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| Show card |
“In a fine art universe where the sum of pictures all comes
down to a kind of nature morte, WK is about the life still unfolding rather
than the still life. Considered in relation to his studio work, where violence,
sexuality, fetish, terror and the devolutionary descent of dehumanization lurk
in passages of brutal irony that edge towards sarcasm, the benevolence so
evident in WK’s public art must be viewed as coming from a position where
creativity constitutes a kind of critique. WK’s romance with the city is not
the abiding comfort of an old lover but the frisson of new flirtation
constructed of a constantly rejuvenating sense of discovery.” — Carlo McCormick
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| Show card inside |
Last Friday New York‘s long time French representative,
artist WK Interact, opened his latest show in conjunction with Jonathan Levine Gallery at a pop-up location on 557 West 23rd street. Simply titled WK 360 the
show acts as a mid-career survey of WK's work, celebrating the last 25 years of
the artist's dynamic career. Included in
the show are a series of works on cardboard, paper and panels, canvases, large
multi-paneled collages, wheat pasted doors, skate boards, classic WK espionage
gear and even pillows that are all rendered in WK's signature stark palette. Memorabilia
and photographs are also on display and serve to document his early years and
evolution as a street artist.
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| WK Installation outside the pop-up location |
Often with artists who are associated with the street art movement
gallery shows can lose something in the move to a clean and crisp gallery
environment, I’m happy to say that while WK’s work is so successful because of
the way it is presented on the streets and interacts with the urban environment,
it is equally captivating and full of motion in this setting. This is in part
because the collection is quite
impressive when housed in one large location and has been put together with much
love and attention to detail. As a
long-time fan of WK’s work the show satisfied my senses beyond any expectations,
and expectations were indeed high.
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| NY fans wait in line, in the snow, to be able to get a limited edition signed print. |
Always the first-class person that he is WK gifted the first
100 attendees with one of three limited and signed edition screen prints and
was more than happy to discuss his work with anyone who approached him or asked
to take a photo.
Make sure to make it over to get a look at the work
first-hand if you are in NY anytime from now till March 30th when the show
closes. WK himself is often at the location snapping photos of people enjoying the show just as enthusiastically
as those shooting his work, who knows maybe you might get lucky and be
immortalized in one of the artist’s wheat pastes in the future!
