GOT Show at Frisson Gallery - 2 Palace Street, King's Mile, Canterbury, CT1 2DY
February 3rd – 29th February 2008 - Opening: February 2nd 2008, 7pm – 9.30pm
Girls on Top, are holding an exhibition of their art. The show, taking the same name as the collective, is the first all female Graffiti show to be seen in the UK. The show aims to celebrate the feminine style in Graffiti, which is rapidly gaining popularity and respect. GOT’s style is funky and fresh and they are here to rule the dance!
Founded in 2000, Girls on Top was brought back to life in July 2007 with new
members - some being introduced by Thames and Hudson, publishers of
‘Graffiti Woman’, the “who’s who” of female street vandals - at a Graffiti jam
held at Stockwell, one of the last remaining London “Halls of Fame” – Ken
Livingstone does not like illegal art very much, except for street art guru
Bankski (spelling intended!).
The crew is united through a shared passion for Graffiti but GOT members
are also involved in fashion, illustration, community art, fine art, break-
dancing, tattooing and photography. Members are based all over England and
various parts of Europe.
AKIT Akit is a Freelance Illustrator based in West London and has been drawing
and painting all her life. Her Graffiti epiphany happened in 1990. Akit has
since moved on to more legal artistic endeavours and has recently completed
a degree in Illustration. Akit's style, characteristically bright, sexy, classic and
fresh, is eclectic, but predominantly features the female form. Egyptian Art
and Matisse inspire her among others. Her commission work includes album
covers and a nightclub. Her work is featured in the Thames and Hudson
publication, 'Graffiti Woman'.
CHOCK London based Graffiti bomber Chock has been painting as much as possible
since the late 90's on all sorts of surfaces on which you are not supposed to.
Her artwork is direct and high energy. Chock’s efforts have been published in
various Graffiti magazines. Her work is featured in the Thames and Hudson
publication, 'Graffiti Woman'.
CLARE RYE AKA CLEAR Art school graduate Clear has been painting for a number of years. Clear
teaches Graffiti through community workshops all over the South-East of
England. She is influenced heavily by sci-fi stories and outdoor raves. She
uses spray paint for the effect of immediacy and its soft diffused edges, which
lend her paintings a poppy yet contemplative quality reminiscent of Rothko.
She has been involved in numerous group shows and is undertaking an artist
in residency program at St. George’s church in Esher for 2008.
EVEA Evea grew up in Canterbury and is currently studying Fashion Marketing with
hopes to be a Fashion Forecaster. She is a Graffiti artist working on canvas.
As part of the GOT exhibition there will be a video installation by Evea, a
documentary and archive of the Crew’s activities.
LUNA Hailing from Liverpool, Luna has been painting graffiti for 6 years, and
specialises in illustration, graphic design, typography and community projects
such as graffiti workshops and murals. Luna’s letter style can be dark flowing
and organic or scratchy and fragile, and the characters she creates express
the female form. Her inspiration comes from Art Nouveau, Hans Christian
Andersen fairy tales and Tim Burton films. Her artwork style is the perfect
vehicle for her mystical imagery.
LYNS Based in Grimsby Lincolnshire, Lyns likes to create 'something out of nothing'.
Inspired by tattoos and old craft magazines, as much as graffiti pioneers
Daim, Insa, Mode2, Cantwo and Shokone, Lyns creates work using many
different techniques including embroidery and sculpture. Having done several
gallery shows, Lyns’ portfolio of work includes characters made out of Fat
Cap, spray-paint nozzles and being commissioned to paint a nightclub.
MIRA Mira from West London is currently finishing A-Levels in Art, Photography and Media. Her painting is predominantly done in oil and acrylic, capturing still life and portraits. Mira has also developed an interest in printmaking. Seeking inspiration from all around, she is keen on travel and trainers. Mira was named one of the Royal Academy's 'Emerging Artists in Study' of 2007, and was part of their first online exhibition. Her style is dope and her aims are high!
PEACH Peach is an Illustration student in Southampton and loves messiness, working
with ink and spray paint in her illustrations. Peach gains inspiration from her
mates, photos and fashion magazines as well as anything and everything!
She is a relative newcomer to the Graffiti game, but has ironically enough
undertaken her first commission painting a Policeman’s spare bedroom.
SABE Sabe's style is strictly connected to iconography, composition and colours of
old style tattoos. Her passion for Graffiti and Tattoos grew together in a place
that differs greatly from England; Italy (Sabe's birth place), a place where old
and new are mixed together and where the 'new' struggles all the time to find
its right to be. Like Italy Sabe carries with her a deep love and respect for the
old masters, but usually she prefers the simple images of popular culture.
Roses, hearts, skulls, daggers, crosses and fancy scripts find their place in
Sabe's paintings and in her wall productions.
