Good Vibes From California

The 'London Calling' show at the OCCCA in Orange County, California came to an end on the 12th January after several weeks of hosting and curating a taster of the London art scene which seems to be popping up all over the art world lately. This time with the work of 29 artists working in different disciplines.

“London Calling is a great compact survey of what’s going on in contemporary art in London at the moment” said art visionary and visitor to the show William Moreno, who is president of the board at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Hollywood Boulevard.

I was pleased to be showing two of my 'Peep Hole Boxes' which visitors of the gallery seemed to enjoy interacting with and giving in to their curiosity and peeping in. Also being exhibited was my lyric/text based drawing 'For What It's Worth'.

Photo by Stephen Anderson

Photo by Stephen Anderson

My Drawing alongside Nicola Anthony's book piece

We've had some great feedback and responses from the show, here are a few:

“Nice to see a new International flavor represented in Orange County” ~ Tm Gratkowski (Artist / Curator / Flagstop,  Director)  

“Great exhibition from the UK,  my favorites were Nicola Anthony’s text piece “David Copperfield” and Carlos Burgos sculptural pieces.” ~Michael Chomick (Artist / Sculptor) www.michaelchomick.com

“London Calling”   is a refreshing POV expressing contemporary British youth culture.

The exhibition is filled with a compelling array of artwork embracing themes from pop to political,  retro to hipster and figurative to abstract.” ~ Sasha Darling   www.belljarsf.com

“ I came here to OCCCA see the work of my friend Carlos Burgos and was delighted with the entire “London Calling” exhibition.”  ~ Kyriakos

I enjoy OCCCA and attend many artist receptions here – The “London Calling” exhibition is awesome – I especially loved the text Portraits created by text artist Nicola Anthony and also the interactive installation created by text artist Sylvia Morgado.” ~ Joni  (Santa Ana based Artist / Dancer from The Santori Building)  www.jonirenee.com

Take a virtual tour and navigate your way around this exhibition by following this link.

List of artists: Abigail Box, Agnetha Sjogren, Azadeh Fatehrad, Beth Nicholas, Carlos Martyn Burgos, Chantal Powell, Darren MacPherson, Katerina Stavrou, Katerina James, Kimi Wylde, Henry Wood, Joe Cruz, Lloyd Durling,Lyndsay Martin, Masa Suzuki, Nicola Anthony, Rachel Noble, Rosie Emerson, Robert West, Senghye Yang, Silvia Krupinska, Sylvia Morgado, Sun Ae Kim, Tinsel Edwards, Tahnee Lonsdale, Twinkle Troughton, Victoria Heald,Vikram Kushwah

Photo by Tahnee Lonsdale

Photo by Stephen Anderson

Peep Hole Boxes

"We never knows wot's hidden in each other's hearts; and if we had glass winders there, we'd need keep the shutters up, some on us, I do assure you!"
Charles Dickens: 'Martin Chuzzlewit' (1844)

Peeping in...

Showing at the moment in California's Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts, are two rare pieces of work of mine, "LOSS" and "UGLY" which are 3D sculptures I call 'Peep Hole Boxes'. They are part of the group exhibition 'London Calling' which is currently on until the 12th January 2012.


Let me tell you a little more about these boxes of curiosity.

 These are boxes built using foam board and varying in size, completely sealed except for the small eye holes at the front, which you can 'peep' through revealing a 3-D scene within. 

The Peep Hole Boxes

These cubes explore & try to simulate curiosity and the mini private universes which we cary with us in our heads. Emotions, personal experiences which normally we don’t want to share. It’s as if we were spying on someone when they’re at there most emotionally vulnerable. Note the effect an  enclosed and ‘private’ scene has on the viewer when he choses to look, it’s very different to that of an openly displayed image. There are issues of intimacy and privacy, broken slightly by curiosity itself.

These were first developed back in 1998 in a series of boxes with scenes inspired by the book 'The Gashleycrumb Tinies' by Edward Gorey. Using paper and card only, I developed certain techniques that allowed me to play with perspective and give the illusion of depth. Later the construction of these boxes became more complex and  four new original pieces were produced in 2002. Two of these are now displayed at the London Calling Exhibition in Orange County, California USA. LINK

The Gashleycrumb Tinies Book

X is for Xerxes devoured by mice. 162mm x 160mm x 154mm (1998) 

Y is for Yorick whose head was knocked in. 162mm x 160mm x 154mm (1998) 

Loss (2002)

Loss (detail-2002)

Ugly (2002)

Ugly (detail-2002)