London/Stolenspace Part 1

Day 1... I got into London in the morning, after a 14 hour travel day. That flight from California is pretty brutal. Luckily D*Face picked me up from Heathrow- just the beginning of all the London hospitality I received on my trip.

I asked him to take me on the scenic route into London. Saw the changing of the guard through D*Face's windshield. And saw a Magpie which I have to say, excited me. Kinda like a black and white crow..


My hotel was on Brick Lane a short walk from Stolenspace. My room had a great view west of the Gherkin. I think I took a three hour nap right after this photo was taken. I didn't get used to London time until the last two days.


Later when I got to the gallery Tab and Jamie were working on my screenprint. This is the first 5 color print I've worked on and the whole Stolenspace crew did a great job.


Met Word To Mother... super nice guy, great art, and he has a crazy studio... going to interview him for Fecal Face- stay tuned...


3 wheeled car? Are these available in the states?


Dinner at a local pizza place... everyone made me feel at home, and the food was good. "Rocket" a green leafy veggie (which I found later is arugula) was on everything and I loved it. The gallery crew plus Conor Harrington and Chloe Early showed up. Thanks guys, for making me feel at home.


Back at my hotel I noticed a blank plywood wall down below..... hanging out with all these artists got me thinking about graffiti and doing a little work in the streets..


But instead I decided to take a 1AM walk down to Tower Bridge to see some of the landmarks in the London night. This city is amazing, and I felt perfectly safe walking around solo until 3am.


They have different candy bars. Cadbury seems to be the dominant chocolate maker... good late night fuel for putting up stickers.


Day 2... Back at the gallery we arranged the work and Beth hung the show. I signed the prints, then bought some art supplies and started thinking about painting around Brick Lane.


I hung out with Sven from Arrested Motion (pictured on the left) most of the day. He had just interviewed Chloe and Conor who have studios in the Brewery complex. (Just today I finally went by their show in Los Angeles at Kinsey DesForges, their work really needs to be seen in person. Wow! It's so good!) Sven has an article or two about the day here: Jeff Soto at Stolenspace 2009


In the afternoon I decided to paint the plywood wall across the street. It was the first thing I've painted outside in a while, I was a bit rusty, and decided to do it all in brushes and rollers. No one asked me if I had permission, maybe painting in broad daylight, no one thought to ask. I took this shot as I had to run up to my room and get some more supplies... Sven's process pics.


In the evening I crashed, my body exhausted and still screwed up from jet lag. I woke at 2am and started working on the six hand colored prints. Candy bars kept me going for a couple hours. Mars Planets are so good, and Word To Mother bought me a proper English candy I'd never heard of, a Flake. Crunchie was pretty good too. I used the back of a bookshelf I found in my room as a flat surface to paint on.


Day 3... This was the day before my opening so I decided to paint some more murals. Took some photos on my walk down Brick Lane.



Conor's landmark mural off Brick Lane.


Chocolate croissant.. you can get these anywhere but the little shop next door had very good ones.


A shot of D*Face's art supplies. He is working on his next show and things are looking pretty amazing- I am sworn to secrecy...


Kit Kat Dark- they don't have these in America!


I started painting on a big metal door around the corner. This led to some adventures, more in part 2.


KitKat Chunky Peanut Butter... yum. Yeah I like candy as you can see...


I started another mural near the gallery but before I knew it it was getting dark and cold. I'd have to finish the next day.


Ended the night with some British cooking and spinach and cheese pie!


Day 4.... My opening was later in the evening so my priority was to finish the to murals I had started and get interviewed as I painted.

Cute mousey faced cat on the way to get a bagel. Made me miss our cat Nacho.


A wall piece by someone. I like that it's painted by brush on bricks and seemingly illegally.


I think D*Face has the best taste in candy bars- after he found out I was trying all the English candy he got me these. Mmmm, Drifter was so good. And Topic too. Hazelnuts and chocolate. How come we don't have these in the states??!!


I had press interviews today, they took my photo, so I did the same back to them. I will try and find their interviews and post them in here when I get a chance.


This guy had some of the best tattoo work of my art that I've ever seen.



I didn't finish the two murals today, but got them almost done. Opening was awesome, I love my fans and everyone who came out to say hi. Here's some photos I took at the opening and after...


Slept good that night and woke the next morning to do a little touristing and complete the two murals I had started... London Part 2 coming... eventually....

London!

I am back and it was great fun, great people, great food and I made a lot of art! I am decompressing after being away for a week, many things to catch up on, but will get some images up here soon! Thanks London and thanks D*Face and thanks Stolenspace!

Jeff Soto- "The Inland Empire" at StolenSpace, London

Hey all, I am off to London in a few weeks for my first UK solo show, come and check it out. Interested buyers should contact info@stolenspace.com I am also doing a book signing- more info to come. Here is the press release. Thanks, Jeff

Jeff Soto
‘The Inland Empire’
14th May - 07th June 2009
StolenSpace, London


StolenSpace are proud to present Californian artist and icon of the current pop art scene, Jeff Soto, in his inaugural Uk solo exhibition ‘The Inland Empire’.

This show will feature over twenty new paintings on wood panel and paper, as well as large-scale outdoor installations. The opening will see the release of a limited edition hand pulled screen print and Soto will be signing copies of his newly published book ‘Storm Clouds’.

‘The Inland Empire’ is a politically charged exhibition focusing on the theme of recession in the area in which the artist lives and how it reflects what is happening all over the world. Conceptually it is the next step of Soto’s hugely successful and critically acclaimed museum exhibit at the Riverside Art Museum, “Turning In Circles” in December 2008. Being in Riverside, his home town for the last 24 years, he knew it had to relate somehow to this city that has molded him and made me who he is.

“The region I live in is called the Inland Empire. It is an area about 50 miles east of Los Angeles nestled between the desert and the mountains. Overall it is a low-income area, mostly suburbs and manufacturing plants with a high minority population. When the economy was booming the Inland Empire grew at a fast rate as people headed east, unable to afford homes in Los Angeles. It was one of the fastest growing areas in the U.S. But when the economy crumbled the Inland Empire was hit hard. As home values dropped most who bought houses ended up backwards on their mortgages and let them fall back to the banks. We have lost 115,000 jobs since 2007 and the unemployment rate is near 12%. I see the Inland Empire as a miniature version of what is happening around the world- poor people and the working class are getting poorer and disempowered while the rich and powerful are getting more rich and more powerful.”

Visually Soto’s style is inspired by science fiction, childhood toys, the colorful lifestyle of skateboarding and graffiti, hip-hop and popular culture. Filled with symbols of life and death- flowers, skulls, greenery and dead weeds. Military hardware, bombs, planes, and guns make an appearance. Landscape is also important, in particular the desert like rolling hills of the Inland Empire interspersed with oil well “grasshoppers” and telephone poles reaching into the distance. The ‘eye candy’ colors and objects draw the viewer in to a deeper, more serious subject matter.

Environmental issues also take precedent for Soto, who is concerned with conflict of humans trying to harness, or take advantage of nature. His paintings exude this tension, as robotic creatures duel, organic tentacles and flower bouquets thrive, and black smog looms amidst floating, ominous skulls.

“I approach the same global issues as many of the other artists working today but choose to voice my opinion in a more subdued way. There are always social, political and environmental issues apparent in my paintings; I guess I’d rather make viewers think about things, rather than tell them how to think.”


About StolenSpace:
StolenSpace gallery exhibits a genre of work that has been variously labelled as 'Underground Art', 'Street Art' or even 'Urban Art'. None of these terms satisfactorily represent our artists’ work and so we prefer not to pigeonhole it. Some of our artists have a background in graffiti and street art, but not exclusively - all however, are influenced by society‘s prevailing subcultures.

We are an artist run gallery which in itself is unusual; ensuring that we keep our artists’ best interests at heart, and that we remain close to the creative process. Based in the heart of East London, our permanent gallery space is situated in the Old Truman Brewery complex on Brick Lane. Our location gives us a unique ability to hold large scale exhibitions in stunning industrial spaces, fitting for our artists’ work. For example, for Shepard Fairey’s landmark show ‘Nineteeneightyfouria’ in November 07, we took on a 25,000 sq ft space, making us the largest private gallery in London.

StolenSpace
The Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
T:0207 247 2684 E:info@stolenspace.com