PRESS
RELEASE
OUTSIDE
25 October – 19 November 2011
34 FineArt
is proud to announce an exciting Urban Contemporary
group exhibition entitled Outside
opening on 25 October 2011. After the Gallery's
groundbreaking Street/Urban exhibition in
2009, 34FineArt is celebrating the new recognition
for Urban/Street Art. Works by internationally
acclaimed artists Banksy (UK), RD357 (USA),
D*Face (UK), Blek le Rat (FRANCE), AME72 (UK),
FAKE (NETHERLANDS), DAL (CHINA), Shepard Fairey (USA), Nick Walker (UK), The London Police
(UK), BLU (ARGENTINIAN / Italy), INVADER (FRANCE) and
Mr. Brainwash (USA / FRANCE) will be on view
next to work by local artists Faith47, Motel7,
Jade Doreen Waller, Black Koki, Ello, Jop
Kunneke and others.
Street art has developed into a multifaceted
‘movement’, flourishing on the nervous
energy of graffiti and stencilling, spray-can
art, skateboard culture, hip music and urban
fashion. Often a form of dissent against control,
Street art has, not surprisingly, been regarded
as unlawful and outside the system in most organised
communities, travelling a difficult road into
the world’s art galleries. Early exponents
of Street art like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel
Basquiat paved the way for the current wave
of practitioners like Banksy, who now commands
enormous prices for his work, and his acknowledged
predecessor, Blek le Rat who started out stencilling
rats all over the streets of Paris in the 1980s
and is acclaimed as a pioneer of contemporary
street stencilling, a quick and easy way to
reproduce images endlessly. Its evolution into
a complex and delicate artistic language is
largely attributed to the work of Blek.
London’s Tate Modern staged the first
major public museum display of Street art in
2008, featuring works by six internationally
recognised artists on the outside walls of the
building. MOCA announced recently that the exhibition
Art in the Streets, attracted 201,352
visitors from April – August, 2011, making
it the highest exhibition attendance in the
museum’s history.
The focus of Outside will be on Mr.
Brainwash, the moniker of Los Angeles-based
filmmaker and Pop artist Thierry Guetta who
has spent the better part of the last decade
attempting to make the ultimate street art documentary.
Meanwhile, inspired by his subjects, he started
hitting the streets, from Los Angeles to Paris,
with spray painted stencils and posters of his
pop art inspired images. He rapidly emerged
as a renowned figure on the international street
art scene. In June 2008, Mr. Brainwash made
his art show debut with one of Los Angeles's
most memorable solo exhibitions; Life is
Beautiful, held at the historic CBS Studios
on Sunset Boulevard. Originally scheduled to
open for only two weeks, the exhibit was extended
for three months, attracting more than 30,000
visitors.
In 2009, Madonna approached him to design the
cover of her greatest hits compilation entitled,
Celebration. On February 14th 2010,
Mr. Brainwash made his New York solo debut as
he unveiled Icons, a 15,000 square-foot
exhibition in the heart of Manhattan's Meatpacking
District. The sold-out show was extended until
early May 2010. Not only were major collectors
acquiring Mr Brainwash's works but also prestigious
auction houses including Christie's and Phillips
were selling his work. Considered as one of
the most prolific and talked about artists of
today, Mr. Brainwash is also the subject of
Banksy's documentary, Exit Through The Gift
Shop, which debuted at the Sundance Film
Festival in January 2010. Using Guetta's street
art footage, Banksy eventually turned the camera
on the only man who ever filmed him. During
the exhibition which will close on 19 November,
34FineArt will screen this Oscar nominated documentary
at the Gallery.
D*face, a London-born artist, is a member
of the younger generation of graffiti artists
with growing international reputations. Skateboarding
is revered as a quintessential, almost mythical
Street art activity. A selection of images
on skate decks and sculls by D*face, Norman
Catherine, Jade Doreen Waller, Motel7 and
others will also be on exhibition.
This exhibition at 34FineArt promises to be
one of the most exciting art happenings in South
Africa in 2011.
34FineArt
Second Floor Hills Building,
Buchanan Square
160 Sir Lowry Road
Woodstock
Gallery
Hours:
Tuesday - Friday 10:34-16:34
Saturday 10:34-13:34
Contact:
Andries Loots +27
82 354 1500
34fineart.com
info@34fineart.com
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