Vanja Contemporary hosts Showcase #1 in London's arty East End

A busy opening night, an even busier second private view and four happy artists and a gallerist -- overall, a success all around!

The first week of October saw the opening of our first exhibition in London, the Vanja Contemporary Showcase #1. We were glad that we could share this launch with so many art connoisseurs, the press and the general public. It was an important and very reassuring step forward towards our next endeavours. Or should we just say: what a blast!

Opening night of Vanja Contemporary Showcase #1, London. 01 Oct 2013.

Showing a selection of works by Edurne Aginaga, Philipp Haffner, Stefan Mildenberger and John Pakapoukas, this showcase gave the public a first chance to see the quality of our works in a gallery space. The showcase took place in the London's buzzy East End at Vyner Street Gallery. In addition, the audience had the chance to meet the artists who were all present at the opening night.

One highlight proved to be Philipp Haffner's brand new series of drawings, titled 'Airports', whose multi-layered and multi-dimensional perspectives on a large scale captivated the audiences immediate attention.

Also on show for the first time in the UK were works from two of Stefan Mildenberger's ephemeral series: 'What if the Television is on' and 'Scantrified Television'. The subtle colour lines in his haunting but  elegant high resolution photo prints of analogue TV scans were keen discussion points.

Stefan Mildenberger works at Vanja Contemporary Showcase #1, London 01- 05 October

When entering the exhibition, the first images the audience encountered were the surreal works of Edurne Aginaga's photographic series 'Lie Down'. Her highly conceptual and symbolically charged works show temporary installations of objects on public house walls, photographed in an unusual perspective and without digital manipulation. 'Lie Down' won the 3rd place in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards in the conceptual photography category and has been exhibited earlier this year at Somerset House in London.

Christopher Vanja (centre) with the artists at the opening night of Vanja Contemporary Showcase #1

Three works from John Pakapoukas' series 'Human Shadows', winners of the ArtSlant Showcase, were also on display. These digitally enhanced artworks based on photographic images dig under the superficial and glossy surface to expose deeper drivers of human existence.

Future exhibitions are planned in other places in Europe. Just follow us on Facebook or sign up to our newsletter to get latest news.