Wireless 2007 promotion @ The Tube

Wireless 2007 promotion @ Trafalgar Square

London's international photography fair

In less than 3 weeks, Photo-london will open its doors from 31 May to 3 June 2007 at Old Billingsgate. The 2007 edition brings together a potent and refreshing mix of 56 exhibitors from 10 countries. Present at the fair will be the work of some 400 international photographers and artists, providing an unprecedented panoramic view of contemporary photography and its development since 1970. Among the special events, there will be a programme of talks bringing together leading international experts to explore the questions of how to build a collection, the evolution of contemporary photography and the influence of photojournalism, the importance and future of the photo-book and the growing interest in non Western photography.

The programme of talks is free of charge with access on a first-come-first-served basis for photo-london visitors and will take place at Old Billingsgate, 1st Floor, from 31 May - 3 June, 2007.

Thursday May 31st

4:00 - 6:00 pm : How to collect contemporary photography
Discussion moderated by Anna Somers-Cocks, Founding Editor of "The Art Newspaper", with :
Francis Hodgson, Head of the Photographs Department, Sotheby's London Jeffrey Boloten, Partner, ArtTactic
Greg Hobson, Curator of Photographs, National Media Museum Bradford William Hunt, Leading Private Collector

Friday June 1st

2:00 - 4:00 pm: The evolution of contemporary photography since 1970
Discussion moderated by Vicente Todoli, Director, Tate Modern, with: Charlotte Cotton, Head of Cultural Programmes at Art + Commerce in New York and author of several books, notably The Photograph as Contemporary Art. Paul Graham, British Photographer , Mark Haworth-Booth, Former Curator of Photography V & A
Marta Gili, Director Jeu de Paume, Paris

4:00 - 6:00 pm : The influence of photojournalism
Discussion moderated by Sophie Wright, Head of Exhibitions and Print Room, Magnum with: Tanya Barson, Exhibitions and Collections Curator, Tate Liverpool
David Campany, Lecturer, University of Westminster
David Hurn, Leading British reportage photographer
Timothy Prus, Director of the Archive of Modern Conflict
This talk is organised in cooperation with the British Journal of Photography

Saturday June 2nd
4:00 - 6:00 pm : Photography Books and the Future of Publishing
Discussion moderated by Gerry Badger, historian and writer with: Irène Attinger, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, Michael Mack, Managing Director of Steidl, Denise Wolff, Commissionning Editor of Photography at Phaidon. Gigi Gianuzzi, Publisher Trolley Books

Sunday June 3rd

4:00 - 6:00 pm: Non Western Contemporary Photography: India,
Discussion moderated by Mark Sealy, founder of Autograph with: Peter Nagy, Founder Nature Morte Gallery, Gayatri Sinha, Independent lecturer, curator and writer, Sunil Gupta, Photographer, curator

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How Shoreditch lost its Mojo

THELONDONPAPER.CO.UK: Is Shoreditch still cool, or have outsiders and rising property prices killed its mojo?

It’s being called variously the new West End, the most cutting-edge corner of London and the latest stag-and-hen-party hell hole.

In five years Shoreditch has metamorphosed from a rundown corner of the city in need of a paint job to the hub of London nightlife.

Where once were tatty warehouses and seedy strip joints now stand champagne bars and luxury apartments.

The Shoreditch Triangle – between Old Street, Great Eastern Street and Shoreditch High Street – is now home to more than 150 bars. And come June, the transformation will be complete when Shoreditch House, a super-slick outpost of the £600-a-year West End members’ club Soho House, will open, complete with a rooftop pool, spa and superluxe bowling alley.

But as the rich kids have moved in, the musicians and artists who gave Shoreditch its edge have moved out.

"No pleasant places"

Once attracted by the low-price loft spaces and drinking holes, now soaring rents and an invasion of revellers from the suburbs are forcing the bohemian element into bolt holes further east.

“There are no pleasant places any more,” complains artist Jethro Haynes, 35, who works in Shoreditch. “It’s so popular here that when somewhere nice does open, it’s immediately mobbed.”

Writer Matt Coleman, 25, now living in Hackney, stopped visiting Shoreditch because “it’s awash with out-of-town Essex stag dos and hen nights – it’s more like Leicester Square now.”

This sentiment is echoed by former regular David Moynihan, the 29-year-old editor of FHM.com, who has since moved up the road to Haggerston.

“I used go out in Shoreditch all the time,” he says. “But I got sick of the stag dos and City boys. Now I drink in quieter places like the Prince George in Haggerston and Broadway Market.”

Most poignantly, Jamie Hornsmith, whose group The Rakes immortalised the Shoreditch area with the hit 22 Grand Job, confesses even they steer clear nowadays.

“When I moved to Shoreditch seven years ago it was the cheapest area I could find,” Hornsmith recalls. “We moved to Victoria Chambers on Curtain Road, which was ridiculously cheap. Massive places sold for £175,000. Now it’s nearer £1 million.”

Indeed, the cost of renting a one-bedroom flat off Great Eastern Street has risen over 65 per cent in the past five years, according to local agent Stirling Ackroyd, while the buying market has risen even more dramatically.

On Paul Street, a 1,000-square-foot two-bed warehouse apartment that sold for £320,000 five years ago has recently gone for £600,000, while cheaper, unconverted properties are now scarce.



"Trust fund students and architects"

Darren Haysom, the manager of the slick, cafe-style Foxtons on Curtain Road (itself a barometer of the area’s new salubrity), admits that most of his customers are “architects, City professionals, wealthy foreign investors and trust-fund students from the nearby fashion college [London College of Fashion on Curtain Road]”.

Older artists such as Karl Hopgood and Mark Wainwright, of the Barbican Arts Trust, have seen their canal-side workshops, which they have lived in – and lovingly renovated – since 1989, sold in the past year to developers.

These developers have now made plans to demolish the building and refuse to commit to relocating the artists.

Studio administrator Wainwright is frustrated at his lack of power to fight the company that has taken over the premises.

“We’ve always been the perfect tenants,” he says. “We’ve paid the rent, we’ve refurbished the building and we have tried to engage them in meetings, all to no avail.”

Resident artist Lucille Montague is equally concerned: “We used to be based in the City and they moved us on for redevelopment. Now, as everyone is pushed east, we are being shut down here too.” Hopgood, a set designer and artist, describes it as “a devastating blow for the artistic community”, and with 3,500 artists on waiting lists for London studios, they have little hope of finding premises.

Meanwhile, the bars that made the area what it was have also struggled both with the new neighbours and a Hackney Council crackdown on licensing.

Vicki Pengilley, owner of the Mother Bar/333 and the Red Lion pub, and founder of the legendary Young British Artists hangout The Bricklayers Arms, was forced to sell the latter in April after residents complained about noise in the street.

The Bricklayers Arms, which, with the nearby Barley Mow, is fondly remembered by former locals for its sunny pavement drinking, is a ­victim of its own success.

“It didn’t used to be so ­residential round here and the pub had been open for over 100 years,” says Pengilley. “I had it for 23. But of course when my customers made the area trendy, everyone wanted to come and live here. They then complained about the people drinking outside and we had to close.”

The Bricklayers Arms now has a new owner who will be opening a far slicker, gastro pub-style venue in its place.Now it is Pengilley’s other venture, the 333/Mother building, which is under threat, with the possibility that it too may lose the late licence that is crucial to profit turning. She awaits a hearing that could mean closing time moves from 5am to 1am.

The explosion in the area’s popularity has gone hand in hand with growing concerns about drugs, crime, and after-hours drinking. Hackney Council and the police have warned more than 50 venues, and club owners have been told to beef up security and cut licensing hours.

Councillor Alan Laing, Cabinet member for Neighbourhoods, says his priority is “balancing the needs of business owners and residents in Hackney”. He adds: “Before introducing the Special Policy Area [which restricts licensing in the Shoreditch Triangle], we consulted residents, business owners and police. This research found the nightlife of Shoreditch needed special treatment to safeguard it ­under licensing legislation.

Pengilley concedes that, following the licensing changes dictated by the Government’s 2003 Licensing Act, it may be time to look for a new area – although she still loves Shoreditch: “We still get a trendy crowd in here,” she says. “Peaches Geldof was here recently. But the original crowd has moved on.”

"All the girls look like models"

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Carla Houston, 31, a photographic retouching producer from Dalston, ­believes the area still has much to offer. “We don’t go to the same bars as we used to,” says Houston. “But it’s still the best area to go to for a big night and there are gems like Charlie Wright’s [on shabby Pitfield Street] and Dreambags [on Kingsland Road].”

The people at Vice Magazine, the irreverent lifestyle manual, chose to open their first pub, The Old Blue Last, in Shoreditch. As one staffer ­explains, Vice thinks the area still has a buzz.

“Beer still doesn’t cost £5 a half, the girls all look like models and the boys are all in some weird band you’ve never heard of,” he says. “There are gallery openings every night and people put on unpredictable events where doing something interesting is as important as getting f***ed.”

But the young and penniless who gave Shoreditch its early appeal have migrated to nearby Haggerston, Dalston and Mile End.

The area around Broadway Market has blossomed, with pubs such as The Dove and the Cat and Mutton (Broadway Market) and The Prince George (Wilton Way) home to east London fashionistas. For late-night dirty drinking and dancing go to The Dolphin on Mare Street, where Kate Moss has been spotted. Low-key cheap gigs take place at Barden’s Boudoir (Stoke Newington High St) and there are events such as BoomBox at The Hoxton Bar and Grill, or openings at Dreambags/Jaguarshoes.

Meanwhile, as the rest of Hackney enjoys the new custom of its former residents, Shoreditch is blossoming ­under the patronage of its ­affluent new locals.

Anna Suznjevic, who runs her own creatives talent agency from Shoreditch and has signed up for Shoreditch House membership, reckons that the smartening up of the areais a positive thing.

“You might not be able to have a pint on the street any more,” she says, “but you will be able to have a martini by the pool. To be honest, I think that’s a good thing.”

Rise and Fall

1997:

The Lux cinema­ opens in Hoxton­ Square, followed­ by the Lux bar and other hangouts such as The Electricity Showroom and Bluu.

1999:

333 club promoter Neil Boorman­ sets up cult fanzine Shoreditch T***, initially as a listings guide, but it develops­ into an irreverent­ look at the east London arts scene.

2000:

Gallery owner Jay Jopling opens the White Cube in a 1920s light-industrial­ building in Hoxton Square.

2003:

The White Cube hosts Romance­ in the Age of Uncertainty, Damien Hirst’s first solo show in London since 1995 featuring an installation called Charity.

2005:

Channel 4 airs Nathan­ Barley, Charlie Brooker­ and Chris Morris’s comedy­ series about an archetypal­ Shoreditch man convinced he is the epitome of urban­ cool.

2007:

Bricklayers Arms sold in April after residents’ complaints about noise from regulars outside. Soho House’s outpost Shoreditch House opens next month.

***

Grizzly Bear @ Scala

Droste has now gathered a band: Christopher Bear (name entirely coincidental) played drums and helped polish ‘Horn of Plenty’ in its final stages; Chris Taylor soon followed the duo post HOP release and was responsible for electronics, woodwinds and bass; Daniel Rossen sang, played guitar and contributed new songs. The line-up was complete, and as a newly-established four piece, they began musical exploration. The music was sweet, and the instrumentation and live show grew in ambition. The songs were remixed by figureheads at the forefront of the electronic music scene: Efterklang, Dntel and Soft Pink Truth.

The new material that comprises ‘Yellow House’ (released on Warp Records on September 4th) puts the band at the vanguard of contemporary song writing. The album was self-recorded during an idyllic summer. The make-shift studio was provided by Droste's mom's living room in a yellow house just off Cape Cod.

Magical, haunting melodies are still their mainstay. Grizzly Bear always craft their songs from start to finish - meticulous instrumentation and arrangements are their specialty. On ‘Yellow House’, Grizzly Bear still flex their lo-fi connoisseurship, but with a better recording - DIY embellished with Taylor's fine sonic engineering acumen. Droste and Rossen share initial song writing duties, although the entire band collaborates to breath life into the tracks.

Grizzly Bear rediscovered “Marla” - a lovely downtrodden waltz written by Droste's great aunt in the 1930s - and rescued it from history and revamped it in signature Grizzly Bear style: with piano, strings, brushed drums and haunting layered voices, dusted over with the faintest hint of electronics. It sounds like a gorgeous day in a dusty attic. Then there is “Little Brother”, a folky guitar piece flanked by flute, and "Lullabye," the sweetest cirrus-cloud-of-a-piece hinged on the hopeful chorus, "Chin up! Cheer up!". The phrase is layered to a massive crescendo of voices, and sounds like a sacred incantation. “Knife” is pure, sublime Grizzly Bear. “Colorado” is an enveloping, sweeping, and dare I say epic-sounding finale to a far-reaching and ambitious album.

Grizzly Bear do not skimp. They're remarkable not just for their attention to detail but for their concern for how a song FEELS: flush with heart and melancholy, their music is seductive and intimate, deep with hazy-eyed choruses, whistles, piano and banjo. They know melody and ambiance are necessary complements. This is experimental mood music with love for classics and standards. It’s the kind of stuff you yearn to crank up when you're lying in bed on a Sunday.

Grizzly Bear now calls Warp Records home. The label is well known for nurturing talents like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Jamie Lidell, Maximo Park, Broadcast and Prefuse 73. Yellow House, will mark the bands debut for the label, melding the guerrilla spirit of the digital age with the classic American songbook.

‘Yellow House’ was released on Warp Records on Sept 4th 2007.

Scala
275 Pentonville Road, King´s Cross, London N1 9NL

Time: 7.00pm
Admission: £10.00 in advance
Tickets: See Tickets – www.seetickets.com / 0115-912-9000 Stargreen – www.stargreen.com / 0207-734-8932 WeGottickets.com Rough Trade Covent Garden

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Jake and Dinos Chapman "When Humans Walked the Earth"

Jake and Dinos Chapman (born in 1962 and 1966 respectively) are among the most significant and best-known contemporary British artists working today. Together they have created an exceptional body of work which draws from all areas of culture including art history, philosophy, artificial intelligence and cybernetic theory.

To coincide with their mid-career exhibition at Tate Liverpool (15 December 2006 – 4 March 2007) they have created this installation especially for Tate Britain. Taking their sculpture Little Death Machine (Castrated) 1993, now in the Tate Collection, as a point of departure, the Chapmans have created a series of improbable machines that emulate human functions such as breathing, thinking or sexual intercourse. In their subversive wit and black humour, the works recall the disturbing sexual fetishism and fascination with dismemberment of the Surrealists.

When Humans Walked the Earth 2007 contests the distinctions we make between man and machine and assumptions about historical progress. Cast in the traditional medium of bronze, these objects evoke the heroic tradition of monumental sculpture. However their scatological imagery, subversive intent and complex associations suggest a sense of impending collapse

Entry to the exhibition is free. It is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue, produced by Tate Liverpool which is the first publication to take an overview of the Chapmans' work to date, and includes working drawings and installation shots relating to the new work.

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OMD @ Hammersmith Apollo

OMD ' Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, namely Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys are reforming and bursting into action. The next two years will see them re-visiting their groundbreaking album 'Architecture & Morality', touring the UK, touring Germany with a 120 piece Orchestra and Choir, creating an audio-visual installation with the award winning artist Peter Savile and a joint live venture with The London Philharmonic Orchestra.

OMD formed in the late 70's and became quickly established as one of the UK's finest left-of-centre groups. Mixing pop with electronic sounds and twisting it with a fine Art sensibility, they created a unique sound and space for themselves in the charts. With art and commerce deftly dealt with, they became massively successful in the 80s all around the world. One of their key releases from that time was their album 'Architecture & Morality'. Originally released in 1981, it sold over 3 million copies, spawned the three massive Top Ten Hits 'Souvenir', 'Joan Of Arc' and 'Maid Of Orleans' (which, incidentally sold 8 million copies between them), and now widely recognized as one of the most influential records in the history of electronic music.

On Monday April 30th 2007 Virgin/EMI will release a special deluxe double pack CD and DVD of a digitally re-mastered 'Architecture and Morality' plus a live DVD of OMD playing the LP at Drury Lane Theatre in 1981.

This will be followed up by a UK tour in May 2007, which will see the original 80's band line up of Andy McCluskey, Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes together again. They will play all of 'Architecture & Morality' live for the first time ever.

Death Disco

Creation Records' Alan McGee and Danny Watson are joined by live bands for Notting Hill Arts Club's defiantly unfashionable punk night. Nothing clever, nothing trendy, nothing ironic: just great live music, and three decades of white-hot punk rock. Shows the electroclash crowd as the soulless posers they really are.

Pete Doherty Blood Paintings @ Bankrobber Gallery

Pete Doherty is like Marmite, it's a love/hate thing. Take his latest creative offering - 14 blood splattered pictures, on show at the Bankrobber Gallery. His penchant for spraying blood over his walls and MTV cameras is well-documented. For most of us the idea is off-putting but fans can snap up a signed print for £2,500. Some will say his bloody creations are soul baring, using the very thing that keeps us alive to show us his true self. Others that it's disgusting and most unhygenic. Either way, it will make the headlines. And perhaps that's the point. Just like the shock tactics of the Sensationalist exhibition back in the 1990s, it seems Kate Moss' boyfriend has succeeded in making us look at his art. Meanwhile, the debate continues over whether he actually has any talent.

O2 Festival 2007

Following the huge success of the O2 Wireless Festival 2006, the festival with style is back for 2007. Returning to London's Hyde Park for 4 days of live music, we are proud to announce that the sensational White Stripes, the incredible Faithless, the mighty Kaiser Chiefs and legendary duo Daft Punk will all be headlining.

Joining them will be Queens of the Stone Age, Kelis, Air, LCD Soundsystem, CSS, Just Jack, Badly Drawn Boy, Rakes, Editors and the Cribs to name a few!

The O2 Wireless Festival takes place in one of the capitals most beautiful green spaces, we want to keep it that way! This year we are committed to making the festival greener; reducing our carbon emissions acrosss the whole festival organisation.

H A Y M A R K E T H O T E L - O P E N E D 1st M A Y 2 0 0 7

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