Kapoor in Berlin

Big Red Wax Bell

Anish Kapoor divides opinion, clearly talented and possessing the vision and confidence to create truly awe inspiring pieces of quite ridiculous scale and grandeur. On one hand his use of a huge variety of materials and ideas is brilliant, on the other the epitome of vulgarity in modern art that is the ArcelorMittal Orbit….. or that bloody great eyesore slide thing next to the Olympic Stadium in London’s Eastend.

The main room

 

With this in mind a visit to Kapoor’s first foray in Berlin was an exciting / galling prospect. SF need not have worried as it was quite wonderful, varied, gigantic, ridiculous and thoroughly worthwhile. Even if it was tricky getting a few stolen pictures on the iPhone. Never will I understand why galleries stop you from taking a couple of picture momentos.

Kapoor has over his career forged an impressive reputation and body of work and as a Turner Prize winner he has been noted as one of the most important artists of his time.

Artistic reflections

His exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau comprises of almost 70 pieces from sculpture to wax models, to mirrors, to some huge spaced out bouncy castle to a canon to shoot huge paint pot side bullets into a corner of the room. SF likes.

Paint canon indoors

Here is what the Guardian found out when they spoke to the man himself

Lights and Mirrors at the Tate Modern

TM

The Tate Modern is one of London’s well known gems, an imposing building viewed from the river, a marvel inside and home to some rather awe inspiring collections. SF already brought your attention to the brilliant Ellen Gallagher, but the free exhibitions have much to offer.

Light T

Dan Flavin, an American artist is an artist we knew a little about but whom we like muchly. A minimalist artist who worked with sculpture and most recognisably with fluorescent lights and panels. At the Tate Modern there is a room with a series of his works plus a series of coloured T shapes, the repetition and bright colours are quite mesmerising in the tall white rooms of the Tate’s Artist Rooms.

Flavin

Mirrors

Monir Mirrors

Also in the Tate Artist Rooms is the artist with the name to end all names…. you can only imagine how difficult it was for this kid to learn how to spell their own name. Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian is an Iranian artist, still active and working from Tehran. The mirror image is amongst SF’s favourite in the gallery, with every movement and passer by the image changes a tiny amount, no two shots of the reflection in this piece are the same and that is something that not many pieces of art manage to do. To live and breath with the  surroundings.

 

Scream and shout

Sexy – Lego Sailor – Sally Fuerst 

Scream Gallery on Eastcastle Street is fast becoming a regular haunt for SF on lunchtimes, the variety of top modern art in recent months, available for commercial sales is a welcome tonic to a day in stuffy London Office.

Justify My Love – Chris Bracey

Unfortunately the cash-money supplies were at a low level so it was purely a voyeuristic visit with no souvenirs for home. Work from a variety of up and coming and slightly more known artists have been brought together for a recent exhibition under the rather unimaginative name of…….. Summer Exhibition 2013

The masters and the fizzy nectar

Picasso on Coca-Cola Crates – Pakpoom Silaphan

Dali on Pepsi Crates

Poker Skull – Jacky Tsai

Religion kills and starts all wars….. at least this is pretty

Son of a Gun – Chris Bracey

Hackney Road – Paint on walls

Noyiaki – For the

Hackney Road is hanging on to it’s few street art walls, before all the nice new flats are built and the road gets a Starbucks, and M&S, an All Saints, etc etc.

Before these disappear SF thought it a good idea to document a few that we have not featured. These are easy to find so no sign posting required

Colour of Rolling People

Yet another Eastend Graf art tour….. but some good designs an d a cool space…. until it becomes a gourmet burger joint

DMNK & KEFT

Summer sunshine on the walls of Hackney Road

Is this Lennon and the Stones?

Innocent stencils on Hackney Road, a commentary on how easy it is to make money? How it is child’s play? Somehow think not, SF like to think it is something more menacing with the sharp scissors and the blurred face

$ Dollar bill y’al

Funnily this is found right by a gay bar. Gays like a bit of trash.

Slutpink

And an old friend. We haven’t seen him for a while and this is not a new one so it was probably about time that our friend Sweettoof dropped by SF

Eye i Eye

Hidden East London Gems

Two artists seen all across the Eastend and are possibly the most recognisable. Finding a new and hidden gem is quite a feat and something SF enjoyed this week during brisk walks around the sun baked streets of London.

Many a street art tour has sprung up showing the usual well trodden pathes so it is nice to be able to seek out some lesser seen pieces. Canals, high rises and general shit holes are the perfect places to find these

We give you Phlegm found not a million miles from Old Street roundabout

Terrible twins

And a personal SF fave, a certain Stik a cheeky lil number, well hidden and just off of Mare St. You will have to work a bit to find this gem

Hidden Stik

Berlin Toilet Education

It isn’t just the public walls that are covered in rich German humour and educating messages, the public toilets are the places to find some of the best and most interesting things for the eyes to feast upon. Just a few examples below.

Flash carefully hiding some of the modesty

Pet Shop Bears

The toilets are where you can learn about feminism too

Porn for all…. and Frodo

Spot the naughty

Is that a willy and some spunk?

Simple and to the point

1 in 10 apparently

 

Then we have this….. not only is it what we would now call vintage but it shows the young man at his most uber gay, and possibly his least attractive.

Das Nummer Seiben ja?

At least he got much better with age and ink

A weekend in Berlin

Outside Berghain

Berlin weekend that featured deserted house clubbing in Homopatik, all day brunches, numerous Berliner Beirs in Roses served by the scary lesbian owner, Warehouse clubbing at Berghain, a bit of culture at a photography exhibition in a shopping center (no link found), and a first viewing of Berlin Calling to get in the party mood.

Blu graf artist

By Urban Spree where there are bars, food places and ‘hipster’ markets

Tags and stencils

Schlesisches Tor U-Bhf – A unicorn & a geisha

Colour clash

Bookworm paste up

 

Stencils and tagging

You SF silhouette

Sun dude

Until next time…. Danke and Turs Berlin

Nike Air Pegasus – Blast from the past…. again

SF is not really sure how to feel about Nike bringing back every classic trainer they have ever made with a remix. They did it with Huarache and we were over the moon because it is officially, statistically, unanimously agreed as it is the greatest shoe ever created. The Air Max has seen a big comeback in recent times and now it is available in every colour you could ever imagine. 

Now it is the turn of the Pegasus. A classic old skool trainer, you probably owned one growing up and you probably liked it’s simplicity and style, it was never going to be an Air Max or a Huarache but it was that nice everyday shoe like a Waffle or a Cortez. Three styles have grabbed the attention at SF. Vidie this droogs

The Pegasus 83/30 Team Red / Atomic Red = Massive Hit

Colour combo

Nice ass too

Pegasus 83/30 Blue Hero / Flash Lime = Still a hit but less so

Lumi

Pegasus + 30 Flash Lime = Hit…. for someone else

Peachy

Possible purchase decision imminent 

 

A bit of Blighty in Berlin

Berlin is the city that the gods decided should be a canvas for all. You are positively encouraged to tag, scribble, doodle, spray, stencil, splash, paint bomb, scrawl, stick, tear or smudge any surface you like.  It might not be everyone’s cup o tea but tis very much to the liking of SF.

Wondering around Schlesisches Tor SF spotted a couple of familiar stylistic scrawlings, ones that are oft seen adorning walls, bridges, vans and anything else you can imagine in London and in particular the the Eastend.

Hidden Stik

The very recognisable owl of a certain Dscreet, with a peeping Stik in the background. Tis sometimes nice to see a little bit of home when you are on your travels we feel.

Stik being Dscreet

More to follow very soon featuring Berlin artists, posters, toilet art and the beautiful architecture of the city of the canvas.

Ellen Gallagher – AxME – A new kind of art

Ellen Gallagher at Tate Modern presenting AxME. A visual representation taking inspiration from both her Irish and African heritage.

Many faces of black advertising

The images she creates are otherwordly with black women styled with ornate do’s made of rubber, plasticine and plastic, bringing to life the aesthetic of an advertisement in a new and stunning fashion.

Getting hair did

Gallagher’s use of a variety of techniques and materials make for a vivid realisation of her subject matter. The sheer size of the repetitive imagery of black woman with yellow re-imagined hair is pretty awesome, very detailed but unfussy.

Possessed and blinged

AxME is Gallagher’s first major retrospective in the UK, with the title a play on both the ‘Acme Corporation’ and the BlackAmerican vernacular for ‘ask’ or ‘aks’ as it sounds.

Shower cap

Plus this amazingly conceptually f-ed up masterpiece is something between Dr Who, Cleopatra, Carry on Hospital and a bit of campery in the form of the furry space ship.

Abu Simbel, 05

Ellen Gallagher at Tate Modern until Sept 1st