Remi Rough is one of London's leading street artists and has pioneered collaborations between art-music-fashion. Not only was Remi was recently invited to host the Tate Modern's street art debate and is about to head off to France for a public commission by the museum of Santander, but he has a solo show coming to London: Lost Colours & Alibis.

This is his first major solo show, opening June 12th at the new Shoreditch space Urban Angel, which sees a move away from his graff roots to large scale abstract works based on Homer's classic ‘The Odyssey’ and also coincides with the launch of his first retrospective art book.

Says acclaimed artist and accidental gallerist Pure Evil: "Remi is the bastard son of Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline... With two fathers like that it’s obvious he knows where art is coming from, is now, and is going in the future...  I’m looking forward to seeing where his art goes in the future... probably a residence on Mars or Jupiter perhaps or  even a galaxy far, far from here..." 
 
In fact where Remi is going next is back in time to Homer's 'The Odyssey'. Each of the vibrant, large‐scale canvases is based around a particular story or character from this epic book of poetry. 
 
Rough opens the show fresh from a prestigious commission at the Museum of Santander, France and says even those who have followed his work closely till now will be surprised and challenged by the Urban Angel collection...which is exactly how he likes it:   
 
“There is only a certain distance you can travel with a form or shape before it abstracts ‐ these paintings are the end result of going beyond that initial distance into lands unknown and this is where the reference to the character of Odysseus lies.” 
 
Homer’s masterpiece, dating back to the 16th century, has provided creative inspiration throughout the years and across the arts ‐ from James Joyce (‘Ulysees’, 1922) to The Coen Brothers (‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’, 2000). Like the twists and turns of the best story‐telling, the textures and lines in Remi’s latest artworks are built up from layers.  
 
An early pioneer and chronicler of street art, Rough is always influenced by the city‐scape around him and the sharp, linear edges of ‘Lost Colours...’ reflect the modern architecture of his travels throughout Europe and of course his beloved home town, London.  

The Lost Colours & Alibis show runs from June 12th – July 10th, 2009.

More on Remi Rough at www.roughe.com

CRIME IN THE CITY...

15/10/2008 - 20/11/2008
6:60 pm

Grenade Gallery
212 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 1NR

The infamous REVOK1 comes to London for his debut UK show. 'CRIME IN THE CITY' promises to be one of the most exciting, innovative and original contemporary street art shows of 2008.

The show will be open to the public between the 16.10.08 to 20.11.08

The launch night of the 15.10.08 is strictly by INVITATION ONLY.
 

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Grenade Art is proud to present REVOK, one of the most prolific and important internationally renowned street artists of our time. His debut UK show, ‘Crime in the City’, will take place at the Grenade Gallery on Wednesday the 15th October 2008.

Widely viewed as the best Graffiti writer to have emerged from the United States in recent years, REVOK has enjoyed a very successful international career. From London to Tokyo, his work can be found in both the galleries and the streets of all the major cities of the world.

REVOK’s passion for Graffiti began back in the mid nineteen eighties, taking inspiration from the West Coast’s street art movement and the calligraphy and culture of the L.A gangs. He first became actively involved in the early nineties, painting the streets of his local neighborhood in South L.A. Over the years REVOK has experimented and progressed into many other areas of street art, most notably the painting and manipulation of the large freeway billboards of Southern California.
In December 2007, one of REVOK’s modified billboards advertising an exhibition of Takashi Murakami’s work at the L.A Museum of Contemporary Art was removed.

After his initial frustration at the piece being taken away so soon, REVOK discovered that Murakami himself had seen online photos of the billboard and had admired the new version so much that he ordered it to be taken down and shipped to his private collection in Tokyo. Such tales and exploits have reached folklore status within the street art community and in turn have ensured REVOK to be a major influence to countless artists throughout the world.

Describing his work as a culmination of many different influences, REVOK never limits himself to any one particular style, but seeks to constantly evolve and reinvent himself. He has reinvented the alphabet several times over, giving such life to his letters that they appear to jump off the wall.

REVOK is as real as street art gets. Always aspiring to execute the best possible piece of art, in the best possible location, he embodies the very essence of what real street art is and continues to remind us of where it all came from. Describing himself as competitive and egotistical - ‘all graffiti writers are social rejects and egotistical maniacs… I plan on doing graffiti for as long as I can physically get up and paint a piece or climb a rooftop. ‘