A friend informed me of this lovely little gallery in Newcastle, knowing my interest in photographing graffiti and love of Banksy.
Welcome to Lazarides 77 Quayside, the first permanent Lazarides gallery space outside of London. Situated in Newcastle upon the banks of the river Tyne, facing the Sage Gateshead and Baltic, the gallery sprawls over 5 rooms on 2 floors.
Lazarides is the primary source of work from artists Banksy, Antony Micallef, Faile, Jamie Hewlett, Stanley Donwood, Mode 2, Paul Insect, Kelsey Brookes, Conor Harrington, Invader, Ben Turnbull, Miranda Donovan, 3D, and Mark Jenkins.
Lazarides exhibits a diverse range of established, emerging and often controversial artists. Defying simple categories like ‘graffiti’, ‘pop art’ or ‘graphics’, our artists create works that engage people on all levels.
Lazinc has been operating from the gallery in Greek Street, Soho and previously on a less formal basis for several years and our already-established customer roster includes art dealers, major celebrities, school kids and a plumber. Lazinc has also publicly displayed the work of its artists in temporary venues around the world and will continue to provide a loose programme of similar events in the future.
Whilst all work is for sale, the gallery is completely open to the public and we encourage admirers of our artists to browse the art at their leisure, exhibitions rotate approximately every six weeks. We aim to create an informal atmosphere where anyone can feel comfortable viewing art or sheltering from the rain.
I visited the David Cho Murderous Hearts exhibition
David Choe, brave, bold and vulgar US artist has teamed up with the Lazarides Galleries in both London and Newcastle to show a series of powerful new works called ‘Murderous Heart’.Choe’s ascent has been as rapid and diverse as his output, and his award-winning work can be found pretty much everywhere, from comics to magazines, trainers to films, toys to t-shirts. For his first solo show in the UK, Choe has created works that have become paintings through the art of wanting to kill. Large and small, powerful and cheeky, these canvases are made with typical Choe-style panache using water colours, acrylics, spraypaint, ink pen, pencils and oils. Beautiful girls with manga lips and jutting breasts wrestle for space against violent, guerrilla machine-men wielding street weapons. Yet out of the chaos comes a thoughtful kaleidoscope of colour and clever technique, creating a body of work that is like Choe himself – challenging, and playful.
Choe’s antics are almost as well known and loved as his art. Whether banged up in a prison cell in Tokyo for four months or facing death in the African jungle, he is always creating. In jail, he used his urine and soy sauce as materials for his art; in the wilds he kept hypnotic diaries as records.
Choe hasn’t hitch-hiked his way around the world for nothing – the more the troublesome thrill-seeker wanders, the more of his angry energy is transposed into art. The result is a mind-blowing combination of skill, hardcore experience and a zest for being alive. Instead of using his angry energy to destroy things and people, Choe has destroyed the notion that a rebel has no cause.
(http://www.artdaily.org/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=23435&b=moca)
These are some photos i took of Choe's installation in the basement of the gallery in Newcastle...
I will definitely be re-visiting this gallery in the future.
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