And assisting Dalek for his show @Elms Lesters Gallery in London plus a lot of Berlin street art.
Summer has ended. Autumn is in the post. Going back through all my photos from numerous adventures, this blog has given me a reason to sift through the pieces to the puzzle of where the last 8 weeks have gone.
Words and photos: David Shillinglaw
I start this blog with the last day of school. Thursday the 16th July. I know this was the last day of school because I often work in a school doing art with kids. I finished school and the same day opened my solo exhibition 'Knee Jerk' at the Nancy Victor Gallery.
For more photos of my jerking knee go visit my site: www.davidshillinglaw.co.uk/kneejerk.htm
The long summer nights and free time made some alfresco painting possible.
Good times. Painting outdoors and skate boarding at night never get boring.
There was a whole lotta Art stuff going on in London this summer but the work that really blew me sideways was the fantastic VHILS (AKA Alexandre Farto) with his lazarides show 'Scratching The Surface', read about it here. Vhils is making some awesome art, chiselling, bleaching and jack hammering his way into walls around the world. see a stack more of Vhils at http://alexandrefarto.com/
Also in London, I helped hang an exhibition of photography at City Hall. City hall is where the London Mayor works and a bunch of interesting meetings and things take place.
The best bit of being there was getting to see the view from the roof terrace. To your right along the Thames is Tower bridge, Its a very impressive bridge, I once read somewhere that when then Vikings invaded England they pulled this bridge down with grappling hooks and oar power alone. Those Vikings were strong boys. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking)
The cherry on my summer cake was Berlin. Berlin is one of my favourite Cities, bursting with bars, cafes, galleries, and the perfect city for cycling, everything in Berlin is better, the grass is greener, the food tastes sweeter, if you have never been, you should change that.
Cheap roadside food. Home made burgers and potato salad...and of course the famous German sausage.
The weather was perfect, sunny streets and slow sunsets. The crazy ball and spike building in the distance is the The Fernsehturm. This means television tower in German.
Berlin is ridiculously saturated with street art. From tiny tags and stencils to larger than life wall paintings like these below from Blu. The city is an open gallery, every street is loaded with painted signatures, just cycling round you get to see some amazing art by some of the worlds most celebrated street artists.
Below is part of the original Berlin wall. Don't know about the Berlin wall? It was kind of a big deal.
I met up with a few artist friends while in Big Berlin, including the talented and Miss Mymo. Mymo was painting up Paul's Boutique shop front. Check her out in more detail.
The Holocaust Memorial is a very amazing sculptural space. Although it is marking a truly terribly event, the space is a lot of fun to get lost in like a big labyrinth.
More out of reach art.
Very nice show by xooox at the Circle Culture gallery.
I also met up with Superblast at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery his show 'The shadow of the future' runs til 3rd of October.
I really loved the fine street cobbling all over Berlin, like a humble hand made mosaic sidewalk.
Go Gothic!
I could go on and on about the amount of good food available, especially the street food, hand help delicious bites in all directions. The one dish that really stuck with me was this unbelievable Kurdish dessert, made from shredded wheat, honey, pistachio and in the centre a mass of molten mozzarella cheese... it was the best thing I ever put in my mouth!
Back in London, I had the great opportunity to assist Dalek aka James Marshall at Elms Lesters gallery.
James is a super nice fellow, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. eating pizzas and watching paint dry and 2 of my favourite things. The gallery is a regular spot to see amazing art. Located in an old building set painting theatre sets and back drops for big gigs and whatnots. Some great people have walked the rooms and the walls are loaded with a painted history.
The walls are caked in tags, blams and signature drip splats. The gallery represent a bunch of vanguard painters from around the globe, scanning the walls is a kind of spot the who's who is the street art/fine art world.
Dalek was there setting up his installation piece, but the show also included work by the talented Mr. delta. (http://www.deltainc.nl/)
Dalek:
The same night of the Dalek/Delta show I was in a show that opened across town. The Decked project exhibition () at Stolen Space
I love this piece at the gallery entrance by SAN. Watch him doing the painting here.
A great little trip of the summer was to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. I was invited by WallSpace Gallery to paint a mural at the Green belt festival.
To see more photos of the work I made: davidshillinglaw.co.uk/greenbelt.htm
There was time for one final adventure to Birmingham. I was proud to be part of the Inky Goodness 'Wonderland' exhibition at the Custard Factory. My lovely assistant and I spent the weekend installing a wall piece at the gallery and checking out Birmingham city. Thanks to the Inky Goodness for all their hard work and support, see what they do: (http://inkygoodness.com/), see more photos of the set up (davidshillinglaw.co.uk/inkygoodness.htm)
One of my favourite sites in Birmingham is the mad looking Selfridges building. It is massive and looks like its about to give birth.
A last look at London. I Just walked past this Blu piece in Camden. This guy gets everywhere.
I leave you with my favourite summer injury. While hanging a painting I whacked my finger with a hammer. It hurt like hell, but the blood blister turned into the shape of a heart under my nail.
Words & Photos: David Shillinglaw - www.nowherenorth.co.uk {moscomment}
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