Luke's Arts Diary May 2008

Arts Diary May 2008

This month has been very busy for me, I have really enjoyed writing for this magazine, meeting several artists and visting art shows, great fun indeed.
I said last month that I would find out about Space4 closing. Well the rumour that the gallery will be shutting it's doors in September is simply untrue. There is no one officially curating the Space4 at the moment, however shows are booked up until October this year.
This month I thought I'd look at events happening slightly further afield. And the theme seems to be claim the streets, claim the city with a re-wiring of the social spaces & structures that weave us together.
First up is “The Adam and Ron Show” which features the work of billboard-hijacking, pop surrealist and US legend Ron English and British artist Adam Neate who's subversion of street space has resulted in reports on CNN and European television, major collectors and celebrities fighting for his originals and international critics praising the artist's work. Over the past five years Adam Neate has left thousands of pieces of work on the streets of London, either hanging on nails or propped against lampposts for people to find. His two and three dimensional paintings use recycled cardboard boxes as canvases - Neate is a street artist with a difference. His work is technically expert and has won him acknowledgement from Tate, National Portrait Gallery and The National Gallery.
Ron English has pirated over one thousand billboards in the last twenty years, replacing existing advertisements with his own hand-painted "subvertisements." He revels in taking on the establishment, tearing down corporate icons, and unravelling social constructs. His works on canvas contain an equally biting commentary whilst being flawlessly painted in a hyper-real style.
Take the opportunity to see this astonishing work if you can.
May 2nd - 31st at Elms Lesters Painting Rooms,
Tuesday - Saturday 12 - 6pm, Thursdays 'til 9pm
www.elmslesters.co.uk
The second event on the radar is futuresonic in Manchester. This is an “Urban Festival of Art, Music & Ideas” titled “The Social - Social Networking Unplugged”. An annual event currently in its 12th year, futuresonic is extending the focus on presenting artworks in unexpected city spaces, and on social art and social technologies. The 2008 theme presents a sideways and playful look at social networking. This is the first major art exhibition to present a comprehensive and creative look at social networking. For five days and nights Manchester will be the most sociable city on the planet - with new commissioned artworks and many world firsts from an array of international artists Manchester city centre will be overrun with ‘unplugged’ social networking.
So what's the thinking behind this project? In their words: “Computers have become social interfaces to build online communities and folksonomies. Some technologies are more social than others. Social technologies are bottom up and many-to-many instead of one-to-one or one-to-many. They can include technologies created and maintained by social networks, such as communities of developers and users working collaboratively with open source tools. At the same time we see how electronic communication can isolate us, as more and more people drown in a deluge of email that generates stress, even reducing IQ. Additionally, 'online communities' are based upon an artificial equivalence between 'users' which obscures power relationships and issues of ownership.The festival and conference will explore the new social spaces and the social implications of technologies for the many different kinds of people who make, use and are affected by them.”

“This runs much deeper than online social networking websites alone. When you use your credit card, you are using a social technology. Each time we buy something we let the company know where we are and what we are buying. An electronic profile is created for each one of us and the aggregated information is used to shape services and select the products on the shelves. This in turn shapes the choices available to us, and the society we live in. Futuresonic plans to pull out the plug in order to take the new social spaces apart, see how they work, and put them together in new ways.”
1-5 May, exhibitions till 17th May.
Exhibitions are free
www.futuresonic.com

Street Blitz is a 2 week festival of street art and creative subversion. The motivation for this festival is, in their words, the “corporate image factory” which “spends a huge amount of money on billboards, flyers or ‘guerrilla’ marketing campaigns masquerading as street art. They fill your lives with an unrelenting barrage of preposterous ideals, numb values and false icons. No one asks for your permission before they push these images in your face so neither should we seek consent in order to leave our own mark on the city.” And it's action that counts as they propose a 2 week blitz of street art in London between 1st-15th May. “Whether you make murals, stencils, stickers, posters, sculptures, street projections, sign modification/removal/additions, billboard subverting/defacing/destruction etc; whether creative or destructive; whether to convey a message, brighten up a dull spot, rewire some corporate brainwashing tactics; whether to leave your mark, remove a stain, express yourself or simply to show your disgust – it’s all valid and all adds to The Blitz!” So if that sounds like your thing nip done and get involved. www.streetblitz.com
And also for your consideration are the following events, Blek Le Rat's solo show at the Black Rat Press gallery in London, May 8th -22nd. Blek Le Rat is one of the pioneers of street art and has been weilding his stencil styles since 1981, a visionary artist and well worth a look. www.blackratpress.co.uk and Noisefestival which is the UK's first cross-media showcase for artists under 25, there are loads of opportunities to present your work, check their website www.noisefestival.com and see just how big this project is.
Luke Payn

lukepayn@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/muddyarts

First published in Art & Soul Magazine in May 2008