenkins

After a series of shows in LA over the summer, Lazarides Gallery‘s next pop-up show is taking place back home in London. Next month, they’ll be at The Old Vic Tunnels (aka, the Leake Street tunnels) for a group show: Hell’s Half Acre. The is only running from October 12-17th, but the list of artists is top notch: Polly Morgan, Vhils, Mark Jenkins, Bast, Todd James and more.

The entire show will be inspired by Dante’s Inferno and all the artists will making work based on their interpretations of hell.

For more info, go here (sorry, it’s a PDF).

Photo by Jack Two

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Faile Book Launch

Last week, RJ  posted about the new Faile book, Faile: Prints and Originals 1999-2009. This past Thursday, The Outsiders at Lazarides Shop hosted the book’s launch at London. Within the first fifteen minutes, each of the 100 signed books sold, and by the end of the night, the book sold out to the que of art lovers that stood waiting to buy or pick up their pre-ordered copy. The Shop turned into a Faile world as the walls showcased pieces on sale from the collective early years to the present. I still think the best was the Sailor Jerry cocktails. Any opening with a decent mix drink is fine by me.

All Photos by Steph Keller



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Botulism: a Bäst solo show at Lazarides

There aren’t many artists with more street cred than Bäst. He’s been getting up consistently for about a decade now, and he’s not half bad at collage either. While I find his work most interesting on the street, but that doesn’t mean I hate to see him indoors from time to time. And it’s about time. On August 20th, his latest solo show will open at London’s Lazarides Rathbone Place. Botulism is going to be Bäst’s first solo show at Lazarides, but he exhibited there earlier this year with Faile for their Deluxx Fluxx Arcade. Lazarides promises that for this show, Bäst will be “developing past preoccupations in an exciting new direction.”

Here’s are a couple of teasers from Botulism:

Botulism runs from August 20th through October 1st with a private view on August 19th.

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EuroTrash Revisited

EuroTrash featuring Conor Harrington, Vhils, JR and Antony Micallef from ST Press on Vimeo.

For those of you that have been following our coverage of Lazarides latest show EuroTrash here on Vandalog, this newly released video (which is rather sweet might I add) captures all the action building up to the shows opening night and lets you see the stellar line up of artists inlcuding Vhils, JR, Antony Micallef and Conor Harrington at work. Worth a watch if like me you are unable to attend to show itself. Check it out!

You can also read our exclusive interview with one of EuroTrash’s featured artists Conor Harrington here

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Lucy McLauchlan’s “Together…” at Lazarides Rathbone Place

There were a fair number of new shows opening on this month’s first Thursday, but the place to be in London was the opening of Together… Lucy McLauchlan’s latest solo show at Lazarides‘ Rathbone Place gallery.

This is a really solid show. I enjoyed just about every piece except for the watercolors. It’s also a progression for Lucy. She probably could have gotten away with painting the same pieces that we’ve seen from her in the past, but instead she successfully pushed forward and has noticeably matured.

Installation detail

While there was no shortage of work for sale, Lucy also made a sizable site-specific installation and drew little bits on the walls and ceilings around the gallery.

Some of McLauchlan’s best work happens when she constrains herself by painting on found objects:

At first glance, an abstract piece. Look closer and see how many figures you can count (I can spot about 10):

Photos by artbleat and sven / a million pieces

Check out artbleat and sven‘s flickr sets of the show for more photos

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Jonathan Yeo Announced as Third Show for Lazarides LA

After the two previous highly successful shows featuring David Choe and Eurotrash (Conor Harrington, JR, Antony Micalleff, and VHILS), Lazarides LA announced that the third featured exhibit at their U.S. gallery will be collage artist, Jonathan Yeo.  Known for his pornographic collage celebrity icons, Yeo reflects the out-of-the-box creative approach by the Lazarides team. The show begins July 9th, but for those deemed worthy enough to be invited before the public, the private viewing is July 8th.

I do find this choice, however, to be a surprising one.  Yeo has rather large shoes to fill following the likes of Choe, Harrington, and JR who displayed some of their best work to date at these shows and in the greater Los Angeles area.  Yeo’s work is not as well known as the others (most likely because of his lack of street presence) and is not priced nearly as high. I think this third show should have been a representative culmination of the Lazarides team, such as the internationally recognized Paul Insect.  A dream show would have been Invader in LA.  Invader has not shown since the early Fall, so I think it is about time to get the ball rolling, especially in the States. Imagine the coveted street art that the U.S. would get to see. That would definitely get us bloggers talking/searching/discussing/etc.

Oh well, now I get to see some boobs and vaginas cut and pasted from a financially failing Playboy magazine arranged to look like golfer/manwhore Tiger Woods.  Yeo should have used pictures from the 157 cocktail waitresses/escorts/reality TV stars Woods’ slept with instead. Now, that would be impressive.

What celebrity or famous work do you think Yeo should attempt for this show?

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While I was cut off from the world…

BETTEN in NYC. Photo by a friend of the artist.

Since the end of May until a few days ago, I’d been more or less cut off from the street art world. I was driving around Europe with my friends. That’s not particularly important, though I would like to thank Logan Hicks, Ripo, Paulo, C215, Nunca and (especially) Angelo for spending time with us.

Here’s some of the things that I missed while I was away…

  • Penny’s latest piece kicks ass
  • Os Gêmeos have been crazy busy, so here’s one of the things they did: A few paintings at FAME Festival.
  • And Blu has been to FAME recently too.
  • I’m loving a lot of the pieces Skewville’s show Shift Work Disorder at Factory Fresh.
  • Some local residents completely misinterpreted the meaning behind some Shepard Fairey murals and painted them over. Actually a really interesting story. I suppose that when it is a reality of everyday life, people don’t like to be reminded that the police will “kick your ass and get away with it.”
  • Lazarides’ latest show in LA is Eurotrash with Vhils, Micallef and JR. Hi-Fructose has pictures.
  • Alison Young’s book Street Studio had a launch party in Melbourne.
  • High Roller Society has a massive group print show on right now. I stopped by on Saturday. If you like affordable prints and drawings, check this one out.
  • Daily Mail reports that Banksy has painted some pub in Primrose Hill. Reality: It’s a PR stunt by the pub’s owner, but at least now they have some artwork on their walls.
  • The New Grand Tour, a group show including Jose Parla, Rey Parla and Rostarr, is open now at Bryce Wolkowitz in New York City.
  • Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman, former gallery directors at Deitch Projects, have started up their own gallery in NYC called Hole. I’m not exactly sure how much street art or graffiti you’ll be able to find at the Hole when it opens later this month, but they sent me a press release, so presumably they haven’t ditched street art entirely. The Wall Street Journal has more.
  • Hrag Vartanian has started an interesting discussion on Hyperallergic about a new piece by Mark Jenkins which could easily be mistaken for trash. And by the way, if you don’t already read Hyperallergic, you should start. It’s perhaps my favorite art blog at the moment.
  • Armsrock has a solo show on right now at Signal Gallery. I’m going to check it out tomorrow, but based on the photos on Arrested Motion, I couldn’t be more excited. Armsrock is massively talented and just keeps getting better.

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Conor Harrington Wall In Venice Beach

Last week we updated you on the collaborative wall that JR and Vhils have been working on in downtown Los Angeles, to coincide with the EuroTrash opening. Now we’ve got some pictures of the Wall that Conor Harrington blessed Venice Beach with this weekend. Wall can be found on Abbot Kinney & Santa Clara in Venice Beach.

More photos can be found here

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Lazarides Presents EUROTRASH

Lazarides LA newest show – EuroTrash sets up a stellar line up of some of the hottest European artists around right now. Using the overlooked, misunderstood and mundane elements of  everyday life,  EuroTrash aims to captures its audiences attention with the distinctive style and alternative approach that artists JR, Conor Harrington, Antony Micallef and Vhils bring with them. Sharing a vested interest in their individual and collective surroundings and society, they poetically express a desire for universal appreciation – despite the tacky connotation that is usually associated with the term “Euro Trash”.

Frances very own JR (seen above) is known for immersing himself within cultures where struggle and conflict are rife. He presents his monochromatic photographs, often over 20 feet high on unconventional exhibiting arena’s to highlight humanist matters that are often overlooked. Cork born painter Conor Harrington (seen at the top) on the other hand, goes against the grain of the fast pace of graffiti art preferring to opt for the slower process of oil painting. Interested in opposing elements, illusion of power and the emotional side of masculinity, soldiers and conquerors exist within Conor’s colorful and abstracted landscapes, yet never forget his street roots.

London based Antony Micallef’s (seen above) energetic work both celebrates and despises contemporary society. The world portrayed by Micallef is one of contradictions as Barbie becomes the Virgin Mary adorned with a Chanel necklace and cutesy paraphernalia, Angel’s wield guns and Soldiers wear flower power printed uniforms. Portuguese artist Vhils (seen below) works with manipulating surfaces, whether it is the brick façade of buildings with masonry equipment or layered fly posters that he peels away, he transforms these varying planes to reveal mystifying, striking portraits that explore a cities dimensions