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THE NEW GRAND TOUR: An Episodic Exhibition & Documentary Art Project

2008-04-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

The New Grand Tour is an episodic art project featuring revolving guest artists with hyphenated cultural and geographical backgrounds. The artists and documentary crew travel together to different parts of the globe and express through art exhibitions the subject matter of the towns and cultures they visit.

The goal of The New Grand Tour in the early 21st Century is to bring together the diversified voices of artists and communities from around the world by bridging cultural divides through art and the moving image as the common grounds for communication, education, discovery, exchange, philanthropy and collaboration.

Our mission is to redefine, revive, change and reinvent the old concept of "The Grand Tour" to be more than just an 18th and 19th century privileged trip for the elite. We seek to interact with foreign cultures in an appreciative and organic way rather than as touring voyeurs.

The New Grand Tour Group was founded by Rey Parlá, José Parlá, Suitman, Julia F. Kwan and Mark Foster.

Beijing Security for Opening Night

Jose Parla's Shangri-La inspired watercolors

Davi Russo's photo wall

The New Grand Tour Crew & Tan Dynasty Brother and HK Mayor Fed T.

Brothers in Arms: HK Mayor Fed & Film Director Alexi Tan

DJ Rage Johnson of the InkHeads & Agent Intellect coordinating the show's after party across the street.

Beijing beauty...

Peking city lights

Jose Parla absorbing the scenery for new works

Rage Johnson + King of The New Grand Tour after party...

Jane, Grace and Li-Ting start to kidnap the DJ

Photography by Davi Russo
Design by Chris Rubino

To read more of The New Grand Tour Story visit [ reyparla ]

Click here to see the video trailer of The New Grand Tour Documentary Work-In-Progress.

Location and Event Date Info:

THE NEW GRAND TOUR
Suitman / José Parlá / Rostarr / Deanne Cheuk / Davi Russo

EXHIBITION OPENING
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
8:00 to 11:00PM

BRAVE
2 Jiuxianqiao Rd
Dashanzi Art District, Chaoyang District,
Beijing, China

R.S.V.P.
jason_lam@diesel.com
852.2167.1627

Special Thanks to Fed Tan and his amazing Diesel Teams in Hong Kong & Beijing for making this event possible. With their generosity, patience and open understanding the artists and producers have been able to create this unique exhibition and documentary project.

LOCKED & LOADED

2008-04-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

Jose Parla: Memory Documents

2008-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

G A L L E R I A + I L + T R I F O G L I O N E R O

JOSÉ PARLÁ: MEMORY DOCUMENTS

March 28th – May 10th 2008

The Galleria Il Trifoglio Nero is delighted to announce an exhibition of new works by José Parlá to mark the occasion of his first show in Italy.

“Parlá is fascinated with how the city constructs itself and functions as a palimpsest, upon which the experiences of those who pass through are materially inscribed on decaying walls.

He sees the city as a vertical grid, from the bridges, to the streets, down to the subterranean warrens of train tunnels, pipes and wires connecting to people living life inside apartments. The construction of the city and the passing of time find their equivalent in the way he attacks a painting, how he sees the need to layer his surfaces the way the city itself is layered.”

“As Parlá himself explains in conversation with his brother Rey “I call my works ‘Memory Documents’ because they become fragments of places I’ve been through. I am not only using paint to create my paintings, but I am also collecting bits of paper from walls, old newspapers, chunks of materials from the street or subway stations to reuse as collage onto my own surfaces and rework them until the colours of mould, rust and deterioration are right for the composition. The process may take weeks or months.” Manon Slome, Curator | The Chelsea Art Museum

“In 2005 I had the opportunity to participate in an exhibition by curator Manon Slome of the Chelsea Art Museum and Italian artist Mimmo Rotella. At the museum I installed two paintings – at wall size – both being the sum of 75ft. Together they are titled: Conversations with Rotella.

One painting was Tremont Ave and the second Canal Street. Tremont Ave, the painting – was inspired by walls in the Bronx Avenue of the same name. This piece is layered with posters collected from streets in the Bronx covered in names and signatures made in the style of people who have either passed away or are artist I once looked up to while growing up.

The idea is to pay homage to their names. Each painting bears the name of the location or experience from which it draws its source.” —José Parlá

José Parlá is a Miami native of Cuban descent. Parlá moved to Puerto Rico at a very early age before returning to Miami again when he was nine. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Parlá’s paintings have been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions: Cityscapes at Art Basel Miami Beach, Pirate Utopias with Futura at Elms Lesters Painting Rooms in London, The Chelsea Art Museum in New York where his work was exhibited with Mimmo Rotella, and most recently in Hong Kong for The New Grand Tour exhibition and video project with artists: Deanne Cheuk, Suitman and Rostarr.

A fully illustrated catalogue featuring texts by
Francesco Sborgi and Greg Tate will accompany the exhibition.

Gallery hours : Tuesday – Saturday 14.30-19.30
Galleria Il Trifoglio Nero
Palazzo Ducale
Piazza Matteotti 80-82
Genova, 16123, Italy
www.iltrifoglionero.com

SPIEGEL WORLD: FEATURING RAPHAELLE BOITEL & FRIENDS

2008-01-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

Just saw this show the other night; truly magnificent work by all the performers. The entire presentation, atmosphere and scene sketches are superb and a joy to watch. Warning, it is a very interactive show, but definitely not to be missed by all family members and close friends. Don't miss it. The circus like cabaret fun house lasts about two hours and very worth the tickets.

Welcome to Spiegelworld… the world's most beautiful travelling venue.

With its opulent decor of mirrors and brocade, the intimate 350 seat Spiegeltent is the venue for two of the hottest shows in town, Absinthe and Gazillionaire’s Late Nite Lounge, plus an incredible line-up of live music acts from around the world as you've never seen them before.

With breathtaking views, sit back with a cocktail at sunset in our Green Fairy Garden, snuggle up in a booth at The Raleigh Oasis Restaurant, and after the show, dance under the stars with our eclectic DJ sessions, every Tuesday to Sunday night.

Spiegelworld's cabaret show, Absinthe, is just steps down the beach at Collins Park. Housed in spectacular turn-of-the-century circus tents, The New York Times heralded the show as, "Cirque de Soleil as channeled through Rocky Horror Picture Show... [Absinthe] is a blend of skill, erotic innuendo and zaniness. The memorable moments make make a jaded audience literally gasp."

Raphaelle Boitel:

THE NEW GRAND TOUR PROJECT

2007-11-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

Presents internationally renowned artists from New York:

Suitman, José Parlá, Rostarr and Deanne Cheuk.

Group mug shot at the Shanghai airport....

THE NEW GRAND TOURISTS

We have our own New Grand Tour now
Our elsewhere community of know-how

An awakening through what we know
As tourists we gather seeds but also sow

An unknown path of what we have yet to learn
Always not with enough time to burn

In an endless journey to nowhere
Maybe leading somewhere
And exiled elsewhere

Where every place is home
There we find a piece of Rome
For in all roads we roam

Like Nabokov in the Montreux Palace Hotel

We don't like to say farewell
And can't ever foretell
The future in a nutshell

The era of Pantheons and Tetrarchies is gone
Yet the Phoenix rises once again like a true icon

Personalities in search of identity
Living life on the hyphen

Down unknown cordilleras and
multiple Cities of Light.

A renovated Silk-Road en route to finding out
who we are, devouring life to change us
into someone else; the inevitable cycle of
flux; the interconnectedness of human culture;
to encounter organic rhythms of deeper self.

The harvest is a quiet storm; an all seeing eye
of random truth up high in the sky.

Gradually we evolve as a global civilization
Our only center being this pale blue dot in an
Infinite Celestial Kingdom of space and time.

For the New Grand Tour is our creation and our right.

The tour cannot be found through the world wide tourists' guide, but only in the worlds we arrive to reside.

~ A poetic manifesto by Rey Parlá © 2007 ~

D.A. van Belzen "Daisy" as "Suitwoman."

Inspired by a sense of adventure and journey, the quartet embarked on a ten day trip in China called “The New Grand Tour.”

Taking off from Shanghai, they headed to Yunnan Province, where they visited Kunming, Lijiang, Shangri-La county and the Mei Li snow mountains.

Searching for new experiences and cultural exchanges, highlights of the tour include: meeting the Chief Lama of the Eastern Bamboo Forest monastery, who is campaigning to preserve the traditional Tibetan art of Tong Ka; art-exchange sessions with local Chinese artists; as well as visiting school children in rural towns.

“The New Grand Tour” makes a stop in Hong Kong with an exhibition that launches on November 2 (Opening Event) and the presentation of The New Grand Tour sneak preview documentary series along with other films/videos by the artists.

The four artists share their experiences from the China trip with an exhibition of art, sketches, video and photography.

Also on show will be their renowned personal art pieces, exhibited and for sale in Hong Kong for the first time.

The talented foursome will return to China in April-May 2008 for a full exhibition of “The New Grand Tour” in Beijing.

The New Grand Tour Project:

with Suitman / José Parlá / Rostarr / Deanne Cheuk

Featuring photography of the tour by Davi Russo and a documentary sneak preview by Mark Foster and Rey Parla.

Exhibition is open to the public with free entry.

From November 3-25, 2007

(11AM to 8PM daily, closed on Mondays)

BRAVE - G/F, Pacific House,
20 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong

More random pictures of The New Grand Tour:

~Agent Intellect~

RoStarr absorbing the scene...

Suitman captures Deanne Cheuk's portrait on a sunny Shangri-La day.

Tibetan monks observe as Jose Parla sketches the scene.

As part of The New Grand Tour Project, Suitman has initiated The Suitchild Adoption & Donation Program.

For a visit to a small town school, Suitman has produced twenty-four classic signature portrait photographs of local school children as a record of the primary school students' experience with the Suitman style.

Each photo print comes with an adoption certificate valued at HKD $12,000 per set to cover each particular student in the photo with necessary school materials for an entire year, as well as school repairs that include: electricity, window insulation, doors to keep out the harsh winter cold, plumbing and furniture.

The adoption certificate and photo prints will be accompanied by a signed limited-edition soft sculpture figure of Suitman as part of the package. Profits from the sales will be delivered directly to the school by Suitman himself.

11"x17" Ink Jet Prints on Archival Paper/100% cotton/40% polyester+60% cotton.

For more information please contact the Suitman.

(To be continued....)

A Special Thank You goes out to the Mayor of Hong Kong, Federico Tan and to Julia Kwan of Bund Film Productions; thank you!

~Photography by Davi Russo~

DAVE KINSEY: SURE, WHY NOT....

2007-10-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles— BLK/MRKT Gallery is pleased to present “Sure, Why Not,” Los Angeles-based artist Dave Kinsey’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition will open with a reception on October 20th from 6-10pm, and continue through November 17th, 2007.

Best Intentions

Kinsey's much-anticipated return to BLK/MRKT Gallery is punctuated by a bold new series of paintings that examine the role of identity in contemporary life—powerful images that simultaneously invoke the burden and frustration of apathy and the helpless rage of defeat. Straying from the figurative work for which he is best known—namely large-scale gallery and street installations that have attracted both national and international audiences—Kinsey takes cues from the current cultural climate to examine the intersection between the urban landscape and the human condition.

Found and Lost

In this new creative space, he examines the point where the abstract and figurative collide and the visual dialogue informed by that impact emerges. And while this new series of mixed media on canvas could be described as an evolution, traces of his signature visual language, in all its gritty and unvarnished glory, have not been abandoned.

Momentum

“The broken-up graffiti and abstract letterform references represent modern fingerprints of the urban environment,” Kinsey explains, “fragments and pieces act as a dialogue of conversations, identities, and messages.”

Or nothing at all

As always, Kinsey’s striking visuals urge audiences to take a closer look at the content of their surroundings; more is being asked of the viewer than to simply recognize that they should not blindly accept the circumstances of their existence. There is urgency in these paintings—a sense of restlessness with the world at large.

“Apathy seems increasingly common in modern western culture,” Kinsey observes, “There is a general sense that people feel helpless or don't care to engage in issues that affect their lives and the lives of those around them. Consumerism and even modern technology allows for an easy complacency.”

Terminal Solipsism

Kinsey attacks these notions with thick swaths of black and red paint in wide gestures of movement that engage and bind the figures being depicted, at once suggesting victimization and complicity. Alluding to a not-so-distant heritage, yellowed pages of a vintage book peek out from behind the face of a troubled man; a lone tree is draped in white stars screened in red, bull rope wrapped tight around its trunk; a pair of aged eyes void of pupils stares past the viewer, tragic and abandoned.

In addition to paintings on canvas, there will be a site-specific installation of canvases, backs facing forward, further exploring the notion of disconnect and non-resolution. In all, “Sure, Why Not” is an echo and call to reason.

Unintended Consequence

Receiving both national and international acclaim as a fine artist and designer, and exhibiting in galleries stateside and overseas, Kinsey has been featured in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The London Times, Blackbook, and BLK/MRKT Two. He was also a guest lecturer at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts and the Semi-Permanent conference in Sydney, Australia this past year. Kinsey resides in Los Angeles with his partner Jana, three cats, a dog, and a potbellied pig.