Beyond Chippenham Streets

It’s the second exhibition at Chippenham pop artist Si Griffiths’s Forbidden Carnival gallery, and if the previous was an overall of the curiosities of alternative art we can expect to see there, this has a more specific theme of street art and graffiti….

It’s been a long rocky road for graffiti to be accepted by the art world, and while in the UK Banksy’s popularity has swayed opinion, the legalities of the practice hinders the gap from walls to gallery, as much as renowned street artists are celebrated. Yet graffiti has a solid history, from slogans on ancient civilisations to the competitive nature of New York gangland borders blossoming into wild-style typographic designs at the dawn of hip hop culture. Such was the vying essence of an emerging scene which took dadaism to the next level, questioning where art should be rather than what art is, artistic flare took the movement away from typography to complex “burners,” or depictions influenced by pop art and underground comix artists such as Vaughn Bode.

Still, Si seemed a tad scuppered when I met with him, with attempts to engage local street artists to contribute. An underlying fear of identification and cred may well be the cogitate pattern, though while their concerns are understandable, Si wants to encourage and work with street artists, as it functioned party to Swindon’s inaugural Paint Fest last year. For it’s the very model for the alternative ethos The Forbidden Carnival is about; quirky, unorthodox and counter-culture. For this much, the exhibit fits like a glove, though it is largely works by Si’s circle of artist associates inspired by the street art movement.

For a taste of something different this exhibit is still worth your while, there’s some amazing pieces on show here. Artists Rae Melody, Sarah Christie and of course Si himself contribute some zany compositions in their own style, some of which are printed, some of which are hand-painted onto skateboards for purchase. Not for me, with no sense of balance, but I would undoubtedly have the coolest board around!

One particularly interesting artist on display here is Dave E See, aka Guts, with the freaky surreal comix style you could scan forever and still miss something, there’s clear influences from S Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin, to Dr Adolf Steg and Jamie Smart, yet with a defined and distinctive graffiti-fashioned line they’re likely the artist who most fits the bill for this particular show, if it wasn’t, perhaps, for Jimmer Willmott.

Beyond the Streets has Jimmer’s name all over it, bristol-based artist who borders street and gallery, and goes the extra mile to mischievously perpetuate his work into unsuspecting places. Here’s the artist’s answer to Simon Brodkin, who hilariously defaces Tony Blair’s face on the cover of his autobiography and slips on a primely located window display at his local waterstones. An artist who depicts American cops with donuts-for-heads and hidden messages in alphabetti spaghetti, and front-of-centre of this exhibit there’s an example of Jimmer’s sully men-at-work signs, which he often puts back into society.

In my opinion Jimmer’s work is precisely the kick in the backside the art establishment needs to note street art’s value and place as a contemporary movement. It leaps off from the groundwork of Banky with mirth and comical impishness. Putting such works which espouses the outdoor tenet of street art in a gallery is a bold move for a city gallery, to have this in Chippenham is simply exciting and enthrallingly different.

The Forbidden Carnival is open to view over weekends from 10am to 3pm, or you can request a private view by contacting the studio. Beyond the Streets runs until 27th August, but Si has plans for more thrilling exhibits in the future, including a Halloween themed one, which I hope to tell you more about nearer the time. For now, go check this out…..