One Grafton Street
Urban Gallery
19 Mar 2009
An exciting, new contemporary artwork by up-and-coming artist, Alex Knell,
has polled thousands of votes from the public to win an innovative online
art competition run jointly by the Royal Academy Schools and international
real estate company, Hines.
Knell's winning piece We Are Our Future is being unveiled today, Thursday
19 March, as part of the launch of the One Grafton Street Urban Gallery
'a super-sized canvas measuring 19m x 43m. The canvas stretches across
the face of One Grafton Street, a building currently being developed by
Hines in London's Mayfair.
The street exhibition, currently the largest in London, includes the work
of the 12 other talented Royal Academy Schools students and former students
who were finalists in the online competition. It provides an unusual and
very prominent platform for the Royal Academy Schools students to profile
their work in central London.
The Urban Gallery is the first expression of Hines' One Spirit Showcase
project, which is intended as a series of collaborations with arts and
cultural organisations. One Spirit Showcase continues Hines' long-standing
commitment to art in general, and to the principle of public art as a
key feature of property development
One Grafton Street Urban Gallery images / information received 190309
Alex Knell's winning work We Are Our Only Future is a digital print on
archival fine art paper. In this work Knell examines the notions of hope
and meaning, which the artist finds lacking in modern society. The work
provides a platform to explore the unexplainable, creating a 'black hole',
to see beyond the vast ocean of scientific data and information that subsumes
us.
Alex Knell is a MA Fine Art student at the Royal Academy Schools in London,
having graduated with first class honours in Fine Art and Art History
from
Goldsmiths College, London in 2000. In 2001, he was chosen by iD Magazine
to appear in a feature Six of the Best Young Artists. His solo show, Guided
By Heroes, curated by Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons was held at
Z33 Museum in Belgium, 2003. Subsequently, Alex has participated in a
number of group shows, more recently in Twilight Suite at the Louise T
Blouin Institute in London in September 2008.
Previously:
TO VOTE ON LONDON’S LARGEST STREET EXHIBITION BY STUDENTS FROM THE
ROYAL ACADEMY SCHOOLS
8 Jan 2009
London’s largest urban gallery to be unveiled in Spring 2009
The Royal Academy Schools and the international real estate company Hines,
launch an online competition inviting members of the public to vote for
their favourite work of art from a raft of talented Royal Academy Schools’
students.
John Lawrence:
The competition can be found on a dedicated website www.onespiritshowcase.com.
The artworks will be exhibited on London’s biggest urban gallery,
which takes the form of a super-sized canvas stretched across the southern
façade of One Grafton Street - a corner building currently under
construction in Central London.
The winning artist will have his or her work displayed on a 14m x 24m
canvas positioned on the building and visible all the way from Piccadilly.
This street exhibition is the first One Spirit Showcase project - a series
of collaborations between Hines’ and cultural organisations. This
collaboration continues Hines’ long-standing commitment to the arts
and provides an unusual platform for the Royal Academy Schools students
to profile their work in Central London.
Nicky Carvel:
Visitors to the One Spirit Showcase website can vote for their preferred
image. Once the public have cast their vote, a distinguished selection
panel of highly regarded contemporary art critics including Maurice Cockrill,
RA; Michael Petry, Curator, Royal Academy Schools Gallery; Gerald Hines;
Kay Saatchi; JJ Charlesworth; John Hoyland, RA; Mark Davy, Futurecity
and Eliza Bonham-Carter, Curator, RA Schools will endorse the decision.
The works of art range from figurative to abstract in a wide range of
different media including paintings, photography, ceramics, prints and
computer-generated pieces.
Peter Holden, Director, Hines UK, commented, “Hines has a legacy
of working with both established and up and coming artists and architects
all over the world. This exciting project enables us to support the exceptional
talent of the Royal Academy Schools’ students and use our development
at One Grafton Street to showcase this work. It is the first in a series
of projects in our UK portfolio that we look forward to developing under
the One Spirit Showcase banner.”
Professor Maurice Cockrill RA, The Keeper of the Royal Academy of Arts,
commented, “My students and I are grateful to Hines for taking such
a creative initiative and offering this chance to collaborate on this
huge public project, that will display their work in a quite spectacular
way, fronting a wrap on One Grafton Street, a corner site in a prestigious
area of Mayfair, Central London. These are remarkable students with the
highest standards of creative energy and diversity, whose imagery will
enhance and enliven this location and become an exciting landmark at this
busy junction.”
Royal Academy Schools students submitted artwork to be part of the Urban
Gallery - coordinated by Michael Petry, Curator, Royal Academy Schools
Gallery and managed by cultural consultants Futurecity and brand developers
Sectorlight.
Dates:
19 December 2008 – online public competition starts - www.onespiritshowcase.com
8 February 2009 – online public competition closes
Spring 2009 – unveiling of street exhibition, the Urban Gallery,
One Grafton Street, London
The One Spirit Showcase is a platform for Hines to support the arts and
other cultural activities connected to its development projects. The Showcase
will help Hines to continue its long-standing commitment to the arts,
supporting both artists and architects. Through its website, the One Spirit
Showcase provides a window for a variety of different art projects including
“The Hines Photographic Scholarship” and the commissioning of
a permanent piece of public art at One Grafton Street. More information
about these will be available as the projects progress - www.onespiritshowcase.com
Royal Academy Schools is an independent establishment that offers the
only three-year, full-time postgraduate course in the UK. As the country’s
oldest art school, it has a strong sense of identity, tradition and community,
having developed continuously since its foundation with the Royal Academy
in 1768. It is regarded throughout the world as a centre of excellence
- www.royalacademy.org.uk/raschools
Hines is an international real estate organisation with a presence in
more than 100 cities worldwide. The firm was incepted in the US in 1958
by Gerald Hines. In half a century at the forefront of developments in
design and the built environment, the company has consistently shown the
depth of its commitment to the highest aesthetic standards. It has been
a strong proponent of the arts, championing a roster of world-class artists
and architects, from Joan Miro to Frank Gehry and working with institutions
including MOMA - www.hines.com.
One Grafton Street is a period building currently undergoing redevelopment
behind an historic retained façade. Designed by architects Hamilton
Associates it will provide modern office, residential and retail accommodation
under the skin of an exquisite Victorian exterior. The building will be
ready for occupation in the Spring of 2010.
Futurecity is a leading cultural consultancy interested in notions of
urbanism and place-making. Its work is embedded in the city and involves
collaborations between artists and other disciplines, including architecture.
Its project managers, curators and policy makers believe successful cultural
masterplanning uses culture to unlock the seductive potential of place
within the built environment – www.futurecity.co.uk
Sectorlight covers branding, design and strategic marketing, exhibitions
and interiors, online marketing and digital imaging. The company has a
range of clients from the professional services sector, corporate, property
and urban regeneration, retail and luxury consumer markets and is consistently
delivering award-winning creative solutions across all of these sectors
- www.sectorlight.com.
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Comments / photos for the One Spirit Showcase London page welcome:
info@e-architect.co.uk
One Spirit Showcase - page: adrian welch
/ isabelle lomholt