Underdogs
26 Nov 2010 - 15 Jan 2011
UNDERDOGS
Mar | Ram | Sphiza | Tosco | Adres | ± | Obey | Smart Bastard | Alexandre Farto Aka Vhils | Kusca
Opening * 26th November 2010 * 10.00 pm
Vera Cortês, Art Agency, Av.24 de Julho, 54-1oesq, Lisbon
26.11.2010 – 15.01.2011 / Tuesday to Saturday / 2.00pm – 7.00pm
Graffiti, Urban Art, Street Art, Contemporary Visual Culture.
The public space of the cities we live in is saturated with visual and graphic noise. In the last few years, the emergence of new intervenients who play with the complexity of reoccupation and reinterpretation of that given space, has brought forth new aesthetic propositions which are important to recognise and validate. Despite the simplicity of these designations hiding a complex reality and bringing together distinctively plural phenomena, the convergence of some of its agents with the established dimension of contemporary art has generated a new dynamics, which the birth of the Underdogs project aims to foster.
Underdogs is a platform that aims at creating space within the contemporary art scene for both national and international artists connected with the new languages of urban art. It invests in the support for action, exhibiting and reflection, fostering the work of creators whose activity has been limited to an alternative and enclosed circuit, promoting its opening up and recognition, reflecting with precision an important segment of contemporary visual and graphic culture. In a long term perspective it aims to create and establish partnerships and interactions between cultural agents and artists, both national and international.
The Underdogs project presents its first public action at the Vera Cortês Art Agency, in Lisbon, Portugal, with the participation of the artists ±, Adres, Kusca, Mar, Obey, Ram, Smart Bastard, Sphiza, Tosco and Vhils. The exhibition brings together works of some of the major Portuguese personalities connected with the new graphic and visual expression produced within the urban context, promoting its contextualisation within the international urban art scene. POW collaboration In collaboration with London studio “Pictures On Walls”, a selection of artist editions by some of the most renowned names of the international urban art scene will also be on display, including: Mode2, Steve Powers, Parra, Sam3 and Blu.
www.under-dogs.net The occasion will also mark the launching of the Underdogs online base, at www.under-dogs.net. The website will serve as interface between the public and the platform, conveying communications regarding its several projects, connections to the various agents and the sale of several exclusive products:
Original, limited-edition screen prints; editions by artists connected with the project; books, both published by Underdogs or in partnership with other agents (readily available is the recent “Alexandre Farto / Vhils - Selected Works 2005-2010”, that focuses on the artist's last five years of work); a selection of editions by artists connected with the street/guerrilla scene of Bogota, Colombia.
Underdogs book During the period of the exhibition, the launching of the Underdogs book will also take place. The book takes a close look at the project, outlining a contextualisation of the Portuguese urban art scene and profiling the artists included in the exhibit. The book is a project researched and written by Miguel Moore, journalist and author connected to urban art, and art direction and graphic design by Miguel Januário, designer and urban artist. The event will also count on a DJ Set by Orelha Negra. Details concerning the event will soon be made available.
Mar | Ram | Sphiza | Tosco | Adres | ± | Obey | Smart Bastard | Alexandre Farto Aka Vhils | Kusca
Opening * 26th November 2010 * 10.00 pm
Vera Cortês, Art Agency, Av.24 de Julho, 54-1oesq, Lisbon
26.11.2010 – 15.01.2011 / Tuesday to Saturday / 2.00pm – 7.00pm
Graffiti, Urban Art, Street Art, Contemporary Visual Culture.
The public space of the cities we live in is saturated with visual and graphic noise. In the last few years, the emergence of new intervenients who play with the complexity of reoccupation and reinterpretation of that given space, has brought forth new aesthetic propositions which are important to recognise and validate. Despite the simplicity of these designations hiding a complex reality and bringing together distinctively plural phenomena, the convergence of some of its agents with the established dimension of contemporary art has generated a new dynamics, which the birth of the Underdogs project aims to foster.
Underdogs is a platform that aims at creating space within the contemporary art scene for both national and international artists connected with the new languages of urban art. It invests in the support for action, exhibiting and reflection, fostering the work of creators whose activity has been limited to an alternative and enclosed circuit, promoting its opening up and recognition, reflecting with precision an important segment of contemporary visual and graphic culture. In a long term perspective it aims to create and establish partnerships and interactions between cultural agents and artists, both national and international.
The Underdogs project presents its first public action at the Vera Cortês Art Agency, in Lisbon, Portugal, with the participation of the artists ±, Adres, Kusca, Mar, Obey, Ram, Smart Bastard, Sphiza, Tosco and Vhils. The exhibition brings together works of some of the major Portuguese personalities connected with the new graphic and visual expression produced within the urban context, promoting its contextualisation within the international urban art scene. POW collaboration In collaboration with London studio “Pictures On Walls”, a selection of artist editions by some of the most renowned names of the international urban art scene will also be on display, including: Mode2, Steve Powers, Parra, Sam3 and Blu.
www.under-dogs.net The occasion will also mark the launching of the Underdogs online base, at www.under-dogs.net. The website will serve as interface between the public and the platform, conveying communications regarding its several projects, connections to the various agents and the sale of several exclusive products:
Original, limited-edition screen prints; editions by artists connected with the project; books, both published by Underdogs or in partnership with other agents (readily available is the recent “Alexandre Farto / Vhils - Selected Works 2005-2010”, that focuses on the artist's last five years of work); a selection of editions by artists connected with the street/guerrilla scene of Bogota, Colombia.
Underdogs book During the period of the exhibition, the launching of the Underdogs book will also take place. The book takes a close look at the project, outlining a contextualisation of the Portuguese urban art scene and profiling the artists included in the exhibit. The book is a project researched and written by Miguel Moore, journalist and author connected to urban art, and art direction and graphic design by Miguel Januário, designer and urban artist. The event will also count on a DJ Set by Orelha Negra. Details concerning the event will soon be made available.