Art On An Island: Ronzo - Crackney's Finest

So I decided not to go to Stolen Space's preview on Thursday of Ronzo's opening as last time I tried to go there on an opening it was a total disaster. The line wrapped around the building and there was no hope of getting in (yes...yes, even for a VIP like myself).

So this Saturday I took a stroll around the block and went to check out the gallery. I nice surprise awaited as Ronzo was in the gallery finishing up some work and moving some pieces around.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Ronzo he's from Munich but has lived for a decade in Hackney (hence...Crackney) and was made famous by his Credit Crunch moster which sits over the city.

He's quite active in the area and there are plenty of paste-ups if you know where to look.

Ronzo paste ups off of Brick lane


My Favorite paste up - usually done with a partner image which claims 'vandalism is on the rise'

This is his first solo show since 2008 which was also shown by his managing gallery Stolen Space. The gallery describes the exhibition in the following way:

Ronzo’s second solo exhibition features a new series of paintings, collages, prints and sculptures showing the life in the ‘Ronzo Borough of Crackney’. It is a dark but funny place inspired by the experience of living in London’s East End borough of Hackney. Ronzo’s vision of Crackney is crawling with surreal characters including crack smoking squirrels an a pizza delivering giant cock roach. Some of the work show the place as a whole, other offer a close up view inside a tower block. The parallel world created here may at times seem a little absurd but many parallels can be drawn to our reality. And hopefully the viewer will discover that things not always are what they seem to be.

It was great meeting Ronzo (tall bloke, can see how he gets to the top of these walls with the paste-ups!) and really enjoyed the pieces there. Keep up the good work!