Religionis Violenta Private View Launch Party 2012

RELIGIONIS VIOLENTA

PRIVATE VIEW LAUNCH PARTY  -  6 SEPTEMBER 2012  -  LONDON WEST BANK GALLERY

“Those who believe in absurdities end up committing atrocities” [Voltaire, 1694-1778]

 

On Thursday 6th September London West Bank Gallery opened its doors to the Private View Launch Party of KGB-Projects' 1st Annual exhibition Religionis Violenta and drew in a large crowd of people with many of the featured artists present.

The exhibition showcases artworks by 31 artists from Malta and the UK, focusing on dark humour, irony and obscenity, revealing the artists’ taste for a bittersweet use of blasphemy, a snigger at and caustic provocation, including: paintings, drawings, limited edition prints, artistic photography, inventive mixed media, sculptures and decorative art.

Photos by: Emerson Soriano

THE ARTISTS:

BART JANSEN // BEATRIZ BARBA CALLEJA // BEN OAKLEY // CHRIS ALLAN // CLAIRE LEVINSON-GENDLER COSMO SARSON // DARREN WEST // DOMINIC NEGUS // EVERETT JAIME // GARY BETTS 

GLENN FITZPATRICK // GONNYGLASS // HELEN GORRILL // HENRY HATE // ILUÁ HAUCK DA SILVA // IVY VAN HULST KANE CALÌ // MAGNUS GJOEN // MARIO ABELA // MARK PERRONET // MASON STORM 

MAXINE ATTARD // NIC JOLY // NICKY STORM // PAULA CHAMBERS // RICHARD KOLKER // RITTY TACSUM  ROBERTO LANDIN THE DnA FACTORY // UMBERTO BUTTIGIEG // YVONNE WAYLING

PRIZE WINNERS OF THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS  ON THE EVENING OF THE PRIVATE VIEW LAUNCH PARTY

 

The guests were invited to 'confess' for their favourite artwork in the confession booth and with an overwhelming amount of votes received it was a neck-on-neck race between Magnus Gjoen and Mario Abela, but with 4 votes more it was Magnus who won the Best-in-Show Award. 
 

The People's Choice Awards was sponsored by Religion Clothing UK

 

BEST-IN-SHOW  //  RUNNER-UP

BEST-IN-SHOW // BREAK GLASS FOR SECOND COMING by MAGNUS GJOEN

 Magnus Gjoen was born in London to Norwegian parents. He studied design in London and Milan and works currently as a designer/graphic designer for Vivienne Westwood. His artwork won the Best-in-Show Prize of the People's Choice Awards at the Religionis Violenta Exhibition and has sold. 

Magnus' prints examines how to change peoples relationship and preconceived notions of objects. Something which is potentially extremely destructive can be made into beautiful yet fragile objects of art. It is this misconception of beauty which Magnus wants us to see in a different light, being it weapons, animals or the human race itself. The latter which is capable of creating immense beauty but also capable of destroying it all.

Taking inspiration from street and pop art and juxtaposing it with fine art, he creates new and modern takes on old masterpieces or manipulates something powerful and strong into something fragile but beautiful. He often questions the correlation between religion, war, beauty & destruction in his art.

RUNNER-UP // COUNTER-COUNTER-REFORMATION by MARIO ABELA

Mario Abela is a Graphic Artist & Illustrator from Malta. His artwork won the Runner-Up Prize of the People's Choice Awards at the Religionis Violenta Exhibition and has sold. 

He stated:  “Counter-Counter Reformation” represents the overlapping of the sacred and the profane, the triumph of the human urge over the will of God. The subtlety of the boy’s depiction is a reflection on the conspiracy of secrets maintained by the Church in an attempt to keep the scandal from going public. The dispersal of crosses is a comment on the presence of God in the priest being dirtied and, in the end, ejected through the priest’s actions."

Photos by Barros Devilion

The drinks were sponsored by the lovely people from Moncada Brewery.

Photos by: Reme Campos