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My name is Alexi K. I am a contemporary artist, based in Birmingham, in the UK. My art is all about abstracting the everyday and speculating the future: architecture, people, diagrams, data, and bright colours. I'm inspired by Cubism, Futurism, Bauhaus and Constructivism. I love straight lines. Enjoy!

Above: ( Variations of ) The Alexi K SUPERHIGHWAY CHAIR, courtesy of Valley Forge Fabrics.

''ABSTRACTING THE EVERYDAY''

UNDER THE ARCHES: BIRMINGHAM NOIR

The BBC's super-hit show Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham and more specifically, the streets of Digbeth, which have traditionally been the seat of the local Irish community.  However, thanks to the Luftwaffe in World War II, not much of the old neighbourhoods actually remain, and the production has to film elsewhere in the country. Despite that, the Digbeth area of town, where the music and arts festival takes place, still has a certain cinematic ambience if you can catch it in the right light. Below is a selection of photographs from around my studio.

( Below ) : The Old Typhoo Building, Bordesley Street

( Below ) : Lower Trinity Street

( Below ) : The Custard Factory, Floodgate Street

( Below ) : Lower Trinity Street

( Below ) : Coventry Road

( Below ) : Coventry Road

( Below ) : Electric Supply Station, Upper Trinity Street

( Below ) : Adderley Street

( Below ) : The Custard Factory, Gibb Street

MOXY DOWNTOWN: ON THE UP

Very pleased that the super-funky designer hotel MOXY DOWNTOWN NYC - which features a series of my digital mosaic tiles in the lobby - has been nominated for the Condé Nast Reader's Choice Award. No doubt part of its amazing success is the contribution of interior designer Kim Edwards who infused the hotel with her playful, eclectic, and energetic sense of aesthetics. Well done, Kim!

Below: Datastream Arabesque #8 ( detail with texture )

About the Datastream Arabesques: Each composition is made of fragments of other compositions that were broken up, partially deleted and then recomposed. In other words, it was a digital version of smashing up a load of ceramics in order to create a mosaic from the fragments. The artwork evolved naturally into a series of Futuroid Arabic motifs, which I'm still experimenting with, but haven't released yet.

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TWISTING REALITIES

Real-life: London, St. James's Park, Feb 2017

Digital: Birmingham, Smallbrook Queensway, Oct 2014

EXTERIOR GRID VISUALISATION EXPERIMENT

DIGITAL STRUCTURES #1

Emulating my postcard art in the digital realm has an unforeseen side-effect: It is actually very difficult to look at. Still, there are properties here that can be put to good use in future art. 

Below: Structures 01, 2D Digital Line Drawing, Detail.

Below: Structures 01, 2D Digital Line Drawing, Full.

Below: Detail.

HARD ROCK, SOFT FURNISHINGS

In the USA, the good folks at Valley Forge Fabrics, alongside relatively new company WeaveUp, contacted me after they saw the potential for fabric pattern design in my geometric art. They have been busy promoting my work since, and you can read an interview they did with me here.

'BALANCE' : FINAL GROUP SHOW OF 2016, AT CUSTARD FACTORY

For myself and many of my colleagues, this was our final exhibition of 2016, at a beautiful space at the Custard Factory complex, Digbeth, Birmingham. I took these pictures soon after the install. Show curated by The Daphne Francis Gallery.

Below: My two contributions, now titled 'Encryption' and 'Stealth'.*

*Formerly referred to as Untitled Painting A and Untitled Painting C.

Below: Art by Zarina Keyani and Paris Christodoulou

Below: Painting by Zarina Keyani

Below: My art ( far left ) and Zarina Keyani

Below: Art by Jeannie Brown ( left x 3 ), and Paul Newman

For inquiries, please go to Daphne Francis Gallery website.

NEXT SHOW: DIGBETH FIRST FRIDAY!

Here's the current piece ( previously referred to on this blog as 'Work In Progress 'C'' ). I was going to make some adjustments today, but having seen it in the bright light of the studio, I'm going to leave it alone. For now...

Harsh sunlight and a good angle is the best way to view my paintings...maybe the best way would be to hold them in your hands and read them like a book..?

See it on December 2nd at The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham.

Exhibiting as part of the Daphne Francis Gallery group show 'Balance'.

Below: As yet Untitled Acrylic-on-Canvas, 50cm x 75cm, Nov 2016

FROM THE USA? LET'S DO STUFF!

Every day, I get approximately 300 page-views from the US, by far my biggest audience. If you are an artist, agent, curator, buyer, or design company, get in touch, especially if you are on the East Coast. I visit on a regular basis. You'll find my contact email, below.

Below: Mural Design, BPN Architects Summer Show, Birmingham UK, Aug 2016

Superhighway Chair & fabric by Valley Forge Fabrics / WeaveUp, USA, July 2015

Polygraph Nudes Artwork for NORA Apartments, Orlando, Jan 2015

 Electronique Shoes for Bucketfeet, Chicago, Summer 2015

- Alexi

PARK LIFE

All photographs copyright Alexi K.

  

For more of my real-life abstract photography see:

DISK WORLDS ( 2012 )

A KIND OF BLUE ( 2014 )

MANCHESTER (2015 )

LIFE IMITATES ART

THIS TIME LAST WEEK...

Went to the 20th anniversary of BPN Architects on Thursday. Rebecca, a designer at Stephen Arthur, wore a startlingly familiar skirt while she posed next to my art across the street..!

And finally...

I'd especially like to thank BPN for their openness and genuine enthusiasm in championing local artists. 

Hopefully this will give inspiration for other local companies to tap the huge creative wellspring that resides in the area. It seems that for Midlands artists, real-world opportunities such as this are sadly few and far between, so perhaps it's no coincidence that such a creative-minded company as BPN are celebrating 20 years of being in business. If more companies thought the same way, Birmingham would be known for the creative powerhouse that it could so easily be.

GRAN FUTURISMO

Looking back at various artworks, to progress to a new phase.

My installation ( including my shoes for Buckefeet ) as part of Antone Douglas's CONCEPT ROOM show, Oct 2015:

Below: GOOGLE EARTH, Acrylic On Canvas, 140cm x 110cm, 2013.

Below: ASTYANAX, Acrylic On Canvas, 101cm x 76cm, 2013.

Below: FIELDS OF HYPERION, Acrylic On Canvas, 101cm x 76cm, 2011.