Arofish Solo Show

A long time coming for Mr Fish this one, he should have had a solo show a very long time ago.

Few can argue that his stencils are simply second to none (as witnessed a few posts back in his return to hitting up the streets of East London)

So, back to his more usual stomping ground, and over to New Cross for his show entitled "Scrapped". It's gonna be a good one....I can feel it in my infected bladder!!

The Eefos of Bortusk

Viola Gallery 1a Turville St 21 Feb 2008

First, a short summary of recent street art history as background to tonight’s show. Several months ago a flutter occurred literally on the streets of London when a flock of pigeons appeared on the walls of Hoxton and Shoreditch. Thinkfly took the whole fluorescent pigeon with eyes and teeth genre to its limits and he and his flock disappeared almost as fast as they came.

Thinkfly

At Christmas, grotesque dayglo monsters from the feverish imagination and possibly hand of a child sprayed directly onto newsprint started appearing daily on walls and hoardings across E1, proudly signed by the artist Bortusk Leer. Anagrams ahoy! Many mainly meaningless permutations of the letters were tested but once the word Luke sprang out of the mess, a surname soon followed and the culprit was swiftly located somewhere around and occasionally in The Leonard Street Gallery. Before this riddle was solved however, a completely anonymous pasted up rosette of Santa’s elves appeared in one location in Blackaller Street exactly at Christmas, followed by further lone Santa’s babes in isolated locations across over to Brick Lane.

Eefos

Nothing to connect the two phenomenon was obvious. Within the last month however, variations on the glamour babes started to appear at the same locations and same times as the rash of paper monsters. Pinning Bortusk Leer to a wall the truth was extracted, a friend of his who was responsible and was going under a nom-de-rue which was her real name backwards. This revelation required the re-captioning of many pictures posted on flickr. Tonight, uniquely, for the first time ever, the same pictures are being re-captioned for the second time following the discovery that the artist can’t spell Sophie.

Bortusk Leer and Eefos

Lest there be any confusion, tonight’s opening is the joint show of the two artists Bortusk Leer and Eefos whose street biography is crudely mis-represented above and whose name lends itself to the pun in the show’s title. Thinkfly got fed up of being pigeon-holed and morphed into the Bortusk Leer under consideration.

The cosy confines of a small room just off Redchurch street – opposite that Banksy tag in the meter box for those who know it or have a copy of BLT – plays host to a large number of compactly hung modified pictures by Bortusk Leer and a smaller collection of Eefos glamour girls in rosettes and panoramas in a variety of uniforms.

The largest paintings which have been subjected to the Bortusk Leer treatment recall a Crude Oils-esque (Banksy in case ya don’t know) alteration, though my favourite is the somewhat smaller corruption of a group of French soldiers from Napoleaonic times which bring to mind the Chapman Brothers defacing (dontcha love mischievously putting those words together) Goya. Given the scale of the pictures, and some are barely 2 inches by 2 inches, this is paste up vandalism on a truely micro scale.

Bortusk Leer

On the streets all Thinkfly’s pigeons had human parts superimposed but Bortusk Leer has flipped the concept in many cases here with humans having animal parts added. Wisely and thankfully, Bortusk keeps the more eroticised images off the streets, looking at the rather gynaecological positioning of a cat’s face between a woman’s thighs doesn’t bring the word “subtle” to mind.

Bortusk Leer

Judith Supine comparisons seem inevitable but this would miss the humour underpinning Bortusk Leer’s work. A smile is what Leer seeks and fun is writ right through his pictures. His rapid rise from a few pigeons on the roadside to a fully fledged show opening in a gallery is infused with an “I can do that” punk spirit.

Good news for fans of the lurid monsters is Bortusk plans to introduce a few of these at the weekend into the gallery. At the rate he manages to whack these up on the street it should be possibly to get several hundred uniques knocked out by Friday.

Turning to his friend, first of all lets get the obvious Hello question out of the way once and for all, Bortusk Leer and Eefos may turn to eachother for friendship and perhaps a look-out when being naughty against a wall, but friendship and an accomplice for art devilment is all it is!

Eefos in contrast to Bortusk Leer has essentially taken her street motif directly into the frame with little modification, which is perfect for the street art purists among us. Using a simple vintage glamour girl image, clad in various coy conservatively revealing outfits and replicated her in multiple rows and rosettes, Eefos’ pictures remind one of a vintage piece of Busby Berkely choreography.

Eefos

As the girls reach out to each other and brush each other’s thighs there is a nuance of lesbian eroticism, though that could just be my mind. Most of the work presented is available in modest editions of 5. The same cute sweetness of the street paste ups is captured in an un-demanding way on the gallery walls.

Eefos

Connections matter a lot; Pure Evil, Beejoir and Mau Mau being among the street celebrities spotted tonight. Cojones count too, and having the necessary to decide that they could do it, that they would have fun doing it and that they would take it all the way to a show indicates spirit, though the relative simplicity of what is presented tonight suggests Bonhams won’t be hammering on the door just yet. Get the point, just enjoy!

Viola Gallery – a rather small room!

Black Rat Press Print Show

Rivington Street 16 Feb 2008


With domestic interiors across the land filling up with prints from street artists, Black Rat Press have blessed the inquisitive and acquisitive with an education in the back stage aspects of the artists work. Sadly, the Rat couldn’t make it to BRP’s Print Show opening so will remain ignorant of how Matt Small suppresses the DTs to scrape a sharp object in smooth curves across an etching plate.

The walls however contain a good variety of new and familiar prints from most of the great leaders of the revolution, in no particular order (but willing to promote or relegate for gifts) these are Swoon, D*Face, Blek Le Rat, Matt Small, Nick Walker and Slinkachu.

In addition to prints released on Valentines day, D*Face has produced unique variants on dead Che, this time the luscious unique Che collage on ultra commie red background has a further inner skull tearing its way through the surface Che with skeleton hands bursting through the paper of the surface Che. Dead Che also appears in three colourways on burnished steel, wildly bling and strong wall mounts required!

D*Face

Tastily displayed are a set of Swoon very limited edition (20 I think) very hand finished prints called Baba Yaga (the wild woman, the witch, the mistress of magic – google expert). When Swoon hand finishes to make each edition copy different it isn’t the old “on this one that line is 1mm longer” trivial differences, each of this Swoon edition did look radically different, compare the two below. Baba Yaga has the wisdom of the years gouged in her wrinkles, not page 3 material.
Baba Yaga - Swoon


In parallel with the familiar but still stunning multicoloured portraits, Matt Small has worked on 6 light boxes, which weren’t actually turned on at the time of viewing. The paint run effect looked a bit messy and the usual capture of the subjects’ distrust, boredom, sullenness or suspicion is not quite there but these may well look spectacular with the light actually on, we shall return! [edit - rubbish! linoprints on VCRs, not lightboxes. Doesn't make them any better to these eyes. Sorry - NoLions] Several other Matt Small prints in the usual rich multi colour splatter are shown and an interesting etched line drawing black on cream paper, apparently Matt wasn’t impressed with the multi-colour version.

Matt Small Linoprints on dead VCRs


Six different Blek le Rat rat monoprints, all unique, looked the nuts with their rats clambering over a bleached background. The gun toting Space Cowboy, intimidating in posture and size, remain available having been seen at the White Noise show.

Blek Le Rat



At the time of viewing several blank spots on the wall were getting the BRP illumination effect – wouldn’t we all love to be able to light our collections at home like that – hopefully the missing Nick Walkers will have filled these spaces.

The Slinkachoo night time lover’s lightbox looked sweet, the out of focus background echoing the lovers’ oblivion to their surroundings.

Slinkachu



This show does what it says on the tin, a strong collection of prints and artists has been assembled for the benefit of those not quite in the league of commissioning one off canvasses direct from the artist, plus a bit of education for us rude mechanicals to boot.

Jef Aerosol Spray It Loud

Islington Arts Factory 8 Feb 2008


There are many reasons why people move out of central London…less stress, better schools, nature, the environment and definitely more space! Jef Aerosol’s new Show at the Islington Art Centre, not too far from Newcastle and roughly level with Stavangar, certainly has more space, more space for hanging, more quirky corners for hiding smaller canvasses and more space where crowds should be. Compared to a dense central London opening, this felt quite lightly populated though how many people were hidden away in the nooks crannies and side rooms at this converted church can’t be told.

Aerosol paints icons. Ghandi said an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Blind Angle present substantial collection of portraiture on canvas, silkscreen prints and installation, all with the stencil as the chosen tool.




Colours are predominantly red and black so no break with Aerosol convention there, though the Blurting The Truth canvasses with red arrows spurting out through the artist’s fingers come in green, red, orange and purple with coloured rain splashing from on high.



Many images are familiar from the streets of London and France, but there are some new images. The 9 canvas colourway repetition of the Eros (Piccadily Circus) statue places the Christian Angel well over to the left to fire a cheeky trademark Aerosol arrow across the canvas.



Running through Aerosol’s work is a series of contrasts. The main wall installation highlights the gulf between the haves and the have-nots, the wealthy fame sluts and the invisible underdog. Deified personalities lord it over the downtrodden; Johnny Rotten, Nureyev, Sid Vicious and Twiggy sit aloof over an old beggar woman and her offspring, a farmer and his cow, and a dispassionate negro boy. The icons take centre stage, whilst the hungry, the aged and the dis-enfranchised lurk behind pillars and on walls down the sides of stairs and in corridors.


Rock and pop gods are here in abundance with representatives of the lifetime fully realised genius of say Neil Young juxtaposed with images of talent briefly flowered but taken early such as Jim Morrison, Sid Barrett and Ian Curtis. The rock portraits suffer simultaneously from familiarity through permeation into our conciousness through constant exposure and familiarity as Aerosol subjects. Knowing the subjects too well exposes the limitations of applying stencilism to portraiture, as the faces appear crudely contoured and curiously shaded. Is that a shadow above Iggy Pop’s lip or a hole where a nose should be? It is also hard to ignore that the rock star as canvas subject matter is the province of sweat shop artistry churned out ultra cheap for the student bedsit market, the parallel creating a gross under-estimation of Aerosol’s talent.

Aerosol’s captures a dynamic motion more successfully than any other practising stencilist. His flautist leaps with unrestrained exuberance and compare the original with the quality of Aerosol’s stencil as Nureyev throws himself into his ballet routine.

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Twiggy brings a breath of Carnaby street glamour though she looks more like a destitute orphan with an strangely oversize right arm than a symbolic waif-beauty.

Two prints were available, the intense richly red black and white self portrait with Mickey Mouse ears titled “Wake Up”, this manic staring Aerosol must have been woken with a cattle probe. The second print is the 100 x 100 sitting kid, an stencil of immense detail and pathos.


This is a charming show, the space to circulate is welcome, the irregular shape makes a pleasant change to the routine box cube gallery. Congratulations to Blind Angle for a very well handle print sale, with owners identities collated against the print number and a typed CoA handed over with the print, wish all galleries were so fastidious.

Arofish Returns

I have never seen too many Arofish stencils around Shoreditch (primarily they crop up on the Southbank and surronding areas) but what he lacks in quantity he certainly makes up for in quality and they are always worth waiting for. Spotted by the now eagle eyed and very clued up Nolions. . . . . .

Urban Art - Insanity Takes Hold

(all photos Bonhams)

Originating from the streets of Bristol, Brighton and London, growing up via galleries in the East End (TLSG and BRP well represented tonight), the street print and canvas fetish they call urban art arrived in the plush west end auction rooms of Bonhams tonight .

Standing room only as Banksy stole the show, with new records for signed and unsigned screenprints, and a high score of £190,000 plus about £50,350 in premium and taxes was reached for the multiple Laugh Now monkeys on painted board. Other Banksy highlights included £82,000 for the pink punk canvas, rather a lot for a picture which looks like it might belong in your daughter’s bedroom and the jaw dropping £80,000, that’s over £100k with add ons, for the signed editioned print, read it again..editioned, Kate Moss (30/50) which undoubtedly brought a smile to one seller’s face.

Note all prices here are hammer prices, add a further 26-28% for buyers premium, VAT and artists fees, which raises the interesting question of how will Banksy get his since you have to provide name and address to collect!

Christ With Shopping Bags (13/82) topped the prices for other signed prints at £17,000 whilst signed HMV (19/150) and Golf Sale (27/750) both realised £11,000 and signed I Fought The Law brought in £10,000. The last three make the £11,000 paid for an un-signed Bomb Middle England (288/500) look like in-explicable lunacy. The only rat at the show other than me, an un-signed Gansta Rat (94/350) went for £6,500.


Nick Walker’s burgeoning recognition, his soaring talent showcased superbly in LA at the moment was rewarded by a Moona Lisa canvas stretching to a cheeky £45,000. The beautiful London Morning After AP 12/12 with its lush blue sky went for £4,500 and probably drew the largest number of frantically waved paddles.

Two very dark but classy Guy Denning oil on canvases priced erratically with the 50x70 Fear and Loss knocking down for £8,000 compared to the comparative bargain of £2,000 for the 50x50 We Saw This.

Antony Micallef flippers failed to catch fire with the Peacekeeper Uzi loving quartet ranging from £1,700 to £2,200. That’ll teach ya.

Adam Neate’s The Apprentice went for a tasty £36,000 making the smaller Neates on cardboard look a comparative steal at between £5,500 and £8,500.

Catalogues sold out so expect those to flip on eBay at a ridiculous premium any minute now.

The auction had more buzz than a hive on acid and undoubtedly suggests that apparently faltering prices are due to kick on again. If that’s what you want. Frankly the mood did border on the insane, though the buyer of the top priced piece has been popping up at all the street art openings for some time so wasn't bidding in ignorance. Given the awesome/in-explicable prices achieved for the somewhat patchy to mediocre selection auctioned tonight I would be surprised if cashing in on the street art bubble isn’t attempted again fairly soon.

Bonhams biggun

After lunch, to Bonhams in the charabanc to view some arty items previewing for the so-called first ever Urban Art auction. No Sol or San Mig. so had to endure the daubings sober.

The star piece imo is the ultra pink Sid/spikey punk canvas by Banksy. Most spectacular is the multiple Laugh Now from that bar in Brighton, shame more care wasn't taken in removing it. The Guy Dennings pair look gorgeous.

It is worth popping along to the preview given the number of works you may not have seen in the flesh before.

Bonhams have used the same lighting as BRP at their recent show which makes the dullest screen print look like it has had the lightbox treatment.

I've been told that bloggies like a good moan, so: it's hard to shake off the impression that there are too many large edition prints, some (D*Face Lenticular, called "Dizzie Rascals" by Bonhams but I don't recall it having that name on release) only released 2 months ago. Also it's a bit Keith Haring heavy. Quite why the seller needs to include an "Authorised Graffiti Area" sticker with Happy Chopper defeats me, Gareth Williams, Bonham's annointed Senior Urban Art specialist says it "came with the print at the show", well blow me, at most shows one can rely on necking a bit of bubbly, so why not a free bottle of champers with all the other items. And the catalogue is a bit pricey, dammit.

Provenance on some items must be a bit iffy. Asking the staff about the Paris CD, they reckoned anyone cloning Banksy would be doing it for more expensive items. I reckon anyone of that bent with half a brain went out and bought a few legit Paris CDs that week (to obtain receipts) and has been churning CDs out since, cos there is no possible provenance on that (can "Banksy's people" distinguish a CD burner/photocopier copy from the original?).