Dancing in the Dark (2008 - 2024)

Sometime at the start of 2021 my friend Dave Edwardson touted the idea of heading over to Paris to catch 'The Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped' the final project by the incredible Christo & Jeanne Claude. I'd only recently discovered the duo's work through a timely visit to the Oxfam bookshop on Back Wynd where I often go to peruse their second hand art books. Lo and behold I found a vintage gem featuring the early career works of Christo, covering his barrel installations on the streets of Paris. It seemed like a serendipitous moment. Fast forward 6 months and details emerged about Christo & Jeanne Claude's potential last project and perhaps what will be their most poignant work, the Arc Wrapped.  Sure to be a once in a lifetime event, I secretly held out hope of being able to travel to Paris and to witness the spectacle first hand. Of course there would be many hurdles to overcome first. I'd first met Dave a few years earlier during the first Nuart Aberdeen t...

Phelgm is the alias of Sheffield based graffiti artist ....... Phelgm? Ok so I don't know his real name and to be honest it doesn't really matter. What matter is that his work is incredible. What also matters is that I was told about his show and given directions by a member of staff at StolenSpace Gallery and although I took a couple of wrong turns when I finally found the derelict shop front and saw the work I was in awe! The first thing is the sheer volume of work on display. Floor to ceiling of painted jars containing all manner of mythical creatures, many of Phlegm's own signature characters but also a few guest appearance from some other big names in the graffiti / street art world. Your sucked down into this world of caged creatures, floating heads, amputated limbs and then you come out into a clearing, an open space where the characters and the animals are literally coming out of the walls! I don't think I've ever really seen a show like it, the paintings...

D ay 2 in London was my gallery day , a chance to check out some shows and visit some new galle ries. Armed with my iPhone I se t off from Whitechapel in the hopes that my google maps wouldn 't lead me on any wild goose chases and kill my phone battery! First up 'Lif e Work' by Martha Cooper , renowned graffiti documentor a t Sto len space Gallery . Anyone who is interested in graf fiti should know Martha and her seminal photo book Su bway Art. Ask anyone from t he higher e chelons of the modern graffiti move ment and they wi ll all cite Martha 's book as a huge fa ctor in getting them out bombing the str eets fro m London to Paris to Rome and back to NYC . I 'll be doing a seperate post about the show as it deserves it!  A little further up brick lane I found Proof London showcasing work by V ents137 and Miha Kosmac. Vents137 showcased some nice canvas pieces, harking back to the golden a ge of graffiti with trains and old skool characters adorning each pie...