LetterXIII | Contemporary Urban Art

There is an interesting upcoming exhibition in Berlin on the 7th october at the Raab Galerie (Berlin).

The London based artist David Hepher started to show his work at galleries more than 45 years ago. It was just a few years later that Charles Saatchi made his first art purchase: A painting by David Hepher. In contrast to that, El Bocho, living and working in Berlin, is relatively new to the commercial art scene. Yet both share a common interest: To portrait their urban living environments in form of large scale canvases and posters. In their works Hepher and El Bocho reflect what they daily see. In Hepher’s case that are multi-story buildings that look depressing and hopeless. Yet Hepher does not intend to make policital statements. He rather investigates what he considers beautiful and fascinating. Hepher’s work rarely shows the human inhabitants and if it does only in miniature form, like looking through windows or leaving their mark on society with graffiti. El Bocho’s main focus though is on the human. His new series ‘Citizen’, shown for the first time, examines fictive and non-fictive characters and refers like Hepher to an urban context. El Bocho’s characters take notice of the urban space and reflect on it, and the combination with typography makes that visible. The thoughts examine daily issues, from desire to politics but also art itself. ‘Citizen’ can be seen as a lightweight critique that perfectly suits the space it is placed in. The thrilling aspect is that ‘Ciziten’ takes part in the gallery space and also on the streets of Berlin, using the same large scale works . El Bocho’s art space and urban space works are strongly connected. To understand his works it is necessary to see the counterpart. So for this reason there will be a photograph of his street work next to the related framed canvases. For his work in the gallery El Bocho uses acryl on canvas, for that on the street acryl on poster. Hepher also uses paint and photography but in a more direct way. On his canvases he creates composition out of sketches, drawings and photographs. In addition Hepher often uses concrete which is applied on the surface of his work.

The connection between their work despite roughly 40 years of age difference is stunning. Both adapted to new ways of expressing and exploring, including unusual techniques and ignoring social conventions.

The exhibit starts at 19h at Raab Galerie - Fasanenstr. 27 - 10719 Berlin.

More Infos here:

Site Raab Galerie
Site El Bocho
Location Raab Galerie
Infos on David Hepher