‘NATURAL SELECTION‘ will be a non selling exhibition including works by Adam Neate, Jose Parla, Phil Frost, Boris Tellegen (DELTA), Anthony Lister, James Marshall (DALEK), Futura, Mark Dean Veca, Ron English, Stash, WK Interact, Snug and Andrew McAttee.
The exhibition opens on Saturday 31st October, but there will be a private reception between 7 – 9pm on Monday 2nd November. The exhibition continues until 12th December 2009 and is at the Atkinson Gallery: Millfield, Street, Somerset BA16 0YD
A great interview with one of my favorite artists Jose Parla during the Stages art opening in Paris. Â Love him (and I’ve luckily got a few of his pieces).
Our favorite artist Jose Parla has a show coming up in Hong Kong (and I think I’ll make it) at the Ooi Botos Gallery. The show opens May 14th and will feature new work from an exhibition he is calling “Reading Through Seeing” which looks to include some of his most colorful and diverse works to date. It’s pretty clear looking at the preview pictures that his many trips to Japan and exposure to the Bizen-yaki pottery have made their way into his work (more photos and the full flyer after the jump).
I’ve been a Parla collector and fan for years– since he came on to the mainstream art buying radar in a big way at the Art Basel Cityscapes exhibition in Miami a few years ago, his work (and the prices) have just skyrocketed, and for good reason. He’s one talented dude.
His latest show is at the Elms Lester Painting Rooms in London, and it once again raises the bar in a huge way. More detail, more pieces, more powerful images, large scale canvases, and a world view from his travels he didn’t have a few years ago. Words can not describe the work– so I won’t even really bother. On with the pictures.
His first show in Italy (and first full scale show in a while) was just announced. The show, entitled Memory Documents, will be at the Genova, Italy gallery Il Trifoglio Nero from March 29th through May 10th. Time to find a good reason to visit for the opening! More information about the exhibit can be found on a PDF off Il Trifoglio Nero’s site here.
When Jamie and I were in Miami for what felt like an eternity covering all of the Art Basel events, we had a tough decision to make about where to stay– While we’re young and supposedly hip, we’re not big fans of the scene (nor the prices) on South Beach. We reached out to a handful of different hoteliers with our needs and surprisingly the Conrad Group was one of the few that didn’t turn up their nose. At first blush I was hesitant to stay at the Conrad– despite it being recognized as ‘Florida’s Leading Luxury Hotel’ in 2006 it was a little off the beaten path, downtown, and owned by the Hilton Group– and I’m much more of a boutique kind of guy. It turns out staying there for the week was a life-saver, although we spent a small fortune in cab rides to and from South Beach related events, every afternoon or evening we were able to get out of the mess to our own little safe haven. When we weren’t partying with Jose Parla or eating at Atrio, we spent a fair amount of time at the rooftop pool, enjoying the hot tub– an awesome surprise for those windy nights. As far as the room, we were showed to a residence– an awesome 2 bedroom apartment with a fully furnished kitchen, living room and decks with stellar views of the ocean. While I prefer to support independent hotels, staying here definitely exceeded my expectations. If they’re all this nice, welcoming and fairly priced, I’ll be keeping my eyes out for Conrad Hotel’s around the world.
Our pals over at Cool Hunting have a great video about Jose Parla– they explore the artwork and thought process of what appears to be a pure genius. Coincidentally they were at the opening of Cityscape in Miami with us– but I would have never guessed they were secretly producing a mini-feature on the man himself! As an owner and long-time fan of Parla’s work, I have to say seeing him work live never seizes to amaze me– he is humble, thoughtful and inspiring. Check this video out, I think you will agree!
I’m still buzzing about my recent art purchase– a gorgeous Jose Parla watercolor I fell in love with at the Cityscapes exhibit we covered during Art Basel in Miami (recap here). I almost forgot to mention I picked up a copy of his bad-ass coffee table book also entitled Cityscapes. If you have any doubt about the talent of Parla, pick this one up. More than 150 pages of paintings and photography, gorgeously bound book, etc. The paintings really feel like they’re popping off the pages, the textures are incredible. Photographs by David Perez Shadi, Stefan Ruis, Davi Russo and Essays by Manon Slome and Michael Betancourt. $38 from Spoonfed, currently Parla’s exclusive partner.
Jose Parla’s Cityscapes exhibit on Friday night completely exceeded my expectations, I’ve been a long time fan of Jose’s work, but never had a chance until now to see such a wide range of examples across several different mediums in one place. His work ranged from large-scale tagged murals to smaller watercolor brush strokes– this show boasted his versatility, and from what the guys at Spoonfed said (the gallery representing him), it seemed to be a launch pad towards higher success; most of the show was sold before it even opened. I was lucky enough to grab one of 4 watercolors before they were all gone, a gorgeous addition to my small but quickly growing art collection! Jose was gracious, soft spoken, anti-corporate (declining a Nike shoe deal earlier this year) and a pleasure to support– I can’t wait to see where his talent takes him next. More pictures of the show after the jump.
Although part of me agrees with what Ross Lovegrove wrote on his ‘plastic puppy,’ “When the world faces massive environmental issues, why are we making plastic dogs” (top right), I still thought the entire Puppy Love: Puppies Fight Cancer exhibit was absolutely fantastic. If you missed our earlier post on it, the quick background is pretty simple: Luminaire teamed up with Christies, they gave out plastic puppies to 35 world renowned artists, architects and designers, urging them to create unique (and auction-able creations). Puppies start at $5000 and all the proceed go directly towards cancer research. It was hard to pick favorites, and even harder to pull the tricker on a bid at that price, but Jose Parla’s puppy (bottom right) was easily one of the ‘best in show’– we look forward to seeing his exhibit, Cityscapes, later tonight. More pictures of the pups after the jump! READ MORE…
We’re very, very excited to see Jose Parla’s show next week at Spoonfed during our trip to Miami for Art Basel. The exhibition, entitled CITYSCAPES, is Parla’s first solo exhibition in Miami (even though he is a Miami Native, now living in NYC). This show is not to be missed– large scale, architectural construction with every medium from cement, wood, vinyl as well as paints, powered dye, waxes, and inks. As aggressive as his brush work looks, it still evokes a flowing warm feeling in us. “When discussing the work he often uses terms like synthetic and segmented, referring to the world’s cities as virtual palimpsests, upon which are recorded in literal, figurative and ongoing layering process of the personal histories of countless anonymous passersby.” Full flyer after el jumpo.
I think the outcome of the approach is really successful–inspired but not limited to the urban environment around us. Some of the work was just in the Chelsea Art Musem in a show called Hollywood to the Street: From the Poster to Graffiti and right now can be seen at a show in Philadelphia at the 222gallery.
This collection of hand knotted carpets desiged by young graphic artists such as Romon Kimin Yang and Jose Parla are damn cool eh? Made entirely by hand, kntted in hand-spun Tibetan wool, swiss dye, “crafted to last a lifetime”. I like some of the urban influences on them quite a bit, painting for your floors. Land and Living Article
I’m still buzzing about my recent art purchase– a gorgeous Jose Parla watercolor I fell in love with at the 
