GIRL ON GIRL, FEMALE RESPONSES TO MODERN WOMEN - GROUP SHOW AT DALSTON SUPERSTORE

Twat Boutique and Dalston Superstore presents

GIRL ON GIRL

Female responses to modern women

A group exhibition

PRIVATE VIEW – THURSDAY 7^th JUNE – 7pm

EXHIBITION RUNS FRIDAY 8^th JUNE – SUNDAY 22^nd JULY 2012

DALSTON SUPERSTORE 117 KINGSLAND HIGH ST E8 2PB

For the last three years the floors of The Dalston Superstore have been flooded with the finest ladies of East London, for one of the most renowned and successful lesbian nights; Twat Boutique.

Sadly Twat Boutique will be shutting up shop on Thursday 7^th June and the final bow will be a night to remember. The habitual Twat Boutique fun will be uniting with fabulous female artists previewing their work in a Girl on Girl group exhibition.

Girl on Girl

Female responses to modern women

This unique female-only exhibition will be unlike anything previously seen at Dalston Superstore, celebrating and showcasing emerging and established local female artists. Using the female as a subject, the exhibition will explore modern women through the eyes of female artists, across a broad spectrum of mediums. From illustration and photography, to textiles and sculpture.

Through history women have been forced to suppress and hide their abilities, going as far as disguising their names in order to share their work with the world. In contrast, this evening will embrace and revel in broadcasting women.

Each of the artists have drawn inspiration from various modern female cultures, including the ever evolving lesbian community. However the under-current of the final Twat Boutique and Girl on Girl exhibition is a celebration and recognition of female creativity.

Twat Boutique was a concept created by DJ Elma wolf to act as a incomparable haven in East London, enabling lesbian culture to have an alternative meeting point to the existing Soho female night scene. The success of the evening has grown and grown, with huge numbers of people travelling across the Thames to dance to resident DJs, including Kerry & Casio, MDMX, Paul Dragoni and Cum & Sea and Me.

Documenting these iconic evenings for the duration of the three years, photographers Holly Falconer and Christa Holka. Each one of these images, taken from the same night reflects the individual style of the artist, giving an insight to what was happening behind the exterior of Dalston Superstore. Both are featuring artists for Girl on Girl. Along side these ladies will be the ever evolving illustrator Victoria Sin, who's work has been seen in publications including Wonderland and Vice. Also exhibiting in solo and group show through out London.

Supporting these 2D practitioners will be 3D pieces stretching across the art spectrum. Including the fantastic textile artist Louise Riley. Using beautiful imagery translated through fabric and thread, her choice of subject contradicts her use of tones and colours, giving her a sensitive yet striking pallet.

Girl on Girl will be a collaboration of standalone art and  fantastic music, an enthralling recognition of the creativity and strength that exists and thrives amongst our modern women. The end of an era for Twat Boutique, but a showcase for the continuation of female success.

www.gallerysuperstore.blogspot.co.uk

art@dalstonsuperstore.com

THE QUE FOR GIRL ON GIRL EXHIBITION AND LAST TWAT BOUTIQUE

'CAT'    MURAL BY VICTORIA SIN

UNTITLED (from the project I WAS THERE) 2010 - 2011 CHRISTA HOLKA

'TICKLED PINK' BY 

YASEMEN HUSSEIN

'LIQUID LUCY IN LUCIDITY'S SLICE AND SPLICE' BY LOUISE RILEY

'GIRL ON GIRL' BY LOUISE RILEY

'TWAT BOUTIQUE 2009 - 2011' BY HOLLY FALCONER

'THE WOMAN' BY SASKIA WICKINS

'LENGTHEN, DARKEN, THICKEN, DEFINE' BY EGLE TREZZI

CREATIVE PANE - GROUP SHOW AT DALSTON SUPERSTORE

CREATIVE PANE

GROUP EXHIBITION

DALSTON SUPERSTORE

THURSDAY 8TH MARCH 2012 – SUNDAY 15TH APRIL 2012

PRIVATE VIEW – WEDNESDAY 7TH MARCH 2012 – 7PM – ONWARDS

JAMES ANDREWS, NAOMI BIRD, ANNA BRUDER, CLAUDE D'AVOINE, ALUN DAVIES, JACK DUFFY, LUKE EMBDEN, GEORGIA GENDALL, KIM HOWELLS, CHRISTINA MITRENTSE, ALEX NOBLE, MOSES POWERS, JONAS RANSON, ANN-KATHRIN SCHUBERT, ADAM TOWNER, CORDELIA WESTON AND SASKIA WICKINS.

CREATIVE PANE

Using the concept of a view through an open window, this exhibition invites the audience to explore and peer into the unique undisclosed landscape of a studio space. Giving an exceptional insight into the environment of creative process and practice, and the exhibiting artists visual manifestation of this concept.

Every space set up to enable creative practice can be defined as a studio. Whether it be a desk in a small nook, a neglected disused warehouse or a huge make shift white wall. These spaces are used for creative processes and amazing outcomes. Each studio is individual in character and style. Each wall filled with fundamental inspiration, ephemera and reference imagery. Busy shelves filled with boxes of materials, leftovers from previous briefs and those saved objects that will one day have a purpose.

The starting point of this exhibition is a recycled window frame given to 16 outstanding local artists, designers, stylist, photographers, set designers and illustrators.

These windows come in all different shapes and sizes, emphasizing the concept of individual space and vision. With the initial starting point of the window frame, each of the artists have been asked to produce the personal character and style of their studio space. Giving outsiders a chance to witness studio life where anything and everything can serve as inspiration. These representations will be as surreal, abstract, conceptual or documentary as desired by the artist.

Each of the individual window frames will come together and take their spot to transform the walls of Dalston Superstore into an exclusive insight through the windows of the creative space and mind.

The unique diversity of the work stems from the wide creative spectrum that these individual artists have been asked from. Superstore is lucky enough to have the completely amazing Anna Bruder, Alex Noble, Moses Powers and Jonas Ranson being involved in this exhibition. Already household names within the Superstore exhibition space. Amongst these names will be other renowned local artist's and designers such as set designer Alun Davies and stylist Kim Howells. Not only will Creative Pane be housing the work of these familiar names, but there will also be fresh faces including work from illustrators Naomi Bird and James Andrews, sculptural pieces from Georgia Gendall, fashion inspired artist Jack Duffy and graphic designer Claude d'Avione.

This exhibition will showcase the individuality of each of these standalone artists and their unique spaces. Giving others a chance to peek in to these hidden backdrop.

The curating at Dalston Superstore has been in the hands of Alex Noble on and off for the last three years. Some of his most memorable exhibitions includes 'Male Nudes' and 'exquisite corpse' each exhibition entirety unique, inspiring and visually breathtaking. The time has come for Alex Noble to hand over his position. Creative Pane is the debut exhibition curated by Saskia Wickins.

For more info please contact

art@dalstonsuperstore.com

www.gallerysuperstore.blogspot.com  www.dalstonsuperstore.com

'A view from within' mural by James Andrews

'Looming' by Emma Allan

'Like Clockwork' by Luke Embden

'I Made them. They made me' by Alex Noble

'Working 9 to 5 (480 minutes) light box image by Claude d'Avoine

'Shelf above my desk' by Tinker Tailor

 

'Mind Map' by Georgia Gendall

'Studio Scene II: Faustus Learns Necromancy' by Jonas Ranson

'Concept Collision' by Alun Davies

'Desk' by Naomi Bird

'A Blue View' Kim Howells

'Aline: Me and Him' by Anna Bruder

'The Other Us' by Saskia Wickins

'Gone With The Wind' Jack Duffy

'Podium Series I, II, III, IV, V, VI, As Part Of My Library - Penguin Vintage Collection' 

by Christina Mitrentse

'Synapse' by Ann-Kathrin Schubert

Ottoman Fight Club An Exhibition by Jamie Mcleod

Dalston Superstore and Jamie McLeod presents

OTTOMAN FIGHT CLUB

Private View 12^th January 2012

Exhibition runs 13^th – 26^th January 2012

Following his hugely successful show, Jack Off Johnny, the photo-artist Jamie Mcleod returns to the Dalston Superstore, a new exhibitions of his black and white portraits of Turkish Wrestlers, “Ottoman Fight Club”.

Screen-printed in a panoramic style on a 10-metre ream of canvas, giving the appearance of a Pasolini movie. Along side this canvas are other powerful photographic images that could standalone.

“ Bodies and faces become bruised and bloodied and smashed and the smell of oil, sweat and leather mixed with mud, blood and adrenalin is not something I will forget quickly. It’s a heady mix of emotions going on, you will have some boys crying in pain from an injury or despondent at losing and others in ecstasy and raptures of joy at winning or just having a laugh with their mates. I have never been anywhere with this much extreme drama coupled with brute force and tenderness. It is one photo opportunity after another and I got to take my photos backstage in the passageway before and after the wrestlers go into the arena so I got an angle that the other didn’t. I was interested in portraits and capturing the character and not documenting the actual sport” comments Mcleod.

These images are not mere homoerotic fantasy pictures in the vein of Bruce Weber but an in-depth study of Turkish ethnicity and male sexuality through the body. “I’m interested in the sensuality of the male physique and the mystery of the face, and the hidden surprise behind the eyes” Mcleod says. “I’m also fascinated by civilization and heritage. In Turkey you will find the classic Arabic-type face, Ottoman, Asiatic, Kurdish, Gypsy, Greek, Roman, Jewish and Georgian-type faces – all of which encompass the country’s rich and diverse cultural and heritage. Turkey is the stepping-stone between Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East so there is a strong mix of all these people.

It is not possible to discern what era these photographs were taken, as there is no reference to the modern day world, the photographs look and feel as if they could have been taken anytime over the last 100 years. Mcleod is also enchanted by how brutal and beautiful they are –with their cast of non-classical semi-nudes captured like the warriors and heroes that Mcleod believes them to be.

Anybody familiar with the photographer Wilhelm von Gloeden’s 1930s photos of Sicilian youth will find a direct link to the savage male beauty that is Mcleod’s subject.

Mcleod’s images were taken over an eight-year period at the annual Kirkpinar tournament, held in Edirne, Turkey. This is in what was the ancient area of Thrace where Ottoman soldiers prepared for warfare and instilling fear into the hearts of neighboring Greece and Bulgaria even before the era of Alexander the Great.

In Ottoman times, the sport was taught in athletic schools for warfare but also in spiritual centers. This is what differentiates it from just a sport, as there is a deeply romantic mythological and ceremonial side to the sport. It is also the oldest continuously running sporting competition in the world held in Edirne since 1362.

It not clear where the tournament originates – some saying from Greece with the Turks but more likely it is predated and from Persia from 1065 BC. The oil was added to make it more difficult for the opponent to grip but also mixed with a herb which also prevents mosquito bites. Wrestlers oil one another prior to matches as a demonstration of balance and mutual respect. If a man defeats an older opponent, he kisses the latter’s hand, a sign of respect for elders in Turkey.

The way Turkish men and boys interact with each other, massaging and caressing and laying together resting after the games and before fights. Male tenderness between each other is common in the Middle East and, quite often, it is only an expression of brotherly love – but it is something men in the west are scared to express without being labelled homosexual, Mcleod believes.

“When westerners see my photos they normally ask me if this is a gay festival and I laugh and say, sadly, no. It’s amazing to think just because men can express open affection towards each other through the way we would normally express it in heterosexuality, we conclude they are homosexual of which most of them are not. However the issue of sexuality in Turkey and the Middle East remains complicated.

For more information:

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/yagligures.htm

http://www.jamiemcleod.co.uk/

Foundation Rocks an exhibition by Shucks One

Foundation Rocks by Shucks One

   SHUCKS ONE PRESENTS FOUNDATION ROCKS

FEATURING WALL PAPER 

BY

JONAS RANSON

DALSTON SUPERSTORE Exhibition runs:

 Wednesday 30^th Nov – 8^th Jan

Dalston Superstore, 117 Kingsland High Street E8 2PB

Shucks One

Artist, Radio DJ, Youthworker, Experienced freelance journalist specialising in hiphop music and culture.

UK artist Shucks One presents a unique visual art exhibition celebrating the themes of consciousness, positive attributes and important figures in Classic UK and US Hiphop culture, discussing its wider implications on modern culture.

Through painted pieces Shucks One has developed a way of expressing and contextualising the history of modern day street music and art.

Using a variety of objects as canvasses, such as furniture, clothing, masks and found wood, Shucks One creates a sketchbook, a mix tape way of exhibiting work, going back to the core ethics of street music and art. Using bold colours, pattern reminiscent of tribal fabric prints and ancient symbols Shucks One discusses themes of cultural heritage.

“The term ‘old school’ is often banded around without any real understanding of the underlying themes. With this series of works I intend to explore messages and concepts, not just from hip-hop, but human history as well. It is part history lesson, part hip hop project.”

Foundation Rocks combines a series of portraits, illustrations and sculpture, capturing the original hip hop mantras of ‘peace, love, and unity; knowledge, wisdom and understanding’, presenting a challenge to the dominating themes of violence, negativity and corporatism which resonate throughout hip-hop today. The project is the artists’ search to rediscover these foundation principles by retracing the history of UK hip hop music and the individuals making it. It is an attempt to cement the originators of UK hip hop as icons for British music fans, who are often more familiar with the originators in the US.

The exhibition is a visual interpretation of interviews Shucks One conducted with hip hop pioneers of the 1980s, whose music influenced a whole generation of young men and women in the UK. The works addresses issues of history, identity and religion.

Shucks One will be donating a percentage of any sales made from the exhibition and will also be holding a raffle on the night of the private view to raise money for the charity WAYout.

WAYout Charity provides arts and media training to disadvantaged and street youth in Sierra Leone. In 2010 we worked with over 600 young people who explored subjects as diverse as street life, HIV and teenage

pregnancy, using music, comedy, soap opera and documentary. Their films have reached audiences in excess of 35,000 people. Users now tell us they want a base. A place where they can write, rehearse,

learn, edit, shoot, show their work or just exchange ideas and support each other. The Hub/ arts centre is the natural next step and is what we are currently fundraising for.

WALLPAPER By

JONAS RANSON

 Print graduate of the Royal College of Art, Jonas Ranson is an East London based artist originally from Essex. His work falls into two main categories which encompass the twin strands of both Fine Art Practice and Illustration. Recent activities have included projects as diverse as printed backdrops for ID Magazine fashion shoots, wallpapers for TENT London, Design Week, Christies ‘Multiplied’ Editions fair, Screen print workshops for Sommerset House Pick Me Up Graphics Art Fair, and design collaborations with head of menswear at Versace, designer Martyn Bal. He has also produced fashion illustration for ELLE Magazine, and has worked on various print projects with Berlin based print Gallery RISE BERLIN.  Jonas is also co-curator of LINEAR B, an international group exhibition currently showing at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Greenwich.

Jonas’s work is diverse, drawn equally to abstraction, to the world of fashion as well as it is to the ideas and symbolism of the occult and its association with the more disreputable forms of popular entertainment. Prints are achieved through treatment in both digital conversion and photographic silkscreen processes. Both detailed and abstract, the design strategy is one that combines traditional drawing and digital technique. Both his print and Illustration work is an attempt to retain and freely pursue his own conceptual ambitions artistically, but that the conceptual goals target the intended consequence of the client’s ambition.

JONAS RANSON

http://www.jonasranson.com 

SHUCKS ONE

http://shuck-el-vision.blogspot.com

http://www.sensei.fm/shows.php?dj=114

 http://thekoolskool.blogspot.com

FOUNDATION ROCKS POSTERS AVAILABLE ON EBAY:

http://foundationrocks.blogspot.com/2011/12/limited-ed-shucks-one-uk-artist.html