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.