Adapta proudly presents its third exhibition, 3-2-1 Solstice, opening on 19 November 2009 at Schoeni Art Gallery on Old Bailey Street. Once again Adapta has gathered a group of renowned contemporary urban artists – including the much anticipated female street art legend, Swoon – bringing their works and a wide diversity of styles to Hong Kong’s doorstep. The exhibition will feature 10 of the finest urban and graphic artists from UK, USA and Hong Kong, who will be showcasing a selection of originals and prints. 3-2-1 Solstice offers a magical opportunity for ‘early bird’ affordable gift sourcing, starting from the 321st day of the calendar year – with a freestyle live art performance at our branch gallery – leading up to the exhibition opening and winter solstice celebrations!
One of Adapta’s principal missions is to create a dialogue between the Western and Asian street art scene, and therefore, we have specifically invited local artist duo, Graphic Airlines, together with French street artist, L1ES ONE, to participate in “live art performance” sessions, to demonstrate their skills at our branch gallery on Hollywood Road and main gallery on Old Bailey Street. Live art performances by these phenomenal artists will take place on the Tuesday (17 December, aka the 321st day of year 2009) before the exhibition opening, as well as during the opening night.
Another noteworthy characteristic of the exhibition, is that in conjunction with the Hong Kong showing, Adapta will also be hosting another exhibition in Tokyo, entitled Close Encounters, opening on 12 November 2009. The expansion into Japan demonstrates the overwhelming success, which Adapta has received since its launch in 2008, along with the keen acceptance of its audience. Close Encounters will take place at the Time Out Gallery in Shibuya, and participating artists include: Cyclops, Matt Small, Sickboy, D*Face, Vesna Parchet, David Bray, Word To Mother, Best Ever and Jeff Soto.
Participating Artists
Considered as one of UK’s most skilled graffiti artists, Bill London’s works are influenced by an eclectic mix of architectural line, bold colour, traditional tattoo and oriental art. He often employs ‘wild style’ graffiti with delicate aesthetic elements and complex layering to create mesmerising artworks that transcend the ordinary graffiti form. Bill London recently held a solo exhibition, They Seek Him Here, at London’s Rarekind Gallery in July 2009.
With pieces appearing extensively on the streets of East London, Cept began exploring graffiti in 1986. His works are instantly recognisable, given his choice of colours, letter techniques and Lichtenstein-esque approach. According to the artist, the message Cept conveys is: “CEPT, life, love, mystery, time, space, ownership, temporality, sick, venial, overwhelming joy.”
A Graphic Design graduate from Central St. Martins in 1992, David Bray has been a freelance illustrator since 1996 where he has developed an extensive portfolio of clients, including Harvey Nichols, MTV, Various Production, Puma, H&M, Vodafone, BBC Television, etc... His works reveal his lifetime love of drawing and an active imagination. Taking mainly women and animals as his motif, Bray creates elaborated and precise illustrations that explore sensations, utopia and a world of fantasy. David Bray participated in Adapta’s launch exhibition, Attention Spam, in 2008 and has created a print exclusively for Adapta based on his Hong Kong experience last year.
A Hong Kong artist, with background in Graphic & Media Design, Friendly Liu spreads her message through canvases, graphics, walls, photos etc… with the intention of sharing her love, passion and positive energy with her audience. Friendly claims her main influence being her father, who enthusiastically shared his love for art, Chinese calligraphy and photography with her since an early age. She held her first solo exhibition in August 2009, at Artist Unlimited in Germany.
Up and coming Hong Kong design duo, Graphic Airlines consists of two members, Tat and Vi, who joined forces in 2002 and have since become devoted advocates of the local street art scene. They profess to uphold the “aesthetics of ugly” through their “not-so-cute” characters. Graphic Airlines has exhibited extensively worldwide, including 2 short animations selected for the Kinofest Competition in 2008 at The National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest.
Jon Burgerman studied fine art at Nottingham Trent University, and started out doing stickers in college to pass time, pasting his drawings all over campus and beyond. He is now one of England’s most admired doodlers, and has worked on a variety of commercial projects, including artwork for a PlayStation Portable video game and several books; designs for exhibition at the Science Museum in London and plush toys for a Hong Kong toy company, Flying Cat.
French artist living in Hong Kong, L1ES ONE has been active in the city for several years now. His style is rooted in graffiti, yet he often ventures into other territories and disciplines. At his previous exhibition, LE GRAFF1T1 C’EST CH1C, held at M1NT in 2008, he virtually transformed the private club into something that resembled a heavily bombed building.
A graduate from Central St. Martin’s, Phil Ashcroft is now an artist based in London. He produces paintings, light boxes and prints, combining influences from abstract expressionism, British landscape painting, Japanese woodcuts, and graphic street art. Ashcroft integrates varied visual styles to generate a crossover between space, object and environment. As a selected artist for Deptford X 2009, Phil Ashcroft will be producing a new graphic work for a 48-sheet billboard located on the junction of New Cross and Lewisham Way. Ashcroft was a Finalist in the Celeste Art Prize in 2007 and selected for Contemporary Art Society’s ARTfutures in 2007, 2005 and 2004. His lightbox work, The Skid Stops At This Point People, was also collected by New Art Gallery, Walsall in 2007. One of his light boxes that will be featured is based on his interpretation of the Hong Kong Skyscape.
Swoon is the renowned street artist from New York City, who specialises in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures. Swoon studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and began doing street art around 1999, inspired by artists such Matta-Clark and Shepard Fairey. Her work often feature realistically rendered cut-out street people, pasted up against the gray walls and doors of the city, using them as her canvas. Elements of historical art and folk sources transpire through her work, and her art embraces a conceptual exploration of the ultimate street experience.
Vesna Parchet was the only female artist participating in Adapta’s launch exhibition, Attention Spam. Being of German origin, she was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan until the age of ten. Cultural diversities and social backgrounds have always fascinated Parchet, and “art” to her “is a reflection of life observations”. Many of Vesna’s pieces express an almost abstract futuristic sensation because of her intention to portray the changes in society and surroundings in relationship to humans, their nature and their behaviour.
