Thursday, April 26, 2007

Matthew Stone

Now on at UNION (London SE1) is 'the first solo exhibition of London based artist Matthew Stone. Emerging from a strongly collaborative South London squat-scene of young artists, actors, writers, musicians, moviemakers and designers, Stone produces chiaroscuro laden photography, dramatically portraying friends and night-time players stripped of context-locating clothing, draped in cheap fabric swatches, and locked in self-absorbed states of romanticised visionary ecstasy'.
At his Optimism as Cultural Rebellion blog, Matthew Stone also documents the artier end of the current London squat party scene (picture is from this blog, of a Squallyoaks party).

As discussed in my previous Nu Rave post, this vaguely art squat linked scene is a real phenomenon. Interestingly it seems to have developed largely outside of the longer running London anarcho-squat/free party scene, which has been going in one form or another since the 1970s -with some continuity in people between 80s anarcho punk and 90s acid techno parties, as well as links through Advisory Service for Squatters with the previous era of 1970s squatters.

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