My Coffee-break and Rich Simmons at the Opera Gallery in London
I had been feeling rather sleepy lately. And I had been doubling my caffeine intake to battle the drowsiness but unfortunately coffee in London is a bit too light for my taste. I prefer strong Spanish cortado which gives you a quick punch on the face jabbing to say Despiértate!
Uhm, I miss the food and the sun in Spain but after reading Adriane Searle's article about The Drain in Spain: the country's art crisis in the Guardian, I can't help but nod at my decision to leave the sunny shores of Alicante to be here. They are all leaving, I thought. I will learn more about art here. But I am still sleepppy.
Spending time in the art library without anyone to talk to does not help so I thought of changing my routine for the day.
I decided to take a break from sending CVs today too and blogging at another site, and you know what a relief that is!) I need to get the blood circulation moving to wake up so I decided to swing by New Bond street to check out The Opera Gallery.
Apparently, The Opera Gallery is really an important gallery and they have offices in New York, Paris, Seoul, and Singapore. The backpack was heavy together with my head but I pranced along. The door of the gallery was open and I noticed workers were coming in and out with a new set of paintings. This must be a new installation and I am feeling lucky today.
Before I went in, I took a photo of graffiti art of The Queen near the gallery door. I love the fact that the symbol of the Royal Highness is still relevant in art and more so because of the upcoming hoopla of a wedding.
Predictably inside, there's another graffiti art painting of William and Kate by Mr Brainwash, an important graffiti artist. With galleries now works like these, this is a testament to how graffiti art has crept into contemporary consciousness.
Two years ago, while I was in Paris, there was a huge exhibit for graffiti artists which included Jonone, a famous American artist living now in Paris.
This looks like it's from Mr Brainwash
Heading home, and checking the internet for Brainwash, I learned that Banksy created a film about him so tonight I would definitely try to see that movie and will let you know what I think. Strangely, browsing Flickr for more photos, I stumbled upon artisthecure's photostream and found pictures of the opening of the graffiti exhibit at the Opera Gallery.
Future King by Rich Simmons at the Southbank. Photo by Garry Knight
Hmmm, I discovered that The Queen's graffiti art and William and Kate's are not by Mr Brainwash but from another artist named Rich Simmons who seems to be also the founder of Art is The Cure which promotes art therapy as a movement to save lives. He just added me on Facebook and I hope to score an interview and see if I can join their art street teams around the city. Check out the video below. Sorry if it's in French but his interview is in English...