DOG DAYS

Chaz and Bob founded The London Police in 1998. Born in Chelmsford, Essex in 1977, they have now been based in Amsterdam for over a decade. From 2000, the duo collaborated with a third member, Garrett Chow, however when the group disbanded mid-decade, Chaz continued The London Police alone. Bob’s recent return to the collective signaled a new beginning in the history of The London Police and 2009 has proven to be their finest year to date. The London Police have developed a clean, distinct, and highly recognizable style over the years. The sensory thrill of their work is influenced in part by technology and science fiction, the magic of the cinema, and the empowering nature of the urban environment. Their interest in artistic identity and branding and ability to reappropriate and remix likens their style to that of Takeshi Murakami, while the iconic function of the LADS, on the other hand, is not dissimilar to Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas. Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. It is also known as silkscreen, seriography, and serigraph. The art of Dutch artist Handiedan (1981, Netherlands) involves a complex cut and paste mixture of computer montage and highly detailed sculptural hand cut collages, complimented by conscientiously collected antique ornamental frames. Build out of multiple classic pin-up body parts, the female form stands out over a backdrop of baroque and Victorian Neo-Classicism designs. All culled from international currencies and stamps, antique sheet music ornaments, playing cards, cigar bands, Asian papers with personal items and drawings. Intricate and meticulously crafted, the collages represent the gradual accumulation of both the layers in her work and her work process self. Handiedan first builds up her digital design out of the gathered collage material and drawings. Then she rebuilds the design into a meticulously crafted multi layered hand cut collage with precisely added items. A complex visual puzzle and labyrinth of collage and paper layers, interchangeably intermixed, that stands out in relief. Handiedan works in series. This suffices as an eclectic personal exploration or review of her main design's journey and process. With each piece on either paper, antique wood or rusty metal, or a different size, containing different collage elements and details result in a different story, emotion and time dimension within each piece. When Black Book Gallery is at it again for the month of May, delivering some of the most accomplished and established international street artists in the world to Denver. It’s pretty incredible, actually, to think of the shows Black Book Gallery has already produced this year… and 2011 isn’t even half over. We’re talking repeatedly on beat with the likes of gallery exhibitions found in major art hubs: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and the UK. Only these shows require no major travel at all. Pay attention Denver, contemporary and urban art-loving fans; history is happening NOW and it’s all for you, so tuck away any excuses not to attend Black Book Gallery this month, mark your calendars for May 14th and treat yourself to a seriously special collaboration with The London Police and Handiedan! Artists will be in attendance. Chaz and Bob make up The London Police, a widely-known and well-respected duo from England who combine styles on every piece they produce, often mixing in a tall portion of antics and mock-seriousness along the way. In fact, their work is largely created from the dynamics of their friendship, which is a result of two small-town artists who continue to