Diggin In The Archives Pt 8

This week in spite of the latest official guidance to follow unofficial interpretations of the law, there have been no trips to Durham. I have followed my instinct to remain at home to see what scum is floating on the surface of the street art photography archive.

Ludo first put his art on London streets in 2009 and right from the off his Nature’s Revenge project dealt with man vs nature, weaponry, deception and death. Ludo’s work always had scale and awesome eye-catching placement. This weaponised orchid dates from 2011.


Ludo, 2011


Street artist and gallerist Rae visited London in 2013 and left an impressive range of paste ups, stickers, painted surfaces and this wacky sculpture which lasted all of 24 hours.


Rae, 2013



Rae, 2013


The Battle Of Fashion St pitted Ronzo’s monster, looking very much exactly like a medical diagram of a virus against studio stablemate Conor Harrington’s faceless soldier. Like most of Conor’s art this one lasted a long time.


The battle Of Fashion St, Ronzo and Conor Harrington, 2011


Graff snapping mate for many years Joe Epstein aka LDN Graffiti, author of street art book “London Graffiti and Street Art” has teamed up with 9 great street artists to raise funds for Great Ormond St Hospital. Each artist has created a special version of the book by hand painting the cover, so that’s 9 unique versions of the book.




For more images, details and a link to how to support the fund raiser and maybe win one of these fantastic prizes in the LDN GOSH Charity Lottery, click here


One of the featured artists in the LDN GOSH fundraiser is Pure Evil, he doesn’t so much redecorate the book cover as subject it to extreme abuse and reconfiguration, it’s bonkers but brilliant. In 2012 Pure Evil imagined the Hackney Olympics looting squad making off with some Olympics booty, as seen on this Redchurch Street shutter.


Pure Evil 2012



Pure Evil's LDN GOSH Charity Book


In the happy days when I had a kind of job thing, I did one of my Street Art Photography Workshops in Hackney. I only found out this week thanks to Inspiring City’s Art Related Noise podcast interview that this stencil piece is “Lee P” by Findac. Lee P is otherwise known as street artist Eelus. The second shot was the idea of the photo - to show what Lee P was looking at


Findac, 2013



Findac, 2013


More than a decade of pasting up street art has left no doubt that Donk has an awesome approach to impressive installations created from his own original photos. It would be very easy to dredge up one of Donk’s huge crowd pleaser paste up images like the Fashion St fence (with the tassels), the Willow Street horse facing POW or the ghetto blaster on Sclater St but with no slight on any of those, sometimes his montages of smaller images show his versatility better. From 2013 this is a selection of hand finished unique Humble Magnificent and B Brave Indian images featuring Donk jr as model. Donk’s paste up’s typically decayed beautifully.


Donk 2013


Claudia Walde aka MadC is a graffiti writer and book author. She is also another of the artists to have created a unique painting on a book being auctioned to raised funds for Great Ormond St Hospital, details as above.


In culture with such a huge gender imbalance MadC is a rare example of an internationally regarded graffiti writer. In 2011 the Pure Evil Gallery hosted MadC’s first solo exhibition and graffiti writers came from all over to check out her top notch can skills and brilliant colour palette. Her 2013 abstract mural on Chance St in Shoreditch is well known and still running. Less known perhaps is this stunning 2011 graffiti on the old Micawber St launderette, look closely and you can pick out her name in there. It was huge though this is nowhere near the biggest piece of graffiti MadC ever did.


MadC, 2011



Mad C LDN Graffiti book cover


If you are interested in seeing previous DITAs, you can start with the first weekly compilation of the daily DITA uploads of HERE,

Art credits and links are by each photo. All photos: Dave Stuart

Conor Harrington: The Story Of Them And Us

HENI Gallery
1st floor
6-10 Lexington St,
London W1F 0LB

(press the buzzer!)

14th September — 13th October 2018


It’s art week in London, a bunch of clever and many not so clever arty people meet a bunch of artlessly rich people in large tents to exchange money, business cards and air kisses but if you’re reading this you probably don’t fall into either category. Artists from the world of graffiti and street art are increasingly smashing down the door and gatecrashing the party and if you are in London this week, have a break from the stark and snooty “yen, euros or dollars?” gallery cubicles and make your way to Conor Harrington’s show close by just off Soho.

Conor's latest series of painting presents an almighty tussle, an epic struggle; it’s left versus right, it’s red versus blue, it’s socialist versus capitalist; it’s politics and it’s gory, it’s dirty and it’s beautiful, and you have a ringside seat.


L-R The Blind Patriot (Red), Blind Patriots 2, Meditations Of A Royal Ringmaster, Blind Patriots 1, The Blind Patriot (Blue)

In the first room we have to our left the forces of red and to the right is the blue army but Man United versus Chelsea it ain’t. We have posturing, we have fine clothing, we have brogues that look like the butler just finished polishing them and there are flags.


The Blind Patriot (Blue)



The Blind Patriot (Blue), detail


Pick a favourite colour, red or blue? You can’t win though, either way someone is going to poke you in the eye and kick you in whatever passes for your genitalia for picking the wrong one.


The Blind Patriot (Red)


This thunderous struggle takes place in a very formal, clinical and orderly space. The pristine surroundings blush at the violence erupting all around us, like a vicar trying to apologise to both sides when fisticuffs break out at the wedding party.


Codebreakers Trying To Crack The Kingdom


Let’s make no mistake this display has masculinity, testosterone and belligerence, aggression and knuckleheaded stupidity right through it. Rather like some of our politicians.


Meditations Of A Royal Ringmaster (detail)


It is entirely appropriate Conor is coming out fighting during what is known in the UK as party conference season, in real life news the forces of blue on right are tearing themselves apart over very stupid ideas. Meanwhile the red party beat themselves up caught between a vaguely sensible proposition supported by some of the party but opposed by the other half of the party who feel it’s not commie enough and so prefer the same outcome the nasty wing of the blue party wants. The enemy of my enemy is still my fucking enemy, so there is no negotiation in these canvasses, you get smacked right in the face.


Meditations Of A Royal Ringmaster


Conor’s colour palate is exuberant and dramatically romantic, lush passionate colours are applied with bold sweeping gestures;


Confessions Of The Self Saboteurs


In some places there is regal solidity while in others there is a complete breakdown as energy flows through the participants in the drama.


Blind Patriots 2



Blind Patriots 2 (detail)


Battle is joined with the protagonists flailing at eachother using their flags, like a bar brawl in a matador camp.


The Hunter And The Haunted


Conor’s art schooling began with graffiti writing before a period in formal art school, not much remains in the way of graffiti stylings but those amazing specimens of Conor’s street art are reflected in the drips and splatters of spray paint in many of the works.


L-R Confessions Of The Self Sabateurs, A Holding Pattern And Dark Disco, Codebreakers Trying To Crack The Kingdom


In a lovely video by Andrew Telling Conor discusses his tools, techniques and the thinking behind the subject matter.


The Story of Us and Them - Conor Harrington from Andrew Telling on Vimeo.


It is a week of madness and indulgence and money this week in London. Admission to Conor’s show is free!

Links:

Conor Harrington website

Conor Harrington Instagram

 All photos: Dave Stuart

Stik In Time

Street art is by nature generally ephemeral but every once in a while a piece of street art thrives for years so it’s informative to see how those pieces fare.

Usually the things that enable a street art piece to survive are either plastic protection, as is occasionally the case for Banksy (2001) or inaccessibility, such as ROA’s Crane (2010) or Conor Harrington’s soldier (2008).


Banksy



ROA (feat a Stik that did not survive)



Conor Harrington


London street artist Stik painted a stunning interracial couple holding hands at ground level in Shoreditch in 2010 which benefits from none of those things, so how does this piece endure so much that just last month it was ranked number 17 in the list of top favourite UK artworks ever! He’s sandwiched between Anish Kapoor and Maggi Hambling and hasn’t been heard complaining.


Stik


Beginning at the beginning, Stik being a savvy and nice person sought to ensure that the local Muslim community would not be offended by his intended composition, in fact to assist those of us not tuned into the relevant sensitivities Stik displayed a couple of pages explaining that his representation of a Muslim girl in a niqab and a white guy, the tendency is to presume Christian, did not breach the writings of the Koran which in simple terms forbids creating realistic images of human beings.


Work In Progress, May 2010




"Flat two-dimensional illustrations, deliberately unrealistic, no illusion of depth"


It is not surprising that the obvious significance of the painting with its message of harmony and integration makes it cherished within the very strong local Muslim community but it is particularly encouraging that it also resonates with the wider UK population according to a national vote (a survey of 2000 consenting adults to be accurate).

Over time the couple has endured a variety of embarrassing embellishments ranging from comedy anatomical adornments to taggers seeking cheap fame through tagging up such an immensely popular piece of art. Every once in a while Stik may pass by and restore the artwork, which after all comprises comparatively simple solid blocks of colour.










One of the most amusing interactions was Art Is Trash’s 2014 additions showing the white guy apparently putting out some anthropormorphic rubbish.


Art Is Trash


DRSC0 from Portland Oregon placed a pair of stickers holding hands in homage to Stik’s piece across the road on the back of a road sign.


DRSC0 (2016)


One quite stunning homage to Stik’s couple came from the unknown artist who placed a pair of complementary “grotesques” in juxtaposition with Stik’s couple rather than actually on them. Unknown artist we salute you, that was brilliant.


Unknown


Most recently, visiting South African artist Falko made a major adjustment to Stik’s classic by adding a bonsai elephant (the word pygmy really doesn’t do justice to the obvious contrast in scale). By adding an elephant to the couple holding hands Falko has taken on a quite iconic piece of art - 17th favourite! - quite a bold move for someone whose art we don’t recall seeing on these shores before. In an interview with Graffoto Stik generously described Falko’s intervention as a forced enhancement. Stik knows how the game plays with street art, nothing is sacred (no pun intended) so he hasn’t flounced down to Princelet St in a fit of pique to make good the additions, though it will happen eventually.


Falko vs Stik


In a particularly energetic burst Falko added quite a herd of elephants in Shoreditch in a very short period of time.


Beauty And The Beast, feat art by Falko


Falko’s addition provokes curious thoughts: is there a religious significance the elephant? Well an elephant would be considered haram under Islamic principals so the elephant is not going to be eaten for sure, it must be some kind of pet elephant albeit a bloody small one. The simple leash Falko has added binds the elephant to the couple, without that it would just be a small elephant superimposed on a couple holding hands so the lead is very important. Closer inspection suggests the elephant might be holding a marker pen in its trunk, perhaps the elephant is colouring in the background to Stik’s work, in a way signalling to us that Falko did actually do some restoration work this time around. Clever that, and is that a knowing little wink that the elephant is giving us?





A more academic blogger might be tempted to call this post a longitudinal study of a single point in space but Graffoto is too horizontal for that.


LINKS:

Stik homepage 

Falko Instagram 

All photos: Dave Stuart

Brutal Lazarides Vinyl Factory Group Show

Lazarides/Vinyl Factory
180 Strand, London
Tuesday 15th to Sunday 27th October 2013

words and photos: NoLionsInEngland


A nailed on dead (literally!) cert highlight for each of the past few years has been the Lazarides’ offsite exhibition expedition which in the past saw the gallery packing their toiletry bags for Bedlam, The Minotour and Hell's Half Acre in the Waterloo tunnels. This year’s jolly is off to an unattractive grey former accountants’ office block at 180 Strand, London which sadly is just so plain and ugly it doesn’t even deserve the inverted poetic description “brutalist”.

This show feels more about how artists have harnessed the gentle light of the space than about responding to Brutal as a theme. Many of the works interact with the very limited light available in ways which throw their influence much wider than the work’s own footprint.

The one I kept going back to on both my visits (so far) is the awesome installation by Know Hope who grabbed the reflective oily pool gimmick before Doug Foster turned up. Know Hopes has always been strong on installations and dioramas but here he kicks things up a huge gear on an abstract emotional level. It’s all about missing parts not missing hearts, rectangular holes allow found views, found light rectangles and chance vistas. It’s about absences and the play of light through those absences played out with a heavy Twin Peaks meets Blair Witch Project atmosphere. Stanley Donwood will be tearing his hair out.










Know Hope


Next highlight is Lucy McLauchlan. Lucy brings a rougher looser feel to this almost immersive experience as slightly heavy and indistinct figures swoop and gyrate through this gymnasium for acrobatic goths. The movements and curves traced by her leaping dancing figures create a dizzying sense of sweaty chaos and the music from the nearby Doug Foster installation suited McLauchlan’s room more than it did Foster’s cinema.




Lucy McLauchlan


Having mentioned Foster a couple of times already it’s best to put that experience out of its misery. The slow churning light is present, the epic growling soundtrack driving the sub woofer through the neighbours’ ceiling has turned up but those infinite reflective surfaces are missing. What is left is a very very widescreen light animation, a bit like watching tv through the gap under the door. The revolving kaleidoscopic imagery seemed at times to suggest long leaved weeds waving under water then sometimes perhaps strange animated seed like structures viewed under a microscope, all pretty abstract but not sure that it achieved anything either itself or within the context of a curated show, two ways in which Foster installations at previous Lazarides shows scored heavily.


Doug Foster


Cleon Peterson had a very strong show at the Greek Street Lazarides early this year and proves at Brutal that this was no flash in the pan. His mural is filled with pain, brutality and a lack of compassion and it presents a particular challenge, to view the figures smoothly across the many surface fractures caused by a staggered series of wall steps, we need to lower our eye level to the same height as the traumatically assaulted victims of this tableau. Peterson is killing us.


Cleon Peterson


I haven’t seen any Brad Downey indoor work since the disappointing 2009 show with Stolen Space but his Tarpaulin Café here really works well as an installation setting for what appear to be photographs of Brad Downey urban interventions and observations involving apertures in those building site net fences which have an image of the façade they are hiding. He has in the past created these holes in the nets himself, that was his art but this time it seems he is finding the holes and highlighting how the holes tear a gash through the idealised vision of the “artists’ impression” that developers deceive us with. The café setting gives an collection of surfaces, textures and light and shadow interplays which have all the ambience of a poolside bar in a war zone, in a good way!




Brad Downey


Moving onto artists I haven’t come across before, the work of Ben Woodeson was multi-layered chin dropping. Plates of glass and light interact to impose themselves on audience and surroundings in ways which could be either lightweight, perhaps the suggestion of a long shadow, or really heavy as in “this could slice through you”. Best get your retaliation in first by simply standing in the way of the strong illumination, this way you change the light and the shadows, imposing yourself on the way which the art work throws itself around the space.


Ben Woodeson


Conor Harrington matches Cleon Peterson blow for blow in responding to the theme brutality, Antony Micallef doesn’ t take us anywhere he hasn’t before with his dark impressionist portraits while Katrin Fridriks brings an abstract beauty to the game.


Conor Harrington



Antony Micallef



Katrin Fridriks


What do you expect attending an exhibition called “Brutal”? Pastoral landscapes and whimsy this is not. For all the fun with light and shadow play, no illumination was spared for the impossibly dark installation notes taped to walls around the place. Although the core theme perhaps is not as strongly defined as in previous outings some of the installations and spaces are stronger, harsher and often far more subtle than the previous experiences. As with all the Lazarides’ previous offsites, repeat visits are called for.


Mark Jenkins (again, for me, it's all about the light and shadows)



Karim Zeriahen



Boogie



Pose



Esteban Oriol



DalEast