31st March 2009

Cant believe its been SO long since i updated the site.
no excuses for being so lax !

So quick catch up – after the solo show last year i had some work in a group show at Signal Gallery ,London that was well received , this was followed by inclusion in Red Star group show in Seattle which was a resounding success , finally the 12daysofxmas in Bristol organised by the Stealfromwork crew , once again a great event and one i hope to see recurring every year
This year has so far seen the next Dreweatte auctions at Selfridges , and Urban Scrawl (Portobello Road) – which is still open for another week and has online listing of available works here !

Other news :
my ‘Store Trek’ piece on Stokes Croft made it to Argentina!!?? how ? well thanks to a cracking photo taken by Romanywg !! see the original photo here – and the massive canvas version of the photo hanging in the show here

Had fun putting up ‘CCTV Judge’ on Park Street , Bristol back in January .. a film crew followed along to watch proceedings , the footage should be seen as part of a documentary looking at pros and cons of CCTV .. before the paint was dry this piece had alot of attention from the Police as well as the Council .. the council had the graffiti clean squad booked in to buff the work before i had even finished it !!! LOL …. see photo here
(have since also painted this ,though sadly not at his full height , on Portobello Road – pic )

Dissolving Liberty canvas is now heading from the Italian Urban Painting Festival to a show that opens on 23th april 2009 and last for six months in Walldorf, Germany (Street Art Painting Exhibition )

the Affordable Art Fair with Signal Gallery earlier this month also saw some new (and reworked takes on old themes) from myself .. a range of affordable Butterfly canvas’ and a reworking on the ‘Evolve’ theme in Black and Silver generated alot of interest and has led to some interesting new contacts.

Right , lots more in the pipeline that i will announce shortly .. and expect to see some pieces pop up in the shop section soon (have a few remaining screen prints and lino cuts ! )

Thanks for your interest , SPQR

• linked fromhttp://spqr.uk.net/blog/38/time-flies

The CHINA MIKE show starts next week, THURS 9TH APRIL. The preview, opening night bash starts at 7pm… Usual malarky… Art, friends, Limited Edition print (watch this space) beer… and hopefully no rain!

• linked fromhttp://friend-and-co.blogspot.com/2009/03/china-mike-show-9th-april.html

You can see more of Poppy’s painting here.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/LMSE-l2IGBo/shit_were_diggin_poppy_van_oordegrainger.html

We received the following note from faith47 in Cape Town South Africa and wanted to share it:

“We are facing a new anti-graffiti by-law in Cape Town which takes away the house owners rights to give permission for any artworks on their walls besides a house number.

The new, proposed graffiti by-law makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property.

Please can you assist us in our efforts to amend this by-law by signing the petition and forwarding it on… As we need to present it to the council during the public participation process.

Here is the link and below are the details of the two points in the by-law that we would like to amend.

http://www.petitiononline.com/art4all/petition.html

To: The City of Cape Town

The new, proposed graffiti by-law criminalizes all forms of public art and violates our personal right to freedom of expression on private property. It makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property. The by-law will soon be presented for public discussion and these are the two main issues that we feel need to be addressed:

1. The definition of ‘graffiti’ under the by-law is too broad. It classifies ‘graffiti’ as any inscription, word, figure, letter, sign, symbol, sketch, picture or drawing. There should be a clear differentiation between ‘graffiti vandalism’ [e.g. gang tags, scratchings] and public art that is done with permission from the owner [murals, colourful characters and positive, inspiring messages].

2. The by- law removes the legal right of the private property owner to paint anything other than a house number on his/her wall. We strongly believe that the private property owner should maintain the right to determine what to paint on to his/her property without permission from the City.

if you agree with these two amendments please sign the petition on the link above
and hopefully we can adjust the by-law to become a more inclusive one and thus limit the damage it can potentially do to the creative growth of our city.”

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/1RTrCvnAI9M/sign_the_petition_to_help_stop_new_antig.html

• linked fromhttp://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/news-roundup/

When we opened up our email today and saw this stencil, from Czarnobyl in Berlin, all we could say was – “Wow!” The latest in his “Oldboy” series is 8 colors, 7 separate stencils and is 250 x 150 cm. It took six months to create.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/so5aP8Af4A8/fresh_stuff_frm_czarnobyl_in_berlin.html

You can see more of Brian’s work here.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/BLGt-Eq4Guc/shit_were_diggin_brian_harts_light_photo.html