London In The OC
London Calling
January 11th 2012

London is full of busy pavements, energy, diversity, architecture and history. It abounds with busy days, lazy afternoons, wiggly side streets, city walks, and river meanders. There are a million different and unknown worlds colliding inside ‘London’, and a million more that float off in their own interpretations.

There’s just something about this city – it’s loved all over the world. Now I may be a bit biased given that my art studio nestles along the south bank of the Thames, but it has certainly captured the hearts and imagination of the art world in California. So how to represent ‘London’ in one exhibition?

Following on from the ‘London Art Box’ in LA last September, ‘London Calling‘ is the next big thing to hit the OC. The glitzy open reception happened this week, and it was a fantastic way to start the new year. The galleries patrons, art lovers and the art-world elite of LA and the OC were invited to gaze on the artwork created under Waterloo sunset. It was an exciting and mind-transporting occasion, and the perfect event to kick off the art/social calendar for 2012. I have been talking to the artists, guests, gallerists and curation team about their experience at the event.

“London Calling is a great compact survey of what’s going on in contemporary art in London at the moment” said art visionary and visitor to the show William Moreno, who is president of the board at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Hollywood Boulevard.
 
And the show does capture the cutting-edge emerging art scene that is being nurtured and stimulated in London. A difficult task given the sheer diversity and amount of boundary-pushing talent.

OCCCA says of the show: “The roster of artists reads like a who’s who of the young, UK art scene with involvement from Rosie Emerson, Tahnee Lonsdale and Agnetha Sjogren, amongst others. The incredibly talented artists have a wide number of achievements amongst them including Nicola Anthony who has received exhibition sponsorship from Tate Britain, had pieces shown at Tate Modern; Tinsel Edwards who has both Saatchi and Banksy as collectors of her work; and Rosie Emerson who recently exhibited at The Southbank Centre as part of The Women of The World Festival, Somerset House, as well as being featured in Vogue.”

The London artists who have flown into LA and the OC to see the show and make a splash state-side are visiting other galleries in the area as well as attending the exhibition. I’ve been hearing from lots of excited exhibition visitors, and will be catching up with the selected artists, as well as the Gallery’s executive directors and curators to see what they have to say about the London art scene.

Watch this space!

Can’t afford to fly out to LA? Visit the exhibition virtually right now by clicking here for a 3D walk-through of the exhibition 
*Tip* Use the arrows to navigate or switch to 2D mode to see specific images.
Click here to view the exhibition catalogue

Exhibiting Artists: Abigail Box, Agnetha Sjogren, Azadeh Fatehrad, Beth Nicholas, Carlos Martyn Burgos, Chantal Powell, Darren MacPherson, Katerina Stavrou, Katrina James, Kimi Wylde, Henry Wood, Joe Cruz, Lloyd Durling, Lyndsay Martin, Masa Suzuki, Nicola Anthony, Rachel Noble, Rosie Emerson, Robert West, Senghye Yang, Silvia Krupinska,Sylvia Morgado, Sun Ae Kim, Tinsel Edwards, Tahnee Lonsdale, Twinkle Troughton, Victoria Heald, Vikram Kushwah

London Calling
Address: OCCCA, 117 North Sycamore, Santa Ana, CA. 92701 USA

Website: www.occca.org

Words by Nicola Anthony
Image 1 © Nicola Anthony
Image 2 © Darren MacPherson
Image 3 © Carlos Martyn Burgos