“Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.“
William Blake
For years our collective intelligence has been insulted by blockbuster shows by manufactured artists, showing tired and threadbare worn out clichés, sweet and sour gimmicks , stolen ideas, and often made using stencils, Photoshop and assistants, backed by big buck businessmen and propped up with hilariously transparent propaganda, infantile posturing and unquestioning media support.
Proper art has been very conspicuous by its absence.
Now there is finally going to be a blockbuster show by actual real proper graffiti and outsider artists showing actual, proper, real, hand made fine art of many kinds, by artists who can actually draw and paint with their very own hands (gasp! shock horror!) using actual brushes, pens and pencils etc…
Much of the work will feature actual authentic concepts and themes instead of vacuous phoney sentimentality, and is made by people who make art for LOVE not just MONEY & NARCISSISM.
It is happening in East London from the 30th August until the 9th September!
I like to think of us as the Oldskool New Wave…
“The great and golden rule of art, as well as of life, is this: That the more distinct, sharp, and wiry the bounding line, the more perfect the work of art; and the less keen and sharp, the greater is the evidence of weak imitation, plagiarism, and bungling. […]
[…] Great inventors, in all ages, knew this: Protogenes and Apelles knew each other by this line. Rafael and Michael Angelo, and Albert Durer, are known by this and this alone.
William Blake’s Exhibition and Catalogue of 1809
The want of this determinate and bounding form evidences the want of idea in the artist’s mind, and the pretence of the plagiary in all its branches. How do we distinguish the oak from the beech, the horse from the ox, but by the bounding outline? How do we distinguish one face or countenance from another, but by the bounding line and its infinite inflexions and movements? What is it that builds a house and plants a garden, but the definite and determinate? What is it that distinguishes honesty from knavery, but the hard and wiry line of rectitude and certainty in the actions and intentions.
Leave out this line and you leave out life itself; all is chaos again, and the line of the almighty must be drawn out upon it before man or beast can exist.“
Global artists include NYC golden era Kings like Blade, Slave, Comet, Kel 1st, Mare 139, Duster, Crash, Bio along side Mark Bode, Henry Chalfant, and London Kings and Legends like Fuel, Prime, Choci, Doze, PIC, Zaki-Dee, Aztek, Tizer, alongside global graffiti legends like Rabodiga, (now known as Turkesa) Mr Wany and many many more, over one hundred artists in fact; oh yeah and lil ol’ me…
When I tried to organise a show featuring similar fine drawing and painting by myself and other oldskool London train writers back in 2009, I met with very stiff opposition indeed.
I had a cryptic notice (made from an advert placed on Craigslist), pinned to my wall warning me to stop my plans…
…when I ignored the warnings, a car was driven at me at top speed outside the building by a thug with a bull terrier who had been stalking me and my girlfriend around Shoreditch. Lots of other really nasty stuff happened too.
When Robbo organised a similar show featuring work displaying original ideas by oldskool London writers who make fine art he was found in the street with massive head injuries three days before the opening, apparently (we are still expected to believe) after suffering some kind of freak unexplained ‘accident’.
Robbo is still in a coma 16 months later.
When Channel 4 made a documentary about Robbo, Graffiti Wars, it was taken off the air after a challenge from Banksy’s lawyers, because Banksy said the filmmakers were implying Banksy was behind putting Robbo in a coma (they never even made that suggestion) – whoops-a-daisy.
Banksy’s litigation failed.
The documentary went back up.
Banksy responded with a formal letter of complaint to Channel 4 accusing them of “distortion”.
The documentary was then awarded BEST ARTS DOCUMENTARY 2011 by the Royal Television Society, no less, beating documentaries about the Beatles and the Impressionists to take the first place…anyhow…
Threats and warnings have already been made by people working for ‘The Corporation’ against Team Rex.
If secrecy, and censorship is the lock, the key is the collecting and spreading of information which has been achieved, its all out there…
They saw their Wheels rising up poisonous against Albion
Urizen, cold & scientific: Luvah, pitying & weeping
Tharmas, indolent & sullen: Urthona, doubting & despairing
Victims to one another & dreadfully plotting against each other
To prevent Albion walking about in the Four Complexions.
William Blake- Jerusalem plate 38
There will be a press-only Private View on the evening of Wednesday 29th August from 6pm – 9pm. Invited guests will attend an additional Private View on Thursday 30th August.
For news about the Team Rex exhibition, see: www.teamrobbo.org , or for further information email: info@teamrobbo.org
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