London, Liverpool & Keith Haring!

A trip to London usually means running around trying to see as much art as possible but I usually give myself a day for travel before getting stuck in. But the last minute announcement that Stanley Donwood, famed artist behind most of Radiohead's iconic artwork would be hosting a special talk at Rough Trade East meant a slap dash rush to catch a train from the airport to London central before hopping an Uber that managed to drop us at the doors just in the nick of time! The event was free but we'd booked tickets with a copy of his new book 'There Will Be No Quiet' which collects a lot of his work to date in one hefty tome.

As we took our place in the crowd Stanley was welcomed to the stage by host for the evening Gareth Evans and quickly began probing about his early career and time at art school where he met a young Thom Yorke. The crowd sat wrapt by the ensuing tales of mischief, being on the dole and the opportunities it provided a young renegade artist in the late 80s. It was quite special to listen to these tales first hand, many of which are recounted in the book. The audience Q&A left me feeling quite nervous as I'd previously fed a few questions to Doug from Fifth Wall TV who'd recorded a new Juxtapoz podcast with Stanley and Jux editor Evan Pricco earlier that day. I seemed to get side lined as I waited patiently with my hand up each time before Stanley singled me out and I regailed him with stories of discovering the secret Kid A booklet stashed behind the CD jewel case and the work done to make Radiohead albums more than just music and pictures but to make them beautiful artifacts. He seemed quite pleased by this question and like others a lemon bonbon was thrown in my direction. The first one missed (Stanleys fault) but the second found its target, the crowd cheered and my question was answered.

I'd say I've met quite a few famous musicians and artists over the years but to meet Stanley was pretty special and the impact his art work has had on me is profound. I even planned to take an old beat up Radiohead poster I got back in 2001 but felt it would be a bit crass to crash his book signing with added pariphinalia. He gladly signed my book and exchanged some polite conversation before leaving him to it. It was only after I realised the poster is actually the same as the new book cover and really, I should have taken it! But they say you should never meet your heroes in case they let you down. Stanley was a gent, funny, down to earth and seemed as lost as the rest of us despite a Grammy for his art work and incredible creative achievements, so we left feeling rather pleased in that knowledge! 

We got up early the next day, eager to pack in some exhibition including the new Obey Giant 30 year show, 'Facing The Giant' at Stolen Space Gallery and the Beats space further up Brick Lane. Surveying his career to date, the show looks to trace a line from some of Shepard Faireys earliest pieces incorporating Andre the Giant to his latest batch of paintings and stencils. From folk heroes and political activists to punk icons and political corruption, Shepard takes on some of the big characters and issues of our time, all with his own unique style. It's been incredible to follow the evolution of his art, an artist at home in the streets and on gallery walls, always distinctively his own and always requiring a few viewings as the level of detail in each piece is overwhelming.

I was lucky enough to meet Shepard during the install for his last London show in 2012 and he kindly took the time to show me around some of the works before sending me off with a handful of Obey stickers. He's an artist of great principles and his attitude has played a big part in his enduring career, a career that still evolving and progressing. He said himself the new show is less a retrospective and more a survey of from then til now, a time stamp of an active career with a whole new batch of works lined up for the next phase of the show which just opened in Providence, Rhode Island where he studied and created his first Andre sticker. It was great to catch the show in London and ill be doing a more in depth piece about it in another blog post.

Shoreditch and Brick Lane always offer a lot of visual stimulation, sometimes too much with the volume of work on show. Thanks to sites like Hooked blog and Not Banksy Forum I can see what's happening and catch work on line before it invariably gets painted over but its nice to see stuff face to face. Recent additions from Pez were hanging on, another artist who's just celebrated 20 years of working on the streets and it's nice to see some pieces are treated with some reverence with Stiks piece still preserved. Nuart Festivals Said Dokins was just in town working on a new mural with his iconic calligraphic style. His piece for the Stavanger festival was quite something to behold so its nice to connect a few dots from the Nuart family. Also that lazy Edwin had left his mark around town, unbeknownst to us on our last visit. Of course Brick Lane is great for the amount and variety of work you can see, from paste ups and street interventions to more traditional graffit and spray pieces, sometimes all at one spot.

Later in the day we met up with KMG and OH PANDAH who were also in town for the Snik show and to do some painting. We grouped and headed up to a rather creepy looking church beside Kings Cross and found our way into the basement crypt where Snik and their debut exhibition 'Ephemeral' were waiting! The duo wanted to put on something special and the Crypt Gallery provided the perfect setting for it with bare brick walls and cavernous catacombs, the walls were adorned with Sniks distinctive stencil based works with many small paintings based on their larger mural pieces, familiar images from Tou Scene and Stavanger airport standing out but also a whole host of new paintings which have been carefully crafted over the last few months at their Nottingham studio.

Snik were joined by a who's who of the London street art scene along with a few friends from further afield like Martin Whatson from Oslo. We bumped into Dotmasters and Calum from the Nuart production team and had a great chat with Dilk from Montanna Nottingham. Although only running for 3 days, all the works on show sold out, a testament to their hard work but also the quality of their work. Anyone who's seen their mural in Aberdeen can testify to their skills and with time in the studio to perfect and refine each piece, it made the works and the overall show feel really special. Along with paintings the duo also showcased a specially commissioned tile piece and their first bronze sculpture. The most amazing canapés and cocktails were also on the menu, another fine touch for the opening and one I wish I'd taken more advantage of! But with an early train to catch it was off home early for us but it was special to see the show first hand and again ill be doing a bit more of an in depth post about it later on.

We set off early the next day on the train to Liverpool where we hoped to catch a few friends and the Keith Haring show at Tate Liverpool. We quickly found our hotel with intentions of dropping off our stuff only to find the whole block had a massive power cut. Thankfully we could still drop our bags and headed out to see some sights and sounds of Liverpool. Massive shopping arcades seemed to be the order of the day with one street leading to the next with the same shops you'll find up and down the country, a city councils dream perhaps but it didn't tell us much about Liverpool. It took us a while but eventually the big glitzy centres gave way to smaller independent retailers, vintage shops and a left wing socialist book shop. It seemed like the socialist ideals and workers unions of old were still well and truly alive in Liverpool with our new hotel even paying tribute to the trade unions and anti fascist movements of the 1940s with their lobby art work. And being the home of The Beatles, a strong fab four presence could be felt around the Cavern Club and surrounding area along with statues of Lennon and co.

Once off the beaten track we started to see a bit more of the city, exploring the old industrial quarters and eventually finding Zap Graffiti. I'd first heard of Zap after meeting founder Betarok75 at the UV Arts 'Release the Pressure' jam way back in 2016. Through instagram I've been able to keep up with the Betarok and his exploits both here and abroad and he'd also put me onto a few of the Liverpool graff writers. With a mini warehouse at his disposal, Zap is a space where the Liverpool graff community can come together, pick up paint and also use the extensive legal walls in the adjoining car park which are regularly painted, creating an ever evolving gallery. Along with the Zap space Betarok has also created the Contrast Mural Festival which happened to be running the day after we headed home. Our walk around brought us face to face with amazing murals by Betatrok, Elph + TeaOne & Inkie painted for the first Contrast Festival. The next phase of the festival is going to be the Alphabet Doors which will form a trail through the city centre and gives us a good excuse to visit again next year!

Day 2 in Liverpool found us heading to the Tate to check out the iconic Keith Haring exhibition. When the show was announced last year I decided to make the journey, almost 7 hours by train from Aberdeen to see these iconic works and it didn't disappoint! From his early days at art school to falling in with the New York crowd, the show captured much of the energy and passion of Haring from the NYC subway chalk drawings to the giant 30 meter odd canvas in the main room. Political posters, social justice campaigns and all the works that helped make Haring a household name were evident along with some lesser seen works from the end of his career. I'd recently read his diaries and was blown away by his tales, many focusing on life and the bigger issues of the day along with the usual trials and tribulations of a lost romantic. His connection to people and place through his art was profound and his desire to share that art resonated with my own beliefs.

Its incredibly sad to see the talent of Haring on display with the knowledge of his death due to aid related complications and the subsequent medical advancements which now mean many living with the condition can lead relatively normal lives. To wonder what would have come next, where he might have taken us on his journey, well its just quite sad. But to see his work and brush marks first hand was quite special and to connect the dots between his personal stories and his art work. Well worth the epic 7 hour train ride home and ill be doing an expanded post about it soon. And of course the Tate Liverpool has a fantastic collection of works on show by artists like Barbara Kruger, Andy Warhol and Jim Lambie to name a few so a very worthwhile gallery to visit.

We rushed to the train station to make sure we made good time, lucky for us as our train was cancelled but we had to jump another train to make our connection. A brief stop in Glasgow and then it was onto the last leg of our journey back to Aberdeen. A swift 4 day trip indeed but we managed to pack a lot in and got to see some amazing shows. And it's always great to burst the Aberdeen bubble and see some new places but it's also good to get home and get stuck into the next project, no rest for the wicked they say!