For its first show of the year, Bloc will house an installation by artist duo WebsterGotts that continues their practice of creating drinking-inspired artwork.

In their work Scott Webster and Alexis Gotts closely examine pub memorabilia and culture, reproducing an assortment of objects, sayings and images. Pub furniture, framed photographs of grand gentlemen from an unknown time, and philosophical quotes have been replicated but do not pretend to be authentic. Some images include the artists themselves: a television in the corner of the gallery, instead of screening sport, shows footage of the artists nonchalantly pouring pints of bitter on their crotches.

The artists explain that the aim of the exhibition is not to turn the gallery into a pub; rather their interest lies in the effects of removing such objects from their original setting, and the re-contextualisation of the social aspects of pub culture:

“As Sheffield’s once thriving industry has dwindled, so has the influx of students increased. In Sheffield’s ‘Cultural Industries Quarter’ (CIQ), artists and film-makers mingle with local workers for lunch time pints and after-hours socials. We’re interested in pub memorabilia as it’s an intriguing phenomenon for many strangers and non-locals. Old photographs of local heroes and long-gone regulars; framed newspaper cuttings and hackneyed drinking jokes can provide tenuous links to the local past.”

3 - 18 FEBRUARY 2007
Blocspace, 198 Arundel Street. Sheffield S1 4RE
Thursday to Sunday 12 - 6pm
Private view: Friday 2 February 7-9pm
Artist Talk: Sunday 18 February 2pm 

The Wait Gallery is a space for people to exhibit work they have made whilst waiting for something else. It might be a sketch done whilst waiting for a bus or a train, a photo taken whilst at the airport or the doctors, anything created whilst waiting for something else that can be deemed suitable for the MySpace page. When enough work has been gathered together physical exhibitions will be organised.

Private View 02 February 2007 from 18.30 to 23.00 hrs.

Featuring:

Richard Niman, Mark Jones, Raul Pina, Le Roy Monde, Cedric Christie, Oliver Dungey, Velika Janceva, Gavin Turk, Simon Ould, Mandy McCartin, Homer. R Turdcup, Tony Brennan, Calum F. Kerr, Paul Sakoilsky, Paul Gildea,   … plus SPECIAL GUESTS  .

The revamped gets devamped. In these days of global mobilisation, it’s always good to go back to your roots…..we want you to go  “Back 2 Hackney!”

Show running from 03 February to 02 March 2007.

AMP
255 Mare Street
Hackney E8 3NS
Tel: 0208 533 1733

Curated by Raul Pina
Tel: 07958 618486

Shay Kun Outburst, 2006 acrylic and oil paint on canvas 36 x 48 in

PV Thursday Feb 1st 6pm

This series of landscape paintings by Shay Kun draws heavily on a very specific historic period and location, namely the Hudson River School of the 19th century. Kun’s landscapes particularly reference Thomas Cole’s (1801-1848) reverent paeans to nature and Albert Bierstadt’s (1830-1902) towering Yosemite cliff faces, awestruck visions of the sublime in the American West. Both artists focused on idealized pastoral landscapes, whose romanticism is evident in the synthetic composition, and held values that were rapidly dismissed and out of fashion even in their own lifetime.

Kun’s works, however, denote their cultural position with the addition of interlopers in the scenery. Applied in acrylic as opposed to the oil background, the inserts are not only out of place and out of scale, but they are moreover out of context, geographically and/or socially.

Pristine vistas are blighted by tightropes, flagpoles, killer-whales and evidence of contemporary human presence; battleships, estate cars and frogmen. The contrast between these contemporary figures and their stylized and specifically dated environment is abrupt, but despite this, they’re an almost offensively inadequate substitute for the deities or characters of noble bearing that filled their place in painting of the past centuries. The cut and paste figures seem oddly pathetic, and while their jarring absurdity echoes the Knights and maidens in Thomas Cole’s Gothic fantasies The Departure, 1837 and The Return, 1837, their modernity somehow fails to match their romanticized predecessors’ august and worthy outlook.

The works, however, remain open-ended as Kun’s almost contradictory decision to paint the landscapes himself rather than appropriate or collage onto existing images, implies a degree of sincerity and even a celebration of the Hudson Valley School.

If this much love, labour and effort is employed in the production of these landscapes, perhaps the re-presentation of these aesthetics might be justified beyond any ironic nod to the fickle cycles of art history.

Shay Kun lives and works in New York.

Photography by Paul Russell

Emerging street photographer Paul Russell records the English at rest and play at south coast resorts. The photographs have been taken over the past 3 years at traditional seaside towns along the south coast, including Lyme Regis, West Bay, Weymouth, Bournemouth and Brighton, and capture the tourist's experience of a visit to the seaside. Paul's photos have featured in the Guardian Weekend magazine and the Royal Photographic Society's 148th International Print Exhibition, on bbc.co.uk, and in AP magazine and File magazine. A Gallery 435 exhibtion.

Opening reception: Fri 9 Feb 6-8.30pm

Opening times:
Sat 3 Feb - Sun 18 Mar
Mon - Sat 9am-11pm
Sundays and Bank Holidays 11am - 10.30pm

South Hill Park
Ringmead,
Bracknell,
Berkshire,
RG12 7PA

For everone who is going to the PV tonight here is  a review from Arts Review LINK

No its not the loveley uk Catalogue getting all cultural but an arts centre in Brussels

MVRDV, Hegeneiland, Housing and Masterplan, Ypenburg, Netherlands, 2001. Photo: Rob ‘t Hart

Argos is proud to present the first Belgian exhibition of the internationally acclaimed Rotterdam-based architects MVRDV. The exhibition follows the refurbishment of Argos’ new exhibition space by MVRDV and aims to introduce the work of the group in a broader framework. MVRDV was set up in 1991 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. Over the years MVRDV have become internationally known for their designs and studies in the fields of architecture, urbanism, landscape design, and particularly for their exploration of density, urban data, open space and the environmental impact of building and architecture. LINK

The architecture of MVRDV doesn't merely limit itself to issues about building, but is also concerned with the conceptual investigation and analysis of each assignment. In that sense MVRDV have also become known for their innovative spatial paradigms, socially engaged approach to architecture, and - in particular - for their radical methodical research on density and public realms. Parts of MVRDV’s architectural production over the last ten years can be positioned within this ambition of enlarging densities. Through investigation and use of the complex amounts of data that accompany contemporary design processes, MVRDV finally shape their spaces. The ‘products’ of this approach can vary completely; they range from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban designs, publications and installations, video works as well as the development of software programs.

The exhibition at Argos, entitled ‘Piece by Piece’, will illustrate the multifaceted practice of MVRDV through the inclusion of maquettes, photographs, drawings, materials and videos and will demonstrate the multi-dimensional, research-based nature of their approach to architecture and design.

Since the group was founded in 1991 MVRDV have built, taught, published and exhibited all over the world. MVRDV have also won numerous prizes for their work including the Marcus Coporation Prize (USA, 2005), the Mies van der Rohe Award of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (2001) and the Fritz Schumacher Prize (Germany, 2000). LINK

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After the stellar success of his star-studded LA show (where Brad and Angelina walked away with quite a few pics) and setting a personal record at auction back in October 2006, Banksy is offering free downloads of some of his images for those that can’t afford to buy his art. No doubt a response to the many profiteers who've turned his images into unauthorized tees and other goods (an practice antithetical to Banksy's work), the move is a very Banksy like response. As he reminds on the site, please note that the images are for personal use only and should be printed at work.

via coolhunting.com

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