Doing Lines: a hyper-collaborative art show

Doing Lines: a hyper-collaborative art show @ BSMTSpace (6th – 15th Nov 2015)

I went to a another great show last month at BSMTSpace. It was my second visit to the gallery and their third exhibition.  Four artists, Capt Kris, the Real Dill, Tony Boy and Orbit usually paint walls outdoors. But for this show, they covered all four walls of this new exhibition space in Dalston indoors.  Their images are inspired by comic books, cartoons and video games.  And this time they worked only in black and white.  When I spotted this phrase ‘YOU WHAT?’ (snapped below) in amongst the images, I thought that it brilliantly captured the whole show as it engulfs you.

 

 

I’ll share a few images before throwing you in to the immersive experience.  And give a taste of what’s to come, for those of you unfamiliar with these guys’ work.

 

 

 

 

Doing Lines: my first impressions

When you enter the gallery images bombard you from every angle. I found it hard to know where to look first. These four artists had covered every inch of wall space in one massive, collaborative mural.  There appears to be no order or pattern to any of it. Each images bleeds into the next to create that hyper vibe.  I found it equally overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time.

 

 

The balloons were left over from the private view when visitors were encouraged to add their own images to the show.

 

 

 

Doing Lines: how the show was created

I went along on a quiet Wednesday afternoon. I’d seen on Instagram that one of the artists, Tony Boy would be minding the shop that day.  I introduced myself and he was really happy to answer my questions on how the show came together.

Nothing was preplanned, he told me.  One of them would start with an idea and then another of the crew would add to it and so on.  They all worked rapidly, feeding off each other.  As he described the experience of creating this piece, I thought of jazz musicians who also improvise off each other in a similar way.   And this certainly accounts for the exciting, chaotic energy of the work.

Thanks to London Calling Blog’s post, I also know it took them 3 days, working for 10 hours each time to complete the work.

 

Doing Lines: another way to create and sell art

The usual concept of an art exhibition is of individual works, framed and hung separately on the wall. And depending on the type of gallery many of these work are for sale.  My first impression of this show was that it had ignored this concept entirely.  But have any of you noticed the red dot in the photograph above?  Here is a closer picture of it again and from another angle.

 

 

Now you can see there is a square panel which can be lifted off from wall. There were a number of these panels, hung around the walls, before the work began. Going by Tony’s description of how the work was created, it was almost pot-luck what landed on the panels for sale.

Here is the panel without the rest of the wall around it. The red dot means it was sold as I’m sure most of you know.

 

There were also prints by each of the artists for sale at very reasonable prices.

 

Doing Lines: more details and the rest of the exhibition

This is the wall and corner at the other end of the room.

 

And these are two details from this section.

 

 

 

Tucked away, down in a corner was this detail.

 

 

As a dog lover, these cool dudes leapt out at me.

 

 

 

Here is another painting, hidden in the wall.  Can you spot it?

 

 

 

My final shot from the exhibition is I think a signature piece. I can see the winged hero with the K on his forehead of Capt. Kris and a reference to  Tony’s Chikkin.  And so I’m pretty sure that the Real Dill and Orbit must be in here too.

 

 

Doing Lines in Colour

The final two photographs are of the two outdoor walls painted to advertise the show.

 

Doing Lines mural on Sclater St, Shoreditch E2 (photographed 13th November 2015 )

 

Doing Lines mural in Dalston (photographed 30th October 2015)

 

In what has become a competitive market of galleries showing the work of street artists, this is a space to visit regularly. Especially if you like something a little different. I look forward to seeing more shows at this gallery in 2016.