Manorism - Easter Weekend warehouse group show

Unit 4
199 Eade Road (see directions below)
London N4 1DN
(about 10 mins walk from Manor House)

Fri 3 April - Sun 5th April
Fri 1930 - 0000
Saturday 4th 2pm - midnight/Sun 5th 2pm -2300
See event page

all photos: NoLionsInEngland

Featured artists painting indoors and out: Kenor, Zosen Bandido, Vinnie Nylon, Pablo Fiasco, Lapiztola Stencil, Dotmasters, Mudwig, Paris, Mary Yacoob, REQ, Jeffrey Disastronaut, Cedoux Kadima, MNKY, Dan Johnson, Alice Evans, FiST, Box Head, Goodchild, Dazzle, Dan Rawlings

Projections to include photographs by war photographer Tim Hetherington; other films to be announced

DJ sets



Every year or two the culture of street art throws up a show which turns the spotlight on itself, doors are opened to a wider public without asking them to walk into a stuffy “proper” gallery. Pablo Fiasco (his mum possibly knows him by another name) has located a very interesting spot in North London where over the Easter weekend an exhibition of painted walls, stencils, installations, films and other assorted diversions will take place.


The location is one of those formerly industrial areas where industry has drifted away but the residual properties have yet to be anointed with essence of gentrification. Formerly occupied by a courier company, 2 sides of the building have been converted for accommodation but are separated by a bizarre irregular void for which there appear to be no takers in this economic climate, so it has become an irregular host of assorted cultural activities. You will know 199 Eade Road by the bright colourful Kenor and Zosen collaborative mural across the façade facing the road. However, the show isn’t in that building, you’ll find it down the ramp to the right of the building in the metal clad building next to 119.


Kenor & Zosen collab


At the time of our visit, only Pablo Fiasco himself was onsite, a huge collection of paint and stencil materials and work in progress art sprawled across the floor. Pablo goes back a long way and is very well connected, which reflects in the diverse array of talent and backgrounds on view. Most of the work he will present in this show is collaged stencils, though as a teacher and filmmaker his art practice is much broader. While his signature piece is an amazingly intricate and venerably ancient stencil of an equally antique typewriter, his work includes a lot of characters with Abe Lincoln, Lenin, Lee Harvey Oswald and George Bush popping up in surreal interactions. The typewriter stencil took three months to cut and is a veteran of an amazing 500 uses, including a manifestation as a large spider in the building and a Hokusai wave break surfer outside.


Pablo Fiasco



Pablo Fiasco


Particular striking eye candy was this Picasso/Roy Lichtenstein mash-up that was lying on the floor.


Pablo Fiasco


Dazzle’s use of striking patterns borrows both name and effect from the camouflage technique used on World War 1 warships, his stencilled portraits have been seen on the streets of East London. Pablo Fiasco contributes intricate architecture doubling as a hairstyle to this particular Dazzle figure.


Dazzle/Pablo Fiasco collab, flanked either side by Goodchild


Some such as Dotmasters and Zosen who exhibited at Pure Evil in 2007 and contributed to CANS 2 in 2008 are long standing street artists. We haven’t seen this Dotmasters’ classic outdoors since it was rendered in an alleyway adjacent to some very posh London galleries in Cork St in about 2007, Pablo Fiasco comically subverts it so that Abe Lincoln is creating William Burroughs rather than God creating Adam.


Dotmasters/Pablo Fiasco Creation collab



Dotmasters 2007


Dotmasters is rolling out not just ancient history but also a completely new stuff riffing on the word “Toy” which in graffiti circles means “amateur, novice, beginner”, this follows on from the new Robby The Robot piece which appeared in Shoreditch last week.


Dotmasters


Goodchild has obviously enjoyed creating a lot of impressive geometric patterns both indoors and out at the site, here we see MNKY in the background snarling at the abandoned caravan which it wants out of the way by the weekend.


right to left Box Head, MNKY, Goodchild



In addition to the wall art, there are plans for projections including a posthumous showing of soldier graffiti captured by war photographer Tim Hetherington, “oldest and closest friend” of Pablo Fiasco killed in Libya in 2011. There will also be a bar and music with DJs mashing up music by people I have never heard of.

The space is large and the walls irregular, placement is haphazard and there is art indoors and outside, the result is a pretty exciting art treasure hunt with a lot of work prompting questions like “whose face is that?”; “which artists are collaborating where?”; “how did this surreal mash up pop into any sane persons head?” Pablo Fiasco was in full flow at the start of the week, other artists such as Nylon are expected to make their contributions over the next few days and even today more artists are being added to the roster so there remains lots to be created and discovered.




Mudwig/Paris Collaboration


Expect a very chilled vibe in the daytime, this feels like it will be the kind of event where the family could happily drop in for a bit of culture, a bit of fun and a bit of chilled out time. Maybe not the bank holiday weekend spectacular that Banksy’s 2008 Cans Festival was or the dank edgy gloom of Nelly Duff’s abandoned tenement basement “Banger Art” of 2012, perhaps something more akin to the One Foot In The Grove under the Westway in 2009 but more indoors and less flame belching steam punk monsters.

Do enjoy.


"Beware all ye taking the portal to our facilities" warns the genie of the spraycan: collab Dazzle/Dotmasters/Pablo Fiasco


Lapiztola

Graffoto Round Up of the Year - Part 1

Welcome pop pickers! A post I have meant to do for the last few years on Graffoto has been a look back at the year, be it a good or a bad one (the year, not the post). The problem in previous years was that I just always ended up leaving it too late in the holiday, my bingo wings thus being held down by my own weight in mince pies and turkey leftovers and sapped of the energy to bother. So whilst the intention this year was to start this post pre Christmas in the hope it kicks me up the arse to finish the rest closer to the end of the year, here I am a couple of days away from New Year's.... So it's more than likely that this will be a post that carries over into 2012. I'll split the year into 4 parts so as not to make the post so long. A picture heavy and word "lite" effort it's about my third post of the year and certainly the biggest on Graffoto. My favourite pictures and work that has gone up throughout the year, starting right at the top of January. . . All pictures are by HowAboutNo except where stated. Cept & Sweet Toof Nychos & Vibes Photo supplied by Mr S. Toof

Philth (indeed!) Kid Acne's Artfags (Spectre also on the decaying shop front sign) Plastic Bones Dscreet & Kid Acne AMAZING to see Zezao work up in London in his unmistakeable style Milo Tchais also getting up more than I remember in previous years. Roa In fact this whole spot got a lot of action in 2011, Mr Sperme popped up and knocked out this one. Shame there weren't many others. Ranking highly as my fave piece of the year...and it's a sticker :( Sadly Stormie Mills didn't paint any London walls that I found in 2011. Slipping in a little bit of South Coast action . . .I found a nice little spot closer to home in Hastings. Unfortunately I have only managed to go there once with a camera in hand. Must change that in 2012. Michael De Feo had a show in London and left a few flowers. A few artists hit the Grand Union Canal at Broadway Market one weekend in March, am not sure there was any event other than perhaps a meet at a local hostelry. . . Xenz Teddy Baden Dotmasters Just oodles of generic damage was often my highlight of the year...more in later posts but this was a big big fave. . .

Gold Peg did a few activist/occupy related pieces through the year (more later) This was the first and boldest, the ad company blocking the message out days later.

Tizer went to Leake Street and did this piece in amazing quick time. I think the squiddlywinkswould call this one SICK!

Gold Peg hit some of the most eye catching and clever spots throughout the year as far as I am concerned, proving as always that half, if not more of the work is all in the placement. My fave other placed spot this year was a piece by Revok, which featured on his blog Revok was later arrested in April 2011 for failing to pay damages to the victims of his previous vandalism crimes So that's it for part 1 of this round up which covered January to March (at least in the order I found them, as mentioned some of the pieces are years old) Part 2 to follow soon covering, you guessed it......April to June.

Street Artist Servants Express Gratitude For Long Weekend

all photos: NoLionsInEngland


To echo The Socialist Worker’s famous “traffic delays in London” commentary on the wedding of Charles and Di, large amounts of Britain came to a standstill today as workers enjoyed an extra day off work and a 4 day weekend. Kate Middleton, slim, looker, married Prince William, privileged, inherited. Street artists, resplendent in traditional livery of flat sole sneakers, shin length skinny denims and Abercombie hoodies paid tribute to the occasion.

Perhaps the most prolific around the ancient borough of Shoreditch, haunt of their majesties’ crustier artists and other trendie subjects, was Dotmasters, in his customary supporting role as Bearer Of The Exacto Knife, delivering a prolific number of this single layer stencilled artistic tribute of the royal likeness presented in the form of police identikit photos.


Dotmasters


Mr.Farenheit, Master of the Paste, has installed at strategic locations (i.e. the usual spots) a selection of newsprint pages stencilled over with a variety of messages expressing a commoner’s love the future Queen.


Mr.Farenheit


A parallel between a Prince’s desire to be left alone (particularly when falling out of the VIP area area of a Chelsea nightclub with a dozen close freeloading rugger mates) and a reluctant sexual partner adorns several locations of the realm.


Mr.Farenheit


The street art community has paid its respect to the ancient traditions of this Sceptr'd isle, led symbolically by its great royal figureheads, successors to a long line of distinguished and brilliant cross-dressers, into a brave new era of tourist economy dependence, determined to show the world whose eyes today watch our green and peasant land with envy and awe how Britain maintains its love of honouring those born to be first to the trough.




K-Guy produced a limited edition screen print but didn’t make it out onto the streets. This sort of summarises the general level of ennui reigning among a populace upon whom the greatest impact will have been “yippee, another 4 day weekend”. All in all a pretty paltry reaction to the wedding. Apart from the obvious targets - privilege, wealth and un-earned but mainly symbolic authority, it seems Willy and Kate present little material to inspire the artist courtier. Perhaps the scintillating wit and pointed political satire is being reserved for the eventual wedding of his swastika wielding brother.

Late update, I forgot about this one,as likely to be a paid for commission as not, cheque signed "love Liz and Phil"?




After The Piss Up.....The Paste Ups

K-Guy obviously felt the sludge landslide of instant commemorative pull-out souvenir colour supplements leant an excessive gloss to an overblown celebration of the marriage of the nation's favourite negligee manikin to the single beaming 2:1 chink of intelligence flying in the face of the royal family's fine tradition of academic mediocrity, so he silk screened this mass paste up souvenir bollocks with the exortation "God Save Your Mad parade" from the Sex Pistols 1977 Jubilee year single "God Save The Queen".


K-Guy



K-Guy


Just yards away HowAboutNo, still reeling from an excess of Amsterdam refreshments, spotted a couple of figuroids bigging up William as a kind of "Mens Health" speedo poser and Kate with a splat of blood on her wedding dress designed by someone dead. Somehow we doubt that was the first time the Prince stormed her palace gates, c'mon, the Royals move with the times daddyo.


Unknown

CORKED - Not a cheap whine

28 Cork St, London
15 Aug – 25 Aug 2008

pics: nolionsinengland except where noted

A battered white transit van sits on Cork Street, “Vandals” it proclaims and sure enough it seems to have suffered a graffiti attack, cops and wardens eye it suspiciously anticipating a ram raid and in many respects they are right.

Bloody vandals

Urban art has bemused the “serious” crowd but hitherto they haven’t had to worry too much with it staying in its place in grubby East End galleries and transitory pop-up ghetto bazaars. Until now. Corked, the Urban Angel debut gallery show has brought a strange whiff to snooty Mayfair gallery land and that smell is the odour of street art, the chemical whiff of spray paint.




No regal gilded windows for this show, rather a wildstyle Zeus sculpted arrow bursts through the window threatening to penetrate one of (count ‘em) 2 Ferrari’s parked outside, Eine promises HELL within. Its not difficult to predict the rapid disappearance of Eine shutters off the Hackney streets when the price tag on this sprayed window becomes common knowledge among the sub-nation of shop owners.




Israeli Know Hope has chronicled on streets around the world the despairing interaction with a puzzling society of a gangly, insecure tee shirt covered character, distinguished by his long skinny arms, lost heart and melancholy expression.


Know Hope - London street p;ieces, Aug 2008

In the major installation, the un-named character sits entranced by a collection of old photos, kindling rose tinted memories of a by gone age which he hopes existed. Powered by the glow of this hope, confused scrawled noise on the TV screen intermittently resolves itself into a heart, only to distort again as he oscillates through doubt and hope.


Know Hope: "Generated by anything/Reminisce About Anything


This endearing bemused and slightly forlorn figure sits in several stunning framed collage pieces (one a partial light box), sometimes in lonely solitude, in others finding the solidarity of communication with kindred spirits. One fabulous piece shows our stringy anti-hero discovering the strength of bonding through linked arms, reflecting the power transmitted through the linked cables behind.


Know Hope: These Arms Are For Linking


After rocking the concrete skimmed canvasses at his London solo show last autumn, Eine has re-discovered the dayglo colours of his older bear images, which I never really cared for. Perspex is this year’s “found metal” (see D*Face, Pure Evil). The street playtime innocence of groups of Blyton-esque happy smiley children morphs into threatening and sinister subversion seen through the lenses of the ubiquitous CCTVs, the poor children are then overwhelmed by simple negative labels such as Vandals, Activist, Guilty done in that Hell font. Of course you can tell it’s street play, because of the paint spray background and drips everywhere.


Eine: “Activist”. Photo: Wallkandy


In addition to his window busting 3D sculpture, Zeus has three large compressed perspective skyscraper plans painstaking assembled in hand-cut card, one natural daylight coloured, one night time and one a blanched out magnolia – which interestingly is possibly the most striking of the trio. There are no winos, car wrecks or graffiti down at street level, c’mon, what kind of rose-tinted diluted reality is that! Anyone who was at the Open Studio last year and saw Zeus working on his RUN stencil won’t fail to appreciate the incredible work that has gone into creating these pieces and don’t worry if this time you can’t read the word spelled out by the building plan, it’s not that wild style has moved beyond your comprehension, this time there actually isn’t a word in there. Or is there? Blow your brains out searching!


Zeus: Untitled. Photo: Wallkandy


Labrona’s Rumours of War, an acrylic on canvas group of fleeing mothers clutching children heading in the opposite direction to goose stepping half-sized men with moustaches. This piece with its colourful cross between Picasso and a kind of tribal art feel is another show highlight, simply lush and gorgeous.


Labrona: “Rumours Of War”


Charming Baker takes a pop at a deserving target: molly coddled never-fail kids. Two young brats fail to fail with their dads as ghillies helping them shoot a strung up rabbit.


Charming Baker: “The Overachievers”


Hush continues a run of form with the manga and geisha girls, or we boys know it – wife-friendly wall porn. Manga tits are present and correct as expected whilst the Graff Geisha triptych is just stunning.


Hush “Graf Geisha Tryptich”

Chillin with Hush - Corked aftershow

Romanywg gets a special mention for the oddest piece, the double bass that looks like a magician used it for sawing the box in half practise, in collaboration with French artist C215 and inspired by French artist Arman. It is worth having a look at the artists’ pictures of the piece under construction to see all the C215 pieces within the cuts between each section, link at the bottom.


Romanywg/C215 “Double Bass”


New name Michael Alacoque has produced a lurid set of skull faced dogs with ice creams on their heads and medallions. This is an allegory on the military establishment’s use of war memorials to both commemorate and promote war, I’m surprised you needed to ask. It is said many artists subconsciously paint themselves when doing an anonymous figurative work, Alacoque brilliantly contrived to actually look a bit like his sculptures with his bouffant hair and mascara.


Mikael Alacoque


This kind of show has no greater thrill when you confront in the flesh work by an overseas artist you hadn’t even heard of before and new but highly commended is young Brazilian artist Andre Firmiano. Three gorgeous canvas portraits echo a bastard offspring of Titifreak and Word To Mother styles, more please!


Andre Firmiani “Love”. Photo: Romanywg


Among familiar images of Mona and Toughen The Fuck Up, Dotmasters brings indoors the Burlesque Girl and his CANS “What A Load Of Rubbish”. Dotmasters have wisely, since these pieces are destined for the living room, decided not to overload with the authentic piss, vomit and dog-shit normally associated with a pile of bin bags.


Dotmasters "Load Of Rubbish"


Having experienced vicariously through the lenses of NY based flickr-ocrats the exquisite street works of Gaia and Imminent Disaster, the two are shown in different rooms here. Gaia’s Ourobus combines a nest of tail devouring snakes with a man devouring his own fist. Imminent Disaster’s wistful, seated, buttoned-up and extravagantly coiffured Ophelia looks like she can sit on chairs with the front right chair-leg sawn off. The viewer may ponder if the weight is meant to fall on the model’s own ankles on the box, in which case what does it mean?


Gaia “Ourobus”

Imminent Disaster “Ophelia”

Grafter’s work has somewhat polarised opinions but there is no doubt the quality of the stencils have come on leaps and bounds and he benefits hugely from moving away from photo-shopping nearly iconic images. The best piece, a Chris Stain like pair of smiling kids was displayed at the after-show venue .

Grafter

Inkie does what Inkie always does so well, beauties with labyrinthine tresses of hair.

Inkie

SHOK-1 contributes a set of two-tone takes on camera bodied flies, referencing the media’s obsession with celeb culture drawing paps like flies to shit. Several pieces are identified as “part of diptych, other half not shown” which leaves a mystery to be resolved.

Shok-1. Photo: Romanywg

Herakut – sad bat-masked squatting figures sharing a single tail. Hera’s loose brush work and Kut’s microscopically applied photorealistic eyes present and correct, watery-eyed pup missing.

Herakut “Right Before You Leave”

Two artists whose sweet work I would be remiss not to mention are Phillp March Jones:

“Beast 2”. Photo: Wallkandy

and Oliver Vernon:

“Red Swirl”

Urbanangel has unleashed not just strong works from old hands and great promise from new names, it has also launched its move to expand from the computer screen to global domination on the gallery streets. It has set a new benchmark for throwing a party and created a niche for itself by turning up in posh art twat land and preceding to blank the fine surroundings and do things its own way. The AfterShow party was memorable for …errrrrrrrrr…ummmm, actually I’d be surprised if many remember much at all, a gallery-shaped hole appeared in the London scene recently and Urbanangel are going to more than fill the space.

Several names haven’t been mentioned here, you can only read so much, so check out the excellent pics by Romanywg and Wallkandy to see more of the above as well as work by BEEJOIR, DANNY ALBECK, IAN STRAWN, PERIPHAL MEDIA PROJECTS, SNUG and VITCHE.