On Thursday night we were fortunate enough to attend the opening night of Fanakapan’s excellent solo exhibition ‘Helios’  named after the Greek God of the Sun and marking 150 years since Helium was discovered to come from within the Sun providing Fanakapan and a few special guests the opportunity to present a superb body of balloon and helium inspired works.

One of the most impressive artists on the scene, with a style of his own that he is continuously redefining – seemingly with every piece he creates, Fanakapan sets to push the boundaries of his visual masterpieces further in this show  Having taken the world by storm over the last year, being flown around the world to paint in places such as The United States, Malta, Hong Kong, Ibiza and most recently, Dubai, Fankapan is an artist very much an artist on the rise. This is something that is only fitting when one considers much of his output, hyper-realistic 3D creations of helium balloon based subjects that stop you in your tracks upon viewing, these subjects offering the maximum opportunity to demonstrate his superb use of shadow and reflective light highlights to make his works just pop of the surfaces they adorn in a full 3D effect. The series of balloon inspired works in this show are no exception and it is always astonishing to see how much this artist pushes the boundaries of his capabilities and subjects as seen in this exhibition.

If you are London bound or based over the coming days the show can be found at the 5th Base Gallery in Heneage Street off of Brick Lane and runs until October 22nd,  so if you haven’t already, head along to see the great show for yourselves, you really won’t be disappointed.

‘Sponge Robert (Pink)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘Paddy (Yellow)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

Work by Envol – ‘Akhet’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Ply Wood.

Work by Nuno Viegas – ‘Yelow Super Fat Cap’ – Acrylic on Canvas.

Work by Nuno Viegas.

‘Brick Balloons’ – Fiberglass Resin. House Paint & Grit.

‘Anaglyphic (=’ – Fiberglass Resin & Spray Paint

‘High 5’ – Fine Art Ornament Sculptured Highg Impact Resin, Metal & Plastic.

‘High 5’ – Fine Art Ornament Sculptured Highg Impact Resin, Metal & Plastic.

‘High’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘5’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘5 Stars (Maggie)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘5 Stars (Patrick)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘5 Stars (Sonic)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘5 Stars (Sideshow)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

‘5 Stars (Rick)’ – Spray Paint & Acrylic on Canvas.

The light had dropped considerably by the time we managed to get a clear shot of this wall with out a massive queue of people in front of it, so it doesn’t do the work full justice but in addition to the fantastic exhibition that is worth seeing Fanakapan has also painted this excellent work “Up Yours” outside the gallery.