If you’ve found yourself on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Shoreditch High Street recently you will have undoubtedly noticed that a space which has been uninhabited for the past four decades has new residents. A cluster of shipment containers have been erected to form the world’s first ‘pop-up mall’.

Founded by Boxfresh’s Roger Wade, whose ethos is all about the ‘brand experience’ rather than sales, the 60 containers house retail outlets with a streetwear slant. Up-and-coming designers like OnePiece and Playful Promises vie for attention amongst established brands Evisu, Calvin Klein, Nike and Phaidon.

Diesel has launched its Fifty Five DSL line here and, alongside such nosh outlets as Foxcroft & Ginger, Frae frozen yoghurt and Hop-Nano, charities Amnesty International and Art Against Knives have spaces on the first floor selling artworks and collaborative designs by such East London-based designers as Lucy Jay and Tracey Emin. Welcome to the anti-high street.

Boxpark opens on Saturday 3rd December
boxpark.co.uk

Tags: Amnesty International, art against knives, bethnal green road, boxfresh, Boxpark, Calvin Klein, diesel, Evisu, Lucy Jay, Nike, Phaidon, Playful Promises, Shoreditch, tracey emin

Twin loves the posters designed for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games so much we thought we’d give you a little pre-peep show.  Artists such as Howard Hodgkin, Tracey Emin and Martin Creed were chosen to give forth their thoughts on the Games happening in London, and the ideals that sit behind it. And the result? An amalgamation of colourful, minimalist, quirky art created with words, a pencil, or paint. Perfect.

The posters will be showing as part of the London 2012 festival next July at the Tate Britain, free of charge.

Tags: Howard Hodgkin, London 2012, Martin Creed, Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tate Britain, tracey emin

With Frieze Art Fair having turned London into a kaleidoscope of visionary talents, the timing could not have been more ripe for Seana Gavin’s Alternate Dimensions exhibition at the b Store.

The artist will be showing exactly what makes her space psychedelia work so magnetic. The exhibit will include a three-dimensional collage window installation and otherworldly landscape pieces such as Lost In Space.

Gavin, for whom dreams, science fiction and her upbringing in Woodstock, NY all act as inspirations, has previously exhibited her pieces alongside the likes of Tracey Emin, Mark Titchner, and Jake and Dinos Chapman.

A graduate from the Camberwell College of Art, she explores different states of consciousness in her work, in reaction to the imagery overload and visual noise that constitute our modern-day world.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly what makes Gavin’s work so compelling: is it the full spectral range of colour, the seemingly unconnected elements that are blended into one cohesive image or the fact that her collages transport its viewer into another dimension?

The definite explanation of its attraction may still be up in space, but it’s clear that the only worthy  way to experience Seana Gavin’s work is up close and personal.

Alternate Dimensions is at b Store, 24a Savile Row, W1S 3PR until 5 November.

Tags: b Store, Frieze Art Fair, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mark Titchner, Seana Gavin, tracey emin

It’s your last chance to see the Artists for Women for Women International exhibition at Christie’s before each of the 22 works are sold off at auction tomorrow. Contemporary artists Nadja Romain and Jenny Savile invited a stellar list of artists including Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Tacita Dean and Bridget Riley to create entirely new work in order to raise money for the charity, which fights for gender equality in the developing world.

“I have found it incredibly empowering to realise that by using my professional and personal skills to do a project like this one, I can have an impact on thousands of lives,” says Romain.

For every £100,000 raised through Artists for Women for Women International, the organisation can help 400 women move from victim, to survivor, to active citizen. There’s never been a better chance for the art world to change the world, one woman at a time.

womenforwomen.org.uk

Tags: Anthony Gormley, Artists for Women for Women International, Bridget Riley, Christie's, Jenny Savile, Nadja Romain, Tacita Dean, tracey emin

As part of the Louis Vuitton Young Arts Project, the French fashion house has launched REcreative, an online community for the young, lean and art hungry. Careers advice for the digital age, it’s a gold mine of advice and an opportunity for creative minds to gain an insight into the lives of leading artists, curators and designers.

Interviews online already include Tracey Emin discussing her Hayward Gallery show, Love is What You Want and Dazed and Confused founder Jefferson Hack on how to establish your own magazine and voice.  REcreative users can also upload their own work and have it seen by those at the top of their creative tree. Developed by Louis Vuitton in collaboration with London’s leading art institutions: the Hayward Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, the South London Gallery, Tate Britain and the Whitechapel Gallery, REcreative is set to put the wheels of a whole new generation on the right creative track. Spread the word.

recreativeuk.com

Tags: Dazed and COnfused, Hayward Gallery, Jefferson Hack, Louis Vuitton, Louis Vuitton Young Arts Project, Love is what you want, REcreative, Royal Academy of Arts, South London Gallery, Tate Britain, tracey emin, Whitechapel Gallery

The problem with success is that once you have it it’s almost impossible to avoid being typecast by it. One of the biggest misconceptions about Tracey Emin is that her work is all about sex.  In fact, as Emin’s first major London exhibition shows, it’s about far more than her sex life. It’s about intimacy. It’s about love.  This is a love that takes no account of gender, race, or even – as we discovered via a video starring a bullmastiff – species. It appears many things go on in a bed besides sex.

Tracey Emin seems to take a lot of flak in this country.
Maybe the kind of poignant statements her work is littered with are a bit too close to the bone:

“You stop me from feeling anything”
“I do not expect to be a mother but I do expect to die alone”
“Every time I feel love I think Christ I’m going to be crucified”
“I whisper to my past, do I have another choice”

But for all the vapidity she’s accused of, this is strong stuff.

Tracey Emin: Love is what you Want spans the artist’s entire career to date, and includes many specially commissioned and previously unseen works.  This show opens the eyes to the vast expanse of Emin’s oeuvre.  She’s prolific – working successfully in many media.  Add to that she’s feisty, controversial and fun. We don’t care if some love to hate you Tracey. We love to love you.

Tracey Emin : Love is what you Want is at the Hayward Gallery until August 29.

Images by David Levene. Words  by Beverley Knowles

Tags: Beverley Knowles, Hayward Gallery, Love is what you want, tracey emin

It’s all about the sublime.

BUY 

BUY 

Tags: Amie Dicke, Amy Sackville, Annie Morris, Boo Saville, Cristina Kruse, Daisy Garnett, Francesca Beard, Kate Tempest, KT Auleta , linder sterling, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Stern, Polly Morgan, tracey emin