6 June: Stefanos Rokkos - “Revert to Disarray: Life After Horror & Romance”

Charting the space between acuity and confusion, detail and dissolution, contemporary Greek painter Stefanos Rokos arrives in London with his first UK show. It's a world you've already spent some time in, I suspect. You turn your back on a compelling stranger only to find just colours, smoke, and memories. Any. Friday. Night. And who doesn't smile in recollection of that near riot down the guitar bar? Sure, your friends will be along presently, little punctures in the chaos, and yet that sense of an ending gathers, reflected in the waiting lenses arrayed across the room.

In these works the senses will meet their match. Details are perceived, yet evade our grasp. Women might be muses, imperilled, but always fatales. Men find safety in numbers, hoping to cope with the fantastical. And music is ever present, filling each silent canvas as we revert then, to disarray.

Alexander Mayor

 

 

Live Performances in the gallery every Thursday:

• 6/06 : Matt Friedberger solo (The Fiery Furnaces)
• 13/06 : Stef Kamil Carlens solo (Zita Swoon Group)
• 20/06 : Alexanders Festival Hall
• 27/06 : Piney Gir

All the acts that will be performing during these four weeks had also participated in the making of "Horror & Romance on Another Planet", the music compilation that Stefanos Rokos curated and released instead of an art catalogue for his last solo show in Athens three years ago. Lead by previous collaborations and/or friendship, he had then asked artists that he knew and admired to compose and record music inspired by his work.



MATTHEW FRIEDBERGER
Half of New York's The Fiery Furnaces, inventive, absurd and as prolific as one can be (last year he completed his 8 lps solo box set as well as an original instrumental motion picture soundtrack for a non-existent horror film), Matthew Friedberger will be presenting his custom made compositions inspired by the exhibition.


STEF KAMIL CARLENS
Key figure in bands like dEUS and Kiss My Jazz during the 90's, Stef Kamil Carlens from Antwerp, Belgium, soon chose to focus on his very own special project, the band/collective now called Zita Swoon Group. From the early days of Moondog Jr to the contemporary stage performance of "Dancing With The Sound Hobbyist" and his recent collaboration with traditional West African musicians, though, he still remains a dedicated singer-songwriter too, often showcasing his intimate one-man live thing in it's simplest form.


ALEXANDER'S FESTIVAL HALL
Former Baxendale member and long time Piney Gir collaborator, Alex Mayor (aka Alexander's Festival Hall) just released his very first brand new full length personal album called "Not a dry eye in London"!


PINEY GIR
Born in Kansas, USA, but based in London for around over a decade now, Angela Penhaligon has been playing (and possibly making) music since the age of four. Her unique taste on pop and country led her from her first record "Peakahokahoo" in 2004, to "The Yearling", to the Piney Gir Country Roadshow touring band, to the "Jesus Wept" and her latest "Geronimo!" lp produced by Los Angeles' Rob Campanella.

* Thanks Katerina S. for the information!