Colin McMaster: Exclusive New Prints

27/01/12 at 07:01:30 am

Colin McMaster paints stereotypes rather than individuals, meshing references from the photographic storyboards of romantic comics and their heightened sense of melodrama, with the more sinister undertones of American film noir and pulp crime novels.

Colin McMaster is a Central St. Martins graduate and has exhibited widely including in London, New York, Miami, Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester and at the Royal Ulster Academy, Ulster Museum where he was the Winner of the Royal Ulster Academy 1999 Student Prize.

We have a collection of new prints by McMaster now available exclusively with Opus Art. These limited edition giclee prints are from signed editions of only 30.

Motel Chronicles 12 and Motel Chronicles 5 by McMaster both measure 12 x 16.5 inches and are priced from £230. Other prints such as Silhouette 1 and Silhouette 2 both measure a larger 23 x 33 inches and are priced from £330.

The subjects Colin McMaster creates are superficially attractive but there is an underlying sense of their narcissism and perhaps even their engagement in acts which the viewer is compelled to interpret as illicit. As a result, the viewer is cast as a voyeur, the perception of what’s taking place in the paintings suspended in a double take, in an ambivalence between observation and accusation.

Stylistically, the work owes much to the Pop Art movement. The smoothness of the picture surface and the mannequin-like quality of the figures heightens the feeling of artifice and blurs our sense of looking at a painted image.

We offer a number of interest-free payment options including the Own Art scheme*, where you can spread the cost of your order over 10 months, or defer payment for up to 12 months. Contact us for more information.

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Hush: Siren II

26/01/12 at 06:01:07 am

Hush merges various street art approaches with traditional art practices to create complex and original work. The artist presents contemporary depictions of traditional portrait and figurative imagery through an inventive mix of seemingly incompatible themes and aesthetics.

Hush has participated in exhibitions worldwide including galleries in Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, London, Basel and Berlin. Hush had a successful solo installation of work open last Saturday in San Francisco at 941 Geary.

His work has been featured in a series of publications including The Independent newspaper, where he was recognised in their list of the ‘Top 20 Up and Coming Artists’.

We have one new work available by Hush called Siren II (pictured). This original work in acrylic paint, spray paint and screenprint on linen is priced from £6250.

We offer a number of interest-free payment options, contact us for more information.

London Art Fair: Round Up

25/01/12 at 06:01:47 am

Last week Opus Art showed for the first time at the London Art Fair in the Business Design Centre, Islington. This fair proved to be highly successful for us with a huge amount of interest in all our exhibiting artists and works by Rachel Louise Brown, Ali Miller, Tanja Boukal and Hector de Gregorio selling particularly well.

Tanja Boukal’s work received a lot of media attention and was included in The Financial Times on Saturday as well as by CultureLabel in their review of the fair.

Other artists with original work on show at the fair included Vasilis Avramidis, Kim Baker, Michele Fletcher, Carne Griffiths, Hush, Lex Thomas and Karl de Vroomen.

UK collectors can buy artworks using our interest-free credit facility; contact us for more information.

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London Art Fair

20/01/12 at 10:01:26 am

Opus Art is proud to be showing for the first time at the London Art Fair in the Business Design Centre, Islington. This art fair will run until Sunday 22 January.

The London Art Fair presents over 100 galleries featuring the great names of 20th Century British art and exceptional contemporary work from leading figures and emerging talent. Visit us at stand G35 in the main fair where we are showcasing original works from emerging artists including Vasilis Avramidis, Kim Baker, Tanja Boukal, Rachel Louise Brown, Michele Fletcher, Hector de Gregorio, Carne Griffiths, Hush, Ali Miller and Karl de Vroomen.

Here are some images from our impressive stand at the London Art Fair!

Please contact enquiries@opus-art.com for further information.

D*Face: Dog Save The Queen

13/01/12 at 10:01:02 am

D*Face is a multimedia graffiti street artist who uses spray paint, stickers, posters, and stencils. D*Face is one of the most prolific contemporary urban artists of his generation. Working with a variety of mediums and techniques, he uses a family of dysfunctional characters to satirise and hold to ransom all that falls into their grasp.

D*Face has exhibited internationally including solo and group exhibitions in London, Stockholm, Barcelona, New York, Hamburg, Paris, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

We have four unique works by D*Face available from his Dog Save The Queen series (11/32 pictured). These works are spraypaint and screenprint on paper, priced from £2000.

D*Face’s aim is to encourage the public not just to ’see’, but to look at what surrounds them and their lives, reflecting our increasingly bizarre fascination for with celebrity, fame, consumerism and materialism, re-thinking, reworking and subverting imagery drawn from a refuge of decades of materialistic consumption, imagery appropriated from currency, advertising, comic books, these now iconic motifs, cultural figures and genres are subverted to comment upon our conspicuous society.

One of D*Face’s most celebrated icons is D-Dog, a bomb like figure with two tiny wings on the sides. Recent examples of D*Face’s satirical and dark humour include his chosen ‘collaboration’ with H.R.H Queen Elizabeth II on a series of bank notes and the portrait of Pope Benedict XVI to commemorate his instatement. D*Face also designed the cover of Automatic’s debut album Not Accepted Anywhere and in 2010 he collaborated with Christina Aguilera on her album cover of Bionic. He was also one of fifty artists commissioned to create a 50th anniversary Penguin book cover and is the only urban artist to date to be featured on the front cover of the fine art publication Art Review.

D*Face describes his artistic method as, ‘Like a snail leaving it’s sticky trail, I leave my artwork; Stickers, Posters, Marker Drawings on empty advertising space and discarded objects, always on the lookout for that ultimate spot.’

Alternatively UK collectors can buy these artworks using our interest-free credit facility; contact us for more information.

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Hush: Rare Prints and Originals

12/01/12 at 10:01:42 am

Hush merges various street art approaches with traditional art practices to create complex and original work. Hush presents contemporary depictions of traditional portrait and figurative imagery through an inventive mix of seemingly incompatible themes and aesthetics.

We have added a large collection of rare, sought after and long sold out prints and original works by Hush to our website.

Prints now available include Graf Geisha – Triptych, Rhythm, Graf, Glimmer 1, Butterfly Girl Desire, Tits and Terror and Graf Geisha – Blue all priced at £750.

Original works by Hush now available include Cover Girls, Fantasies for Naughty Boys III, S for ______ and Love/Hate priced from £1500.

Trained as a graphic designer at the Newcastle School of Art and Design, Hush’s art practice has taken him around the globe—throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. Hush’s immersion in such a diverse range of cultures and environments is evident in his work and his captivating portrayal of the undying beauty of the female form. Over the course of his travels, Hush developed a fascination with the mark-making, tagging and graffiti he encountered along the way.

Through his technique of layering divergent aesthetics, Hush’s contemporary paintings disclose the beauty produced by years of decayed tagging and the possibility of creating something new.

Hush has participated in both solo and group exhibitions and shows worldwide including galleries in Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, London, Basel, San Francisco and Berlin. His work has been featured in a series of publications including Street Knowledge (Harper Collins), The Street Art Stencil Book (Laurence King Publishing), Huck magazine, Art Monthly and The Independent newspaper, where he was recognised in their list of the ‘Top 20 Up and Coming Artists’.

In 2011 Hush launched his new installation program and exhibition space, onethirty3, in Newcastle, UK.

We offer a number of interest-free payment options, contact us for more information.

View all available works by Hush >

Sir Peter Blake: HOPE

11/01/12 at 12:01:12 pm

Sir Peter Blake is often referred to as the Godfather of British Pop Art, best known for his limited edition prints and the design of the sleeve for The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

HOPE (pictured) is signed limited edition silkscreen print with 14 colours, gold leaf, silver leaf, embossing and glazes by Sir Peter Blake. This print measures 35 x 17 inches and is priced at £1950.

Blake uses collaged letters taken from different sources to spell out one of the most important words in the English language: HOPE. This work reflects a sentiment and warmth that is inherent throughout the artist’s work. His use of mismatching letters from different sources is a classic motif in his oeuvre, reflecting his love of collage and collecting, as well as the influence of artists such as Jack Pierson. The use of ‘found letters’ or commercial lettering in his work is something that Blake adopted in the 1950s; allying himself with decorators, sign painters and commercial artists rather than the fine art establishment: declaring himself a ‘pop’ artist.

Whilst studying Art at Gravesend Technical College (1949-51) Blake was given a thorough grounding in a wide range of crafts including Roman lettering, hand lettering, typography and typesetting. This training has seeped into his work throughout his career with text often being an integral- or the only- element of a piece.

We have a huge collection of limited edition prints, unique Polaroids and books by Peter Blake all available on our website.

Alternatively UK collectors can buy these artworks using our interest-free credit facility; contact us for more information.

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Unique Artworks: £150 inc VAT and Framing!

04/01/12 at 12:01:20 pm

We would like to wish our collectors a Happy New Year from us all at Opus Art, and we hope to see some of you at the London Art Fair, 18 – 22 Jan.

Our Christmas exhibition consists entirely of unique postcard-sized works created by our artists with each work priced at £150 including VAT and framing!

We are excited to announce these unique artworks are available to view and buy online!

We have exciting postcards by emerging artists such as Kelly Jayne who has a collection of work available including Figure Phase One 10 (pictured) which are all acrylic and graphite on canvas paper.

Other artists taking part include Tanja Boukal, Richard Davidson, Dixon (Juan Carlos Noria), Linda Lencovic, Miranda Lopatkin, Rachel Louise Brown and Robin Clare.

James Choules, who adopts the alter-ego of SheOne, is a London based artist with a unique brand of abstract painting that is rooted deep in the new wave graffiti era of early eighties New York. However, his trademark strokes and bold expressive approach to image making put him firmly in the present. ReFill Magazine to refer to him as ‘a leading cultural artist’.

We have two unique works by SheOne available as part of our exhibition including Jilted (Studio/Object Series), pictured, and Rocker (Studio/Object Series) which are both digital prints, priced at £150 including VAT and framing.

Other artists taking part include Andrea Allan, Mik Artistik, Joseph Borzotta, Dean Cavanagh, Bonnie and Clyde , Tintin Cooper, April Jarocka, Joanna Hutton, Nathan James, Brian Jones , Hayden Kays, Simon Mackness, Alexandra McClain and Ali Miller.

Ben Allen’s work is inspired by textures found in everyday life that surround us on the streets and buildings, the rusting metals and corroded weather-swept posters of the streets and billboards, the peeling and fading layers that create a new image, unplanned and unpredicted.

Ben Allen has worked with Levi’s, Virgin, Channel 5, The Hoxton Hotel and has exhibited his mixed content paintings in exclusive venues and galleries internationally as well as selling to celebrities such as Stephen Dorff, Jade Jagger and Richard Branson.

We have two unique works available by Ben Allen including Negative Skull (pictured) and Positive Skull. These unique works are both acrylic, ink and spray paint on Fabriano paper with paper cut and are priced at £150 inc VAT and framing.

The essence of Charlotte Stubbs’ work stems from her love of objects and collecting. These primarily include old, worn or unwanted objects which emanate a sense of history or feeling of nostalgia.

We have a collection of work by Charlotte Stubbs available including Vitrine no.3- Frozen World in my Shoe (preserved fragments), pictured, which is priced at £150 inc VAT and framing. This unique artwork includes glass tubes, cork, wax, wire, card, paper, sand, netting, plastic figure, swan feathers, plastic insect wings, pearl beads and borax crystals.

Other works by Charlotte Stubbs for this exhibition include Vitrine no.8- Winter Garden in my Pocket (preserved fragments), Vitrine no.27- Crystal Cave in my Teacup (preserved fragments), Frozen and Rocking Chair.

Jamie Paul uses a mixture of media such as oil and acrylic paint, charcoal, oil stick, spray paint and even household paint on canvas, mixing traditional values with modern techniques and imagery. Images overlap and intersperse to create a juxtaposition of varying styles, the outcome is a powerful fusion of contemporary society and tradition, a mix of East meets West.

Jamie Paul graduated from University College Northampton in 2002 with Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Fine Art and has exhibited widely in Singapore, Austrailia and the UK. Media exposure of Jamie Paul’s work include the Singapore Art Gallery Guide, Straits Times, Arts Beat, I-S magazine, Juice, FARM and many others.

We have four  unique works by Jamie Paul available for our postcard exhibition including Astro Warrior, Double Happiness, When I Look into the Future and TV Demolition (pictured).

Edward Monovich’s drawings reinterpret idyllic scenes from popular stories, television, and advertising. In mainstream America, concepts such as joy, discovery and exhilaration are cooped by marketing strategies. Experience becomes imprisoned by products, stereotypes and labels.

Edward Monovich has exhibited widely in the USA in New York, Miami, Denver and Boston as well as internationally in Italy, Bogota, Columbia, Ghent, Belgium and Newcastle, England.

We have three unique mixed media pieces by Edward Monovich available including Fly Girl, Deluge and Pollinate (pictured), priced at £150 inc VAT and framing.

Other artists taking part include Sue Moffitt, Kuzana Ogg, Judy Ragagli, Gurpran Rau, Geraldine Swayne and Tracey Sweeney.

Tony Hull’s most recent work references sixteenth century Flemish paintings of children. In the originals the sitters wear formal attire appearing as ‘little adults’. In these paintings the use of anachronism, adding contemporary stuff like mobiles and cameras or Batman and Robin masks, takes away from this formality.

Tony Hull is based in London with paintings in numerous European and U.S. collections. After graduating with a BA at Chelsea School of Art, he went on to Post Graduate study at the Slade School of Fine Art. He has exhibited in Britain and Europe, taking part in numerous group and solo shows, most recently the Threadneedle Painting Prize.

We have three works by Tony Hull available for our postcard exhibition including Untitled Study I (friend of a friend), Untitled Study II (friend of a friend), pictured, and Untitled Study III (friend of a friend) . These three works are ink and collage on heritage paper and are priced at £150 inc VAT and framing.

For more details about other forthcoming events please see our exhibition pages >

Opus Highlights: 2011

03/01/12 at 11:01:03 am

We would like to wish our collectors a Happy New Year from us all at Opus Art, and to thank you for your support during 2011.

One of the many highlights from 2011 was our Peter Blake and Friends exhibition in May. This exhibition celebrated Blake’s print oeuvre, with over 45 prints on show ranging from his 1991 Alphabet series through well-loved series such as Fag Packet and Replay, to the more recent Vichy, Paris and World Tour.

This was the first time we had access to such exciting and sought-after print editions from one of Britain’s best-loved artists.

We also had work available by Blake’s fellow Royal Academicians John Hoyland and Barbara Rae, plus work from Brad Faine, Bruce McLean and Patrick Hughes.

We have a huge collection of limited edition prints, unique Polaroids and books by Peter Blake all available on our website including Found Art: Britannia (pictured).

Another exciting exhibition held at our gallery this year was Where Wild Things Grow by Henrik Simonsen, a two site solo exhibition of new work at our Newcastle gallery and at The Customs House in South Shields.

Simonsen engages with a Western tradition of flower paintings and still life, approaching it in a contemporary way. For this body of work Simonsen drew inspiration from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen.

Beautiful original paintings available by Henrik Simonsen from this exhibition include In The Dark and Ugly Duckling 3 (Winter) (pictured) priced from £2300.

We also have limited edition prints including Silver and Red and Blue priced from £312.50, or £37.50 per month, using our interest-free credit facility, contact us for more details.

May saw the launch of successful London exhibition This is the First Thing, a solo show of work by Karl de Vroomen.

Karl de Vroomen’s paintings explore the significance and meaning that can be found within the apparently innocuous or trivial.

Owl (pictured) by de Vroomen is an oil on canvas, measures 48 x 48 inches and is priced from £2917. Other paintings and monotypes by Karl de Vroomen include Sunflower III, Stag III and Tower priced from £600.

We will be showing a selection of new work by Karl de Vroomen at the upcoming London Art Fair.

We were proud to show a solo installation of new works by Hector de Gregorio at SCOPE Basel in June.

Hector de Gregorio creates deliciously modern portraits of his friends, with each print on canvas involving extensive research, costume making, photography, digital imaging and hand-finishing in oils, waxes, gold leaf and varnishes.

Queen (pictured) was released to coincide with the artist’s successful solo exhibition in Basel as a small series of 3 heavily embellished works on paper. These works on paper comprise giclee, oil, gold leaf and mixed media and are priced from £2000.

There are now only two Hector de Gregorio Prayer 2/Michele Occelli hand-finished prints available.

We will also be showing a selection of work by Hector de Gregorio at the upcoming London Art Fair.

Our February exhibition Seeing is Believing explored unusual and alternative ways of creating a photographic image, and challenged the notion of the photograph as a record of the truth.

The exhibition featured early surrealist photographs from Erwin Blumenfeld as well as work by Charlotte Bracegirdle, Susan Derges, Harold ‘Doc’ Edgerton and Rob Carter.

We have cibachrome prints by Erwin Blumenfeld available in our sale including Untitled (pictured), which are all now priced from £320 reduced from £640.

Photography enthusiasts can choose from heavily discounted prints in our sale by Harold ‘Doc’ Edgerton, Susan Derges, Lisa Eisner, Peter Marlow , Richard Misrach, Tierney Gearon, Rob Carter, Sabine Weiss, Nobuyoshi Araki and Hamish Fulton.

We were thrilled to launch our 2011 Fresh Cream exhibition in October. Fresh Cream celebrated new painting, sculpture, photography and print from the crème de la crème of emerging contemporary artists.

Artists included in Fresh Cream were hand-picked recent graduates from established art institutions such as Goldsmiths, Central St Martin’s and the Royal College of Art.

Some of the artists featured in Fresh Cream were Vasilis Avramidis, Rachel Louise Brown (work pictured), Michele Fletcher , Yao Hui, Tony Hull, Vasilios Paspalis, Charlotte Stubbs and Ben Walker.

Our Summer Exhibition kicked off with a themed party in August with a DJ, flower necklaces as well as summery cocktails and canapés.

We showed a huge selection of artwork by the cream of artists on our roster, including Adumbratio (pictured) by Teresa Duck, a beautiful painting measuring 47.5 x 40 inches, priced from £2000.

Other artists featured in our Summer Exhibition included Chris Acheson, Andrea Allan, Richard Davidson, Carne Griffiths, Kelly Jayne, Brian Jones, Linda Lencovic, Miranda Lopatkin, Ali Miller and Natalie Tkachuk.

Opus Art is proud to be showing for the first time at the London Art Fair in the Business Design Centre, Islington. This art fair will run from 18 – 22 January, 2012.

The London Art Fair presents over 100 galleries featuring the great names of 20th Century British art and exceptional contemporary work from leading figures and emerging talent. Now entering its 24th year, London Art Fair is the UK’s largest Modern British and contemporary art fair.

Visit us at stand G35 in the main fair where we will be showcasing original works from emerging artists including Kim Baker, Rachel Louise Brown, Michele Fletcher, Hector de Gregorio , Hush, Ali Miller and Karl de Vroomen.

Also at the London Art Fair we will be showing work by Tanja Boukal (work pictured) who has recently sold a series of artwork to the city of Vienna for their MUSA collection. MUSA is the collection of contemporary art held by the city of Vienna.

Kim Baker: Memento Mori, 2 Dec 2011 – 27 Jan 2012

We are pleased to announce that all the artworks for Kim Baker’s solo exhibition, Memento Mori, are now available to view and buy online! Baker’s recent body of work is drawn from the classical theme of Memento Mori; and uses motifs such as flowers, birds and insects, which, historically, are said to remind the viewer of their own mortality and the vanity of earthly glory and pleasure.

Answers on the Front of a Postcard, 2 Dec 2011 – 27 Jan 2012

Our Christmas exhibition consists entirely of unique postcard-sized works created by our artists with each work priced at £150 including VAT and framing! We are excited to announce these unique artworks are now available to view and buy online! We have over 40 artists taking part including Dixon, Tanja Boukal , Alexandra McLain (work pictured), Tony Hull, Brian Jones, Kelly Jayne, Nathan James , Ben Allen and many more!

For more details about other forthcoming events please see our exhibition pages >

Henrik Simonsen: St Pancras Hotel

21/12/11 at 12:12:32 pm

We are thrilled to announce that Henrik Simonsen has recently had a painting bought by the St Pancras Hotel in London. The newly refurbished St Pancras Hotel has become home to an impressive selection of art. With pieces from well-known contemporary masters like Bridget Riley and Gary Hume the St Pancras Hotel is a notable patron of the arts. The £200m, 245-bedroom, five-star hotel has recently been re-developed by a team led by Harry Handelsman, founder of the Manhattan Loft Corporation, with the Renaissance chain of hotels owned by Marriott.

Henrik Simonsen engages with a Western tradition of flower paintings and still life, approaching it in a contemporary way. His charcoal drawings, prints and paintings are steeped in the Scandinavian tradition of art and design inspired by natural elements. Henrik Simonsen employs the inexhaustible richness of nature as metaphor for the vitality and vulnerability, passions and weaknesses inherent in the human experience. There is a lesson to be learnt from the infinite variety in nature and the innate complexity in even its most simple forms.

Drawing is central to Henrik Simonsen’s work, stemming from the directness of the mark-making process and the simple way lines on a surface create shapes and forms. All elements are drawn freehand, even in repetition, to maintain the life and strength of the line and therefore its direct connection to the feeling that motivates it. In recent work, paint and colour have developed a greater integrity, especially when poured or thrown at the canvas. These splashes of paint contrast drawn lines with an abstract element and suggest the shifting moods at play within formal expression.

Henrik Simonsen is interested in the role of history, both as an influence and a creative element in his work. He follows an organic process where elements are allowed to ‘grow’ onto the canvas in layers, informing one another in their creation. The resulting imagery documents this process while creating a sense of time having passed on the canvas rather than one frozen point in time.

Decorative elements used in Henrik Simonsen’s work are inspired by 18th and 19th century wallpapers as well as Japanese and Chinese screen painting and fabrics. These are at times obscured or revealed amidst a contemporary take on the minutely observed taxonomies of naturalist still life. This historical attempt to tame nature in architectural interiors is punctuated by pours and splatters referencing the irreverent elements of street art – a sort of mental graffiti betraying feelings too unkempt to be contained in a civilized space. The overall sense is one of contemporary emotions breaking free within the polite restraint of history’s drawing room.

Click to view available prints and original artworks by Henrik Simonsen >

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