Concrete Ocean (Little People Show) by Slinkachu

Andipa Contemporary is delighted to announce Concrete Ocean, the new solo exhibition of renowned urban artist Slinkachu.  Named as a leading figure in Urban Art by Patrick Nguyen and Stuart Mackenzie in Beyond the Street (2010) Slinkachu places tiny 1:87 scale installations - Little People - around the city and then abandons them to fend for themselves. In Concrete Ocean Slinkachu has for the first time reversed his usual process, seemingly uprooting paving stones and parts of pavements to bring them into the gallery to form concrete islands.  

Concrete Ocean follows the artist's internationally acclaimed Little People Project started in 2006, and the publication of Little People in the City: The street art of Slinkachu, published by Boxtree (Pan MacMillan) (2008), The Old Vic and Punchdrunk's collaboration, Tunnel 228 in 2009, and in 2010 the highly successful exhibition Extraordinary Measures at Belsay Hall, Northumberland, alongside Ron Mueck, Matt Collishaw and Mariele Neudecker, which saw a record breaking 55,000 visitors. 2010 also saw the Amsterdam launch of his second publication, Big Bad City, by Lebowski Publishers.  

Concrete Ocean is the second solo exhibition of Slinkachu's work to be shown at Andipa Gallery and follows Whatever Happened to the Men of Tomorrow (2009), which focused on the relationship between an old, bald, Superman rejected by the city which once lauded him.  For further information please click HERE   

ALL PHOTOS by Slinkachu

Open publication - Free publishing - More urban art

Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu - Buy Book Here

"They're Not Pets, Susan," says a stern father who has just shot a bumblebee, its wings sparkling in the evening sunlight. A lone office worker, less than an inch high, looks out over the river in his lunch break, "Dreaming of Packing it All In." A tiny man makes his way back to a tiny car, with a tiny shopping bag: "Shopping for one again." Another office worker sits atop a gigantic engagement ring and gazes into the distance; the caption reads, simply: "No." These are the collected photographs of Slinkachu, a London-based artist who for several years has been placing tiny hand painted people on street corners, park benches, and the Underground, and leaving them to fend for themselves. Much like Banksy’s early graffiti work, Slinkachu’s creations mix the bustle, humor, and melancholy of city life, and lie quietly in the darker corners of London’s streets, waiting to be discovered. And if you’re lucky enough to find one, to quote The Times: "Oddly enough, even when you know they are just hand-painted figurines, you can’t help but feel that their plights convey something of our own fears about being lost and vulnerable in a big, bad city." This volume also includes a forward from acclaimed novelist Will Self.

About the Author

Slinkachu's work was featured in Street Renegades: New Underground Art and Tactile: High Touch Visuals and can be found at little-people.blogspot.com. Will Self's titles include The Book of Dave and Psychogeography.