Weds 12th June: James Alec Hardy and Dominic Beattie at The Depot

The latest exhibition at The Depot Gallery in Clapton co-curated by Suzannah Pettigrew and Roxie Warder is new work from James Alec Hardy and Dominic Beattie.  Here is the cosmic time-based media, totemic stack of video monitors by Hardy = installed as a series of states set to change throughout the duration of the show.  For the opening night the video wall became a performance piece, accompanied by a stack of amplifiers and analogue video equipment mirrored in formation.  As you can see in the photos above, the live video feedback was looped through a system of monitors and amplifiers manipulated by Hardy. The seven channels of footage were recorded as a series of video still images to be extracted in the second phase of the work.  The exhibition focuses on the increasing entrapment of technology, shown through its material and symbolic origins on video by Hardy, and less identifiable visual tropes in mixed medium painted works by Dominic Beattie.

You can see / hear the footage of Hardy's performance and Beattie's paintings captured at the private view in these three clips and visit the space until 18th June att The Depot: 38 Upper Clapton Road, London, E5 8BQ.  (Images thanks c/o The Depot co-founder Tilley Harris)

Friday 7th June: Byron Pritchard's "Rhetoric"

Last evening I ran the gauntlet of  "first Thursdays" exhibition openings where the East End galleries join forces and simultaneously open their doors to new shows.  Streets are lined with the capital's culture seekers hopping from one space to the next soaking up the spectrum of artist's works in solo and group events.  Here is my fave from yesterday - Byron Pritchard's "Rhetoric" installed at the Eternal Youth HQ on Kingsland Road.  Here is Margot Bowman in one of her customised denim jackets and Christos Tolero in his birthday suit - not literally (obvs) - it was infact his birthday.  Gilbert & George popped in on their walk up to Dalston in their new Spring wardrobe of pastel suits and flat caps, which I'm gutted I didn't capture for this post but respect to the duo's privacy on their home turf!

  

Tues 4th June: Graduate Fashion Week = Sadie Clayton, KingstonUniversity

Sadie Clayton's copper collection in the Kingston University space at Graduate Fashion Week - for which she was awarded runner up in the "Innovation" award.  Look closely at the dress and you'll see that the copper construction is pipe brackets hinged together to make the body-con  textile.  Genius and my absolute favourite body of work at the epic event.  Go Sadie!

Tues 4th June: Disclosure Album launch with BoilerRoom

I felt so lucky to be able to attend the Disclosure album launch with BoilerRoom and get to stand so close to the duo and witness the synchronicity of their live performance.  In the eaves of the very original BoilerRoom premises (hence the title of the initiative, named after the utility area they first broadcast from) a very magic experience unfurled infront of our eyes.  To close the party DJ EZ and Wookie took over the decks for all the garage girls who had a momentary nostalgic trip back to thier past adolescence of pilgrimages to nights across the country.  Here are some of those:  Sara and Loren from WorkIt, Rivah Kray of Blackfoot Phoenix, Teo Connor of TheWProject and Rosy Nicholas sporting her BoilerRoom tee - a tenant of the studio block back when BoilerRoom first started streaming from along the corridor!  You will also recognise Jessie Ware who came down to take stage with her PMR label mates to sing on  their remix of her smash hit "Running".  Jessie who started out singing for soundsystems at BoilerRoom nights ............ now storming the global charts.  Its a success story to inspire anyone and everyone making music at home - it can take you a long way............ to living the dream............. look up tickets for Jessie at Somerset House later in the summer.

Mon 3rd June: Incoming post = 55th Venice Biennale via Alex Tieghi-Walker

A fluro pink protest banner from Jeremy Deller >:o

On our way to the Jeremy Deller dinner far across the lagoon

Best restaurant hang-out ever - Paradiso Perduto in Cannaregio and its snowy bearded chef

My boyfriend Gregory

The ephemeral colour of the lagoon

Insane cactus growing in Dorsoduro

Giant painted wall clock at San Giorgio Maggiore

View from San Giorgio Maggiore - the water is so blue it looks more like a tropical lagoon

Mark Manders for the Dutch Pavilion

Captain Ronojoy Dam

Reliefs at the Cá Rezzonico 

Fruit punch shirt

Ultramarine water taxi interior

Models found in a junk shop by Oliver Croy

Arriving at the Jeremy Deller dinner at Trattoria Vignole - steel drums, vats of Grappa and a naked dancing Icelandic cemented this as one of the best nights of the week

                                                              When in Venice.. Spritz!

           This was just before Peaches crowdsurfed at the Trussardi party and landed on my head

Leaving Venice and looking out across the lagoon in the early morning

Gregory De Roeck and Jonathan Openshaw in Cannaregio

Ooh-oo-hoo-ah-ha-ha-yeah - Jeremy Deller's fluo pink protest banners in the British Pavilion

The lush jurassic ferns of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection garden

Banana trees and a pearly chandelier at the Bauer Hotel

Buonasera Venezia

The latest in my "Uncle Travelling Mac" contributor style posts has come live and direct from  the 55th Venice Biennale........... where Alex Tieghi-Walker has "swapped preparing sexploits for Issue #2 of The Anonymous Sex Journal for the green-blue waters of Venice and a visual blowout of art and island hopping"............ with deftly annotated captions to summarise his snaps of Summer's opening spectacle........

Find more Biennale imagery from Alex over on his Instagram and follow news via his Twitter  

Thank you Alex (seen here sitting in the water taxi) !!

(See archive posts from Venice Biennale 2009 from Anna Leader here.)