Whole in the Wall

'Whole in the Wall' was an exhibition at the Ayyam Gallery in New Bond Street by Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar.

The exhibition was an observation on daily life in Palestine using the medium of concrete. The show included a long concrete wall separating the gallery entrance with the information desk.  A hole in this wall in the shape of Palestine allowed visitors to the gallery climb through the installation itself to continue their visit.

 The exhibition also featured videos of the artist chipping small pieces of concrete from the Israeli-Gaza barrier which he then used to create several sculptures of everyday objects.  These also featured in the gallery.

Lord of art

Goncalo Mabunda is an artist from Mozambique who creates art installations and sculptures out of decommissioned weapons, from AK47s to rocket launchers.

He is also part of an art collective who have had their work displayed in the British Museum (I have posted about that exhibition previously in my blog).

I was lucky enough to attend the opening night of the exhibition at the ever enjoyable Jack Bell Gallery.

Grad

Grad is a new Russian art gallery that has opened in Fitzrovia, showing art from both Russia and the UK.

They had a very interesting recent exhibition about Russian-made tourist posters from the 1930s.  The posters were in glass frames so there is a bit of glare in my pictures but you still can get an idea of how the posters looked.

 A poster aimed at German tourists

 A proposed design that was never made into a poster at the time

Two poster emphasising Russia's cultural achievements

These posters were contrasted with how Russia was portrayed in internal propaganda.  The two styles of posters were very different.  In the external tourism posters the beauty of the landscape was emphasised and a romanticised vision of glamorous women and fast cars was shown.

Internal propaganda focused on spreading the communist message. Images of planes were used in a purely military sense.

An external Russian tourism poster, aimed at the French market, featuring a plane 

An internal poster featuring images of planes.

These two posters use images of planes.  In the first poster the viewer is positioned at the same height as the plane and is able to view the whole of Europe.  The internal propaganda poster show the plane above the people looking up at it, literally cutting them off from the skies.

A though-provoking exhibition.

Culture in Defiance - Continuing traditions of satire, art and the struggle for Freedom in Syria

There is currently a fantastic exhibition of 'art as cultural rebellion' from Syria being shown at Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road until 23rd November 2013.

Key themes of the exhibition are nonviolent resistance and the power of culture.  As one of the artists states "You can actually deal with everything that is scary through laughter."

Some of the images in the exhibition were very scary and powerful.  Definitely worth checking out.

 Photos by Muzaffar Salman, a photojournalist who has worked for Reuters and the AP

 Hama 30 by Khalil Younes

Alshaab Alsori Aref Tarekh (The Syrian People know their way) - Anonymous Poster Collective of 15 Syrian artists and  activists.

By Yasmeen Fanari

By Khaled Barakeh

Mex Fest

-This weekend was MexFest, a celebration of all things Mexican in London from music to food.

I went along to an exhibition at Rich Mix but I think I got there a bit too early, as I think there was supposed to be kind of soundscape later in the day.

There were a few nice photos of Mexico nevertheless so here they are.

  Cenotes, Yucatán

 Day of the Dead, Michoacán

Light from the Middle East New Photography at the V and A

No photography was allowed in the Light from the Middle East exhibition unfortunately, but it was a great exhibition of the work by 30 artists from around the Middle East.

 

More information about the artists and the exhibition can be found on the V and A website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-light-from-the-middle-east-new-photography/about-the-exhibition/

Dolls Never Die

Dolls Never Die was an exhibition last year at the October Gallery by Benin artist Gerard Quenum. The exhibition consisted of a series of sculptures made from recycled materials and dolls.

Viewpoints on Folklore

Viewpoints on Folklore is an exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Institute that runs until the end of August 2013.  It examines understanding of the term 'folklore' in the work of contemporary Austrian artists.

 

Daily Production 2009 by Sascha Reichstein

Medicine Mountain - Learn to Love in Seven Daysby kozek hoerlonkski and Sir Meisi

Unknown Heroine

Unknown Heroine was a the first UK solo exhibition by Croatian artist Sanja Iveković and it took place at the South London Gallery between December 2012 and February 2013.




The exhibition has the same name as one of the pieces of art that examined the story behind a street in Zagreb called Ulica Neznane Junakinje (Unknown Heroine Street). As a former geography student this appealed to me.

I also liked the photographs from the 1970s and the themes of women and consumer society.

This image was not at the exhibition but I really like it so I've included it anyway.

Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union

Gaiety Is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union is the name of an exhibition of Russian art the Saatchi Gallery.  Here were my favourite pieces from the exhibition:

 

Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia Prints by Sergei Vasiliev

Balance of Probabilities by Yelena Popova

Sex in the City by Gosha Ostretsov

 Entry No Entry by Erik Bulatov

Procession Series by Francisco Infante

 Criminal Government by Gosha Ostretsov

 For the Poor Janitor by Dimitri Prigov

 Museum of Contemporary Russian Art by Leonid Sokov

by Alexander Kosolapov

Superobject -  Supercomfort for Superpeople by Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid

Arirang

Atlas Gallery had an intriguing photographic exhibition recently of  North Korea's Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang.

The exhibition has now ended but there are plenty of clips on YouTube that are well worth checking out.  The show really is an incredible sight - tens of thousands of performers take part in it each year.

This photo shows the 'backdrop' - thousands of teenagers with a large number of coloured cards. They hold their piece of card in the air to spell out words or show scenes as a background for the performers below.  They are so synchronised that it's hard to believe that the result is not done by computer.