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John M Armleder @ Dairy Art Center

Born 1948, Swiss artist John Armleder has been an important figure on the contemporary art scene since the early 1970s'. I took a visit to the Dairy Art Centre, near Russell Square to visit the exhibition featuring a vast display of different media such as neon lights, installations and paintings. The Centre itself is founded by collectors Frank Cohen and Nicolai Frahm and opened for the first time to public on April 25th to share their passion for art and is therefore fairly new and has even been dubbed as 'the Saatchi of North London'.

Upon entering the building an area which looks much like a bar is put before you. At certain times it does indeed serve as a bar and when this is not happening it is merely a piece of art work. The 'Pour Paintings' such as Tactylsis Glomerata and Papatua Honu are mixed media on canvas. Their appearance is the result of a chemical reaction between different materials including varnish and paint. The catalogue describes these paintings as a 'question not only the tradition of geometric tradition but, above all, the convergence of the applied arts, decoration and the avant-garde culture promoted by movements such as Arts and Crafts and the Bauhaus'. Materials used echo Marcel DuChamp's ready mades in portraying everyday nature as seen in The Fridge featuring artificial flowers and stuffed animals. I particularly enjoyed The Fridge as it had a similar appearance to that of a warehouse, yet with a twist of Armleder to it. I would highly recommended this show for those interested in Pop and the boundaries between this culture and avant-garde and I look forward to seeing future exhibitions at this great venue.