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REMI ROUGH SELECTED WORKS 2018 - 2020 _
Selected works from _ ART FROM THE STREETS _ Danysz Gallery / ArtScience Museum. Singapore _ 2018 ART BASEL HK _ Quarry Bay MTR. Hong Kong CN _ 2018 SYNCOPATION _ Zimmerling and Jungfleisch. Saarbrücken DE _ 2018 INTERLUDE _ House of St. Barnabas. London UK _ 2018 VOLUME _ MOCA London. London UK _ 2018 ARTREPUBLIC GLOBAL _ Jacksonville USA _ 2019 GRAFFUTURISM _ L’Alternatif. Paris FR _ 2019 HAPPY HOUR _ Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. London UK _ 2019 WATCH THIS SPACE _ Danysz Gallery / Lazinc. London UK _ 2019 MURALS IN THE MARKET _ Detroit USA _ 2019 AIR MILES AND NEW MECHANISED HIGH-TECH GRAFFITI WILD STYLES _ WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 HOSPITAL ROOMS _ South London Gallery. London UK _ 2020 THE GIFT _ London UK 2020 POST SUPREMATIST _ Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _
Text by Stormie Mills _
© 2020 _
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Remi Rough in Halifax, Nova Scotia CA _ Portrait by Aaron McKenzie Fraser 2018 _ Contact - mail@remirough.com M. +44 (0) 7803 052 782 _
Remi Rough selected works 2018 - 2020 Text by Stormie Mills.
Movement, weight, levity, motion, colour, complexity, folds, and daring adventures. All words that spring to mind when looking at Remi’s works, from small works on paper to larger panels through to significantly larger murals delivered across the globe. Remi has always been inspiring to me, his knowledge of art history, specifically to the schools of abstraction and graffiti writing are often alluded to in the accompanying titles of the works you will see following, please pay close attention to these, they are clues, insights into the works themselves but also Remi’s process and sampling of the rhythm of contemporary life, something he does with an impressive ease, it’s his way, absorbing, channelling and translating the world into a colourful geographic contour of maps for us to ponder. Looking at these works from 2018-2020 you see two types of process, one is repetition of line, the way a line is drawn across a surface, it extends reaches and then just at the last minutes before it could come to a dramatic precipice it turns or folds, changes direction, a crisis is averted but the dramatic effect leaving a ball in your stomach.
The other theme, is that very much of the artist at work, solo, incremental, whilst the level of intensity and sophistication increase, the artist is refining, working often in ever decreasing circles, contrary to the size of a single gesture, referencing their own history, self reflection and palettes past are re-encountered. This itself requires a self-awareness that is able to pick apart previous works, what worked, what didn’t, found then, without judgement to rework, recreate, try, fail, try, succeed, all often in spaces where you can’t hide, you are on show, as exposed to the public as the murals, in particular, are to the elements. These murals, more than location graphics as evidenced in the accompanying text show just how many air miles Remi has had to accumulate to create these works, in itself no small feat, to travel to paint and to do so well in itself contains many tales of adventure. To arrive in a strange land, to acclimatise to that rhythm, to translate that into works that are part reference of youthful escapades, and reverential homage to the site, tied together with controlled explosions of colour and you vicariously live in Remi’s world and understand to be here, then there, to move, attach, disconnect, then move again, to return home to decompress. To have gone from supreme scale, to the constraints of an A5 piece of paper, and to do it so well, with such panache and bravado is indeed masterful, then to leave you with a work to contemplate long after you have left it, is powerful.
Singapura External mural for Art from the streets _ ArtScience Museum Curated by Magda Danysz. Singapore _ 2018 _ _
Concise Art from the streets _ ArtScience Museum Curated by Magda Danysz. Singapore _ 2018 _ _
Morning Dynamics External project for Art Basel Hong Kong _ Quarry Bay MTR Station _ Curated by Swire Properties Arts, MTRHK and Aedas Hong Kong CN _ 2018 _
The point between falling and not falling Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 90 x 90cm _ Syncopation Zimmerling and Jungfleisch. SaarbrĂźcken DE _ 2018 _ _
Quadratura Spray paint on aluminium 65 x 80cm _ Syncopation Zimmerling and Jungfleisch. SaarbrĂźcken DE _ 2018 _ _
Evolved Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 90 x 90cm _ Syncopation Zimmerling and Jungfleisch. SaarbrĂźcken DE _ 2018 _ _
Cheap thrills Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 100 x 100cm _ Interlude House of St. Barnabas. London UK _ 2018 _ _
Volume _ MOCA London London UK _ 2018 _ _
Mural _ ArtRepublic Global Jacksonville USA _ 2019 _ _
Over the years in which I have watched his work evolve, I have come to appreciate the long process, the deliberately patient process of taking something complicated like style writing and withering it down to essential forms, stripping away its heavy-handedness to focus on the macro parts. We both recognised that these were the same considerations the Avant-garde of the early 20th century wrestled with and that therein lay the future of post-graffiti art. - Carlos Mare
Remi Rough is a magnificent study in artistic clarity, precision process and a steadfast commitment to advancing painting and theory beyond his youth’s practice as an influential graffiti artist in London during the mid-1980s. He reimagined historically essential theories and practices of the first half of the 20th century and breathed new life into them through the lens and energy of Graffiti style writing and painting. I have often said that if art students were a fly on the wall and were privy to the discussions between us about art and culture, they would not need art schooling. Of all the painting partners and studio comrades I have engaged with, Remi and I have shared the most personal and thought-provoking stories about art-making, its analysis, our studio practices and the business of being an artist. So it is an honour to write about him on the eve of his new exhibition Post Suprematist for the Kronos Gallery in Trento, Italy. Remi was inspired by the American subway art movement created by inner-city kids in New York City during the late ‘60s, kids who were at odds with social conditions and irreverent towards contemporary artistic conventions. These kids found value, identity and purpose through the innovation of style writing (the practice of embellishing one’s signature) and its application onto any given surface, walls, train and transportation buses. The high risk of this unlawful behaviour bore unforeseen value for an artist like Remi, who had seen the potential of the art form beyond its criminality. Finding value in the creativity and communal nature of the writing culture, he would come to hone in on his talents among his peers who eagerly consumed the limited references coming from across the pond in America. Remi would go on painting in the traditional style writing format until he discovered American artist Futura, who famously abandoned the letter for abstract painting. Futura would inspire critical thinking in him and influence both his lettering style and painting techniques. Remi would go on distilling the heavily processed painting style from
his youth and started to exclude colour and leave only the essential forms of letters in stark contrast to his previous work. This distillation lead him to focus on essential forms absent of complicated relationships, as one would find in the graffiti letterings, as well he would start formulating a signature colour palette that would compliment the shift towards hard geometric forms. Over the years in which I have watched his work evolve, I have come to appreciate the long process, the deliberately patient process of taking something complicated like style writing and withering it down to essential forms, stripping away its heavy-handedness to focus on the macro parts. We both recognised that this was also the same considerations the Avant-garde of the early 20th century wrestled with and that therein lay the future of post-graffiti art. Our early dialogues were about exchanging some of the art and theories of the French, Italian and Russian Avant-Garde, whom we agreed was in the spirit of the rebellious graffiti writers of our generation. Remi had a strong leaning towards Kasimir Malevich, whereas I had an affinity towards the likes of Vladimir Tatlin and Umberto Boccioni. These long conversations would help us introduce new found ideas relative to these unlikely periods of art. As mentioned Remi chose a path similar to Malevich and even more especially Moholy Nagy in his critical thinking. In Malevich, Remi saw the power of stark, non-objective abstraction as a way forward, and I saw it as a way inward towards clarity away from the superfluousness of graffiti’s highly embellished style of painting. One could quickly identify this work as Post Suprematism as it suggests the continuation of the ideas of Malevich, El Lissitsky, and others, but let us consider the works of Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, who was a constructivist painter and sculptor among other notable talents. In this relationship, if we look at both artists closely, we will see how they utilise highly effective principles of spacial relationships, transparency, opacity, translucency, and reflectivity to create illusions of materiality and even movement. Remi’s works often flirt with other periods too, such as abstract expressionism, but this is often pushed back behind
Interior mural _ Graffuturism Paris L’Alternatif. Paris FR _ 2018 _ _
21st century reflection Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 50 x 50cm _ Happy Hour Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. London UK _ 2018 _ _
Interior Mural _ Happy Hour Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. London UK _ 2018 _ _
Watch this space Installation _ Lazinc Curated by Magda Danysz . London UK _ 2019 _ _
Work in progress _ Murals In The Market Detroit USA _ 2019 _ _
Heist Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Style writer extraordinaire Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Passion Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Ten Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Danger everywhere Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Secrets and lies Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Mint Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Full disclosure Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Top 2 Bottom Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles WallworksNY. NYC USA _ 2019 _ _
Mural for Croydon PICU Bethlem Royal Hospital _ Hospital Rooms London UK _ 2019 _
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Hospital Rooms group exhibition _ South London Gallery London UK _ 2019 _ _
The Gift _ Dulwich Outdoor Gallery London UK _ 2020 _ _
Small black line Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 100 x 100cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Small white line Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 100 x 100cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Battles Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 60 x 90cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Kingdom Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
High plains drifter Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Don’t get captured Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 60 x 90cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Full clip Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 180 x 120cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
De-Compression Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 100 x 100cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
What comes around Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Spectrum Graphite and spray paint on handmade paper 30 x 42cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
There’s just too many options Graphite, acrylic and spray paint on ply 100 x 100cm _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Gallery view _ Post suprematist Kronos Gallery. Trento IT _ 2020 _ _
Selected solo exhibitions _ 09.20 – Post suprematist. Kronos Gallery. Trento IT 10.19 – Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles. WallworksNY. NYC USA 03.18 – Syncopation (with LX One). Zimmerling and Jungfleisch Gallery. Saarbrücken DE 09.17 – Sound pigments. Villa Molitor / Danysz Gallery. Paris FR 04.17 – Symphony of systematic minimalism. Wunderkammen Gallery. Rome IT 11.16 – Post. Speertstra Gallery. Bursins CH 10.15 – Home. Scream Gallery. London UK 10.14 – Motivational therapy. Whitewalls Gallery. San Francisco USA 07.14 – Further adventures in abstraction. Soze Gallery. Los Angeles USA 10.12 – In the presence of Angels. Soze Gallery. Los Angeles USA _
Selected group exhibitions _ 10.20 – VAO Friends. Ground Effect. Paris FR 09.20 – Hospital Rooms. Hauser and Wirth. London UK 02.20 – Hospital Rooms. South London Gallery. London UK 09.19 – Watch this space. Lazinc / Danysz Gallery. London UK 04.19 – Happy Hour. Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery. London UK 02.19 – Graffuturism. L’Alternatif. Paris FR 10.18 – Interlude. House of St. Barnabas. London UK 02.18 – Art from the streets. ArtScience Museum / Danysz Gallery. Singapore 11.17 – The discerning eye. The Mall Galleries. London UK 10.17 – Compendium. Treason Gallery. Seattle USA 09.17 – Adventures in abstraction. StolenSpace Gallery. London UK 05.17 – Street generations. La Condition Publique / Danysz Gallery. Roubaix FR 03.17 – MTV Re-Define. Dallas Contemporary. Dallas USA 04.16 – Jidar. Museé Mohammed VI. Rabat MA 02.16 – MB6 Marrakech Biennale. Marrakech MA 08.15 – 15 Classes. St-Jean-de-Luz FR 08.15 – Direction/Instruction. Super Ordinary. Denver USA 06.15 – Street art, fine art. Pace Gallery. London UK 06.15 – Public provocations. Colab Gallery. Weil am Rhein DE 06.15 – Masters of street art. Magda Danysz Gallery. London UK 05.15 – Ambiguity. Zimmerling & Jungfleisch. Saarbrücken DE 03.15 – Urban art biennale. The Volklinger Huette Museum. Volklinger DE
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Air miles and new mechanised high-tech graffiti wild styles _ WallWorksNY exhibition flyer 2019 _ _
Bibliography _ Post suprematism - Carlos Mare and Giada Pellicari. Published by Kronos Gallery 2020 Fantasy Projects Vol. 01 - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2020 Watch this space - Magda Danysz. Published by Danysz Gallery 2020 Art Essentials Street Art - Simon Armstrong. Published by Thames and Hudson 2019 Aléa - LX One. Published by Redux 2019 Art in the Hong Kong MTR - Lincoln Leong and Andrew Mead. Published by ESA Communications 2018 Mural masters, a new generation - Kiriakos Iosifidis. Published by Gingko Press 2018 The art of spray paint - Lori Zimmer. Published by Rockport 2017 Selected works 2015 - 2017 - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2017 Volume - Michael Petry and Roberto Ekholm. Published by MOCA London 2017 Selected works 2012 - 2016 - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2016 Post - Willem Speerstra. Published by Speerstra Gallery 2016 Rough Sketches - Remi Rough. Published by Unicorn Press 2016 Public Provocations - Stefan Winterle. Published by Colab Gallery 2015 Kofie - Rafael Schacter and Augustine Kofie. Published by Zero+ 2015 Selected works 2011 - 2015 - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2015 Mural XXL - Claudia Walde. Published by Thames and Hudson 2015 Street art, fine art - Ingrid Beazley. Published by Heni 2014 Street art, public city - Alison Young. Routledge 2014 DWI YMA - Stormie Mills. Published by Magenta 2013 Images of home Vol. 01 - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2013 Futurism 2.0 - Daniel Feral. Published by Gamma Proforma 2012 We own the night - Workhorse and Pac. Published by Rizzoli 2012 How to use colour and manipulate people - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2012 Selected paintings 2008 - 2011 - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2011 Walls and Frames - Maximilano Ruiz. Published by Gestalten 2011 Abstract Graffiti - Cedar Lewisohn. Published by Merrel 2011 Untitled III - Gary Shove. Published by Carpet Bombing 2011 Lost colours and Alibis - Remi Rough. Published by AOC 2009 Mural Art - Kiriakos Iosifidis. Published by Publikat 2008 Graffiti World - Nicholas Ganz. Published by Thames and Hudson 2004 Urban Discipline Catalogue - Gerrit Peters. Published by Getting Up 2002 The Graffiti Subculture - Nancy Macdonald. Published by Palgrave Macmillan 2001 Rigidmouth - Remi Rough and Tim Daly. Published by 404 Design 2001
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Mural _ Upside Gallery Bournemouth UK _ 2019 _ _
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