The post James Barnor: Past, Present, Future appeared first on Wonderland.

We’ve been head over heels for Jamaican-British menswear designer Grace Wales Bonner since she graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2014. Swiftly snapped up by Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East collective, Grace’s thought-provoking and evocative presentations have become the event at LC:M. Her innovative designs – exploring black male history, visual culture and cross-cultural identity – are consistently relevant, awe-inspiring and perhaps most pertinently, urgent in nature. If anyone’s bringing substance to menswear in London, it’s Grace.

This Saturday, Grace’s transcendental talent will come in to play in a performance at Serpentine Gallery’s ‘Transformation Marathon’. The event invites everyone from artists to anthropologists and architects to address cultural, political and physical shifts in a series of talks, installations and performances. Grace’s performance with Moussa Dembele, ‘Everythings For Real’, is named after Grace’s collage-led zine series. The zines, created in collaboration with Ditto Press and art directed by Jamie Reid, present Grace’s mood board collages of found imagery, ephemera, prose and poetry from a variety of historic sources that have inspired the associated collection. Everythings For Real Volume II (pictured above) is a feast for the eyes and if the zines are anything to go by this Saturday’s performance is going to be an unmissable insight into Grace’s mind. See you there!

GRACE WALES BONNER AW15

Photography: Amy Beasley

Words: Laura Isabella

The post Grace Wales Bonner: Everything’s For Real appeared first on Wonderland.

The artists involved all share an interest in performance; we’re keen on exploring different notions of live-ness and real-time experiences. My installation for GLOSS combines different materials: at the moment I’m still working on the pieces, so things may change slightly from now. I’ll be using bright colours in combination with raw materials.

You’re keen on sculpture, performance and pop art. Name some heroes of yours; your key points of reference…

More than being interested in pop art, which I am, I’m fascinated with pop culture. Funnily enough, my biggest points of reference is the work of two anthropologists; Michael Taussig and Daniel Miller. Taussig explores how we assimilate culture and Miller the way we relate to objects. I look at music, design and fashion as much as I do art. Influences come from various places, from the work of women artists in the 60s and 70s, such as Martha Rosler, Yvonne Rainer and Carolee Schneemann, to people like Marcus Coates and Spartacus Chetwynd. David Bowie, David Byrne, and artists like Björk and Fever Ray are heroes of mine, too.

Tell us a little about your professional background.

I’m an Italian-Peruvian living in London. I studied fine art at Goldsmiths since I wanted to focus solely on making art rather than writing about it. I met the other three GLOSS artists there. Jo and I had always shared ideas regarding performance and a joy for making and using textiles, so I guess she thought about me when she began curating the event.

How will you use the Grey Area space?

I see it as a space that doesn’t carry the baggage of a typical white cube gallery, even though it boasts typical white walls and a gray floor. It’s a slightly paradoxical space, perhaps a little uncomfortable with low ceilings, too. I’ve been thinking about it and the way in which I install the work will certainly look to exploit its nuances.

Name if you can your top three exhibitions of 2011.

There have been a lot of inspiring exhibitions this year, so I wouldn’t do a ranking. Because of my own interests, I loved Phyllida Barlow’s recent show at Hauser & Wirth, London – the way she used the space and completely filled it with sculptures created this strong sense of physicality and produced such a rich experience on the viewer. I’m also really happy that the Serpentine Gallery is showing Lygia Pape’s work, I just wish the show was bigger and you could see more. I must also say I thought Haroon Mirza’s installation at the Illuminations Exhibition at the Venice Biennale this year was excellent, too.

Daniella Valz Gen
Jo Harrison
Kate Mahony
Luis Ignacio Rodriguez

GLOSS takes place from 16th – 18th December at Grey Area.
Words: Jack mills

The post Altered States: Daniella Valz Gen × GLOSS appeared first on Wonderland.