The now and again Five Pieces of Art thing feature again. Well why not (again)? All this art flowing past on various feeds or wrapped up in press releases or jumping off actual gallery walls or wrapping chips or passing on the side of those Whitechapel white vans. So we ask (again) why not five pieces of art every couple of weeks or so alongside everything else that appears on this tractured pages on a daily basis? Can you think of one good reason why not to (again)? Well besides the time involved and the this and the that and the dancing around and the skins on the tins of paint and the man at the door

Five pieces of art then, a semi regular feature, just five pieces of art that have passed our way in the last few days, nothing more (or less) than that., nothing really to do with an upcoming show or anything else (although maybe they are), just a simple, semi regular five pieces of art feature. Let’s do it again, last time it was – ORGAN: Five pieces of art – Jimmy C, Prem Sahib’s Burner phone Sex, Gina Birch, Kevin Sinnott’s big big paintings, Stephen Noake’s rather human paintings… and this time things are a little yellow and blue in places. We;’ve said and share quite a few Ukraine related things in the last two weeks, we make no apology for doing so yet again here…

1: SaiakuNana – still think what she’s currently doing right now on East London’s Redchurch Street is the best art we’ve encountered so far this year, the whole thing is a piece of art, the whole glorious punk rock ness she’s made – SaiakuNana is an artist doing things of her own terms, she’s opened a rather exciting gallery on East London’s Redchurch Street, she’s made a glorious mess in there, we love it!

2: Charles Williams – “Very excited to be opening a solo booth with Charles Williams at SPRING/BREAK Art Show LA tomorrow!” said Fred Mann of New Art Projects a couple of weeks ago. Spring/Break happened at the end of last month in Los Angeles, there’s now a Charles Williams solo show at New Art Projects here in Hackney East London, and even though we just said up there that this particular show isn’t about current shows and such, the rules are always for breaking, more about the current show here – Charles Williams at New Art Projects. There’s a warmth here, a feeling of a painter loving what he’s doing, a painter lost, in the best possible way… The Charles Williams show goes on at the Hackney space until April 30th. The gallery is open Wednesday until Saturday, 11am until 6pm, that link you jsut passed will tell you more.

xxx

2: Sho Shibuya – a screen print by @shoshibuya, no more words needed really are there. it Feels hopeless to just paint or print pieces of art but hey, if everyone did, if everyone’s social media was awash with these little tokens of things, well it probably wouldn’t make any difference, but….

3: Shepard Fairey – Diplomacy Over Violence – okay so you might say it could be as hopeless as Lennon staying in bed and telling us war is over, but hey, short of heading out there, what ca nbe done?

“Based on my observations, no matter what flag or ideology it is wrapped in, violence is almost always motivated by ego, greed, and an inability to work diplomatically with others. In the case of the invasion of Ukraine, I believe all of those factors are at work, and many people are already suffering unnecessarily. This image symbolizes my support for the Ukrainian people and my support for anyone who believes that peace is preferable to war. Prioritize diplomacy and creativity over violence! Show solidarity with the people of Ukraine and opponents of the invasion of Ukraine through this free download Thanks for caring. – Shepard” Shepard adds, “these downloads are for personal use only NOT for commercial usage. For other usage, contact us here“

5: Maria Prymachenko – “Not only is Maria Prymachenko among the 20th century’s great self-taught artists, she is an icon of Ukrainian national identity. Her fantastical paintings, praised during her lifetime by the likes of Pablo Picasso, are now found in some of the country’s most important museums. Her work has also been featured on postage stamps and her likeness is immortalized on commemorative coins.

But 25 years after her death, the Russian invasion is threatening Prymachenko’s legacy. Last week, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said that several of the artist’s paintings were among those destroyed at a museum in her native region of Ivankiv, about 50 miles northwest of the capital Kyiv, following an attack by Russian forces.

A video widely circulated online appears to show flames engulfing the one-story institution, which had previously described Prymachenko’s work as the “pride of the museum.” Her brightly-colored, almost childlike depictions of flora and fauna — as well as of farmers tending crops and plowing fields — were among the items initially thought to have been lost….” read more here

More of this is a few days I imagine….