House of Dub
Posted on | October 13, 2011 | No Comments
Outlook Festival was lots of fun. We took over a derelict building on the festival site, and transformed it into a pop up gallery.
Emma Dexter and Forged Signatures created amazing optical illusions, which made a lot of festival goers trip out and shriek with glee.
Mr Penfold decorated the exterior of the house at staggering speed, and Ashes57 had her own room to go crazy with.
We had a video projection by Benny Ill, and although Stik couldn’t make it, he gave us some huge banners to put up on his behalf.
We had our own rig outside the house, playing classic dub music.
Big thanks to Ashes57, Forged Signatures, Mr Penfold, Emma Dexter, Benny Ill and Stik .
Thanks to Mr Penfold for this one
Ashes57′s awesome room
Jehst and Pokes stopped by.
Haervaerk Interview
Posted on | February 1, 2011 | No Comments
“Jeg var ikke den du forventede!” (I wasn’t the man you expected!) Mixed media on canvas by Haervaerk, 2011.
Where in Denmark were you born, and where do you live now?
I was born in a small town called Hjørring in the Northern part of Jutland, Denmark. My parents (Danish mum and Polish / Russian dad) moved there from another part of the country just before I was born. Being a small fat kid, I was kind of a loner and didn’t like sports, so there really wasn’t much to do besides drawing. I guess I found a refuge in drawing, reading and listening to music. We moved around quite a lot when I was a kid, and drawing was pretty much the only reliable thing I had going, and I haven’t stopped yet. In 1997 I moved to Aalborg (Denmark’s third largest city), and I’m still here. I’ve found the most amazing girlfriend in Copenhagen, so I’m moving there this summer.
Tell me about the art scene in Denmark.
It used to be a pretty elitist scene: you had to have an Academy of Arts education in order to be taken seriously, but all that seems to have changed within the last decade or so. Denmark’s been hit by the whole lowbrow / street art wave. There are a lot of young people out there, who are just enjoying themselves. I really not qualified to judge the stuff they are putting on the walls, but who cares about that? They’re having a blast while expressing themselves, and that’s what it’s all about.
Where is the best district to find cool galleries / art spaces?
The part of the country I live in is pretty traditional in it’s views of art, but the galleries here are now becoming more open-minded towards emerging young artists. Copenhagen has more of an “art-scene”, where you can hang out with other artists, but since Denmark is such a small country, it doesn’t really matter where you live. I do occasionally miss a scene like that, although the solitude in Aalborg has it advantages too. Nevertheless, I’d say Copenhagen is more exiting as far as exhibitions are concerned.
Can you recommend some other Danish artists?
My best friend Morten Andersen has to be on top of that list, he does these awesome abstract graffiti-pieces. He has been a key character for me: I owe him so much. Husk Mit Navn is great too!
If I understand correctly, Haervaerk translates to “Vandal” ?
Actually, it translates to “Vandalism”, which is the title of a novel by Danish author Tom Kristensen. There’s a poem in the book that means a lot to me – roughly translated to English it goes something like: “My anxiety must be redeemed in longing, and visions of horror and distress / I’ve been longing for shipping disasters, vandalism and sudden death”.
That sounds very melancholic!
I grew up watching tv shows like Tove Johanson’s “The Mumins”, which to me is the essense of Scandinavian melancholy, and I’ve always been fascinated by that aspect of life. The good times are just that – good, and as such not very interesting to work with. I find it much more exciting working with melancholic subjects; finding and exploring the beauty in the things that hurt, and in this sense, I am always longing for shipping disasters, vandalism and sudden death.
Tell me about your artistic process.
The process changes from painting to painting, because I tend to get bored pretty quickly. Sometimes I do a quick sketch beforehand, and sometimes I just do it off the fly. However, I almost always do an underpainting in black and white using charcoal and chalk: I think I read that’s how some of the old painters did it? It saves me a lot of time, because the shadows and highlights are pretty much defined when I do the overpainting in thin layers of acrylic paint afterwards. Then I use spraycan, more acrylic, more charcoal and more chalk, and to finish up I apply a couple of layers of acrylic glaze, which really intensifies the colors and adds a nice even surface. I used to use a lot of acrylic markers, but I changed to charcoal and chalk, because it makes the lines and details more messy, which I kinda like!
Some of your characters carry wooden boxes, for example in these 2 pieces: Jeg var ikke den du forventede!” and “Du vil altid være hos mig!” . Do the wooden boxes have a special significance? What is it you like about this object?
Again, it has to do with melancholy. I like the duality in the box – how you can use it to carry stuff with you; your past, the people, experiences and the emotional patterns, which have been formed you during your life; but also how these things and the box itself can trap you, and keep you from breaking free, which also has a very beautiful aspect to it.
Tell me about your sculpture work. When did you start making sculptures and what materials do you use?
I started when I got a carrier cycle a couple of years ago, which allowed me to go dumpster-diving. I use whatever I can find: scarpwood, metal, gals, windows – just about anything I can get my hands on. It meant that I had to invest in a bunch of powertools, and I really like powertools!
Finally, do you listen to music when you paint, and if so, what music do you listen to?
I always listen to music when I paint – usually something melancholic like Chet Bakers “Let’s get lost”; an amazing album!
Haervaerk was talking to Paddy Walsh
Tags: Denmark > Haervaerk > LAVA Gallery > Street Art > The Mumins > Tom Kristensen > Vandalism
LAVA + TIGER
Posted on | January 29, 2011 | No Comments
We’re happy to announce our partnership with Tiger beer. They are sponsoring our programme of events at LAVA Gallery – and you guessed it, that means there will be plenty of free beer at our opening parties.
The first event we’re putting on with Tiger is the Haervaerk opening party on 3rd February.
Otto Schade at LAVA Gallery
Posted on | January 29, 2011 | No Comments
Smile Thames (2010) by Otto Schade
The Otto Schade opening party was really busy, despite the foul weather. Thanks to everyone that came along, we hoped you enjoyed the evening as much as we did. Schade takes his work seriously but he’s also a lot of fun to hang out with. It was great having the opportunity to meet him and we are looking forward to working with him again in future.
The shows will be coming thick and fast over the coming months. We’re soon to release our full programme of events for the first half of 2011, but for now we are focused on our next show, featuring Danish artist Haervaerk.
His work arrived in London the other day; it looks awesome and we can’t wait to hang the show next week. It is so vibrant and colourful, and although the characters seem a bit melancholic, the compositions are surreal and humorous enough to make you smile.
The Haervaerk opening party is on Thursday, 3rd February – we hope you can make it.
LAVA Gallery – Coming soon!
Posted on | November 12, 2010 | No Comments
In early December we’re moving into Kingly Court, a little shopping arcade that leads off Carnaby Street. We’ll be selling originals and prints from our international network of artists. We’ll also be using the gallery as a base from which to to co-ordinate a series of pop up shows in vacant shops throughout the Soho area.
We’re moving next door to Material, the bookshop / gallery where Ashes 57 had her show a few weeks ago. We’re looking forward to being their neighbour, they’ve got some lovely books and with links to Le Gun they have some cool art of their own.
We’re really excited to have a full-time gallery space of our own. (I use the term ‘full-time’ advisedly; the terms of the lease require us to be there bright and early 7 days a week!) It allows us to showcase our artists on an ongoing basis, as opposed to the flash-in-the-pan nature of pop up events. We love doing pop ups and we will continue to do them, but having a permanent base is a big development for us.
If all goes well, we’ll open our doors for the first time on Saturday 4th December. We’ll be starting off with a LAVA group show, featuring exclusive artwork from Ashes 57, Bruno 9li, Jo Peel and Stik. We’ll be throwing an official opening party later in December – keep an eye out for that.
LAVA Gallery, 1.11 Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, London, W1B 5PW Open Daily, 10am-6pm. Sunday: 12pm-6pm
Tags: Ashes 57 > Bruno 9li > Carnaby Street > Jo Peel > Kingly Court > LAVA Gallery > Stik > urban art gallery
Ricky Powell at The Montpelier
Posted on | September 30, 2010 | No Comments
Method Man Portrait, by Ricky Powell
We’re heading to Peckham Rye tomorrow to install a Ricky Powell retrospective at a lovely neighbourhood boozer in Peckham. The new owners want to attract a few more arty types as well as keeping the locals happy, so they got in touch to request our services…
This will be our first adventure down South, long overdue in fact because Peckham has become a bit of a hotspot, what with Frank’s cafe, Area 10 and so forth.
The guys from The Montpelier loved the Ricky Powell catalogue, so after contacting Ricky to make sure he was cool with it, we picked out a few classics and put a little show together.
The launch party is on Saturday night, with music from Gucci Soundsystem’s Ben Rymer. I’ve witnessed Rymer tearing it up at Disco Bloodbath, I’m looking forward to hearing him play again. It’s free entry and they’re open till one am, we’ll be there so come say hi.
The Ricky Powell prints are available for sale, just ask at the bar, there’s also a selection available on our new look online store: http://www.lavacollective.com/store.php
LAVA Collective presents: Ricky Powell at The Montpelier. 43 Choumert Road, SE15 4AR. Opening party: Saturday 2nd October 9pm-1am
Jo Peel + Stik – photos
Posted on | August 9, 2010 | No Comments
Stik’s characters filled the space beautifully
Still pretty busy at 10.30 pm
Jo Peel gets started earlier that day
Thanks to everyone that made it to The Rag Factory last Thursday. It was our third event in a row at the same location, we absolutely love it there but I think we’ll be doing our next event somewhere different. We feel comfortable there, but there comes a time to leave your comfort zone behind. We aim to keep things fresh, and part of that is finding new, interesting spaces to put on shows.
Special thanks to Jo Peel + Stik for agreeing to take part at such short notice. Jo’s live painting session was amazing, it was ambitious trying to paint such a huge piece in one day and although she didn’t quite manage it, we enjoyed watching her at work. We’ll invite her back to finish the piece at our next event. Stik’s cut-out figures looked great dotted around the room, at 8 foot tall they towered over the crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy interacting with them.
Jo Peel + Stik at The Rag Factory
Posted on | July 28, 2010 | No Comments
Image Courtesy of Stik
Thanks to everyone that came to the Ashes 57 show last Thursday – We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
In case you were wondering when the next show is, you don’t have long to wait. We’re back at The Rag Factory on Thursday, 5th August, a mere fortnight after the last event! This time we’re taking part in Time Out’s First Thursdays Program. We got the invitation on incredibly short notice, following the cancellation of another show. We decided to accept the invite, even though we only have a week to publicise it. So please, help us to spread the word.
We are showcasing the work of 2 new LAVA artists: Jo Peel and Stik. Jo Peel is a member of Scrawl Collective. She is based at Boot St Studios in Hoxton. This year she decorated The Park Bar at Glastonbury festival, and painted the roof of Cordy House amongst many other places. Her distinctive line drawings find beauty in scenes of urban decay and construction.
Stik is a prolific and talented street artist. His minimalist characters appear in countless poses and scenarios all over London. Each piece of his is highly site specific, painted with a sensitivity that makes them resonate with their surroundings. He is preparing a new piece especially for this show; we can’t wait to see what he comes up with.
http://www.jopeel.com/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/stiklondon
LAVA Collective presents: First Thursdays at The Rag Factory. Thursday, 5th August, 2010. 6pm-11pm Free entry. 16 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ
The Message – An Ashes 57 Photo Show
Posted on | July 8, 2010 | No Comments
Loefah gets The Message. Photo: Ashes 57
We’re excited to announce that we’re heading back to The Rag Factory on 22nd July. This time we’re showcasing the photography of Ashes 57 – see the events page for details. It is going to be a cool show; so many beautiful photos in there. My personal favourites would have to be the portraits of Madlib and Benga, which are both stunning. As her thousands of Flikr followers will testify, Ashes is a prolific and talented photographer with a massive back catalogue to choose from.
The Rag Factory is one of our favourite exhibition spaces and in many ways it suits us down to the ground. Situated just off Brick Lane, the location is good, and Silas and his merry band of brothers are really accommodating and friendly. The smoker-friendly courtyard is a valuable asset and it is a great place for a party!
This show is on for one night only; we’ll be open from 6-11pm. We’ve invited Standard Place resident Jon Rust to DJ at the event, with support from LAVA DJs .The dubstep fraternity will be out in force for this one, so don’t be surprised if some very special guests pop up behind the decks at some point. We’ll be serving up drinks in the courtyard – have a free one on us but if you’re planning on getting drunk, we’ll be taking donations at the bar.
Tags: Ashes 57 > Benga > Jon Rust > LAVA Collective > Loefah > Madlib > Rag Factory
LAVA + Rooms hook up
Posted on | May 27, 2010 | No Comments
Keep an eye out for the next issue of Rooms Magazine – It has a piece on LAVA Collective and an interview with Talita Hoffmann. We were also involved with the Rooms Magazine Launch Party, where Jo Peel represented LAVA at the live paint event.
Rooms is a really cool little magazine, available in many shops and bars around the East End and beyond. Their first issue contained some striking artwork by Aya Kakeda, and I loved the section on Lewis Cambell, an artist I had never encountered before. There is also a double page spread from our very own Ashes 57, plus plenty more besides.
It has been fun collaborating with Rooms on the forthcoming issue. We are like-minded organisations with a lot in common and we hope to do another project with them before too long.