UK Adapta / Adapta Gallery

My good friends at UK Adapta have been hard at work putting together 2 shows over on the other side of the world! Below is the info for anyone in Japan or Hong Kong wanting a taste of British Street Art.

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Adapta Gallery’s third curated project will be held on November 12th - November 29th 2009, with a show in Tokyo called Close Encounters. The show consists of 8 British-based artists, including Best Ever, Cyclops, D*Face, David Bray, Matt Small, Sickboy, Word To Mother and Vesna Parchet. The variety of work on show is eclectic, and that is precisely the reason why we chose them in the first place. From D*Face’s two-dimensional graphic art to the rich textures of emerging artist Vesna Parchet’s styled character-based paintings, a plethora of mediums, emotions and messages are employed for the viewer to digest.

On the opening night, we will also have special guests: Usugrow, Jeff Soto, Shohei Takasaki, Yoshiki & Nagayama also showing their works. 

Close Encounters
Exhibition venue : Time Out Gallery, Liquidroom 2/F, 3-16-6, Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Opening Date : 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, 12 November, 2009
Exhibition runs : 13 November 2009 – 3 December, 2009

Website : www.ukadapta.com/closeencounters.html

Our fourth project follows closely on the heels of the Tokyo show. This time, back to Hong Kong, in association with the Schoeni Gallery, we will be curating a show called 321 Solstice. The show starts on November 17th, (the 321st day of the calendar year) with a live art demonstration by Graphic Airlines, which leads up to the event opening November 19th and welcoming in the winter solstice. A time when creatives take refuge from the cold, in the warmth of their studios, where they can finally get back to the business of creating!

This year, we have collected 10 artists from the UK, USA & Hong Kong: Bill London (UK), Cept (UK), David Bray (UK), Friendly Liu (HK), Graphic Airlines (HK), Jon Burgerman (UK), L1ES ONE (HK), Phil Ashcroft (UK), Swoon (USA), Vesna Parchet (UK).

3-2-1 Solstice
Exhibition venue : Main Gallery, 21-31 Old Bailey Street, Central, Hong Kong

Opening Date : 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, 19 November, 2009
Exhibition runs  : 20 November 2009 – 3 January, 2010

Website : www.schoeniartgallery.com www.adaptagallery.com

The Joy Of Toy

I recently curated a retrospective vinyl toy exhibition for The Joy Of Toy - the inaugural UK Vinyl Toy Expo. The exhibition and pop-up shop was located at EASTGALLERY in London. Classic designs and artwork by Kaws, Michael lau, Eric So, Futura, James Jarvis, Bounty Hunter, Pete Fowler, Usugrow and many more!





more photos of the exhibition can be found here.

Words of the time

Anticrisis/Anti-crisis: It resonates the direction we should be ordering ourselves towards.

Gross Happiness Index: As opposed to Gross Domestic Product. Used by the Kingdom of Bhutan to measure national growth. Consider how happy are you before considering how rich are you.

Self Amazement: More fulfilling than self achievement. Work towards your successes and learn along the way. Each and every step is a reward. Don’t just do what you do, challenge yourself and you will be amazed at what you can achieve.

Cuppa Tea Tour

The Lunartik in a Cup of Tea tour hits Vienna this weekend, having already taken in London and Amsterdam. My contribution to the show is the somewhat life hardened, out-of-your mind to a rock star level, beat up old blanket of a thing named Ayahuasca Kachina.

The spiritual little guy (just don’t ruffle his feathers or you’ll feel his wrath) will be heading up to Scotland and on to Manchester before embarking on the next leg of the world tour.

London Fashion Week

I’ve been just about the busiest I have ever been these past few weeks helping out Barnzley and Joe Corre on their A Child Of The Jago London Fashion Week event.



Held at Wilton’s Music Hall, the on schedule show presented their new collection of menswear in a spectacular visual experience.

As well as assisting with the design of the clothing (including the design of the dazzle pattern shown above) I was thrown in at the deep end helping produce the show. Organising model castings and fittings, designing the invite and press release book, running around like a mad thing and generally thinking about the things no one else had time to think about.

You can see more from the show at A Child Of The Jago.

Next task: Design a killer website to promote their brand!

INTERMISSION - In To The Mission

So Long Utopia also saw the launch of the new creative brand INTERMISSION.

The brand launches with a limited edition gallery exclusive 2 colour hand pulled t-shirt plus a limited edition resin sculpture titled In To The Mission.



Limited to just 5 pieces, In To The Mission is a hand cast, hand painted (black and bronze) resin sculpture. Each one is unique, with a variety of symbols painted on the centre shield - full line up of finished pieces coming soon.

So Long Utopia 20/08/09 - 02/09/09

So Long Utopia, my debut solo show, opened on 20th August at EASTGALLERY. A new collection of paintings include large scale AK47 mandalas alongside stark portraits of imagined characters - all exploring the theme of a lost utopian dream.

The exhibition continues until the 2nd September 2009. EASTGALLERY, 214 Brick Lane, London E1 6SA.



A BIG thank you to all who came down for the opening. More photos can be seen on my flickr.

INTERMISSION

An INTERMISSION is a break between parts of performances or sessions.



INTERMISSION is a new brand. It launches at SO LONG UTOPIA on 20th August 2009. First up is an exclusive exhibition release limited edition t-shirt - 2 colour screen print on bamboo cotton.

More information on other products produced under the INTERMISSION label coming soon…

Twit

I’ve joined the Twitter wagon, follow me: http://twitter.com/handonfire

I’ll be revealing a lot of things for the So Long Utopia exhibition there that won’t make it to my flickr or even this blog!

So Long Utopia

To launch the relaunch of Bodhi as an entirely new space (phase 1 of developments at least) I will be exhibiting at EASTGALLERY. This is my first solo exhibition… all is going well with just a couple of weeks to go but still so much to do.

‘So Long Utopia’ will feature a thematic collection of new paintings, drawings and a few surprises. Opening night is on Thursday 20th August 2009 from 7PM (so please come along, drinks are on me if I know / recognise you or if you can find me).

The exhibition is on until 2nd September 2009. All the details (if I’ve missed anything here) at the EASTGALLERY blog.