Thing of the Day
First Thursday: A Burning Candy shoot-out; and can desire be abstract?
July 7th 2011
First Thursday is upon us again - the first Thursday of every month is when a whole throb of East London art galleries time their simultaneous opening of new exhibitions and events so we can all rush around and see what’s what – previous Organ explorations of First Thursday here.
Two shows we’re particularly keen to see are the new BURNING CANDY show at Tony’s Gallery and KELLYKIWI’s Abstraction of Desire at the Outside World gallery
KELLYKIWI and the abstraction of DESIRE.
Can
Desire be abstract?
Kellykiwi is a rather colourful London based illustrator originally from the earthquake-prone country that is Taiwan. She has lived in Londonfor nine years. She spent this time studying and working in a relatively secure and peaceful environment, as a result her terrifying thoughts of earthquakes have gradually subsided. This sense of security has also altered her sense of desire. Kelly states that “in Taiwan people are afraid of losing therefore they are not willing to let go, especially of their material possessions. Although on the outside they look satisfied with these 'glamorous' items, they are left empty inside”.In this latest show of work Kellykiwi asks "Can desire be something abstract?" This leads to her next question “Do I fancy you or do I fancy the physical items that built you”. She says that “People often use possessions to construct their personal identity, which make us the thing built by our material desire...”
Also in the show are a series of drawings made four years ago in Sendai a city devastated in the recent Japanese earthquake. These poignant simple contemplative line drawings describe a city we will never see, from traditional wooden houses to contemporary architecture.
Kellykiwi’s
show opens tonight at the Outside World gallery in East London; she
also
launches
a book at the show. The exhibition runs until Sunday July
10th.
More details,
opening times and such via the gallery website. www.kellykiwwi.com/
www.theoutsideworld.co.uk/
The Outside World is at 44 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch,London, E2 7DP
Meanwhile over at Tony’s Gallery:
Burning Candy: “A FIST FULL OF PAINT”, an exhibition by East London’s notorious Burning Candy (B.C.) crew. The exhibition will centre on presenting the aftermath of a western style “showdown” using paint-filled fire extinguishers. Two B.C. members were let loose in a wild, head to head, battle using high pressured paint, and leaving behind the gestural process of their actions, as well as a filmed documentary, reflecting the bigger picture of the competitive, fun and extreme nature of the graffiti world. Tony’s will stage this performative and yet subversive encounter, turning what may at once be perceived as an act of vandalism into a playful comment on the art world and its systems of presentation.
The show will feature new works including paintings, drawings and
limited-edition prints as well as an on-going screening of exclusive
un-released
footage from the B.C produced DOTS
film. For this occasion, twenty
limited
edition box-sets including the four segments of the film to date, nine
prints
by the BC crew and a limited edition t-shirt by Mighty Mo will be
made
available!
Prolific in their home of London, B.C. have gone on to spread
their
signature
insignias across the United Kingdom and as far as Sweden to Bombay and
from
Paris to Bangkok, leaving fully covered buildings and walls in their
wake. A
unifying language can be recognized despite a sense of individualism
from each
member; no particular style is adhered to and yet, a shared honest and
bright
design within their work unites them in their perfect rendition of the
surrealist exquisite corpse, as well as their common belief in a
resistance to
the ever increasing corporate sterilisation of urban landscapes.
B.C. have exhibited in a number of high profile exhibitions, and have
starred
in Channel 4’s 3 Minute Wonder series alongside Blek Le Rat and Pure
Evil. Work
by B.C. and its members (many of whom studied fine art at institutions
including the Royal College of Art) have been featured in the Saatchi
Gallery
Collection, as well as numerous private collections around the world.
www.tonysgallery.com
The opening private view of the Burning Candy show is tonight, the show then runs from July 8th until August 21st
Tony's Gallery, 68 Sclater Street
London E1 6HR
