Gilbert and George - The Urethra Postcard Project

Over the weekend i popped in to see the Gilbert and George exhibition at the White Cube gallery in Mason's Yard. The impact of seeing such a large collection of picture postcards, telephone box cards and flyers all represented in the same format was impressive. I liked the way they mixed up the commercialised tourist cards with the prostitution call cards, choosing to represent them in the exactly the same way.

Above photo by Ben Westoby

I treated myself to a signed poster from the exhibition, as i was gutted to miss out on tickets to see them talk through their work at the Shaw Theatre on Wednesday. If you fancy popping down to see the postcards for yourself, the show runs until the 19th February.

Carl Moore - Animals Pretending To Be Other Animals

I love this new series of work, 'Animals pretending to be other animals' from the artist Carl Moore. There is something playful yet odd about seeing an animal crudely painted up in an attempt to pass itself off as something else.

If you want to see more of Carl's work check out his site here.

Polly Morgan - Taxidermy Art

I'm loving these taxidermy artworks created by the artist Polly Morgan. Rather than attempt to mimic the animals in their natural state like a traditional taxidermist, she sets up these strange and unexpected scenarios.

Unfortunately i missed her recent exhibit at the Haunch of Venison, so i'll make sure i put in the effort to see her next show. If you want to see more of her work, visit her site here.

Tessa Farmer at the London Art Fair 2011

I was delighted to see Tessa Farmers work being represented at the London Art Fair this year. I'm a big fan of her work and have previously posted about her on this very blog. It's great to see an evolution in her work, how she is developing her amazing miniature world of macabre fairies into a more commercial environment.

If you want to see more of her work, she's exhibiting in the Saatchi Gallery as part of the Newspeak: British Art Now Exhibition,Or check out her site here.

Bug 23 with Adam Buxton at the BFI

For those who haven't heard of Bug, it is a monthly night held at he BFI showcasing the newest and best music videos currently doing the rounds. Hosted by Adam Buxton, there are also a few amusing segments interwoven between the films which mostly consist of mocking the YouTube community and their comments to the videos.

I've blogged a few Bug events previously, taking the time to source the videos shown and post them up on this blog for you you to look at. However it looks like the Bug team have made it even easier to share the videos showcased on the night through a YouTube playlist, which can be viewed here.

Anyone interested should note the nights sell out very quickly as members of the BFI get pre-orders which normally fill the venue, however there are always the occasional free seat on the night so it may be worth just popping down.

Kate Macdowell - Porcelain Sculptures

I came across Kate MacDowell's sculptural work at this years London Art Fair and was really taken in by what i saw. Working around the themes of our relationship with nature and the stresses we put on our environment, she manages to create a beauty in her porcelain forms that contrasts with the tragedy of the subject matter.

Looking through her site she has a large selection of work, i was intrigued by her literal take on clay pigeon shooting which you can see here.

London Art Fair 2011 - Part 1, Paper

So here's the first post from this years London Art Fair, i went down last week and was blown away by the quality of the work on show. It took a good couple of hours to get through, so rather than overload the blog I thought it would be better to split it over a couple of posts.

First up are some pieces of art using paper as the medium, either through simple folding or cutting. I especially liked the works of Andrea Mastrovito with his typographic collage, and Elisabeth Lecourt folded maps.

Elisabeth Lecourt - Souffle ballon souffle

Francisca Prieto - Between Folds/Maps

Andrea Mastrovito - Love is a four letter word, 2010

Susila Bailey-Bond - Midnight moonshine

Robert Ryan - Look closer and closer

If you want a preview of the rest of the show there is a mess of a flickr set that i am in the process of tidying up here.

Last Tuesday Society

I had a trip down to The Last Tuesday Society's Little Shop of Horrors on Mare street last weekend. Situated just up from the Regents Canal it contains the most incredible items of curiosities and oddities for sale.

We're in the process of house hunting at the moment and i've already made plans for the spare room to have a curiosity cabinet of sorts. These two pieces i bought, a snapping turtle and a humming bird, will be welcome editions to the collection.

Fourth Plinth Winners announced for 2012 & 2013

On a previous post i blogged about my trip down to Martin-in-the-fields to see the artists works shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth commission. Last Friday the mayor of London Boris Johnson announced the winners.

First up the 2012 winning entry is by Elmgreen and Dragset, titled 'Powerless Structures, Fig. 101' it depicts a child riding a rocking horse. There is an interview from the artists here.

The 2013 commission goes to Katharina Fritsch's blue cockerel titled 'Hahn/Cock'. Interview from the artists can be found here.

It's a shame the 'Battenberg' by Brian Griffiths didn't feature as that was my favourite out of the six shortlisted. However i'm still excited to see the winners as i'm sure they'll make a great edition to Trafalgar Square.

The Whitney Brothers - Computer Generated Films

Last week i went down to the BFI to see a selection of short films by John and James Whitney, who were pioneers in the field of computer animation. Looking through the early documentaries, the Whitney brothers were working at a time when their computer would have been the size of a large room. It's difficult to think back to a time when even a simple piece of code would take hours to render out, not knowing if the results are sucessful or not.

It was great to hear them talking about image and movement, and their attempts at trying to develop a new visual language. I was so impressed i even bought a book on it, which was written by Dr Andrew Utterson, who had given an introduction to the evening. If you want to have a looks at some of the films click the image above to be taken to YouTube.

Alan Moore's Dodgem Logic

Over the past 6 months i've been reading through the back issues of Alan Moore's new(ish) magazine Dodgem Logic. I'm really enjoying reading through the bubblegum card bios on 'Historic Hipsters', tips on guerilla gardening and a great article on Beat-era San Francisco.

It's a great magazine to just casually dip in and out of as it's full of cool little facts and pieces of trivia. If you want to get a few issues for yourself head over to the Dodgem Logic website and order a few, postage is pretty cheap and the issues are only £3.50.

Martin Creed - 'Work no.700' (2007)

One of the major kicks i get out of living in London are all the little serendipitous encounters with art and culture you can have just by wandering around the city. Martin Creed's sculpture is a good example of this, comprising of three rusted steel I-beams stacked on top of each other it sits in the gardens of St James's Church.

I first knew of Martin Creed through his 2001 Turner Prize Winning entry titled 'The Lights Going On and Off'. I remember at the time being in my art foundation year in Cambridge and having lengthy discussions on the flaws and merits of his work. I love how Creed has attempted to put order to an otherwise chaotic, patch worked cityscape, yet he has still left the raw imperfections of the steel.

New Contemporaries 2010 at the ICA

After an unsuccessful Sunday outing to the Whitecube gallery (it was shut) we popped down to the ICA to catch the New Contemporaries exhibition. All in all it was a good mix of talents, showcasing new upcoming artists working across film, sculpture, photography, painting, animation and performance.

Highlights from the show were Sam Knowles piece titled 'Field' , the hilarious and gruesome animation from Kristian de la Riva (i couldn't find it online, but this one is similar). There was also a great video piece by Edward Thomasson.

Chris Shaw Huges - The New Pharohs (Dubai, 2008) & All Things Being Equal

Sam Knowles - Field

Darren Harvey-Regan - Aletheia

Kristian de la Riva - Cut

The show runs until the 23rd January so you'll need to be quick if you want to see it for yourself. More photos of the show can be found on my Flickr page.

Mat Collishaw's Magic Lantern at the V&A

On my travels over the week i popped into the V&A to see Mat Collishaw's Magic Lantern installation. Situated at the top of the V&A building Collishaw has constructed a giant 3-D Zoetrope which gives the illusion of moths flying around a lantern.

Unfortunately a 3D Zoetrope requires strobe lighting to work effectively, so as it was day time we couldn't view it. Instead i made my way into the V&A garden to see the smaller scale version which, with a bit of screen trickery can still operate in daylight.

For those interested there is a short video of the piece as well as a talk with Collishaw on the V&A website here.

Anish Kapoor - Turning The World Upside Down, Hyde Park London

Over the weekend i managed to get out and enjoy the winters sun down in Hyde Park. I've been meaning to get down there for a while since i heard Anish Kapoor had set up a few sculptures around the park. It was great to see how groups of people gathered around the works, some jumping and dancing around, some waving at themselves, others just amused by their own reflections.

What's great about the installations are their ability to constantly change depending on the time of day and year, I intend to go back in the spring before it's finishes in March.

High Society Exhibition at the Wellcome Collection

Myself and fellow Collective designer @mattakempton went down to the Wellcome Collection last week to have a look through the High Society exhibition. 'Beginning with the idea that the alteration of consciousness is a universal human impulse, the exhibition looks at the use of drugs across the world, whether for recreational, experimental, religious or medical purposes.'

Looking around the exhibits the show has done a great job at presenting a balanced and varied view on the topic, at not point did it feel biased in any one direction. What it did very well, was give a good mix of exhibits which helped keep you fully engaged with the material. There were some great experiential exhibits like a Brion Gysin Dreammachine, and Mustafa Hulusi's four screen video projection titled 'Afyon'. The mild effects from these exhibits helped aid the appreciation of the other exhibits, specifically Keith Coventry's photo-lithographs and bronze sculptures, and Tracy Moffatt's photography.

If your keen to get down the exhibition runs until the 27th February, with late night openings on Thursdays.