Post No Bills: European Bailout Show

POST NO BILLS will host an opening reception for “The European Bailout Show” on July 28th from 7-10pm. The group show will feature new print editions by Anthony Micallef, Conor Harrington, Ian Francis, Jonathan Yeo, JR, Mode 2, Paul Insect, Stanley Donwood, Vhils and Zevs.

The show will run from July 28th to August 28, 2011.

About the artists:

ANTONY MICALLEF
Following epic sell-out shows in London and Los Angeles, Antony Micallef’s artwork has graced the walls and colonnades of the Royal Academy and inspired collaborations with the Tate Modern in London. Micallef quickly emerged as one of the UK’s most sought after contemporary celebrated charcoal and oil paintings transform iconic logos, symbols and motifs into striking commentaries on the vacuous nature of today’s consumerist society.

CONOR HARRINGTON
Hailing from Cork Ireland, Conor Harrington has gained notoriety around the globe with a unique style that straddles the line between his graffiti roots and fine art, resulting in energetic large-scale works of art. A top-notch draftsman with pencil, charcoal, spray-can and oil brush—his images evoke themes of masculinity, conquest and power—with a one-of-a-kind style that mixes opposing elements of intense realism with bold slices of abstract color.

JONATHAN YEO
The self-taught, world-renowned portraiture Jonathan Yeo’s success has grown exponentially in recent years. Following the cancellation of a presidential commission, Yeo retaliated and gained international attention by creating a collage of George W. Bush made entirely from pornographic magazines. He began exhibiting his subversive collages and paintings at breakout shows in London, New York and Los Angeles. In addition to his own work, Jonathan has gained praise as the lead curator of the Soho House art collection worldwide.

JR
The game-changing Parisian street artist known as JR uses his camera to show the world its true nature, by pasting colossal photos of faces across massive canvases. Spanning from the favelas of Rio, the shantytowns of Kenya, and the slums of India, these images commonly extol local residents of turbulent and impoverished neighborhoods. JR’s humanitarian work as a Robin Hood-like guerrilla artist and filmmaker earned him the honor of the 2011 Ted Prize. JR is currently globetrotting, spreading his TED Prize wish “to use art to turn the world inside out”.

IAN FRANCIS
Bristol-born Ian Francis fuses abstraction, figurativism, and elements of both painting and drawing to
create wildly original mixed-media works on canvas. Drawing inspiration from television,
pornography, popular culture and randomly sampled images off the Web, his intimate figures, far-
reaching backdrops and mainstream motifs explore the hedonistic nature of everyday life.

PAUL INSECT
London based artist, Paul Insect drew instant acclaim for his pioneering of “steampunk”, a mixture of Victorian Gothic and futuristic themes. He gained notoriety for his 2007 solo exhibition “Bullion” at Lazarides’ Soho Gallery after Damien Hirst reportedly purchased the entire show days before it opened. Insect, worked alongside Banksy at the Cans Festival, Santas Ghetto and on the separation wall in Palestine. Paul’s work has evolved exponentially in recent years – from Victorian graphics to Dada-esque collages. As evident in his work’s rawness and explosive colors and his steadily growing fan base, Insect’s aggressive style truly sets him apart.

MODE 2
Mode2, one of the founding members of the Chrome Angelz, is best known for striking a balance between traditional graffiti and cartoon-like characters to realistic human figures. Known as ‘the thinking man’ of the British graffiti movement, his unique body of work, currently exhibited at the MOCA’s ART IN THE STREETS exhibition, have earned the highest of praise. While many of his contemporaries pull fragments from multimedia images and newsprint, Mode drafts his signature urban figures with the movement of his hand.

STANLEY DONWOOD
Stanley earned adoration as Radiohead’s ‘sixth member’ and key designer of their album art. His wildly original work veers from propagandist graphics to introspective illustrations – a combination of deeply personal and political themes mixed with modesty and humor. Donwood accepted a 2001 Grammy Award along side Thom Yorke for packaging a limited edition of the album Amnesiac. In addition to his inspired visuals, Donwood also maintains his own website, slowlydownward.com, which showcases short stories and various published writing.

VHILS
Portuguese-born Vhils is equally passionate about generating a body of work on the streets and in the studio. He is best known for his experimentation with a variety of unexpected media and techniques on found materials, including chiseling and applying corrosives to etch portraits on walls. Billboards are torn to make fresh images and plaster is drilled away until the remaining relief forms the work. Vhils’ art is poetic, complex and truly original using destructive methods to bring meaningful images to life.

ZEVS
Parisian born Zevs (pronounced ‘Zeus’) is named after a train that nearly killed him while tagging up the Paris underground years ago. He since has become known for his unique ‘liquidation’ process, which involves altering the logos of major corporations such as McDonald’s, Nike, Louis Vuitton and Chanel. By dripping the logos he renders with paint, Zevs alters all-too-familiar symbols of popular culture to create the illusion they are ‘liquidating’. Using the city streets as his canvas, Zevs’ many years of ‘visual attacks’ on numerous billboards, buildings and light boxes have drawn controversy and acclaim.

POST NO BILLS
1103 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice Beach, CA 90291
310.399.2928
Tuesday – Sunday: 11am – 7pm
Monday: By Appointment Only