Art news

Before they become glued to the olympic opening ceremony, be sure to this Friday night cast your eyes over the latest exhibition at China Heights. Entitled "888", the show explores the complex and often controversial nature of contemporary Chinese Society and aims to stimulate discussion allow viewers to see beyond the glossy veneer of the Beijing Olympics. Curated my Mark Gerada, 888 has brought together 19 artists from around the world - including Spat & LoogiE and Jessie Brett. 888 opens from 6pm this Friday and runs until September 13. Chinba Heights is at 257 Crown St, Surry Hills.

If you’re near Shorditch this September then step into the Kemistry Gallery to catch comic artist Zarina Liew’s latest exhibition called The Hunter. Her willowy inks and narrative inspired illustrations give the kiss of love to any surgical white gallery walls. But if you’re no where near London, say, swimming on a tropical island somewhere, then I envy you. But you can still check out her collections at www.cobaltcafe.co.uk, or her myspace chronicles details on this very exhibition at http://www.myspace.com/cobalt_cafe. Zarina likes old fashioned back-street romance, green tea, Spirited Away and Aubrey Beardsley for her inky inspirations.

British authorities recently celebrated a small 'win' following the news that the infamous incognito - guerrila graffiti artist Banksy - no longer assumed the ambiguous identity of masked vandal. After a year of intensive investigative reporting, the Daily Mail controversially claimed to have uncovered 'the Scarlet Pimpernel of modern art' last month as Robin Gunningham, an unassuming Brit brought up in middle class suburbia. The only clue rests in a photograph allegedly picturing Banksy in Jamaica with a spray can at his feet. Having continually perpetuated an aura of uncertainty in regards to his identity - with age, name and location always a mystery; this discovery initially seemed one of gargantuan proportions, if it was indeed true. Banksy's satirical street art purporting subversive political messages has not always been embraced on the public domains it encroaches upon, with local councils such as Tower Hamlets in London immediately removing all of his works. However, the whereabouts of Gunningham have so far been impossible for the paper to trace, with the man's own mother denying that she ever had a son. It seems that the anti-authoritarian mastermind has evaded detection once again.

A friend showed me this animation after I expressed a vague desire to photograph all the great street art around here. Clearly there is no point in doing so as nothing will ever top this for a combination of graf & snaps.

Described by the crazy-brilliant Italian urban artist BLU as "an ambiguous animation painted on public walls" in Buenos Aires and Baden, It is quite possibly the coolest thing you will ever see.

Check out more of BLU's stuff here.

We live in a visually saturated world that continues to bombard us with hundreds of advertising messages every day. From billboards to blimps, we face the reality of becoming a suffocated society that's moving into atrophy. As a result brands such as the European jeans label Diesel (inspired by the Absolut campaign: In An Absolute World, perhaps?), decided it was time to “salvage what precious public space is left,” handing over giant urban canvases to its inhabitants and in turn creating the 'worlds largest outdoor gallery'.
Around 5 months ago the Diesel Wall project set out on its journey in search of 4 artists from around the globe, providing them with the possibility of stamping their mark on 4 key cultural wall spaces within 4 major cities. The premise: “take your art, your powers of dissuasion; your ability to disrupt; incite; excite; inspire and intrigue; to make comment; to make beautiful; to make real; to make people think again”.

After much public deliberation most of the results are in. Check em out:

New York - Jonathan Sandridge

Manchester - Tim Hensel

Zurich - Andreas Marti

Barcelona - Still to be announced

Nieves is an independent publishing house based in Zurich, Switzerland.

With the Chinese Olympics just days away, I thought you'd find this particular work from Chinese-born and German-raised artist Yang Liu very fitting. It's amazing how such a complex cultural topic: East Meets West can be encapsulated within such a simple set of dots, lines and squiggles.