Blue Gas (We Got)

Photograph courtesy of James Lewis

   My latest visit to The Crate Gallery involved appraising and enjoying the work of James Lewis,  a skilled conceptual artist whose Blue Gas installation brought a certain showstopping grandeur to the usual near-clinical confines of its three day abode

   Naturally, the neon words and numbers created for the show utilise the titular blue gas to achieve their illuminating effect. A number of pieces, such as those that I'm photographed with, crossed over from James' previous Value and Worth show, which addressed the intrinsic value of his creativity head-on, displaying the cost of the time, effort, design and even the electricity invested in the project. The end result was a series of price tags in lights, and very attractive lights they are too - I derived a thrill from having the issues of the pieces' fair value and fiscal effort posed to myself and to others in so forthright a manner

   The artist's methods and thought processes are detailed on The Crate's website; this excerpt addresses Lewis' approach:

 [Lewis] tries to prevent his Conceptual Art practice from being cold and stale. He does this by trying to place a narrative within his work, be it through photographically documenting his physical capabilities during a project or saving his income so that he can produce a series of neon signs. Lewis plays upon a personally devised formula of achieving a finalized “art object”¹. Which often means he financially or physically suffers for his art practice.

   As is common with such work, the viewer may transpose their own views and deductions even if they've been made aware of the concept. One of the first reactions I discussed with the artist was a certain nostalgia of 1980s apartments and the neon decorations that adorned many of them, as well as the use of such lighting and design in public advertising, my supposition being that this was a thoughtful and honest take on an iconic and ubiquitous practice

   I certainly appreciated Lewis' sense of perspective in addressing the true worth of his work in an analytical manner; some might argue that this kind of self awareness is sadly absent in the contemporary art world, although I have always felt that talent and effect should dictate prices. Lewis' projects are all worthy of further investigation - his end results are always well considered, technical, aesthetically interesting and unpretentious

   Perhaps the most delightful thing about viewing them is that not only do they all have something to express but they also seem to have yet more to say

On the Other Side of the Mirror, I See Lukas Renlund

   Lukas Renlund is one of the most interesting, and surprising, photographic talents that I've come across in some time. With his instinct for settings, layouts and posture, that isn't revelatory - it's the work that needs to be experienced to be believed, and there's a good deal of it available on his website

   Lukas is a 2008 graduate of the London College of Fashion and is currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark, creating his stylish, and somewhat abstract, images for a variety of clients and competitions. But I wouldn't wish to simply regurgitate his website

   In the manner of early Cecil Beaton and Horst P Horst, Lukas' work shows a particular affinity for surrealism, altered perspectives, trompe l'oeil and dream landscapes made bright, crystal clear reality. The imagery has a certain maximal quality due to the amount of detail contained therein despite appearing deceptively stark and minimal on first viewing, whether these be elements of the cloths, backgrounds, models or a combination thereof. As a fashion photographer, his work serves the dual purpose of soliciting a fantasy element to dressing that can often be overlooked, and bringing his craft one step closer to art by absorbing and rechanneling the creative teachings of the latter

   Lukas was on show last week at The Crate in Notting Hill as he wound up his Mirror Universe exhibition before departing for projects anew. The year may be well into its second half now, but he's still one to watch for 2009, and beyond

   And as a bonus; a full-body shot of my Apparel Arts/Junya S/S10-inspired outfit that was not taken by Lukas:

Stop and Stare - Dan Perjovschi, Finsbury Square

   Until recently, I worked in the hub of London's financial centre known to all as The City, where I plied a trade for 3 years as a researcher, marketer, copywriter and creator of promotional literature. And walking through it last night was a pensively unsettling experience, broken up with thoughts of slight (and possibly unwarranted) schadenfreude for the "suits" who were in for work on a Sunday

   But I did not envy them entirely. I missed the feeling of a more structured flow to the day (excepting that my work was broad, ad hoc and fraught with negotiation for the littlest things); of being ensconced in Central London week in, week out; of getting to wear a suit daily. Yet I don't miss the industry. And I hope for a new one to immerse myself in soon

   But the Square Mile does have its highlights, and one in particular caught me as I ambled through Finsbury Square. The windows were artfully scribbled on with searching slogans, messages and scattered thoughts by the Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi, who, along with Croatian-born artist Jadranka Kosorcic, makes up COMMA 05, and COMMA 06, respectively, of Bloomberg SPACE's COMMA series of contemporary art exhibitions. The ethos behind COMMA is to give a space and free reign to selected international talent to produce new work that will channel the inspiration of their surroundings, while naturally finding a new audience as a result

   Kosorcic, gifted in minimalistic expressionist sketches, created a series of portraits of subjects sourced through Bloomberg's internal messaging system, previously better known for exchanging gossip, mulling over rumours and discovering inside information. Combining cartoons, Basquiat-esque graffiti and crude scrawling, Perjovschi took his influences from current political, social and cultural concerns and voices them directly in a manner that could be considered self-incriminatory where The City is concerned, adding new drawings as the run continues, so to remain as close to the issues as possible

   The display of his art in the front windows of SPACE was a distracting, and welcoming, sight. Indeed, its bare bones aesthetic seemed to merge perfectly with the austere, stark glass-stone-and-steel construction of its temporary home


   COMMA 05 and 06 will run until Saturday 23rd May

Rebecca Warren; The Serpentine

   It amused the hell out of me that in a roomful of East End arty types - loud checked trousers, Oriental dudes with bright blonde hair, Tracey Emin, Duggie Fields, girls with grade one buzz cuts - that a bow tie attracted so many lingering glances. At least Winston isn't taking a stand alone

   The show itself was interesting, though obviously not because of the crowd, which was very much the same crowd at any given opening at any major gallery in London. What interested me was that the work was so open-ended (so to speak - a lot of it revolved around sex, unsurprisingly) as to make discussion almost pointless

   Fiona, who brought me as her +1, is one of the most thoughtful and erudite people I know, not to mention far less jaded than I am, and when she's challenged to muster up words on a presentation of art, something can't be clicking. Even moreso when the conversations I eavesdropped on had nothing to do with the pieces in front of us

   My next gallery outing this week should be more fun, though