Isa Genzken | Hauser & Wirth | Peace & Plastic Figures

 Hi all! If you have liked me on Facebook you will be aware of mine and Eerika's (http://eerikasblog.blogspot.co.uk/) adventure today, we had to meet this morning at 10:15 for a talk at the WGSN Headquarters near Piccadilly Circus. The talk was incredibly interesting and we were shown through the working of the WGSN website and how we as students cant make the most out of the information that is available to us. To be honest, due simply to its availability to us, (thanks to our amaze-balls uni) I had underestimated the importance of WGSN and to be honest didn't expect some of the brands that were mentioned would want anything to do with something that could alter their creative direction. 

But hey, that's why I am here. Learning!

So, returning to the main purpose of this post. We had a walk and took visits to several galleries (the rest will be covered in different posts, today or not depends on how hormonal my computer is feeling.) including Hauser & Wirth; which is always home to some incredibly interesting exhibitions, and is located on the super fantastic Savile Row. The exhibition was showcasing the works of Isa Genzken, I had no idea what was being exhibited and was very happy to find something (from an artist I admittedly had never heard of before) that was incredibly relevant to the idea's that I am trying to develop within my current project. I understand that I keep mentioning this 'project' and the only inkling I have given you about it is a post about triangles,,, ( http://aestheticsousveillance.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/triangles-are-my-favourite-shape.html  ) back in october... But I will have another post soon.

My head has been slightly overwhelmed and confused by it all, and that would have made for nothing more than a blog post that would have had me sent straight to a mental asylum.

Anyway,,,,,, here's some stuff about the exhibition from the Hauser & Worth Gallery Webpage. 

Yes, I like to leave the hard bits to somebody else. I'm a textile artist not an art critic. 

If you have the chance I would definately go and check this one out,,, I have released that I think I have said that in every single exhibition post I have done so far. I am sure after a while a bad one will come. And I can have a good rant and tell you all to stay away! :-) But for this one, don't.

"Isa Genzken

15 November 2012 – 12 January 2013,

‘I have always said that with any sculpture you have to be able to say, although this is not a ready-made, it could be one. That’s what a sculpture has to look like. It must have a certain relation to reality’
– Isa Genzken in conversation with Wolfgang Tillmans 

Inspired by the stark severity of modernist architecture and the chaotic energy of the city, just as much as by art history, the aesthetics of the great American artists of the Sixties and pop culture, Isa Genzken’s work is continuously looking around itself, translating into three-dimensional form the way that art, architecture, design and media affects the experience of urban life. From 15 November, Genzken will present an exhibition of new and recent works at Hauser & Wirth’s Savile Row gallery. Genzken’s totemic columns, pedestal works and collages combine disparate aspects from her many sources in seemingly nonsensical, yet harmonious sculptural compilations.

The bust of Nefertiti, an ancient icon of feminine beauty, is one of the most well-known and historically significant sculptures. In Genzken’s new series of sculptures, she appropriates plaster reproductions of this bust, which the artist first saw at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, gives them sunglasses and places them upon tall, white pedestals. She pairs Nefertiti with a reproduction of the Renaissance icon of feminine beauty, the Mona Lisa, whose famous portrait leans against the foot of each pedestal. Genzken then overlays her own self-portrait on to the reproduction of Mona Lisa, playfully inserting herself and her own practice into this multimedia exploration of the lineage of feminine beauty and the place of women in art history.

Genzken’s sculptures are precariously stacked assemblages of potted plants, designer furniture, empty shipping crates and photographs, among other things, arranged with the traditions of modernist sculpture in mind – traditions which are then manipulated by the artist. With this cacophonous array of objects, Genzken undermines the classical notions of sculpture and, in the North Gallery of Savile Row, re-creates the architectural dimensions of the artist’s beloved skyscrapers and the riotous colours of the city streets. Devoid of the weightiness and overpowering scale seen in the sculptures of her Minimalist predecessors, these works abandon notions of order and power, allowing the viewer to relate to the works’ inherently human qualities of fragility and vulnerability.

Both sculpture and photography combine and overlap in Genzken’s collages, whose dense surfaces are formed from the materials of the artist’s world: magazines, flyers, snapshots of friends, self-portraits and reproduced artworks. Genzken makes use of all surfaces of the gallery, including an on-going series of collages that span the floor of the space, like a pavement down a busy city street."

Text taken from  http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/1432/isa-genzken/view/

and to finish,,, if you want to show some support and appreciation for my blog head over to www.facebook.com/aestheticsousveillance , hit like and share! 

And if there's any thing you need to get off your chest mail me. 

Peace and Plastic Figures.

Project | Life Drawing - RIBS

This evening Kate (whose brand new blog can now be found at  www.ktnicolaisen.com ) and I went to a Life Drawing session which the super fantastic Vintage Emporium just off off brick Lane (and of which I have mentioned a good few times on my blog), hold every Tuesday and Saturday! 

I was looking forward to doing a bit of drawing, which I have been seriously slacking with lately (especially drawing from observation), and so I didn't have the highest hope's in terms of my creative output.

But, it wasn't so bad,,,, and here are the results! I plan to use these drawings as part of my project (if you haven't already heard about this already, you can find out more here, http://aestheticsousveillance.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/triangles-are-my-favourite-shape.html ) and also develop them a bit further using Photoshop and I would also like to give illustrator a go!

 I shall keep you posted!

Clover Canyon | Spring 2013

'Clover Canyon is a celebration of beauty.

Designed and produced in Los Angeles, each Clover Canyon collection reflects the eclectic, joyful spirit of California through vivid prints and streamlined silhouettes. The Clover Canyon atelier is unique: Working collaboratively, and drawing on their shared passion for travel and art, the team design original prints, and hand-engineer them to frame and enhance the body. New technology meets old world craftsmanship as garments are designed, patterned, cut and sewn in-house.

In a word, the look of Clover Canyon is jubilant. These are clothes embarked on an endless voyage, from the tribal plains of Africa and the courts of ancient kings, through the annals of art history, and beyond. Shapes convey the modern ease. Clover Canyon invites women to join them on a journey of the imagination: Where do you want to go?

Clover Canyon is available internationally from the finest specialty stores, including  Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Lane Crawford, and online retailers such as Net-a-Porter and Shopbop. 

Clover Canyon is made in California, and always will be.'

www.clovercanyon.com

 I discovered Clover Canyon on the Oxygen Boutique website a while ago, today I was having a look through their collections and thought I liked the garments so much that deserved to be blogged about.

I am in love with the prints and the structure of the garments, and could very much imagine myself wearing pretty much anything from their Spring 2013 collection.

The shapes are relaxed and work incredibly well with the prints, which have been enginered onto the garments in a manner that makes them flattering.

Shopping | The Shoreditch Vintage Fair.

Last Saturday as I explained in my previous post Kate, Kadri and I had a Shoreditch exploration during which we visited The Vintage Fair ( www.facebook.com/shoreditchvintage ), the focus of this post. 

And also the Urban Masters Exhibition which I spoke about in my last post (If you haven't heard about this you should take a quick look at my previous post, the exhibition was incredible!). 

I had high expectations visiting this fair. Kate has been on numerous occasions and spoke of having conversations with some interesting characters. Many interesting stalls selling varied, 'proper' vintage garments and all that jazz, and also that this occasion was a Christmas special! 

So we were expecting baubles, tinsel, and everything in-between.

I have never been inside Shoreditch Town Hall and its interior was quite something, which really added to the atmosphere of the event. On first impression, I felt slightly underwhelmed, having payed £2 to get in I expected something slightly more quirky and special. The stalls were pretty close knit and reminiscent of the crammed rails of most East London Vintage stores.

I'm admittedly one of the worlds more lazy shopper and I like to put in minimal amount of rail sifting and it annoys the hell out of me when garments are squashed together. 

But I did a bit and a beautiful jumper managed to find me, thanks to the E-Vintage stall.  It is amazing. Incredibly unique, I dont think I have seen something quite like it before and I got quite a bargain too.

 I wore it out that night and received many positive comments and plan to include it in a more loving style post soon!

There was also a tea room, to sit down and have a well earned rest, cake and a cup of tea!

The cakes looked pretty awesome, and were nicely decorated, something more fitting with the Christmas theme would have been fun too. But a great display overall!

Kate was rather unsatisfied with the selection of cakes, and explained that they had been much better on previous occasions.

 I am not a big fan of cupcakes and would have loved a nice, big, thick slice of amazing, good old Victoria sponge. But instead I went for the chocolate brownie was was incredibly tasty. 

If anything, the only problem was I wanted more (the slice was rather small). 

The tea cups and saucers which you can see below so so cute,,,,

Overall a good experience, and I think its safe to say that we will probably be returning, if anything out of curiosity to see how the next event proves after its predecessor. 

Urban Masters.

Yesterday, Kate, Kadri and I took a visit to Shoreditch. 

On our trip we  had a visit to the vinatge fair in Shoreditch town hall (which I will be covering in a different post), you can find that obey icon in the top right hand corner right across the road.

 And then went to check out the nearby Urban Masters exhibition.

The picture above on theleft shows,

ROA, Canis (dog), 2011
Spray paint and enamel on wood

The bottom left,

JOE BLACK , Workers of the world, unite! , 2012
Mixed media and plastic toy soldiers on wood

Here is the exhibitions description from the Opera Gallery website,,,

Opera Gallery London and ANV in association with Butterfly present
URBAN MASTERS
An urban and street art installation paying tribute to the Masters of the history of art

Opera Gallery London and ANV in association with Butterfly are pleased to present URBAN MASTERS - an alternative art installation giving street and urban artists a chance to render homage to the masters, masterpieces and muses that have influenced their journey through the world of art and played a part in who they are nowadays.

URBAN MASTERS is an intense urban display in a former Victorian factory in London’s trendy yet subversive Shoreditch area. It will present the works of 33 of the world’s best street artists of the moment: Rone (AUS), Risk (US), Shepard Fairey (US), ROA (BE), Mentalgassi (DE), Sweet Toof (UK), Lek (FR), Gris1 (FR), Kan (FR) to name a few....

Opera Gallery is renowned for proposing very high standard exhibitions of street and urban art. This will be the biggest urban and street art exhibition yet hosted by Opera Gallery in London, and most certainly one of the most important events on the London street art scene this year.

With a broad scope of contemporary urban and street artworks and installations, URBAN MASTERS attempts to capture the feelings and experience of the artists who were invited to give their personal interpretation on the marks left by art history-makers.

The exhibition will also offer attendees a unique opportunity to meet some of the artists involved as there will be a poster / book signing featuring many of the aforementioned artists on the day of the public opening of the show: Friday 9th November 2012, 11am-7pm.

Quotes

“Art is about passing on references and creativeness. Most people know that Banksy and Blek Le Rat, founding fathers of stencil art, have inspired a generation of young contemporary urban and street artists - making street art one of the most successful genres of the century. But it is time we give this new generation a say and let them tell us their story, tell us who inspired them personally and what made them the artists they are now”. Jean-David Malat, Director of Opera Gallery London, on the concept behind URBAN MASTERS.

“Urban Masters is a rare opportunity to view in one place works by extraordinary artists from literally all over the world, from Latin America, US, Europe and Australia. Coming from the graffiti and street art scene, these artists pay tribute and reinterpret the Masters that inspired them, with their own skills and techniques. Art regenerates itself with breathtaking results”. Butterfly.

“Street art matters. By taking their art to the most public of all spaces - the streets - artists build bridges between them and their community and therefore help cement an art-aware society. Moreover, they bring new perspectives upon the urban architecture and landscape and thus help reinvent a city to house this art conscious society”. Florie-Anne Mondoloni, Opera Gallery London.

"By definition anything visionary, ground breaking or novel involves risk. Facing and handling these risks opens the door to achieving true creative innovation and personal fulfilment in art or in business," explains R. Matthew Fairfield, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ANV, "As underwriters who mitigate risks on a daily basis, we see art and artists who take creative risk as perfect examples of what is possible when risk and fear can be conquered"

"Art provides a window into how a culture perceives itself and the soul of its people. ANV as an organisation is deeply respectful of local business cultures and customs. Supporting new views and unique perspectives is how we see our work as insurers and its how we see the work of the 'Urban Masters' featured in the exhibition." adds Gerard van Loon, Chief Underwriting Officer at ANV.

Top right,

MENTALGASSI, Subway, Bruce Davidson, 2012
Paste paper on metal fence

Top left, C215

Bottom,

KAN, Warhol tribute to an anonymous master... 2012
Metal ink (squeezers) on canvas

I really enjoyed looking at the Kan canvas, when I was younger I was in love with Lichtenstein's work (I still am) and would make portraits using my mums bingo markers. And sure the reference to the 'anonymous master' did it for me too.

 Top right,

BANKSY, Kill Mom?
Stencilled spray print on board

Bottom,

ZEUS, Love, crash and burn, 2012
Mixed media
I don't know who's to thank for the work on the top left, I was pretty much just looking and not reading.

 The picture on the right on the center show, RISK, Something cookin (R unnamed), 2012
Aerosol on stamped stained steel & RONE, I don’t care (I’d rather sink than call Rone for help), 2012 Acrylic polymer paint over collage.

The image on the left shows a portrait of Picasso made using small circular pornographic pictures. 

I didn't read who made it but if you know stick their name in the comments :-)

 Top left, BLEK LE RAT, 

middle, STINKFISH, Black thorne, Stencil on wood panel, 

right, NICK GENTRY, Memorial FB, 2012, Oil and used computer disks on wood.

 Middle and bottom pictures (you can also see works by BRUSK & BLO in the background) 

GRIS1, System, 2012, Acrylic on collector model trains

Top,  NICK WALKER, Paris, the morning after, 2012, Stencil on canvas

Bottom, BOM.K, Homage to the anonymous masters of the century, 2012, Spray paint on canvas

This piece was slightly spell bounding, the way it glowed was amazing and the muted colours and soft hostility made it so interesting,,,,

Top, SHEPARD FAIREY,  Duality of humanity 1, Mixed media on collage on canvas

If you have been following my blog you will know how much of an art crush I have on Shepard Fairey.

His work is just so incredible,,,

 Bottom left, RON ENGLISH, Cowgirl Guernica black and white, 2012, Silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Bottom right, DAVID SHILINGLAW

Top left, RISK, Pink Elephant In The Room.

This elephant was so cute. I love clowns and it was pink. 

Top right, SWEET TOOF, Duke, 2012, Oil on canvas

Kate greeted these with a noise that made a few heads turn, ;-) they were amazing,,,,,,*

The pictures at the bottom I took myself from outside of the factory.

The exhibition was incredible. The work was amazing, and the whole vibe of the place was incredibly cool and despite the most outstanding collection of artists that were exhibiting there there wasn't a bit of pretentious air in the place.

They were really frendly when we walked in and even let me mate bring in her bike.

I think the exhibition finished today, and if you didn't get down to see it you've really missed out.

I never been in a room with such an exciting collection of interesting and varied art. 

There was also a video playing on repeat there which was really awesome, I don't know if you can find it on the internet somewhere. But if you can its worth a watch.

Plus, we got a poster to bring home, which was nice. I have stuck mine in my sketchbook.

The only thing I noticed about the exhibition was the lack of female presence.

to the the seaside...!

As mentioned in my last post, we had a trip down to Brighton! 

While we were there we had a visit to Brighton Museum & Art Gallery to see the Biba and Beyond exhibition that is currently taking place. Its ending on the 14th of April 2013 so if you would like to go, you have plenty of time left to take a trip down!

The exhibition was interesting, but considering you had to pay to get in, I think I am correct in saying that we all felt a little but under-satisfied by the whole experience. 

The space was of standard size, and I expected to see some more interesting clothes and more original illustrations (If you have not seen much of Barbara Hulanicki's sketches & illustrations, they are awesome!).

The exhibition had a lot of garments on show from Biba's Topshop collection which was launched as far as I can remember in 2009? I remember picking up a flyer in Topshop and looking at the garments myself, so frankly it isn't something I am that interesting in paying to go and see in an exhibition.

 There was also a number of other exhibitions happening including one called Fashion & The Flag, it was free and I actually found the items being exhibited more interesting than the Biba exhibition. 

Basically the whole room featured fashions that featured the Union Jack as a fabric or as a design inspiration.

Yes. There was some Vivienne Westwood. And Alexander McQueen.

As well as both of these there was also an exhibition showing the works of Jeff Keen, 

' A career-long retrospective of artist and film-maker Jeff Keen (1923-2012), who was one of the great figures of the British post-war avant-garde. Keen's work reveals a wild spirit of anarchic play, a fascination with surrealism, and a love of popular culture. His life-long commitment to Brighton & Hove will be celebrated in this display featuring a selection of his films alongside his paintings, drawings, poetry and assemblages.

Keen, who worked for Parks and Gardens for several years, spent most of his artistic career in Brighton and used the city as a major inspiration for his work. He ignored the hierarchies of the London arts scene and the wider world of avant-garde cinema in favour of a radical commitment to locality and intimate community. Keen’s work focuses lovingly on a close-knit circle of real and imaginary friends at work and at play in and around Brighton & Hove. '

http://www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk/WhatsOn/Pages/BMAGShoottheWrxjeffkeen27octto24feb13.aspx

I really enjoyed looking at his body of work, and I found it all incredibly inspiring.

It was so textural, violent, strange and pretty confusing. Which I like.  

There were loads of his work on show and many sketchbooks, and I could have looked at it all for ages!

A pint of mulled cider.

 Me and some mates headed down to Brighton on Monday, as we had a study trip for textiles down there on Tuesday in a place called Knit-1 and we were going to visit the Biba Exhibition.

Thanks to Eerika's awesome other half Ryan for putting us up for the night, we managed to have a good look around and spend a bit of time chilling and eating good food while we were there. 

And we also had a great night out too, in a club called Coalition down on the sea front. 

The stones wrecked havoc on our shoes after a night run down to the sea ;-)

But, the place was pretty interesting, the music was good and the drinks we super cheap.

When we arrived on the train Kadi and I escaped out of the majorly annoying rain into The Queens Head. 

It was the closest pub to the station so when Eerika and Kate arrived they didn't have to look far.

We drank mulled cider, incredibly tasty and just what the doctor ordered.

And played an incredibly tense game of tension tower....!

I've been down to Brighton a good few times during the summer but I hadn't seen much of the side of town Eerika showed us, which was pretty awesome, the shops were interesting and the street art and graffiti was a lot better than I had expected.

Cheers Eerika & Ryan!

Eroné.

As a result of the Street Sketchbook book by Tristan Manco I mentioned in my last post,

I was introduced to the work of Eroné.

I have used some of his illustrations as an inspiration point in my sketchbook, which is still at the minute a collection of things that I like and find inspiring.

Yet maintaining some form of relation to my project, it should all hopefully come together and make some sort of sense.

Eroné is a French illustrator who 'likes to draw with a free spirit' and his work is described as a 'responce to human emotions, attitudes and movements'.

I find the way he deals with the human figure incredibly interesting,,,,,

all these images have been taken from his website, http://erone.grphk.free.fr/
which you should also have a look at.

The form and detail are both incredible, the colours and textures are also so beautiful! 
I also like how the photos of the prints have been taken on such interesting backgrounds,,,



A sketchy memory :-|

I love Amazon and I love Books.

I just received my copy of Tristans Manco's Book called Street Sketchbook.

I love looking in peoples sketchbooks, even if I don't want them looking in mine. 

People rarely question you when they ask "Can I see your Sketchbook?" and you reply "No, I don't have it." even if they may have seen you working in it a few minutes ago.

Your sketchbook is extremely personal. It shows a lot about a person and what its like inside their head. 

I have an extreme love hate relationship with my sketchbook. 

I could work on something for ages, then just rip it out and throw it in the trash.

Which is bad, but I am a perfectionist and I want to connect with my sketchbook and feel satisfaction and a positive connection with whats inside it.

I recently discovered some illustrations by American artist AJ Frena, and she has some sketchbook pages up on her site.

 

 These are awesome, you can have a look at more here,

http://www.aj-frena.com/sketchbook.htm

I haven't had a chance to have a good look through my book yet but read these words by Banksy,

'The artist Paul Klee said "drawing is like taking the line for a walk", but  for me it's always been more like drowning a photocopier in the canal.

'I pretty much use sketchbooks to note down great ideas of somebody else's I've just had. A  good sketchbook means you don't actually need to bother with having a memory yourself.

You can get away with a fair bit of substance abuse if you always carry a notepad and a sharp pencil around with you.'

This is great. I have the most shit memory going. My mates at work take the piss because I can't remember my employee number after two years.

Mind you I do know my mobile number off my heart. 

Pat on the back. 

 

We won't be back soon.

Kate and I visited a new french Cafe type place (I think it was between Princelet Street and Fournier Street), that Kate noticed had recently popped up on Brick Lane.

I don't have any idea of the name of the place (something French I presume), I had planned to take some more pictures of the interior and the outside, but you will find out why I didn't.

It looked really nice from the outside, and the interior was pretty interesting.

The prices were slightly higher than what we expected (and of what you would expect generally around Brick Lane. Artists & Hipsters aren't the first you think of to be splashing the cash), but we thought we would try it out anyway.

So we sat down. Ordered a cake and a drink and had a chat. 

 The plates and cups were pretty,,,  and everything was nicely presented. The decor was consistent and interesting,

but the drinks were all one size, and pretty small if you ask me.

The hot chocolate wasn't very nice. 

But at least that meant it lasted, because if it was nice I would have drank the tiny amount in one go.

We have the talent to chat a lot. And probably slightly too loud. I guess we have a slight tendancy to piss off whoever might be sitting near us. But I don't care much. 

So, we asked for the bill after realizing that the two women working there were maybe getting a bit annoyed (and had maybe over heard our topic of conversation), as we had a laugh about the possibility of ticking another thing off our bucket list and legging it out the door ;-).

Then Kate left the exact amount for what she ordered £6.20 i think it was. And I left down a tenner. The woman took the money and returned with the change, which was made up of a good few pennys and two pences. So I picked up £2 even though I was owed much more and put my coat on to leave.

THEN. The woman came marching over to us and stated that she had in-fact given us too much change back, I went straight into my purse took out the £2 and put it down on the table. She picked it up muttered something in French to her college left it back down on the table, and let her know that she had infact short changed me (we came to the decision that service charge was something we certainly didn't want to pay) I picked it back up and then we left.

We couldn't beleive what had happened. We were very offended and Kate (who is having blogging withdrawal symptoms as her blogger wont let her blog any more! She is having a website built and will be back blogging soon! I will let you all know :-) ) recommended that I made a blog post of a review about our experience.

So there you have it.

The moral of the story is, if you are in Brick Lane and you want a good hot chocolate or coffee (Kate wasn't happy with her drink either) and a cake. Just go to the Vintage Emporium. Simples.