Exhibition continues until 10th March
Peter Blake ,William Blanchard ,Bruce French, Lyle Owerko,Remi Rough,David Shillinglaw Pakpoom Silaphan ,STATIC, LG White,Russell Young.
Exhibiting works on paper by our current gallery artists, including screenprints from established pioneer of British pop art Peter Blake, who combines vibrant images of Brit pop culture and fine art. Following in his footsteps is William Blanchard, distinctly influenced by the pop art movement whose works are a casually critical commentary about the modern world, seamlessly integrating commercial culture into simple ideas, subjective declarations, personal outlooks and feelings.
In a similar way, Pakpoom Silaphan takes symbols of commercial culture and corporate branding, transforming them into personal visual memoirs of his childhood upbringing. Originally from Thailand, Silaphan creates portraits of influential people using vintage foreign but recognisable advertising signs as his canvas. Taking Warhol’s elevation of everyday brands to high art, and combining it with his adoration of famous and influential historical figures, Silaphan highlights the power of advertising as a global dominator. Similarly, Russell Young’s vibrant portraits of iconic figures draw attention to the power of celebrity and media. Russell’s work is striking; using instantly recognisable images coupled with his own style and techniques, his pieces immediately resonate with his audience.
Also, showing their work for the first time at Whisper, David Shillinglaw and Remi Rough are two artists combining street and fine art in innovative ways. London based artist David Shillinglaw’s work moves between street and studio, small hand?made books to paintings on canvas, and large scale wall murals. His work is a reflection of the civilised and monstrous side of human nature, and the day?to?day conversational poetry we use to demonstrate feelings and physical conditions. Friend and collaborator Remi Rough transcends the traditional and somewhat idealised vision of a graffiti writer, and creates work that simultaneously belongs on the streets and in the home or gallery without seeming out of context. Merging bold colours and modern abstraction with a clean, minimal style his work is a progressive example of urban art.
Far from bold and confrontational subject matter, Bruce French’s anonymous and faceless subjects express mass emotion through the simplest lines in oil, charcoal, pencil and print. Images of figures suspended in movement reflect the human form in its most simple and natural state.
Lyle Owerko is a New York?based filmmaker and photographer, who has been collecting vintage boomboxes for years, resulting in an arresting and unexpected photoseries featuring these cult objects, giving life and personality to each one individually.
Finally, Whisper’s newest addition is Dutch artist LG White, who exhibits across a broad spectrum of artistic mediums. Her original drawings instantly highlight her remarkable talent as a skilled draughtsman. Beautifully detailed pencil on card depictions of imagined landscapes hang perfectly alongside strong photo etchings that portray the contemporary skull as an intricate and delicate icon.
STATIC is the creative output of two individuals who have been working as one since 2006. Their work combines elements of street art and fine art, merging a clean graphic style with stencils, spray paint, screen printing and paint brushes, to create unique pieces which have been exhibited on the streets of London as well as a number of international gallery spaces.
