Pedro Reyes – Disarm: Make Music, Not War

If John Lennon's song Imagine can be transformed into a visual language, it would be something like this Disarm exhibition at the Lisson gallery. I think Pedro Reyes' weapons-cum-musical instruments really tune into what is probably the closest thing I've ever seen visual arts do to call for peace. In Disarm, Pedro fashions destroyed weapons into mechanical musical instruments and transforms them into objects with a positive message. And it's not bad too that these instruments are also functional and can be played live or automated by a computer. 

There's probably too much to take in here - in fact, I had to deal with a spectrum of emotions when I saw Disarm - as if I was listening to some affecting music. First, as sculptural pieces, they all look beautiful - they are a re-imagining of how musical instruments Read More »

Spinning Yarn: Pae White: Too Much Night, Again at the South London Gallery

Whether it be smoke image tapestry or works that defy the lines between applied and fine art  multi-media artist Pae White never fails to craft temporal artworks into monumental pieces.

In her new exhibition 'Too Much Night, Again' at the South London Gallery, the American artist has transformed the main exhibition space into large-scale site-specific installation with massive amounts of colourful yarn criss-crossing all over the room while spelling words 'Tiger Time' and 'Unmattering' on two opposite walls. With more than 48000 yarn to play with, Pae White has spun the South London gallery space into a live string sculpture.

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27 of my Favourite Artworks from the @Art13 London Fair

Art 13 - the new contemporary art fair that graced London this week was a success: Artinfo reports the positive sales incurred during the show and it signals a bright future for this art newcomer. For me, despite not seeing the presence of major London galleries here, what I really enjoyed most was discovering foreign galleries and seeing Oriental artists take centre stage (if they haven't been basking in the Art limelight already).

The great thing about these (South east) Asian artists is their new found confidence and their boldness in merging both tradition and Western ideals in their artwork. It's not anything new of course - a lot of artists explore their history to create a new language in their work. Read More »

Meeting Antony Gormley Plus his New Exhibit Model: Body Through Architecture

Antony Gormley has a special place in my heart. When I first moved here to the UK two and a half years ago, I set out for his workshop in North London in the hopes of meeting the man. Of course, that was impossible given the circumstances then but what propelled that experience was for me to start this art blog with the intent of meeting Antony.

Over time, that manifesto evolved as I continued to see more art and British sculpture and I found that I was excited about discovering other artists (and discovering myself through art in the process). In the back of my mind however, I still wanted to meet him. (Read my new personal manifesto in the About Me section). Read More »

Project 2012: Artists Come Together for the End of the World

Do you believe the world will end this December 2012? Well, apparently some artists think  we are a time-bomb waiting to happen if we don't change our ways. These artists came together for a special exhibit called the Project 2012 at the Left Gallery in London first week of October. I missed this first series of the planned rolling exhibition but was in touch with Lucia Burbano, head of PR and media, to tell me more about the concept of the show.

Project 2012 aims to stimulate dialogue  on the end of the world theories, focusing on our self-destructive patterns as the likely cause of our impending doom. The first exhibition held last October was a huge success and the next exhibit would be held in February as a countdown towards December 2012. Seeing what's happening in the news lately Read More »

Rig: The Anti-Monumental and Ambiguous Phyllida Barlow at the Hauser & Wirth

There's something about artists that get discovered quite late in life - they are like wine, they get better with age - such as the late Louise Bourgeois who became a critically-acclaimed artist at the age of 70 and went on to change the face of modern and contemporary art.

Phyllida Barlow seems to be the next Bourgeois, in the same breadth of class and momentum. According to this article, Phyllida was an art teacher to the likes of Angela de la Cruz and Rachel Whiteread and only started to receive some acclaim well into her retirement age. But seeing her show at the Hauser and Wirth, there's no doubt we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg of Phyllida's art. Read More »

Interview: Olga Gouskova Talks about the Female Form

Sometimes artists are not very comfortable with interviews and one them is Russian-born Belgium-based artist Olga Gouskova. She told me she was a better painter than a writer and in a sense, was probably reluctant to explain her art through words. The good news is I'm not a critic and I just love art in general so I understand her uneasiness. In her Facebook profile, she even posted this quote from Pablo Picasso. "As far as I am concerned, a painting speaks for itself. What is the use of giving explanations, when all is said and done? A painter has only one language."

But the following interview was in fact, a good overview of her creative process, her blooming career and why one critic even branded her art as having hints of Botticelli's. Her concept of femininity is not a typical  take on beauty but as an extension of her own self Read More »