Cult Mexican street artist Pablo Delgado, who became famous for his miniature stencils on the Shoreditch roadside, has now launched a perverse gallery exhibition where many of his artistic works are being hidden away inside a cube.
The show, entitled Even Less, reflects the minimal nature of Delgado’s art.
The trained graphic artist moved to London three years ago with his girlfriend, and went on to become one of the capital’s best known street artists, thanks to his tiny humorous pieces which you need an eagle eye to spot.
Richard Howard Griffin, curator of Delgado’s exhibition which is being hosted in his gallery, said: “Pablo never meant to have a successful art career here but he did. He has a large following: so many people like his work. It has an instant appeal when you see it on the street, there’s something quite fun about it.
“It’s a tiny paper paste up, and he paints a shadow on the pavement. They used to be widespread but there aren’t as many now because they fade and get cleaned away.”
In the gallery Delgado has built a large white cube to restrict how people view his work, which can only be seen through tiny peepholes.
Orange tape is pasted around the gallery where the works should be, and gradually throughout the lifespan of the exhibition the artworks are being moved out of the cube and hung up where the tape is hanging.
Mr Howard-Griffin explained: “He wanted to make an exhibition that looks as though it isn’t there, so when you walk in it doesn’t look as though there is an exhibition, you see nothing, but when you look around at the details you can see there are narratives and stories going on.”
One work shows an old Mexican old lady holding a TV aerial lost in the universe, another shows foreboding monks next to wasps which are carrying away a cooker.
Another called Titan The Observer invites the viewer to look through a hole to see their own eye peering down on lots of little characters who are running away.
“It’s very surreal but humorous, there’s no real explanation of what’s going on but in Pablo’s own mind there’s some twisted logic,” said Mr Howard-Griffin.
He finds Delgado an interesting artist because along with the street art he can also create conceptual art, specifically for a gallery.
“It’s easy to make an exhibition identical to your street art and bring it in off the street, but if you can make a cohesive exhibition made for a gallery with a concept that works within four walls, it’s something interesting for these artists to do so they can evolve.
“His work is totally unique. It’s always good if an artist is unique.”
Delgado’s works now sell for around £1,000 a piece, but Mr Howard-Griffin doesn’t believe he started out for commercial reasons.
“He did it because it was something he wanted to do, I don’t think for the true street artists that financial concerns came into it, they are usually secondary when they first start.
“But there’s always a compulsion to do exhibitions and sell work to support themselves, but also to present their work in a different way,”
He added: “You could say the first people to make street art commercial were Keith Harry or Basquiat who started out in the graffiti movement in the 80s, they became very successful in the traditional art world, now one of their pieces can go for a million or more.”
The exhibition runs at the Howard Griffin Gallery in Shoreditch High Street until Sunday June 8.
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