studio am

an's pick of architecture, design & art

fashion/af vandevorst guerilla shop

Braved the ice cold Antwerp weather last weekend to check out the sales and popped by the AF Vandevorst guerilla shop ‘Aktion I’.

The shop is unmistakable AF, with its antique hospital beds and its trademark austere, military look.
Apart from the military hospital look there are witty touches like the massive dumpster in which you can drop your old clothes.
A.F.’s women’s collection, ‘Nightfall’ lingerie and ‘Fetish’ footwear are on sale, as well as the new A. Friend jersey collection.
Aktion I will have a busy traveling schedule, every three months AF Vandevorst will set up shop in a variety of unique places in different cities.

Aktion I – AF Vandevorst
29/31 Volkstraat, 2000 Antwerp – Belgium
Open : Thursday – Monday 12:00-20:00 until the 31st of March 2010

Great sales all over Antwerp and cool new shops, this new concept store RA13 is also worth checking out.

AF Guerilla Store 01

AF Guerilla Store

event/art barter london

Art Barter – the platform for free exhange between artists and the public – is holding an art-swapping event from the 27th to the 29th of November. Usual suspects like Gary Hume, Tracy Emin and Gavin Turk are amongst the artists who have work on offer, as well as a list of bright young things.

In curator Lauren Jones’ words:
“We want to make art available to a more diverse crowd, not just people with disposable income. ArtBarter is the perfect setting to make this happen, whilst also providing a fun way to get people involved with the arts.”

Great concept! The event will be held at the Rag Factory in east London, the former studio of Tracey Emin and Gary Hume. Sponsor Green&Black’s will be showcasing a piece of ‘Chocol’art’ made by Sir Peter Blake.

Don’t forget to bring something. Who knows, you might be able to swap your fancy bike, web design skills or hairdressing talent for a piece of art!

Art Barter

club/dreams

Crowd of dressed up arty types of all ages in nightclub on Kingsland High Street arriving in cabs? What happened to dodgy nights out in Hackney … or was this just a Frieze Art Fair related one off?   My party escort Wessel definitely fitted in with the crowd in his new Hurwundeki trousers, sharp dude!

Dreams9thClub

events/october 2009

Action packed agenda!

‘Can Frieze reheat the art market?’ article by Alice Jones/Independent.  Good read about the current art market and who to watch.

Frieze Art Fair starts next week (15-18 October) and attracts a lot of attention as usual.  Because of the crisis, less (American) galleries coughed up cash for the expensive stands this year.  Good thing about it is that there is more space for newcomers.  Frame is a new section within the fair dedicated to solo artist presentations, it will show young galleries from around the world that have been in existence for less than six years.  Looking forward to check it out!

Zoo 2009 (16-19 October), bringing together over 50 contemporary arts organisations and practitioners, through a series of exhibitions, solo shows and stand presentations, sounds equally exciting.  They occupy a venue in East London this year which brings them where I think they should be, in the hart of creative London.
Zoo 2009 has produced an East End Map, highlighting over 60 contemporary art organisations within a 2 mile distance of the event. Representing all types, from emerging to established, public to private, commercial to non-commercial spaces, it will offer visitors a unique insight into the richness of what is known to be Europe’s largest cultural quarter.  Check map here.

The Museum of Everything’s website looks entertaining and I am curious to go and have a peek. It is around the corner from Frieze, in a 10,000sq ft former dairy and recording studio in Primrose Hill.  It is a space for “art created outside mainstream art circles”, with works nominated by a stellar cast of established figures from Annette Messager and Ed Ruscha to Jarvis Cocker and Nick Cave.  The museum opens officially on the 14th of October and will have a shuttle bus service from Frieze.

As their website says: The brilliant Hans Ulrich Obrist, visionary curator and co-Director of the Serpentine Gallery in London, is bringing his Brutally Early Club to leafy Primrose Hill for a never to be repeated talk at The Museum of Everything. The talk will be on Hans Krüsi, the astonishing self-taught artist who decorated the streets of St Gallen with his strange Cow Machines. Breakfast will be served, along with free refreshments and lots of milk. A shuttle will be available to whisk guests straight to Frieze after the talk for everyone who knows a secret password to be picked randomly from Hans’ long sentences. Talk at 9am SHARP.

Check the events calendar for more info on new exhibitions.  Anish Kapoor in Lisson Gallery/Subodh Gupta in Hauser&Wirth/Anselm Kiefer in White Cube/Various artists from Duchamp to Chapman Bros in Paradise Row/…

Sounds like we better leave the heels at home and put a pair of walking boots on.

art/first thursdays east london

First Thursdays - late night art on the first Thursday of the month - have now got routes on their websites for exploring galleries in East London.

Might be a bit much for a Thursday evening, but sounds just fine for a sunny Saturday afternoon.

This walk by Andrea Tarsia includes Victoria Miro’s gallery (next door to Parasol Unit), they will show ‘The Walthamstow Tapestry’, new work of Grayson Perry  from this Friday onwards.  More in this Guardian article.  Worth checking I’d say …

Grayson Perry

events calendar recent

  • Sun 14/3/10: art/michael landy:art bin/south london gallery *END
  • Thu 25/3/10: talk/david adjaye on chris ofili/tate britain
  • Sun 16/5/10: design/ron arad/barbican *END