Stuart Haygarth is amazing and he's having a show at Haunch of Venison in London

In his first exhibition at Haunch of Venison London, British artist and designer Stuart Haygarth examines his ongoing relationship with abandoned objects and his fascination with taxonomy through a series of new furniture works, lamps and chandeliers. Alongside artists such as the Campana Brothers (that I adore) Stuart challenges notions of new and old, precious and beautiful.

The show is amazing, I love it. Go and see it, it will be running until 31 January 2010.

More info on: www.haunchofvenison.com

Haunch of Venison in London

I just wanted to come back in time and flag up the opening of the beautiful space of gallery Haunch of Venison at 6 Burlington Gardens, in London.

Haunch of Venison launched its new London exhibition programme with a group exhibition acknowledging the building’s previous role as the Museum of Mankind.

Turning the 21,500ft² gallery into a giant cabinet of curiosities, Mythologies, which is the first exhibition, features work by over 40 international artists, including major figures such as Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Sophie Calle, Christian Boltanski, Tony Cragg, Kiki Smith, Cai Guo Qiang, Bill Viola, Keith Tyson and Damien Hirst, alongside emerging talents such as Carlos Amorales, Jamie Shovlin and Nicholas Hlobo.

© Polly Morgan 2. Photo. Peter Mallet, courtesy Haunch of Venison

Evoking the uncanny and extraordinary, as seen in historic anthropological and archaeological collections such as the Pitt Rivers, Hunterian, Petrie, Horniman and Sir John Soane’s Museums,
Mythologies traces a labyrinthine journey of discovery whilst invoking a sense of wonder and mystery in one of the most ambitious group exhibitions ever mounted in London by a private gallery.

Bill ViolaSmall Saints, 2008Colour High-Definition video polyptych on six OLED flat panels mounted on shelf15 Inch Screen(HV22671)

Between 1970 and 1998, 6 Burlington Gardens housed the British museum’s ethnographic collections and staged exhibitions on subjects ranging from the Mexican Day of the Dead to Japanese Kites. With exhibiting artists from Europe, North and South America, Asia, India, Africa and the Middle East, Mythologies reflects upon the original ambition of the Museum of Mankind to explain the world and its myriad cultures.

The Haunch of Venison London exhibition programme at Burlington Gardens will focus on both newly commissioned and historically important work from gallery artists, alongside shows from younger, emerging artists largely unseen in London. The exhibitions will be part of the gallery’s broader international programme in London, Zürich, Berlin and New York. Further details on the exhibition programmes are to be announced later in the year.

The launch party was well attended by a crowd made of Ron Arad, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Matthew Williamson, Jude Law and I really enjoyed it etc... Bill Viola's artworks were amazing but that's only my opinion...

To learn more: http://www.haunchofvenison.com/

Gajin Fujita and his Pacific Tsunami at Haunch of Venison, London

Gajin Fujita Cinco de Mayo 2007

Copyright: Gajin Fujita 2008Courtesy: Haunch of Venison

Gajin Fujita
Pacific Tsunami at Haunch of Venison


25 April 2008 – 24 May 2008


Japanese-American artist Gajin Fujita is to present a series of new panel paintings and works on paper in Pacific Tsunami, his first UK solo show at Haunch of Venison London.


Born and raised in LA, Fujita’s work is greatly informed by the artist’s own cultural heritage and background - large-scale paintings present graffiti overlaid with stylised geisha women, samurai warriors, flowers and animals, motifs from contemporary Japanese cartoons and imagery from American Hip-Hop culture.


As with traditional graffiti the works are produced in layers; semi-precious metals including white gold and gold leaf are applied to wooden panels. These are then obliterated with graffiti, spray-painted by the artist and his crew who contribute with their tags and bombs, more usually seen daubed over empty walls and adorning public transport throughout the city. Finally, a composition of stencilled figures, animals and motifs inspired by traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e imagery and is laid over the top.

Gajin Fujita Wet 2007
Copyright: Gajin Fujita 2008Courtesy: Haunch of Venison

Dating back to the early 17th century, the woodblock imagery of Ukiyo-e sought to express an idealisation of contemporary urban life and typically depicts city life, featuring beautiful courtesans, bulky sumo wrestlers and actors. Fujita’s stenciled and hand-drawn figures also relate directly to Shunga, a branch of Ukiyo-e which sought to express sexual desire, and some of the figures in Fujita’s works brazenly present sexually explicit acts and pornographic imagery.

Gajin FujitaBlue Dragon's Head 2007 Copyright: Gajin Fujita 2008 Courtesy: Haunch of Venison

The stencils used in the works are most often fashioned by the artist, created from cut-out drawings that he makes on paper. Once the painting to which each is allied has been completed, Fujita continues to work on these studies to give them independent stature. The exhibition will include a selection of both small and large scale works on paper.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with a text on the artist’s new body of work from critic Pernilla Holmes. The exhibition, Las Vegas Diaspora: Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland curated by Dave Hickey, includes work from Gajin Fujita, and is on view at the Laguna Art Museum until 1 June 08.

To learn more: http://www.haunchofvenison.com/