Ghost Mews Project / 10

Agents of Change at the Mews 42 Gallery. www.mews42.com/

INSTALLATION featuring : DERM, JUICE,LX.one, Remi/Rough, Jason System, Steve Mor, Timid ...

MEWS 42 Gallery, 42, Princes Gate Mews, London SW7 2PR

One of the main themes is the number 10. The main wall uses 10 colours. Juice 126 created his own set of Rorschach 'inkblots' in spray paint as there are officially ten images in the test. LX One used the Tetractys of the Pythagoreans. Derm was based in Base 10 and the decimal system. Timid inspired by the decagonal number and I went for the Ten Heavenly Stems. 

The Ten Heavenly (sy)Stems

In China around 1600BC, the Shang Dynasty belived there were ten suns. These Celestial Stems, or Heavenly Stems were given their own names. There are nine individual system characters sketches that join up to create 'Jiǎ' the main character who represents the first of the Heavenly Stems. The canvas is spray painted within our ten colour limit then the thin calligraphy paper glued on top to show the colour through the paper. It's a bit delicate, so I probably won't be trying that experiment again.

Ten Kimonos

The Heian period of Japan was a time of art and culture, they had some unique customs and the style of Kimonos and ceremony really took shape.. Noble women would wear 'Juni-Hitoe'. They are the 'twelve layers' of Kimono. Every detail was important, the arrangment and colour, to represent the seasons, virtues and elements of the earth. The makeup was also very unusual and can often be seen on the Noh theatre masks. I love this era, the golden age of Japan, its so over the top. (And this style shows up a lot in the court scenes of any of the 'Chūshingura' movies. The tale of the 47 Loyal Retainers. I love Jidaigeki movies and especially Chambara.)
I decided to do 'Ten Kimonos' for the show. I buffed some graff off a canvas board and then illustrated with acrylic on top within the ten colour limit. Tried to let the scratched off textures show through as much as possible. (which is why there is a little too much space on top, I couldn't bring myself to paint over the texture) The orange and blue really clash in the flesh.

More photos of the show here on Remi's Flickr and maybe here if you have permission