Viewpoints « Arrested Motion

Category Archives: Viewpoints

Viewpoints / Recap: Dran – ‘Public Execution’ pop up show in Soho, London (Part II)

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, February 24, 2015

AM recently covered the opening and first week of the last show by Dran, which was hosted by Pictures On Walls and closed on Saturday 21 February. The uniqueness of Public Execution is that it was produced by the artist — bit by bit and in public view — over the course of its duration. A white space filled with spraypainted images of blank canvases on Day 1 evolved into a picture-rich multicoloured venue on Day 17, the grand finale. Some visitors have referred to […]

Viewpoints / Openings: Dran — ‘Public Execution’ pop-up show in Soho, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, February 21, 2015

It’s been some time since Pictures On Walls has organised an art exhibition. The previous one was in December 2013 with the Shok-1 solo show, X-Rainbow. Last year, POW gave up its premises on Commercial Street in East London. With a permanent show space no longer retained, the number of print releases in 2014 restricted to a small handful (by Paul Insect, Maya Hayuk and Invader), and plenty of competitors arriving on the street art scene eager to fill the void, many wondered what the […]

Viewpoints / Openings: Olek — “I do not expect to be a mother but I do expect to die alone” @ Tony’s Gallery, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, January 31, 2012

AM was at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch on Thursday to see the first UK solo show by Olek (set-up and teaser photos here). The New York-based artist has been making the most of her extended London visit, transforming the ground floor of the gallery into a domestic setting filled with crocheted furniture and other household items. Everything but the entrance area, the ceiling, and a couple of plants has been given a second skin. The combination of brightly-coloured yarn and Olek’s signature camouflage pattern means […]

Viewpoints: A Reading of Boris Hoppek’s Obama Beach Ball

Posted by sven, November 23, 2011

The following article is a guest post by friend of AM, Peter Bengtsen. He wrote this essay for us after seeing the release of Boris Hoppek’s Obama Beach Ball, the resultant opinions that have been broadcast on the internet in response to the artwork, and the political motivations of the artist himself. We hope you enjoy the article, and that it may bring some clarity both to Hoppek’s project, and a context to this work as part of the artist’s output. Make up your own […]

Viewpoints: Top 25 Most Expensive Banksy Works Ever

Posted by lowpro, September 21, 2011

Last Wednesday during Christie’s Post War & Contemporary Art sale in London, a historic Banksy canvas came very close to tripling its high estimate of £50,000. Originally exhibited in 2002 at Santa’s Ghetto, a perennial winter group show (a modern riff of which occurred last December with Marks and Stencils) during those early, pre-hype years that saw Banksy canvases sell – and sometimes sit unsold – for a mere few hundred quid, Bird with Grenade closed at £145,250 ($228,043). The piece serves as an interesting […]

Viewpoints / Openings : Takashi Murakami @ Gagosian Gallery, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, August 5, 2011

For the last five and a half weeks, Gagosian Gallery on Britannia Street (the larger of its two spaces in London) has been hosting a Takashi Murakami exhibition (previewed). The show features five large-scale sculptures along with a group of paintings merging references to both Japanese contemporary society and the country’s artistic heritage. This recent output includes collaborations with manga, animé, figyua and other artists from Japan’s otaku subculture, which some might describe as a curious world of fantasy, self-indulgence, obsession and disengagement. For the […]

Viewpoints: Peter Kennard + War Boutique — ‘shooting@earth’ @ Black Rat Projects

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, May 10, 2011

Black Rat Projects in London recently hosted shooting@earth, a three-day event running from 5 to 7 May which launched @earth, the new photo-essay by Peter Kennard, assisted by Tarek Salhany. The exhibition also showcased a collection of works that packed a punch by former armour designer, War Boutique. Although AM felt War Boutique’s art was sometimes a little easy or obvious, at other times it was remarkable: You think it has the subtlety of an old Panzer IV, that you can see it coming from […]

Viewpoints / Openings: Richard Hambleton pop-up show @ The Dairy, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, December 6, 2010

Three weeks ago, AM attended the London preview for the pop-up exhibition Richard Hambleton New York. Upon entering the venue, it wasn’t immediately clear whether we’d arrived at an art show or a fashion show. The heaving crowd and large amount of perfume in the air may have disoriented us slightly; we were left hesitating between taking pictures of the art on the walls and the clothes people were wearing. What’s certain is that the event was glamourous, and it’s been a long time since […]

Highlights: Recommended Openings for the Weekend

Posted by Andrew Hosner, July 9, 2010

The art world is on fire this weekend – so many major shows opening around the world. Los Angeles leads the charge with major solo shows opening this weekend from the likes of Dennis Hopper (MOCA), Natalia Fabia (Corey Helford Gallery), Yosuke Ueno (Thinkspace), Jonathan Yeo (Lazarides), Jim Houser (Subliminal Projects), and Boogie (Carmichael Gallery), not to mention the annual ‘Crazy 4 Cult’ group show at Gallery 1988. Not to be outdone, NYC is host to some major shows this weekend with Josh Liner being […]

Update: Sotheby’s Contemporary Day Sale Results

Posted by Seth Carmichael, June 27, 2009

Yesterday’s Contemporary Day Sale (previewed) at Sotheby’s in London only had a few lots that AM was closely watching, but the results are a good sign for the overall market. In particular, Faile received a much needed boost with their large canvas “New York City 02” (Lot # 169) selling right in the middle of the estimate for 49,250 GBP and the smaller “NYC Butterfly Girl” on wood (Lot # 168) selling for 16,250 GBP, well over the 12,000 GBP high estimate. Faile has not […]