I finally got around to visiting the ArtHAUS show at Vyner Street’s Execution Room (running until 30th June). It was the second of the First Thursday private view evenings so drinks were thrown in, which eased the pain of travelling to far-flung E2 on such a filthy night.
The show is curated jointly by DegreeArt and Ryan Lanji – curator of Nailphilia, a previous exhibition dedicated to nail art. At least his nails did not disappoint.
DegreeArt has thousands of young artists under its umbrella, but works by just twenty-seven were chosen for the ArtHAUS show. Items by sponsor companies, such as Bodum and Muralto, were also mixed in with the young designers’ creations.
The gallery is divided into five sections, each representing a different room. The dining room is perhaps the most striking space, with lurid colours highlighting the toxicity of consumption. There are plates you can’t eat off and gun-shaped bookends, but the overall vibe may feel a little tame to hardcore art aficionados still visiting this part of town…
An area dedicated to Dadaism questions the future of ‘art’. And well it might… With kitsch canvases, upcycled furniture, retro accessories, mass-produced kitchenware, skull and butterfly creations, the ‘immersive installation’ may be better described as a contemporary concept store – more of which may be appearing in Vyner Street, as galleries move out to make way for gentrification.
The living room considers the notion that money, art (and royalty) represent power. So it’s just as well that everything in the show is for sale – and available from DegreeArt’s website too. The exhibition’s hotch-potch of artisan skills, commerciality and the pop art tradition had me mulling over the first installment of Grayson Perry’s superlative ‘television taste safari’. Some of the works on display may well have popular appeal, but what appears to be missing from ArtHAUS is any trace of local folk culture: These rooms could be anywhere. Next stop Harrods’ shop window or Amazon?
sounds like a branch of urban outfitters!
I went to this exhibition because of the First Thursday’s evenings and I was so surprised at how exciting it was!
It was nice to see art inspire rooms and for a gallery to not be boring and pretentious.
This review doesn’t do the show any justice…shame.
Run away from anything spelled “haus” that doesn’t actually involve the speaking of German or having to do with a sausage. For example, stay well away of some place called anything like “enema haus”, or “Haus of Transmission Repair”, or anythng containing an incongruously placed umlaut.