Last week I went to London for two neat reasons; one was scheduled for the near future but was happily precipitated by the other. My best friend’s first visit to Europe, who came on work related matters, pushed forward my initial scouting for art spaces in London. It couldn’t have been better timing; I found London in full blossom!

The two areas I wanted to check were SOHO and, to the east, the Brick Lane surroundings- Shoreditch; neither disappointed me. In fact I saw great works in SOHO by Brett Amory (Twenty-Four in London, in Lazarides, great leg of the project), Emma Richardson (Feast, in The Outsiders, colourful slices from someone’s hypothalamus, taken with a very sharp katana and skilfully stuck to canvas ) and, perhaps on a different point of the spectrum, Lionel Smit (Cumulus, in Rook & Raven). As for Shoreditch, I know…easy to say it’s full of character. But I think there’s something else here that adds to my project, APEX: the perception of a top from a bottom. Transcript: the City’s corporate landscape is just there…silently cut on the background when you walk some rusty alleys. The StolenSpace had a great show by Cyrcle. called “Overthrone! Pooring Reign”. In both areas I met interesting people, some of whom are quite interested in the project.

Meeting this old friend was a real treat, I’m happy. It’s like a part of your life coming back to you in the form of memories, anecdotes, and more importantly, that ease of mind reflected in a to-the-point talk mixed with affection and the cheerful mood from childhood, even discussing serious matters (he is in a separation process). At the moment he’s working in a book for the Argentina Embassy in UK, and he was staying at the Ambassador’s Residence in Belgravia. On Saturday we went with Alicia Castro, the Argentina Ambassador herself, for an informal wondering around to various places, like the market in Portobello rd – Notting Hill, etc and the tour ended having tapas and a great red in Borough Market. To finalize a spectacular sunny day, and in order to check the last location for my project, we went up the View of the Shard, London’s physical APEX.

A special mention to my good friend and former Dublin mate Anahi Fernández, who very kindly left me her home in Paddington, thanks Anita!

A few days ago friend of mine, Monsieur G, sent me an e-mail; he had been in Dublin in 2013 and visited my studio, where I showed him the initial pieces of APEX. Among these was “Have a laugh”, the painting of a hyena on a suit. Instead of being on a regular canvas, the piece was painted directly on a stretch of suit fabric, as will be the case with”The Boss” and around six other pieces depicting an apex predator in suits.

By the end of October 2013, I had put together a 12 page full colour brochure, outlining the exhibition: timeline, artist statement, pieces involved, opening event… a summary of the projected series “APEX“. I wrapped everything up using the graphic design looks of “The Economist”, in a conscious move to emphasize the overall concepts as well as speaking in a familiar language to potential sponsors. Of course, “Have a Laugh” was on the brochure’s cover.

So back to the recently received e-mail, an alarmed M.G was asking whether I had seen “The Economist” latest issue, and attached a picture of it’s cover. WTF!!! (my words) Has my brochure somehow leaked? It’s been on-line for a while now…Well, I don’t think it had. I believe it’s an ironic, bizarre and extreme case of synchronicity or (in my case) anticipation. By the way, my artistic life is full of such examples, some of them quite scary (like painting two smoking towers in the background of “KZ ball pit“, months before 9/11).

Ideas are floating out there. Or at least the raw materials which form them eventually in someone’s mind. To put it in different words, the dots of reality are printed every day for us to connect them or not. For instance, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, based on a Wall St broker’s autobiography, has its title for a reason. Incidentally, whoever at The Economist came up with the cover idea, had clearly been influenced by Scorsese’s mainstream feature and perhaps old Victorian age illustrations of dogs in suits. I certainly wasn’t  influenced by the first, it wasn’t out there when I started APEX.

Fortunately the series is a lot more than this, and goes far deeper into the predatory matters of our contemporary world. Check for yourselves!

RP Browne

These are some of the new works I’ve been doing for APEX, on different stages of completion…one is just a sketch for now.

Two of my all time favorite  travel shots, one in Prague, Czech Republic and the other in Matmata, Tunisia. I love the similarities and the differences. Two opposite settings and yet the moment is the same: the feminine pause; perhaps a touch of vanity or practical self reassurance.

Sharks are among us, closer than you may think.  As in a food chain, some individual’s talent is occupying the chairs at the top, the APEX .  You can find them in any given profession, company, institution…Sharks use their ruthlessness (natural or acquired), in different guises: charisma, charm, or open aggressive behavior to get what they want.

You probably doubt a lot before taking action. They know you do and they thrive in it. Because they don’t. Other people’s hesitation is the blood that attracts them, the flesh that feeds them, and the bones they happily dispose of afterwards and pile up at the bottom of the sea.

“So I need to be a shark then…”  Well, to successfully become one, you’ll have to kill precious things in you; like empathy or self respect, but pretend the exact opposite. Now be warned: unlike dolphins, sharks don’t get along well with each other…in such  red tinted waters, there’s always a bigger specimen with sharper teeth.

I was recently revising my college production and found this… a sunk pantheon-like dome part of a larger complex of cultural buildings partially buried under a park. This was the final Architecture assignment, done in a group of three:  Gustavo Rosso, Guillermo Frusto and myself; what a great and unlikely team we made! We got a 10 for it, we were mad happy and went to celebrate on Guillermo’s small boat to Río de La Plata.

The official drink for the trip was a spectacular sorbet made of lemon ice cream and champagne, perfect for a sunny porteño’s December day. We were just off shore and, before we knew it we were totally drunk. I remember literally dragging myself from bow to stern, flat on a sunbathing mat, propelling with one arm through the narrow deck between the cockpit and railing for fear of falling overboard. To this day it is a mystery to me how we got back.

The paintings took part in the annual UBA – FADU exhibition. Apparently someone left a window opened, because one night a non unusual torrid storm fell on Buenos Aires and soaked the boards were my sheets were mounted upon, producing a dramatic marble effect which I felt was quite appropriate.