Archive for the 'Europe' Category
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Must See :: Artprice Documentary
Image still from Artprice documentary
Artprice, a global leader in art market information, database collecting, and sales, has just released an intimate 23 minute documentary chronicling the history and inner-workings of the company. We were particularly blown away by the passion exuded from Artprice’s eclectic founder, and his mind boggling corporate lair outside Lyon, France, which operates from inside the Abode of Chaos, a 17th century home transformed into a replicated war zone…pretty wild for someone who is also the founder and chairman of Groupe Serveur, Artprice’s parent company, whose annual revenue tops off around 70 million Euro.
Watch the video here
Saturday, May 16th, 2009
Jenny Saville Album Art Censored
While Journal For Plague Lovers, the newest release by Welsh band, Manic Street Preachers, may still be hitting the shelves of British supermarkets, the album’s artwork won’t. Large chains including Sainsburys and Tesco will sell the CD in a plain white slipcase, due to “inappropriate” cover art painted by notable British painter, Jenny Saville (who also contributed art to the band’s 1994 album,The Holy Bible, and has exhibited with Gagosian and Saatchi). Apparently Stare, which was painted by Saville in 2005, and depicts a bruised boy, has been deemed too offensive and violent to be placed alongside tabloids and candybars. It’s Just another tale of the power large corporate retailers have over the recording industry, as it was ultimately the decision of Columbia Records to placate them and deliver the album with a Smell the Glove treatment.
Easily the most humorous anecdote to surface from this already absurd situation comes to us from Peter Black, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesman in Wales, who said “I would be disturbed if supermarkets were deliberately acting in that way with regard to pictures of children with disfigurement. The one thing we need to do is allow people who are disfigured to live as normal a life as possible.” (via Telegraph) Bold words indeed…File this one under ridiculous.
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
And They’re Off – Serenissima Sets Sail
Swoon and company set sail on the Adriatic Sea today, departing Slovenia for Trieste, Italy on a new fleet of handmade vessels. It’s not too late to lend a helping hand to this ambitious project. Switchback Sister prints are still available over at PaperMonster, with all proceeds benefiting Swimming Cities of Serenissima.
Once again, thanks goes out to Tod Seelie for the inspiring image. We can’t wait to see more from this talented photographer as the Serenissima’s voyage gets under way.
More on the project at our previous posts here and here
Friday, May 8th, 2009
Tonight :: Ron English at Elms Lesters
Tonight, Elms Lesters Painting Rooms opens Lazarus Rising, the (long overdue) first UK solo exhibition by one of the founding fathers of billboard hijacking and most astounding talents of modern pop, Ron English. English will be on hand Saturday, May 9, from 12-2pm, signing copies of the new hard-bound exhibition catalog, which can also be purchased via the gallery here. Not to be missed – For those outside of London, here are a few images of some pieces included in the show – more on the Elms website.
Ron English – Lazarus Rising
May 8 – June 6
Elms Lesters Painting Rooms
1–3–5 Flitcroft Street, London WC2H 8DH
Images: ©Ron English/Elms Lesters
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
On View :: Dalek + Mike Giant at Galerie Magna Danysz
Parisian gallery, Magna Danysz, sent over some images from their current exhibit (previewed here) with Dalek and Mike Giant. We applaud Dalek for his increasingly abstract imagery, which breaks away from the character driven icons he has become so identified with. While he has been moving in this direction since his 2007 exhibit with Jonathan LeVine, which saw Dalek’s characters abstracted into more subtle references, some of the works on display here take the next logical step, with absolutely zero reference to his well-known Space Monkeys.
Dalek + Mike Giant is open now till May 23. Read on for more images from the show. Read the rest of this entry »
Friday, April 24th, 2009
TACfocus :: FAUST at Grand Palais Tag Exhibit
Our friend FAUST sent over this image of his contribution to T.A.G., on view through April 26 at the Grand Palais, Paris (yes, the same venue for Christie’s recent Yves St. Laurent auction). For the exhibit, 150 internationally know graffiti artists were commissioned to create dyptichs depicting their tag name and their interpretation of “love”. Here’s what FAUST had to say about his piece. “I depicted a classic redbird train overlooking the city skyline to represent my love for the city but also a nostalgia for the New York that no longer exists.” Nice job FAUST – its a pleasure to see such heavy graf skills combined with fine art training. Click image for a larger view. A few more pics after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Dalek + Mike Giant in Paris
Dalek and Mike Giant open a joint exhibit in Paris this Saturday, April 25, at Galerie Magna Danysz.
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Buy Art on the Government’s Dollar
The Telegraph clues us in to a UK government backed loan program which aims to fuel the art market with millions in revenue, while making the collecting game a bit more egalitarian. The Own Art program, funded by the government-run Arts Council England, hands out up to £2,000 in individual loans for the purchase of art, completely interest free and repayable over a ten month period. According to the Telegraph, 25% of those who have taken advantage have an annual income below the national average wage, and to date £6.5 million in revenue has been generated for artists.
We’ve taken a look and should clarify that the program does not apply to all galleries and includes approximately 250 participating venues across England. The £2,000 limit may be used for a single purchase, or spread out over the acquisition of multiple works. While only one loan is permitted at any given time, there is no limit to how many times an individual may use the program. The 0% APR is subsidized by Arts Council England, which pays all interest to the lending bank instead of the customer.
The program is also available at 38 galleries throughout Scotland, via the Scottish Arts Council and over 80 galleries in Wales via Principality Collectorplan, where it has been in operation for over 20 years.
Back in the U.S., these loan programs are worth considering, given the debate over the $50 million given to the National Endowment for the Arts via the Economic Stimulus Act. Opponents have argued there are far more crucial economic factors, including rising unemployment, to justify pumping millions of taxpayer dollars into the arts, while others have claimed the amount is far too miniscule (less than 1% of the approximately $800 billion Stimulus Act), and those in arts related professions need aid as well. Rather than residing to the Roosevelt-esque New Deal tactics employed during the Great Depression, perhaps such government backed loan programs would do more to not only fund the arts but fuel the economy at large, by promoting consumer spending and freeing up the lending capabilities of our nation’s financial institutions.
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
A Forca Da Rua Charity Auction
D*Face Gibson Les Paul
ABC Trust (Action for Brazil’s Children) has organized A Forca da Rua (Force of the Streets), an exhibition and charity auction to help raise funds and awareness for Brazil’s impoverished youth. According to the non-profit, an estimated 7 million children live or work on the streets of Brazil, and 60% do not complete primary education. The organization has invited 12 street artists from Brazil and the UK (including D*Face, Inkie, Titi Freak, Calma and Speto) to paint Gibson guitars, which will be exhibited from April 24 – May 12 and auctioned on April 29 at The Printspace in London.
Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
Banksy Bollocks
Vandalized vandalism – Banksy mural vandalized by Appropriate Media in Bristol, UK.
Image: Appropriate Media
The Times London (by way of Art Market Monitor) clues us in to a group calling themselves Appropriate Media, who have vandalized a protected Banksy mural located in Bristol and published the below anti-Banksy/street art mission statement on a their website:
“In the early hours of this morning, Banksy’s ‘Mild Mild West’ on Stokes Croft in Bristol (UK) was repainted by a member of Appropriate Media, presenting an alternative version of this ‘alternative Bristol landmark’.
Through this action, Appropriate Media asks ?What is the value of street art??. How much time and money will be spent to restore this urban ‘masterpiss’ by urban masterpisser, Banksy.
Come on, you only care about it cos its a Banksy and he sells his lazy polemics to Hollywood movie stars for big bucks.
Come on, you only care about it cos makes you feel edgy and urban to tour round the inner city in your 4×4, taking in the tired coffee table subversion that graffiti has become.
Graffiti artists are the copywriters for the capitalist created phenomenon of urban art.
Graffiti artists are the performing spray-can monkeys for gentrification.
We call for the appropriate and legitimate use of public and private property…We are taking matters into our own hands…We will not seek permission…We will retaliate”
Hm – doesn’t it seem a bit late for this?