Ryan Hewett 'Untitled' @ the Unit London

This April, London’s breakthrough artist-led gallery space, The Unit London, presents ‘Untitled’, an exhibition of contemporary portraiture by Ryan Hewett, one of South Africa’s leading artists.

The exhibition focuses on the depiction of leading figures from the past and present who have somehow shaped the world in which we live. Alongside such revered icons as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln, Hewett also portrays such infamous persona as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Osama bin Laden. Untitled presents these figures through a markedly honest, unbiased lens; any judgement on them is made by the viewer. Whilst the paintings are loaded and complex, Hewett does not prescribe his works with a political message, and this is reflected in the exhibition’s title.
The Unit London, 9 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LL
Private View: Thursday 23rd April, 6-9pm
Exhibitions runs: 24rd April – 24th May 2015

WIN PUMA Trinomic XT1s with JD x PUMA's "X Marks the Spot'



Who doesn't love a good treasure hunt....especially when the prize is two pairs of trainers. To mark the launch of the PUMA Trinomic XT1s, JD Sports have teamed up with PUMA and five influential magazines and are holding a treasure hunt event around the UK and beyond with the first one taking place in London today the 18th of March. They have placed an empty premium trainer storage Krate somewhere in the streets of London and the lucky person to find it will win two pairs of the Puma XT1 trainers as well as the premium trainer storage Krate.

So how do you take part in the sneaker treasure hunt we hear you ask, all you need to do is get on twitter and follow the magazine in your city. For those of you in London you need to follow @Flavormag who will be releasing a number of clues, beginning with a map clue with an X where the treasure can be found. Keep an eye on their twitter feed and get searching!



Other cities taking part in X Marks the Spot include:
London: @Flavourmag — 18th March 2015
Bristol: @Wordplaymag — 20th March 2015
Manchester: @Fluxmagazine — 22nd March 2015
Liverpool: @Halcyonmag — 24th March 2015
New York: @ComplexMag— 26th March 2015

If you’re the lucky person to find the JD x Puma Krate first, snap a selfie of yourself with the treasure and upload it to Twitter, Be sure to tag your city magazine from the list above as well as tagging @JDSportsfashion and with the hashtag #JDXPUMA to claim your prize of both colour ways of the PPUMA Trinomic XT1s in your size.

The PUMA Trinomic XT1s are available to buy exclusively from JD Sports website here.

HUCK Book Launch - Paddle Against the Flow

Paddle Against The Flow is for a generation who—faced with harsh economic realities—make things happen by studying craftsmanship on YouTube, raising funding on Kickstarter or finding ways to create and collaborate from the bottom up. This is Generation DIY.

For nearly a decade, Huck has roamed the globe documenting counterculture as it unfolds, seeking out freethinkers. Paddle Against The Flow collects insights on how to live a creative life from influential indie stars. Nas on language, Cat Power on looking inward, Spike Jonze on loving what you do, and Kim Gordon on feeling the flow. They are just some of the 60 doers and creators who share a diverse range of truths, creative wisdom, and life lessons from those who paddle against the flow.

FEATURING: Douglas Coupland, Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze, Miranda July, Mark Gonzales, MIA, Nas, Beck, Kim Gordon, Pharrell Williams, Mos Def, Sofia Coppola, Judd Apatow, Ai Weiwei, Beastie Boys and many more.

Join Huck for the Paddle Against the Flow launch party at Huck’s 71a Gallery, Leonard Street, London EC2A 4QS, on Thursday March 19, 6-9 pm.

Tickets are fee, all you have to do is RSVP here. Drinks will be provided by Blind Pig Premium Cider and the launch is supported by Chronicle Books, San Francisco.

Pin-O-Rama Exhibition at Beach London

In 2005 it was T-shirts. in 2010 it was Riso prints. Now, in 2015, everyone’s making pin badges.

Pin badges – are a great vehicle for artwork: that smooth enamel paint and the tough, hard-wearing grooves of the steel make them feel, as well as look, great.

You don’t need to be too precious with them – you can chuck them around, they can end up in the wash and they are still as good as new. They’re pretty cheap to manufacture, and they probably have a bigger audience than a print: everyone loves them. Old people. Kids. You can even get your dog to rock one on his collar.

Perhaps they’re booming now though, as, like Emojis, they can quickly gratify your personality. They start conversations. They illustrate your emotions: looking to expose your inner goth? Try Bruised Chin’s Ouija pin. Explorer’s Press’s Sensitive Artist goes out to their pin-making peers. Lazy Oaf’s So Broke speaks for itself… they’re conversation starters.

‘Pin-O-Rama’, opening April 2nd 2015 at Beach London, will be an exhibition of recent pin-badge designs by a variety of artists, designers and companies.

Featuring pins by Goodhood, Lazy Oaf, Gasius, Carl Partridge, Enamel Chin, Depop, Heresy, Catalogue Library, Bruised Chin, Malarky, 45RPM, Valley Cruise Press, Explorer’s Press, Miscellaneous Adventures and many more.

Beach London,  20 Cheshire Street, London E2

Parabola Finale - The Birth and Death of a Star

A little late on this, but it is still a great video so check this stop motion by artist Giacomo Bufarini, aka RUN - from this Parabola di G exhibition at Howard Griffin Gallery.

Parabola di G was an exhibition made in 2014 at the Howard Griffin Gallery London, a site specific show created entirely using paper and black paint. It took 1 month to build and only 2 days to destroy. The artists and the gallery documented the destruction, thus creating an artwork in itself. This video is the outcome of this work.

Alexandre Farto aka Vhils: Dissonance at Lazarides Gallery

Lazarides is proud to present a new body of multidisciplinary work by Portuguese artist Vhils aka Alexandre Farto. Dissonance showcases an ultimate culmination of ideas initiated and developed in the artist's last two solo exhibitions in 2014: Dissection, held at Lisbon's EDP Museum and Vestiges, showcased in Paris. Farto's highly anticipated return to London follows Devoid, his last major showcase held at Lazarides Rathbone in 2012.

Dissonance explores notions of increased saturation and dilution of personal identities in contemporary urban societies, reflecting the uniformity and abstraction brought about by the current model of globalised development. This collection speaks of how individuals are shaped into increasingly abstract personalities by the overpowering force of the city and its visual stimuli, becoming lost to the dissonance that results from the chaos engendered by technology, visual communication and mass media, by public space and urban development. The upcoming exhibition is a complex reflection on how various factors compose the contemporary urbanised world that is shaping us into what we are, personal identities becoming more and more abstract, lost to the visual noise and clutter that surrounds us.

The striking new series of work is rooted in the idea of dismemberment and dissection, in conducting an almost clinical examination into the results of living with a chronic sense of dissolution. The stratification encompassed in the contrasting media presented, compositions in metal, wood, and billboards, each highlight the effacement of identity through the way in which the encroaching layers surround and take over the subjects being portrayed. Similar themes are expressed in the styrofoam dioramas that illustrate the process of reciprocal shaping that lies at the heart of the relationship between the city and its inhabitants. Dissonance presents a powerful response to contemporary culture and rapid urban regeneration through the eyes of one of Europe's most distinctive visual artists.

"I first saw Alex's work back in 2007 and was totally floored. Here was this crazy Portuguese kid, doing these mad portraits on the street by chopping out bits of walls. It was one of the most innovative techniques I'd ever seen. It has been a pleasure to see how much he has come on from those early days to his most recent museum show in Lisbon. Long may it continue." - Steve Lazarides

Alexandre Farto aka Vhils: Dissonance
Lazarides Rathbone
Private View: Thursday 26th March, 6-9pm
Exhibition runs: 27th March - 23rd April 2014

MAGNUS GJOEN MONSTER SHOW at Hang-Up Gallery in London



Hang-Up Gallery presents their exclusive new exhibition Monster that launches a brand new collection of multi-media originals and limited editions by the highly talented artist Magnus Gjoen.

Inspired by an FBI article analysing the mind of a serial killer and their preoccupation with fantasy as children, Gjoen explores the fragility of the psyche with a new abstracted and graphic direction. The unique exhibition will portray a refined evolution of the artists trademark juxtaposition technique. By combining delicate, decorative imagery with bold geometric shapes and primary colours, Monster illustrates the complex, yet confused mind of a serial killer.




Gjoen has de-constructed and simplified his artworks with a view to challenge perceptions of beauty versus evil. The representation of innocence through the use primitive shape and form overlaid with dreamlike images creatively examines how fantasy can often play an integral role in the creation of a monster.

Since his first solo show with Hang-Up Gallery in 2013, Gjoen has developed an extensive international following and collector base. The artist has displayed work in numerous prestigious London Art Galleries and International Art Fairs including London Art Fair and Miami Basel, with many of his editions selling out soon after their release. 2015 is set to be another important year for Gjoen, with his work showing at the Scope Art Fair in New York followed by a solo show with Soze Gallery in Los Angeles.

MAGNUS GJOEN | MONSTER 20 MAR - 26 APRIL 2015
PRIVATE VIEW THUR 19 MAR 6-9PM

Hang-Up Gallery | hanguppictures.com | 56 Stoke Newington High Street | London N16 7PB