'Spank the Monkey' at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art

Wednesday, 27 September 2006 19:07

Gateshead, UK - Spank the Monkey is the first major international exhibition of contemporary urban art.  Bridging the gap between traditional art spaces and the street, the show features twenty-two artists from urban centers across the world.  Site-specific, one-off artworks and new commissions will be sited in BALTIC and on the streets of NewcastleGateshead.  As part of the exhibition, BALTIC’s Level 4 Gallery will be transformed into a giant, useable skate ramp. On exhibit 27 Sept until 7 January, 2007.

Spank the Monkey brings together established art world figures and heroes from the Street scene and for many this is the first time their work is exhibited in a gallery context.  The exhibition ranges from works by art world super star Takashi Murakami and iconic street artist Invader, through to Japanese graphic designers Groovisions, who will design and stencil the skate ramp, a billboard campaign by Sherpard Fairey and an urban intervention by Banksy.

CHIHO AOSHIMA, BANKSY, DZINE, DR. LAKRA, FAILE, FREAKS GALLERY, SHEPARD FAIREY, GROOVISIONS, INVADER, KOZYNDAN, BARRY MCGEE, RYAN MCGINNESS, TAKASHI MURAKAMI, MISS VAN, NEASDEN CONTROL CENTRE, OS GEMEOS, DAVID SHRIGLEY, NATASHA STRUCHKOVA, SWOON, AYA TAKANO, ED TEMPLETON & YASUMASA YONEHARA.

Featuring painting, sculpture, drawing, graphic design, installation, illustration and photography the displays will evoke a distinctive and irreverent vision informed as much by independent music, street culture, graphic design, manga comics, skateboarding, surfing, fashion and politics, as by the conventions of the contemporary art world. 

Spank the Monkey is curated by independent curator Pedro Alonzo and BALTIC Director Peter Doroshenko.  Spank the Monkey outdoor works form part of NewcastleGateshead's world class festival and events programme.  A catalogue produced by Die Gestalten Verlag and BALTIC accompanies the show, available in the shop from mid September alongside a broad range of related merchandise and artist-designed products.