'Quick before we come to our senses' is the theme for the first-ever London Awards for Art and Performance. The exhibition shows the work of the people shortlisted for two awards: the London Art Award 2010, and the London Photography Award 2010.

Ben Westwood's (www.ben-westwood.com) Is This Living feels unnerving and interesting - one may spend some time trying to connect the severed hand in the garden and the figure at the window. Siddhartha Tawadey's (www.sidphotography.com) English Summer looks overly-predictable - a male from the waist down walking through a wet street in London with an umbrella. It could make a great poster for the tourist-buying market, especially with a red bus or tube sign in in the background.

Colin Hampden-White's The Key exploits colour, shading, and light. Two female nudes lie on opposite ends of a hallway at the bottom of long, winding stairs. The fascination of the figures is diminished by the level of detail of the surroundings: dishevelled carpet, architecture of the stairs and building, lighting effects, the wear-and-tear the building has suffered over the years. The artist's positioning and angle add further to the overall image - and nudity is used in such a subtle way.

Tree Of Frogs by Antria Pelekanou (www.antriapelekanou.net) has a great use of colour, style and techniques - more interesting than whatever the piece may be trying to convey. Debbie Locke's (www.debbielocke.com) Dialogue XIV sketch looks like a huge mouth (a black hole) tired of speaking, or of regurgitating dialogue - overworked from communication's daily grind. Flingo by Daisy Meadows raises a smile if only for its two characters on a tube driving past a sausage-dog sniffing a stuffed pink flamingo on a station platform. It invites seeing the rest of the series The Adventure Of A Flamingo In London.

Striking work by Ben Graville (www.bengraville.co.uk) is positioned just inside the front door. It feels very simple in form, clean, full of meaning - and interpretation. A hoody leans against a brick wall, Red Stripe lager-can and plastic cup at his feet; a dark figure reflected on a wall faces him. It's called The Less We Have The Cheaper The Party from the artist's Chicken Shop Chic Series. It registers on many levels politically and socially (tailor-made for an underage-binge-drinking campaign); the most thought provoking and well-considered piece of the exhibition. Ben Graville's hoody remains the lasting image after the exhibition.

The Ingrid Berthon Moine (www.ingridberthonmoine.com) Red Is The Colour Series features Rouge Pur And Rouge Star, two photos of women side-by-side, expressionless, with deep red lipstick. There's the feeling of court exhibits at a murder trial, with red lipstick for blood - intriguing. Bruno Jamaica's (http://www.myspace.com/brunojamaica) installation Europa Toca-Me has black tape hanging from ceiling to floor; each tape forms individual patterns and shapes on the floor. Beka Smith's (www.bekasmith.com) My Mother is on acrylic board; its use of dark, earthy colours projects a maturity and elegance. The mother seems detached from the cello, allowing the imagination to flourish.

Artist Credits: Shortlist - London Art Award - Source: Organiser, 8 August 2010: (in alpha order of artist, followed by work title): Francesco Benenato - The Fall of Alexander McQueen. Ingrid Berthon Moine - Rouge Pur and Rouge Star, from 'Red Is The Colour' series . Anne Birtchnell - I Don't Even Know What I Was Running For. Daisy Clarke - The Companion. Laura Cumming - Shit ('What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You'). Andrew Hladky - It Was Not There. Bart Jansen - Ku Klux Klock. Bruno Jamaica - Europa Toca-Me. Yoonjin Jung - Seeing the Unseen, 2010. Ling-Ting Kao - Pink Legend. Neil Kelly - Oplopanax. Debbie Locke - Dialogue XIV. Paula MacArthur - Deluxe. Tutte Newall - Relics Of Our Past. Antria Pelekanou - The Tree of Frogs. Pamela Schilderman - Bula Matari. Beka Smith - My Mother. Ruth Solomons - Shuffle 2. Ben Walker - Our Friendship Never Died. The Shortlist as published on London Festival Fringe official site, date 6 August 2010, page http://www.londonfestivalfringe.com/general/awards/artaward/ contains these additional credits (alpha order): Shari Won Kretz - Buddha Hand Lemon Girl. Iris Aspinall Priest - Wolves.

Photographer Credits: Shortlist - London Photography Award - Source: Organiser, 8 August 2010: (in alpha order of photographer, followed by work title): Mish Aminoff - Por Aqui / This Way. Hady Bayoumi - Walking By.... Ben Graville - Chicken Shop Chic (from the series: The Less We Have, The Cheaper The Party). Colin Hampden-White - The Key. Nabjib Lefleurier - A la Folie. Rashida Mangera - In Celebration of Women - Dubai. Daisy Meadows - Flingo. Jola Mroszezyk - Platonic Love. Xiaoxiao Sun - Floral. Siddhartha Tawadey - English Summer. Ben Westwood - This Is Not Living. Liz West - Blue Trolley.

Company Credits: Judges (alpha order): London Art Award: Jason Brooks, artist; Zoe Whitley, Victoria and Albert Museum Curator of Contemporary Programmes; Nick Kaplony, Artquest. London Photography Award: Kate Day, Communities Editor, Daily Telegraph. James Sparshatt, Capital Culture, London. Edmond Terakopian, photojournalist. London Awards Visual Art Organiser - Gillian Best Powell (www.gillianbestpowell.com). London Awards Photography Organiser - Tracy Howl (www.tracyhowl.co.uk). London Fringe Director - Greg Tallent.

END

(c) David Shepherd 2010

Note - London Awards 2010 ceremony is on 26 August 2010 at Waldorf Hilton London. London Fringe official site is www.londonfestivalfringe.com.

reviewed Thursday 5 August 2010 / Bedfordbury Gallery, Covent Garden, London UK

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2011

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