The art establishment has a less than distinguished history when it comes to embracing artists who fall outside of its comfortably familiar linear narrative of western art. Impressionism was a derogatory name bestowed by the art critic Louis Leroy and the fabled Salon des Refusés exhibition of work by the movement’s most prominent figures was comprised of pieces rejected by the the Académie des Beaux-Arts’s annual exhibition in Paris. With stylewriting – or graffiti, as its early detractors called it – history has repeated itself […]
Despite the indisputable importance of digital media in the art world, the appetite for physical books remains undimmed and this year has seen the release of some beautifully crafted works. So, in no particular order, here are our favorite books published in 2022. ‘4000’ by INVADER The Parisian-artist’s global invasion is undoubtedly one of the largest and most ambitious art projects that has ever been undertaken. In addition to photos of all the 4000 pieces which he has created in 80 cities worldwide over the […]
Continuing his support for humanitarian causes around the globe, Banksy is releasing a new screen print in partnership with Giles Duley’s Legacy of War Foundation. The proceeds will help those directly impacted by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine by allowing the Foundation to purchase ambulances and generators as the country heads into the harsh winter months. The image features a white mouse whose claw marks, individually made by Banksy with a sharpened pizza cutter, have obscured the first two letters of the work ‘fragile’. The […]
Mike Dring, the gallerist and curator behind Bristol’s Art-El Gallery, sadly passed away last week. During an era when money was increasingly coming to the fore, the Bristol-native was always focused squarely on the art and the artist. He worked with several of the key figures loosely associated with the city’s graffiti scene including Rowdy, Acerone and Mr Jago ensuring they had someone in their corner as street art gained increasing public prominence. The latter remembers Mike as “always being there for encouragement…and for drinking […]
‘I don’t feel like a photographer’ Barry McGee once confessed. So it’s no small irony that Aperture has just released Reproduction, his first book dedicated exclusively to that medium. The book is printed on a contrasting combination of the kind of thick gloss paper which is familiar to the publisher’s usual fine art photography publications and the thinner matte stock which McGee’s images are more commonly printed on in his many zines. The book collates just a small number of the many photographs that the […]
Last weekend saw the conclusion of Maya Hayuk‘s Spin Cycle exhibition at Alice Gallery in Brussels. The influence of Hayuk’s history, identify and personal narrative stand visually proud in her abstract compositions: the X’s are evocative of the cross-stitching her grandmother taught her as a child, the kaleidoscopic rainbow of colors underscores her sense of queer kinship and the visual engagement of her work reflects her long history of social activism. But, her use of multiple transparent and opaque layers take individual paintings far beyond […]
BombSquad, a York based non-profit art group, are currently running an auction entitled Totally Hammered in aid of York Food Bank. The Food Bank provide three days of nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis and they are part of a nationwide network of food banks whose work combating poverty and hunger is becoming increasingly important as the UK’s cost of living crisis deepens. There are 37 lots in total including a canvas by Al Diaz […]
Recently in Aberdeen, Scotland, Pejac completed his latest outdoor project which he entitled WELCOME. The whimsical and detailed work features his version of a classic doormat with a resulting piece that is more than the sum of its parts. The street intervention was placed in front of a building that the Spanish artist chose because it has hosted many charities as well as is a home for vulnerable residents facing social exclusion. Created for Nuart Aberdeen 2022, Pejac hopes the piece presents a “message of dignity, […]
Drawing to a close this weekend, Readymade NINAS at Alice Gallery in Brussels has been Nina Vandeweghe’s first solo exhibition. The show has been structured around the idea of Gustave Flaubert‘s Dictionnaire des idées reçues (The Dictionary of Received Ideas) which sought to lampoon his contemporaries’ lazy reliance on clichéd language by providing satirical definitions for words in common parlance. Nina de Vroome has reimagined this concept for the 21st century and her newly attributed meanings have provided the source material for a series of […]
Invader (featured) has described his tiled global invasion as spreading like a benevolent virus, continually mutating and changing. If that’s true then the virus undoubtedly jumped the species barrier in 2004 when he created the first Rubikcubist piece from nine Rubik’s Cubes, each manipulated into his desired configuration to create an image from the just six colors available on the iconic logic puzzle. The technique is a natural development of his aesthetic which replicates the humble pixel and a major new exhibition of over 100 […]
Returning after an extended absence from gallery shows, Escif is currently presenting his newest body of work entitled Está lloviendo (It’s raining) at Underdogs Gallery in Lisbon.The exhibition further develops threads of his work that have predominantly been showcased in museums in recent years and draws them together into a single coherent examination of armed conflict and the environment. The exhibition includes a collection of watercolors depicting military hardware that has all been manufactured in the artist’s native Spain. Related works in Beyond The Streets’ […]
Swoon and Za’Kiyah House are in the process of rebuilding a former church in North Braddock to create a space and facilities for people to rebuild their lives. The building dates back to 1854 when it was the First United Brethren Church; regular services were held for 150 years and, during this time, West Pennsylvania thrived as part of the US’ industrial backbone. But as jobs ebbed away, so did the town’s lifeblood and a year after the church closed for good, a fire torn […]
