Here’s the latest from Sickboy and Word To Mother. Cool stuff.
Photos by Savetheyouth
Sickboy in Bristol
Sickboy‘s been in Bristol lately for the Bristol version of his Logopop show (Guillotine has some photos). Of course, he’s also painted a few pieces outside as well. These two pieces are a bit different from his usual street work, but I like them.
Via UK Street Art
Photos from Sickboy’s blog
Sickboy and Sweet Toof at POW
Here are some new prints at Pictures on Walls from Sickboy and Sweet Toof.
Cheech Toof by Sweet Toof
79.5 x 57cm
Edition of 100
£95
Loveland by Sickboy
57 x 56 cm
Edition of 100
£120
Sickboy’s Logopop show
This week, Sickboy’s latest solo show, Logopop, was open for all of three hours. Looks like a solid show.
Sickboy’s large original works have a crazy amount of detail. I really want to see one of these in person:
And then there are his Logopops. They are small screen prints with hand finishing. You can buy 1-2, or 10 and put them all in the same frame.
Some artwork still available on Sickboy’s website.
Many more pictures from the opening on Smart Hype’s flickr
Holiday gift guide: affordable prints
So maybe this is the first of a few posts with street art related gift ideas, maybe not. Here are some prints that are available online for a very low price (but they aren’t cheap. Right Zeus?).
1. Logopops by Sickboy. Last night was Sickboy’s one night only show, Logopops. Lots of hand finished prints are available online for as little as £35 (though you are meant to get a few of them to create a custom cluster of prints).
2. Storm Clouds by Jeff Soto. I must admit that I am becoming more and more of a Jeff Soto fan, especially the watercolor pieces. At just £75, it costs a lot less than I expected.
3. Sprout by Josh Keyes. I am very very wary of recommending this. Josh Keyes is an amazingly talented painter and I do like his work, but I’m not sure if you get the same feel for it through a giclee print. You kind of need to see the originals in person to see what sets him apart from all the other guys painting post-environmental-apocalypse art. Could be awesome though, and it’s a book and (very large editioned) print for $85 so that’s nice.
4. Tempo Boxer by Ace. A staple of the London scene (Blackall Street in particular), Ace does some nice work and a nice print from him goes for between £50-55.
5. Dalek Blue by Dalek/James Marshall. Dalek has two “Space Monkey” prints available on his site, both very nice, but I prefer the blue one.
6. Homeless, Not Hopeless by Above. I mentioned this print the other day, but it’s worth showing again because all the profits go to a good cause.
7. Better Than Nothing by Kid Acne. I suppose you either like his warrior women or you don’t. I do.
8. Make Room For The Emptiness by Jim Houser. This is the print that I want to buy with my grandma’s Christmas money. Love it. And at just $75, I can’t believe it hasn’t sold out yet.
9. Mama Quilla by Fefe Talavera. Another beautiful and affordable print from The BLDG.
10. The Answer by Hera. This lithograph by Hera looks great and comes with my book The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In. It’s £100 for the set, and since the book retails for about £25, that’s an affordable print if I ever saw one. The print is of a sketch by Hera, and she really knows how to sketch.
Logopop – a Sickboy show
Sickboy has a new solo show coming up in London in a few days. Here’s the hype:
Acclaimed UK street artist, Sickboy presents ‘Logopop’, a special ‘one night only’ solo exhibition of new limited edition work and site-specific installations in east London this December 16.
Following the success of his major solo exhibition, ‘Stay Free’ last year, which saw Sickboy transform a Victorian building into a themed playground, the artist returns with this one-off extravaganza, inviting art fans to dive once again into the extraordinary depths of his imagination.
With ‘Logopop,’ Sickboy recreates the lysergic symbolism that underpins much of his work, and delivers it in his characteristically unexpected way. Launching an eye-watering visual assault on audiences using installations and digital technology, Sickboy introduces a series of dynamic and surprising show features which have become a hallmark of this artist.
The new collection of work for ‘Logopop’ has been developed throughout 2009 and aims to unravel the relationship between the artist’s complex and imaginatively-detailed artworks and his signature simple, bold and raw urban interventions. In addition to original artworks, the artist introduces his innovative concept of Logopops – artworks sold in various sizes which can be connected together, giving fans the opportunity to create their own bespoke compositions and own a truly original piece of Sickboy art. The artist says: “Logopops are my visual bullet to the mind. They sidestep the layered meanings within my art and simplify the message into something tangible and understandable at the glance of an eye.”
‘Logopop’ is the pinnacle of 2009, which has been the artist’s most successful year to date, and the perfect interlude before his second major solo show in spring 2010.
While this does sound interesting, my very first though about these ‘logopops’ was that they sound a lot like Barry McGee clusters. Still, Sickboy can do some cool things, and McGee wasn’t the first artist to do clusters, it’s just a bit irritating that Sickboy (or his PR people) want to make these things sound so epically unique when really they aren’t (Know Hope sold pieces like this at Carmichael Gallery over the summer, but he didn’t claim that it was an ‘innovative’ practice).
But enough dissing Sickboy. He knows how to paint and he tends to paint cool things, so what more can you ask for?
Logopop takes place at The Rag Factory, 16-18 Heneage Street, London on December 16th. Register for an invite at thesickboy.com.
Close Encounters show with ukadapta
ukadapta have organized a group show in Tokyo that opens this week. Should be good. The line up is a varied of British urban art with Best Ever, D*face, Word to Mother, Luc Price/Cyclops, Matt Small and more.
More info from ukadapta:
Adapta Gallery’s third curated project will be held on November 12th – November 29th 2009, with a show in Tokyo called Close Encounters. The show consists of 8 British-based artists, including Best Ever, Cyclops, D*Face, David Bray, Matt Small, Sickboy, Word To Mother and Vesna Parchet.
The variety of work on show is eclectic, and that is precisely the reason why we chose them in the first place. From D*Face’s two-dimensional graphic art to the rich textures of emerging artist Vesna Parchet’s styled character-based paintings, a plethora of mediums, emotions and messages are employed for the viewer to digest.
This particular show is very close to our hearts as we are finally able to put together an amazing line up of artists to produce works for our Tokyo readers and Japanese collectors to see in person. We have been interviewing and working on projects with so many talented British creatives over the years and to finally curate our own show in Tokyo for our main audience is a true honour.
On the opening night, we will also have special guests: Usugrow, Jeff Soto, Shohei Takasaki, Yoshiki & Nagayama also showing their works.
Close Encounters
Exhibition venue : Time Out Gallery, Liquidroom 2/F, 3-16-6, Higashi, Shibuya-ku,Tokyo
Opening Date : 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, 12 November, 2009
Exhibition runs : 13 November 2009 – 3 December, 2009
In case you happen to be in Tokyo, there is a map on the show’s website.
Photos courtesy of ukadapta
MuTate Britain: One Foot in the Grove
MuTate Britain: One Foot in the Grove is now open. It might not match last year‘s event, but it’s still a great party with cool art and something for everybody.
Put simply: MuTate has sculptures shooting fire into the air. ‘Nuf said.
In all seriousness though, the sculptures and paintings are very cool. Best Ever, Busk, Mode2, Sickboy and many many many others have contributed to make something special and unique.
I could say that I liked this painting or that painting, but half the time I didn’t know who painted my favorite pieces, they were just good, regardless of the name behind them.
But is it the absolute best art in the world? Not always. It’s just fun to see. Even a poorly painted stencil contributes to the atmosphere and makes MuTate a nice place to grab a beer or two.
This is the art show you can bring your friends to who would rather just go to the pub (see: my comment about fire).
MuTate Britain is located underneath Westway in London near Ladbroke Grove station. Who knows how long this party is going to continue (even the artists I spoke with said anywhere from a few weeks to indefinitely), so go check it out now.
Seen Around London
I was walking around Shoreditch the other day to kill some time, and I came across a few new bits on the street that caught my eye.
I went by the RareKind Gallery last night for their opening, and was very presently surprised with the quality of work. Their Chrome and Black crew have been doing great work throughout London lately, but this sticker confused me. I mean, it’s a sticker that says believe in the spray can. They couldn’t at least stencil that?
This mural was always very nice, but I guess Sickboy thought the spot needed an update. Can’t say I mind though, this new piece is pretty nice as well.
No idea who this is by, but the concept is awesome. It’s wheatpasted photos of a piece by Klone that was recently up in the area. I’d like to see more of this, but I’m scared to see them show up for sale next month in the Brick Lane Gallery or somewhere.
Bristol Graffiti Show – Crimes of Passion
I probably won’t be able to make it to this, but if you live it Bristol it sounds fantastic.
Crimes Of Passion: Street Art in Bristol
This Spring Bristol’s oldest and grandest gallery, the Royal West Of England Academy is throwing open all 5 of it’s galleries to host a major show by 50 of the city’s best known and most successful graffiti and street artists. This is the first major show of its kind in the city since the Arnolfini’s groundbreaking 1985 show, Graffiti Art and is a full-blown celebration of the city’s rich and diverse contemporary scene.
Bristol has nurtured many of the UK’s most successful graffiti and street artists, including 3D, Inkie, Banksy, Nick Walker, Sickboy, Cyclops and TCF Crew, to name but a few. The city continues to be a breeding ground for a wealth of exceptional creative talent and continues to have one of the UK’s most diverse and thriving scenes.
Crimes Of Passion takes the love of (and heartfelt dedication to) the art form as its starting point, but is far from a typical gallery retrospective, all the artists will be showing completely new work, as well as installation pieces and working both directly onto (and into) the walls of the gallery.
Crimes of Passion will also include a city-wide programme of large-scale painting, a photographic exhibition,a film season at local arts cinema The Cube (www.cubecinema.com) and a series of workshops and talks.
Exhibition venue:
Royal West of England Academy, Queen’s Rd, BristolExhibition dates:
21st March – 2nd May
Artists involved in the show include Cyclops, Inkie, Mudwig, Nick Walker, Sickboy, Xenz and many many many more.
If anybody goes, please let me know how it is.