Archive for December, 2005
Our friends from Rojo magazine have finally decided to get themselves into the book publishing business and have just released none less than 5 new titles, all of them monographic visual compilations or concept books around the work of 5 different artists/collectives: Boris Hoppek, Neasden Control Centre, Tofer, Nuno Valerio y Albert Bertolin.
The book are quite small, almost pocket size, but are beautifully presented in hardcover, full colour editions and are full of visual content (and no text). All these titles are limited editions so once they are gone, they are gone.
So far, you can still find them around, for example in… well, our own Subaquatica online shop, following these links, where you can also see some more pictures of the books and so on:
Albert Bertolín: Kultur Toilette.
Boris Hoppek: Tranquilo.
Neasden Control Centre: Smithfield Building.
Nuno Valerio: Heartcore.
Tofer: Finger Bang!
December 30th, 2005 01:27pm
Administrador
Recently opened at the Annta Gallery in Madrid, the collective show “Tras la pared” is one of the first ocassions on which one space from the circuit of the more established and traditional art galleries in Madrid exhibit the work of street artists. In this ocassion the artists that have participated are Sixe, El tono, Nano4814, San and Pilar Soler. Some of them are good friends and frequent collaborators of Subaquatica. If you happen to be in Madrid the exhibition is worth a visit and it clearly shows that this is not the first time these artists, used to display their work on the streets, face the challenge of a indoors exhibit.
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We are certanly familiar with the difficulty, not only practical but also theorical and almost ethical, that implies for this kind of artists to exhibit not simply in a indoors space but also an art gallery where their work intends to be sold. The rebelious and altruistic attitude of an artist that displays his work on the streets is somehow contradictory of the commercial logic of an art gallery. But street artists also have to pay the rent. Their professional development can come in the form of collaborations for brand events looking to jump into the experiential marketing bandwagon, or their work as illustrator, graphic designers or motion graphics artist. But also as artists in the traditional sense of those who sell their work in art galleries. The problem, obviously, comes when the artists has to decide how its outside, non-commercial activities relate and differ from their commercial indors work.
El tono
El tono
In public and non commercial art spaces or museums and with exhibitions such as “Beautiful Losers” or the “Ill Communication” exhibits at the Urbis Museum (Manchester, UK), installations seem to be the way to go but when those pieces of art have to be sold, as is the case with art galleries, the approach apparently has to be of a different kind. Exactly as with video artists or conceptual ones who mostly do installations, there are some kinds of artworks that fail to fit into the traditional idea of the fetish-object canvas that you can hang on a wall. Sometimes the solution is to combine elements that, althought they might be for sale, will rarely be sold with drawings, canvases, etc… This is the case, for instance, of the Nano4814 contribution to the “Tras la pared” exhibit.
Nano4814
Nano4814
In any case, the success or failure of the proposal doesn’t relate only to how this problem is adressed by the artist but also by the consistency of his discourse and (such a slippery concept as) his talent. In that sense, we believe that the “Tras la pared” is not a definitive answer to these issues, that we don’t really expect to see anytime soon (the fun would be over), but a fine sample of the current state of things.
San
By the way, one the artists that participate in this show, Sixeart, will have his first solo exhibition in Madrid at our own Subaquatica space in Madrid starting Feb 2nd 2006.
Sixeart
TRAS LA PARED
Sixeart + Nano4814 + San + Pilar + El tono
15/12/2005 - 4/2/2006
ANNTA Gallery
Altamirano 46, 28008 Madrid. SPAIN
December 24th, 2005 11:32am
Administrador
One of the most amazing and visually elaborate books to ever reach Subaquatica is the just released 1st volume of the Also Known As series. The people behind legendary Graffiti magazine 12 Oz Prophet intend to release two volumes of this new series of books every year. This is the first one and it certanly has lived up to the great expectation.
Also Known As is a Graffiti-Street Culture visual compendium that captures the most irreverent spirit of old times Graffiti while still paying attention at their surroundings. In this first volume simply the list of Featured artists is impressive: Futura 2000, Kaws, Todd James aka Reas as well as the list contributing designers or photographers: Cody Hudson, Evan Hecox, KR or Marco Cibola just to name a few. For the edition of the book all kind of different printing techniques such as spot colors or different types of varnishes have been used and many extras such as 2 fold-out posters, sticker sheet inserts, postcards orvinyl stickers have been added to make of this object a true pleasure for the senses.
Well, you can tell we really liked it so at least take a look at these guys website and decide for yourself:
www.akanyc.com
And if you finally feel about this book the same way we do, don’t hesitate to visit our online shop and check this product right here and get yourself a copy before they are gone.
December 22nd, 2005 06:42pm
Administrador
The recently published book “Concrete to Canvas” presents the work of a selection of artists somehow connected to the world of Skateboard. This culture has clearly gone beyond the sport and has, for many years now, created its own visual identity. Not only the design of the boards, the magazines or the specialized brands can be identified as part of that identity. The work of many street artists, illustrators, photographers or designers have a strong connection to that culture. In “Concrete to Canvas” you can find some info and a sample of the work of some of these artists such as Dalek, D*Face, Dave the Chimp, Andy Howell, Ichi the Bunny, Andy Jenkins, Michael Leon, Mark “Fos” Foster, Stephan Marx aka Gomes, Andy Mueller, Chris Yormick or Ed Templeton among others.
“Concrete to Canvas” is available through our online shop here.
December 19th, 2005 09:00pm
Administrador
Graphic designer, illustrator, DJ, ex-blogger and now also girl accesories designer, PATRICIA COLAO has just released a line of plastic pins. We really liked the pins and the packaging so we decided to retail them at Subaquatica. These are the first items she has produced under her new brand, She-Rules:
Some of these designs come in different colour variations so its hard to find two identical pins and some use glow in the dark pieces.
You can find them at our online shop also, right here.
December 18th, 2005 12:54pm
Administrador
A couple of weeks ago we had the opening for the joint show of french artists 3TTMAN and REMED. You can find more info about this exhibition and these artists here
If you came by already, we hope you liked it and if not, feel free to drop by and take a look at their work if you are in Madrid before it closes at the end of January.
December 16th, 2005 09:37pm
Administrador
This set is the result of a collaboration between MICHAEL LAU and Nike. The set consists of 1 Mr. Shoe figure (about 12 cm tall), a surprise hat, 1 surprise figure (about 10 cm tall), 1 book with Mr Shoe’s adventures, 1 book-catalog with all the diferent Mr Shoe customizations and 1 poster. The MR Shoe figure is ready for being customized by you. The hat and the small figure are surprise items and come packed into black bags. MICHAEL LAU is one of the most famous artistits from the “designer toys” scene. This set is also sort of a catalog of the exhibition around the Mr Shoe character that took place in Hong Kong.
You can buy this product here.
December 15th, 2005 01:13pm
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