It’s the Friday you have all been waiting for… Art Against Knives have teamed up with Le Scratch to for their second collaborative monthly event mixing Live Art Installation with Hip-Hop…

This Friday AAK and Le Scratch will be touching down yet again at Concrete, Shoreditch to bring you a night that you won’t want to miss. Le Scratch will showcase some of the young artists Art Against Knives work with, alongside some of the freshest names on the scene.  A cut of proceeds from these events goes directly to Art Against Knives. All original artwork is up for grabs on the night.

Last month was big and this month it promises to be even better with live painting and illustration courtesy of  emerging art talent Kojey Radical  (you may remember him from this www.focusedyoungindividuals.com) + guests.

Stööki– will be doing a Live interactive art installation and Pop-Up store. Stööki is an independent Jewellery & Apparel label presenting themed collections through interactive art and immersive events. Join the Stööki movement at Le Scratch by grabbing some hot new pieces from their new OBSCURA collection, and taking part in their interactive art installations.

Djs Bio

Dj Emily Rawson is the brains behind Rock The Belles, Supa Dupa Fly, among others. She is one of the most diverse dj’s on the scene and had played at everything from events for Mathew Williamson and Vogue to parties for Kanye West and support slots for Big Boi, Tinie Tempah and Eliza Doolittle. Festival sets include Lovebox, The Camden Crawl with lots more projects lined up

Lukey is one of the freshest Djs and producers on the scene. This year he has played the warm up set for Wretch 32′s performance at Vinspired Awards at the O2, won the Field Day festival DJ competition and his recent collaboration track with Toddla T released on T’s Red Bull mixtape has gained him some serious momentum.

Blackfoot Phoenix are Skinny Macho, Truce and Rivah Kray who throw down 90’s Hip-Hip. They are Work It! Residents too.

Performing Live…

After a long period of cooking and tasting, hailing from Amsterdam Maydiën fuses hiphop/jazz/soul/funk to a fresh new hybrid recently displayed on the just released ‘Listen Care Fully’ EP.

Entry: Guest lists / W flyer: £5 via hello@lescratch.com / £7 on the door. Tables can be reserved for free for larger groups. Address: Concrete (below Pizza East), Lower Ground Floor, 56 Shoreditch High Street London, E1 6JJ Tube: Liverpool Street / Old Street Times: 9pm-2am

SEE YOU THERE!

Art Against Knives is excited to be showcasing the first exhibition of this gifted young artist. We are proud to be supporting Tom by handing over our gallery space at Boxpark, Shoreditch, to provide a platform to showcase his work.

Tom Hadrill is a 19 year old painter and film maker living in Hackney, East London. Tom works mainly in oil paint and takes much of his imagery directly from his own photography. Many of the works featured in this exhibition are based on photographs taken of members of Tom’s family over Christmas 2011. Tom is also currently working on several film projects, and preparing his applications into higher education.

“I discovered Art Against Knives through a friend in December 2011. I think AAK is a brilliant opportunity for young people like myself to gain access to new possibilities and get involved in creative endeavours. I hope that by doing this exhibition I will gain some recognition and feedback from my work, and hopefully raise some money to fund my film projects.”

Our Gallery at BoxPark has been open for two months now- and this exhibition is the first in a series that will showcase the work of local young people involved in Art Against Knives. The space has been designed as a hub for the local community as well as an innovative retail space. The gallery provides resources, equipment, work experience, and a platform to support and exhibit the work of local young people. Uniquely, the gallery has been designed as a flexible environment so that young people can take the lead in making the space look and work in the way that they think it should.

Tom’s portraits will on show, and available to buy at the AAK Gallery from Thurs 16th Feb until Thurs 23rd Feb – so make sure you come down to our box and check out this incredible work!

For more info please drop us a line at gallery@artagainstknives.com or pop in and see us at Unit 55, Boxpark Shoreditch, E1 6JJ.

Samual Buckley, Marcela Florido, Robin Monies, Tom Nash and Sean Steadman, all students from the Slade School of Art, are exhibiting the results of their shared studio practice at EMIGRE STUDIOS in support of Art Against Knives.

Last year we saw a whole host of student and graduate shows supporting AAK, this year we are off to an exciting start with the support of GYM. which promises yet more incredible work from talented young artists in London.

Sean Steadman

Marcela Florido

The exhibition is taking place in the new EMIGRE Studios, situated under the railway arches in London Fields.  The space is a blank canvas, and a perfect setting to showcase the work of this collective.

The artists aim to curate the works using the existing brick walls, cabling, plumbing, and other utilitarian fixtures found in the arches from the buildings previous function. Sculptures will fill the space, and temporary walls will bring  painting into the middle of the room. The pairing of different sizes, shapes, materials and visual languages works to underwrite or undermine the content of these works. 

Samual Buckley

Robin Monies

“There is no consensus to this show; we do not agree on everything. Instead, it represents a lived dialogue, highlighting points of convergence as well as contradiction between our distinctive responses to the shaping of current attitudes in wider culture.” GYM Collective.

Thomas Nash

OPENING EVENING AND PRIVATE VIEW

Sunday 19th February

5pm- 9pm

Artists’ Talks on Monday 20th February.

12-5pm

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

For more information on the exhibition, or for a catalogue of the work,  please email gallery@artagainstknvies.com

Last night we launched our new exhibition, New Beginnings featuring 50 framed original artworks and limited edition prints.

New Beginnings is the first of a series of exhibitions on show at our new gallery at Boxpark, Shoreditch. This month we called young artists and creative minds to submit a piece of art focusing on new beginnings, a fresh start and renewal.

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

AAK was the first to launch Boxpark’s new outdoor gallery showing artwork form New Beginnings  along the upper deck thoroughfare.

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

The gallery looked great with fresh new art work donated by a variety of talented artists, from students, graduates and professional artists. Everyone enjoyed the new show, and especially being able to cleverly text their comments about the show to our innovative machine provided by Nick Ritchie which then printed their words out onto labels.

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

All the original artwork and limited edition prints are available for sale from the AAK gallery, with full proceeds going to support the creative opportunities that AAK provides for young people across east London.

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

Image by Claudia Sanchiz

Massive THANK YOU to Print Space for supporting our digital prints, Silly Goose for supporting our silk screen prints and Frame Emporium for our lovely frames!

New Beginnings will be on show from 2nd FEBRUARY- 29th FEBRUARY 2012 so come along to the box and check it out!

For further information about the show or any of the artists featured please contact Jo at gallery@artagainstknives.com

Images by Claudia Sanchiz www.umlautcollective.com

There has been lots of talk surrounding the new approach to London’s anti-gang policy over the past few weeks. To co-inside with our current ‘Choose Life, Drop the Knife’ campaign- currently on show at our gallery in BoxPark, Shoreditch, we just wanted to highlight the importance of projects like this…..

Policing in and around the capital is set to witness one of its biggest shake-ups in recent years. An adjustment in the structure of how the Met’s priorities and budgets are decided will see Boris Johnson given considerably more influence over policing matters, and although he will be working in tandem with the Met commissioner, there are fears that the move will lead to a greater politicisation of the body. The shift (which will be replicated across England come the end of 2012) is designed to give more flexibility to local police chiefs by providing them with an increased scope to respond to the specific needs of communities.

These changes come just as a fundamental new approach in London’s anti-gang policy is announced. In another somewhat controversial move, the unit previously responsible for tackling gun crime within black communities, will now spearhead a fresh taskforce aimed at disrupting gang’s activities and reducing their numbers. Whilst exact working details remain sketchy, the already existing Operation Connect has been highlighted as a possible model which may well be replicated. Currently running in Haringey and Waltham Forest, Operation Connect utilises a community-wide approach in encouraging gang members out of crime, in addition to tough enforcements being handed out if these exit routes are not taken. Generally it has been considered somewhat of a success, however worries nonetheless remain over the future direction that London’s anti-gang drive will take.

Althea Smith (the vice-charwoman of Southwark police consultative group) has raised concerns that using Trident as the effective front of any such new scheme will have unfair connotations as ‘the problem is young people from all backgrounds committing murders and violence on each other’ rather than just individual ethnic groups. However, the key point remains that the authorities must recognise the complexities of the issues that surround gang membership, and act as a rehabilitative force rather than merely a punitive one. The chairman of the Haringey Stop and Search monitoring group Ken Hinds has echoed this point: 

‘They cannot just lock everyone up, they will just fill the prisons. They need to give young people an exit.’

 This debate takes place as the latest crime statistics released from the Home Office reveal falling overall rates of crime, yet an increased number of knife-based robberies, with levels highest in London. What with unemployment figures remaining stubbornly high, the need to make sure young people remain engaged in their communities is more pressing than ever. Our recent ‘Choose Life, Drop the Knife’ campaign embodies the approach which we believe is needed, and we remain as positive as ever for the future.

As ever, this is a future which we want YOU to help us shape- so get involved!

If you would like to get involved in Art Against Knives then please drop us a line- hello@artagainstknives.com

For more information on the ‘Choose Life, Drop the Knife Poster’ Please see HERE

Art Against Knives Gallery proudly presents the culmination of work by Your Choice Your Future….

Choose Life. Drop the Knife –  A hard-hitting campaign that tackles London knife-crime

Last year in London 2,076 young people were injured by a knife.

We were introduced to this amazing group of 16-19 year olds from Southwark who have collaborated with some of London’s top creative talent to launch a poster campaign with the hard-hitting message that knife crime can only end in two ways – prison or death.

The 15 young guys in the group have all been personally affected by knife crime and wanted to reach out to other young people who may be in danger of falling into gang culture and a life of crime.

“After nine stabbings in the Rockingham Estate between 2009 and 2010 we wanted to do something about it. We hope this poster campaign will influence young people to put down the knives and show them that there’s a path other than crime.”  Raj Khan, 19 

This project is a brilliant example of how collaboration and working in partnership can provide incredible opportunities and support for young people…

Over 10 weeks the group focused their ideas, planning and creating the poster campaign with the help of award-winning photographer Niall O’Brien, top illustration agency Moose and Yeti and creative social enterprise Poached Creative.

Southwark charity Faces in Focus, in partnership with Connexions, provided them with advice, information, education and peer support.

Peabody, one of London’s oldest and largest associations, backed the project through its youth-led Staying Safe project, which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

“The young people involved in this project have been determined to create a project that will reach others like them and reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to knife crime in London. Youth-led projects like this help young people feel part of their community and build skills that will help them in the future.” Jessica Smith, Director of Poached Creative

Our Co-Founder Katy Dawe was asked to go and meet the group last year to talk about what makes a successful ant-knife crime campaign. The guys were then invited to our gallery at BoxPark, Shoreditch to curate the space and put together the exhibition.

The poster was launched at an event on Thursday 12 January, along with a screening of the two films the guys made as part of the project.  It was an incredible evening, and an absolute pleasure to work with such a talented group of young men, and all of the partners involved in turning this idea into a professional and hard-hitting campaign.

Here at Art Against Knives, we believe in providing a platform to support young people in designing , creating and communicating their own solutions to local issues…. so let’s not just leave these posters in our gallery, we would like to see them on busses, on the underground and spread around London. So who’s up for helping us out???

You can reach us on hello@artagainstknives.com

www.yourchoiceyourfuture.org

Le Scratch & Art Against Knives Present …
East London vs East Coast
20.01.12 @ Concrete, Shoreditch

To celebrate the launch of the ART AGAINST KNIVES Gallery in Box Park, we are teaming up with Le Scratch to launch the first of our collaborative monthly events…

LE SCRATCH takes the biggest Hip-hop influenced sounds and mixes with live art installations from hyped London illustrators and artists.

At each event, Le Scratch will showcase the work of some of the young artists ART AGAINST KNIVES work with, alongside some of the freshest names on the scene.

A cut of proceeds from these events goes directly to ART AGAINST KNIVES to fund music workshops run through OurSpace, our programme of creative opportunities for young people that runs across east London. PLUS All original artwork is up for grabs on the night!

We all know that Hip-hop originated in the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. Some of the worlds finest rappers hail from the East coast; Nas, Biggie, Big Pun, Dr Dre and the legendary DJ Afrika Bambaataa. But, since the noughties, East London has produced some MC’s who are giving the Americans a run for their money; Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Professer Green, Plan B. So, at this months sioree, we’ll be celebrating all that is good from the East side, from both sides of the globe…

DJ BIOs…

DJ SNIPS – East London DJ & Producer Snips is widely recognized as being one of London’s hottest ‘scene’ DJs, spinning a mix of Hip Hop, Bashment, Old School Classics, in addition to playing for luminaries such as Kanye West, Common and Mos Def. He also runs Livin’ Proof.

DJ KAYA – Over the past decade and a half DJ Kaya has appeared on the same bill as legends such as Norman Jay and Aitch Bee (SoulIISoul) as well as releasing productions with renowned vocalists such as Linda Muriel (Brand New Heavies) and rapper DMX. Check out DJ Kaya’s Classic Hip-Hop Mix 2011 available now for FREE download… http://djkaya.podomatic.com/entry/2011-09-19T06_08_11-07_00

DJ KAYA has also provided the artwork for the flyer – a hand drawing of his best friend Elliot Guy who was killed in an unprovoked knife attack in 2008 aged just 27. The original work is currently being exhibited at Art Against Knives Gallery @BoxPark, Shoreditch (Right opposite Concrete!)

LIVE ACT BIOs…

E.D.O.T aka GARY HOUSTON – E.D.O.T. (acronym of Every Drop of Talent) hails from New Yorks East Coast and brings a fresh new approach to Hip Hop. Coming from a family of musicians, E.D.O.T. has been involved in and influenced by music since birth. He has toured the World with his Aunt Whitney Houston, he is the eldest grandchild of gospel legend Cissy Houston and cousin of soul diva Dionne Warwick.

LEANNE ROBINSON is a Graduate from the famous Brit School & has already featured in The London Evening Standard and Scouted by Universal Music Group. The record company have been quoted saying ‘“She’s young, she’s got the image and that certain something that can make her a star.”

Live painting and illustration comes courtesy young talent, Kojey Radical…you may remember he was featured as one of our www.focusedyoungindividuals.com  last year.

WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE…….

Entry: Guest lists / W flyer: £5 via hello@lescratch.com / Advance £4 from lescratch.com / £7 on the door. Tables can be reserved for free for larger groups.

Concrete is located right opposite ART AGAINST KNIVES GALLERY @BoxPark, Shoreditch Address: Concrete (below Pizza East), Lower Ground Floor, 56 Shoreditch High Street London, E1 6JJ

Tube: Liverpool Street / Old Street
Times: 9pm-2am

For further information, images or interviews, contact Emily Rawson on: hello@lescratch.com
lescratch.com // facebook.com/lescratch // twitter.com/lescratch //

Sofa Surfer, a short film raising awareness about London’s young hidden homeless, was launched to an overflowing house at the Art Against Knives gallery at BOXPARK on 21 December.

‘Sofa surfing’ is when homeless people live day to day by staying with family and friends, not really knowing if it is safe or when they will have to move along next.

The film follows the story of JRC, a young woman from Hackney who has spent her life living on the sofas of friends and relatives and, once again, has nowhere to go. It raises the issues of hostels closing, limited housing and a shortage of organisations dedicated to helping young people who are finding it difficult to find anywhere to live.

JRC came to Hackney youth charity Off Centre for advice and they helped her to find a place in a local hostel. But now funding cuts mean the hostel faces closure and JRC received her eviction notice this month. She has to move out by March. Off Centre made the film to raise awareness of the difficulties young people face securing safe housing and our friends Poached Creative and YH World were behind the promotion and screening.

The film was launched alongside a campaign to push for more safe accommodation for young people like JRC. Add your voice at www.sofasurferfilm.com

Artwork from homeless artists was on display thanks to The Connection at St-Martin-in-the-Fields and is still available to buy from us in the shop…..

So you may remember 18 year old Kojo,  who was featured as one of our ‘Focused Young Individuals’ back in October…

www.focusedyoungindividuals.com

“I love Shoreditch. It’s a lot more free than most areas that you see in Hackney, and there’s a community for street art here. If you just walk up from my house to Shoreditch High Street you’ll see eight or nine pieces by different artists. It keeps me wanting to create more. There is a rough side, like where you can kind of see it’s still Hackney. Luckily my family kept me away from it, but there’s people I went to primary school with that are in prison now, just because they got involved with the wrong crowd.”

2012 has kicked off to an exciting one already…. Kojo and his crew popped into our Gallery last week at BoxPark, Shoreditch to do some filming. The guys form part of a collective called ‘The Greedy Anorexics’

“The collective started out in August and we’ve been doing like mad amounts of work. It’s really weird because, it’s like the gallery world, they’re really unwelcoming of new artists, especially because we’re young. They’re really snooty and it’s like, ah, just move man, just let me do something. This woman from Selfridges came to our college, that does the window displays, and I was like, I wanna be in the window. So we talked to her and we convinced her and we’re booked in. That happened on a whim, but it’s simply because she’s given us the chance to do it that it’s really taking off for us.”

Check out the film the guys made HERE:

And watch this space for the exciting plans Kojo and Art Against Knives have lined up for 2012…

So it has been just over a month since we opened ART AGAINST KNIVES- The Gallery @BoxPark, Shoreditch….Thank you to everyone who has donated and come down to support!

As 2012 draws near, we have a brand new brief for you all…

New Beginnings Exhibition