Opus Interiors

White Washed: A Celebration of Street Art

(7 Aug 2008 - 8 Sep 2008)

White Washed: a celebration of Street Art!Opus Underground  presents this group show starring urban artists Hush, C215, Pure Evil, Jef Aerosol, Oliver Winconek and exhibited The London Police performing a Live Painting on the opening night.

 The run up to the show saw a whole day of spray painting bar SECCO on Pilgrim Street. The De Georgi’s of the Gusto Group have commissioned new work from notable young artists from the north east over the past 30 years for their bar SECCO. Among others they supported Nik Barrera, Imogen Cloet, Francesca Hudson and Jacob Polley. With the imminent opening of their new ground floor bar, Heros and Zeros the De Giorgi’s are continuing to support local artists with the site specific live wall painting by Opus Underground artist Hush

The street art of The London Police is characterised by their simple - but instantly recognisable - figure that has graced cityscapes worldwide. Since their 1998 beginning as a trio of Londoners in Amsterdam, the group has grown hugely. The black and white characters appear internationally, with urban canvases including the streets of New York, L.A. and Tokyo. 'We're interested in using public spaces as art galleries' say the group - and their adaptable designs allow them to use a variety of media. From electricity boxes to basketball courts, The London Police ignore boundaries in their passion for art.

 Jef Aerosol belongs to the first French street art generation of the early 80s. After experimenting with copy-art in the late 70s, Jef went on to work with stencils. Inspired by music, film and literature, his trademark mix of life-size actors, musicians and poets can be seen on walls in numerous cities, including Paris, London, Lille, Chicago, Venice and Amsterdam. He has exhibited his works in a number of solo and group shows around the world, including his first UK solo show in London 2007 and this year Amaze stencil festival in Belgium with fellow Opus Underground artists Hush and Pure Evil. Jef is a true legend in the street art world.

 Hush seems to have come out of nowhere in the last 12 months.  After working extensively in Hong Kong and the States as a designer for some of the world’s leading toy companies he gave it all up to return to his first love, painting.  Since then, we have seen a meteoric rise in his popularity with a long line of sold out prints and originals selling faster then he can produce them, with a sell-out show on Brick Lane most recently and a feature in the Times, Hush really is hot property right now.

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