Antony Micallef likens himself to amad scientist. The British artist wants to create a world where -without our knowledge – synthetic and giftedly un-pure beings slowlyinfiltrate our everyday consumerist onslaught. Something like a virusthat infects our central nervous system and attaches itself to ouroptic nerves providing pornographic, seductive images across ourviewing plateau. Highly pop influenced with a great deal of Basquiatin his blended, most likely alcoholic beverages Micallef provides anerotic explosion of color to play with our senses and massage ourimaginations to climax. Antony Micallef has a solo show opening atLazarides on September 9th in London. – Zach Tutor

Eurotrash, the highly anticipated second phase of Lazarides‘ four-show pop upextravaganza kicked off this weekend with a preview party at the BeverlyHills gallery. Art fans, collectors, artists and press poured throughthe doors all night long, eager for a sneak peek at what’s bound to beanother successful show for the London-based gallery.

The unsuspectingspace, smack-dab in the middle of one of LA’s largest retail districtsprovides the perfect backdrop for Vhils‘ chipped wall portraits; JR‘smonumental, monochromatic wheat pasted photographs; Conor Harrington‘shistorical, graffiti-spattered canvases; and Antony Micallef‘s sexualand animalistic compositions. Together, the artists have forged anexperience that not only explores Europe’s urban dynamic andunconventional art-making techniques, but real humanist conflict andsocial awareness. Eurotrash runs through June 27.

Following up on their successful first show with David Choe (HF attended both the opening and also conducted a studio visit), Lazarides continues on their four-show pop up gallery schedule with a dynamic new group show, “Eurotrash”. Combining four of Europe’s hottest artists, namely JR from France, Conor Harrington from Cork (pictured above), Antony Micallef from London, and Vhils from Portugal, Eurotrash looks to provide an eclectic representation of the contemporary European scene. Though the four artists all vary stylistically as well as geographically, their combined raw energy, social consciousness, and worldwide acclaim look to make this a highlight show for the Los Angeles area when it opens June 9th.