New York based artist Jason Woodside’s latest solo show opened at East London’s Stolen Space last night, a room full of beautifully slick paintings hung perfectly on those raw brick walls of the art gallery.  Woodside’s very bold work is alive with vivid colour, with contrasting layers of simple, geometric patterns. The paintings kind of look like piles of textiles, piece of clothing, flat colour though, no texture, no sense of a texture, well almost flat colour, there’s some very clever playing with depth and dimension, some delightful shadowplay  that almost requires you go and try to lift a layer to reveal more of the next..You’d have to be a really cynical artsnob to not feel good in here with these bold colours, with these gloriously bright canvases alive with graphic goodness, with these very clever pieces of simplicity that are making people smile (and no smartarse mentions of Paper Chase). Rather like Hackney’s own born and bred Charlie McFarley, Jason Woodside “brings the bright colours to the concrete jungle of his hometown of New York City and around the world”. Known for creating huge murals and apparently widely recognised as a leader go the ‘post-graffiti movement’, he is indeed pushing the boundaries of what traditional urban art is 9and thankfully not a hint of a Mickey Mouse with a gun, a bad Bowie stencil or another damn rat holding another damn balloon). And yes, there is a bright optimism here, a kinetic uplift, this is gloriously bold, crisp beautifully performed, a dance of confident colour, shape and parallel play. Excellent show,  Impossible not to smile in here with Jason’s clean lines, another excellent art show, another triumph, do go refresh yourself  (sw)

Jason Woodside‘s solo show “Strike Me With Your Lightning” runs from November 4th until the 27th.  Stolen Space can be found at 17 Osborn Street, London, E1 6TD

Click on an image to enlarge or run the slide show