Thursday 10th November 2011 – Saturday 3rd December
UNFAIR Part 1 is the first of a two-part survey of the works of artists EINE, WILLIAM BLANCHARD, NOKI and MARK ELEY (ELEY KISHIMOTO).
“By the pricking of my thumbs,Something wicked this way comes.”
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Against a brooding sky of political, social and financial uncertainty UNFAIR gathers together new works and one-off collaborations by four disparate talents, EINE, William Blanchard, NOKI and Mark Eley; four artists who exemplify our Island Kingdom’s rich tradition of POP Art as surely as Brighton connotes Rock.
William Blanchard’s series ‘UNFAIR’ builds on his recent works such as ‘I Just Don’t Care Anymore’ and ‘Protest Flag’ that suggest a simmering anger that bubbles beneath the surface of our (alleged) non-society ‘gone bad’. Taking the quintessentially English theme of the Fairground as his target, Blanchard’s new series seeks to pull back the gaudy curtain of our dark Carnival culture and in doing so reveal the ‘fix’ that guarantees the ‘no win scenario’ of a culture weaned on Game Show emotions, rigged ‘Talent’ contests and the Dark Arts of Political corruption and Media manipulation. Blanchard has made thirty four-colour screen prints that have been individually ‘finished’ in acrylics by the artist. A limited edition of ‘I Just Don’t Care Anymore’ in ‘diamond dust’ will also be available on the night.
EINE’s work is a familiar sight on the shop fronts and streets of our once fair land his precisely rendered fonts and typefaces lifting the mundane thoroughfares of tawdry commercialization to new heights of beauty. In May 2010 Ben Eine painted a complete alphabet on Middlesex Street in East London, which was re-christened Alphabet Street by the residents and described by The Times as “a street now internationally recognized as a living piece of art with direct links to The White House.” (In July 2010, President Barack Obama was presented with a painting by Eine, Twenty First Century City, as an official gift from the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.) His work recently featured in the most comprehen- sive review of street art to date “Art in the Streets” at MOCA, Los Angeles (April 2011).
For this show EINE will be delivering two unique paintings along with two new edition of prints – one of which is a collaboration with Mark Eley – that have been created exclusively for this show.
One time EINE collaborator, NOKI, brings the spirit of Allen Jones to life through his erotically charged and detailed sketches of thumbs. Amputated from their hands these swollen digits assume a new, autonomous context: H.R. Giger’s Alien channeled through the numb limbs of Hans Bellmer. Familiar but other, Noki’s almost sculptural pollex are shrouded totems ‘thumbing’ their noses at the world of commodity fetishism. A series of one colour screen-prints taken from NOKI’s original pencil drawings will also be complimented by an edition of his works re-worked by Mark Eley.
Playfully aggressive, NOKI’s agenda is much aligned to the writer and founder of Culture Jam and Adbusters magazine, Kalle Lasn, who he cites as a major influence on his world- view and work, as a positive critique on world globalisation.
Mark Eley’s distinctive patterns and prints have elevated Eley Kishimoto (the fashion house founded with his creative partner, Wakako Kishimoto) to a position of worldwide recognition. A weaver by training, Eley sees the world of products as the canvas for his aspirations to ‘pattern the world’ – bringing POP Art full circle (pace Warhol) by re-appropriating the physical elements of consumer society for his ‘beautifying of the planet’. His recent collaborations include works with BMW, Eastpak and Duvel. For this show Eley will collaborate with EINE and NOKI to create unique collaborative works for the show and to further his aim ‘to conquer all the surfaces of the world’.
UNFAIR Part 2: “Something Wicked This Way Comes” will be presented 2012 at WHISPER.
