What a Wonderful World

What a Wonderful World

26 January, 2009
by: Katuschka

As a woman, generally short person and appreciatrice of art, I have to confess a penchant for the cute and delicate over the gritty and message-laden. It's like choosing between a be-sprinkled cupcake and a slab of raw steak: much easier on the eye, and less chewy.

But wait. Before passing judgement or accusing me of projecting gender/height/cake-biased stereotypes, consider that my idea of 'cute' translates to cherubic, (Mark Ryden) nymphettes (Miss Van's) carnivalesque work or the gothic Hollywood myths of David Stoupakis, all decidedly twee-proof and complex – so rest assured the cupcakes are topped with the sprinkles of latent sexuality and filled with the gooey buttercream of repressed memories. Yes, art's bakery is cruel but honest, and also scrumptious.

However, if I want my art slightly less complicated, but just as adorable; the world of graphic design - which is largely used to reel in somebody as amused by shiny objects as myself, with a hook shaped like a curlicued leaf or a hexagonal shampoo bottle - throws up some mouth-wateringly desirable imagery. Take, for example, prolific design duo and nu-renaissance men Kai and Sunny, who have a clothing line 'Call of the Wild', count Apple, Vodafone and Becks as notches on their clientele bedpost, and have now branched into fine art. Their new show What a Wonderful World at Stolen Space is inspired by beat writers such as Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady and has some dreamy, pastel-coloured landscapes, filled with swirly leaves and setting suns, enough to make a gallery wall quiver with unadulterated lust.
 
Using Jack Kerouac as an inspiration is possibly the least radical idea since some guy in a t-shirt factory said 'Hey let's use this Che guy!'. But their interpretation is certainly unique and quite poetic; with foliage strewn paths and autumnal forests, permeated with the natural beauty and loneliness of the wide-open vistas of America. And not a whiff of jazz or Edward Hopper pastiches. Kai and Sunny's sophisticated patterns are like William Morris prints for the 21st century, and present a more elegant dialectic than schmaltzy designers such as Rob Ryan whose paper-cut art shares the lacy intricacy of Kai and Sunny's work, but with a nauseating 'Love is…' message.

My only criticism of this exhibition is that graphic design's most lucrative feature – its functionality – is also its Achilles' heel. Its purpose is to introduce and guide visual trends, and thus succumbs to the fickle nature of hipness when it filters down to car insurance and 'Lawyers 4 u' adverts. Whereas art can be guided by ego and personality, graphic design is dictated more by its audience and clientele; and Kai and Sunny's aesthetic seems to be clinging to the coat tails of an extremely popular, whimsical trend which has saturated the market with its bleating, folk background music and abundance of kites and rainbow construction paper.

Despite this, these pieces do show an evolution in style and represent the high-end market, with guaranteed relevance for at least another few years. So if, like me, you get a little weak at the knees at the sight of a wistful tree-trunk or twilit giclee leaves then come to Stolen Space where the art is cool enough to indulge in without shame.
    
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