The Social Paradox

London, UK November 8th 00.01AM GMT: – Calio presents ‘The Social Paradox’, a pop up street art exhibition focusing and highlighting people’s over reliance on technology and social media. 10 popular street artists from around the world have been commissioned to portray, in their own styles, ‘The Social Paradox’.

Technology has added many benefits to society, from giving us greater choice and information, to allowing us to connect with many people from all around the world. However the downside of this has become more apparent in recent times. While people are virtually connected, there is an obvious separation between people in the real world. The technology meant to bring us closer to the people furthest away, is taking us further away from the people closest to us.

Latif Baluch, co-founder of Calio, commented: “My co-founder Ramy and I believe that people often use technology and social media in the wrong way. These platforms were initially built to make things easier, to encourage us to interact and communicate with the people we truly care about. Unfortunately, they often have the opposite effect. This online search for instant gratification and constant need to ‘share’ can lead to anxiety and fuel our insecurities. We believe street art enables us to bring people together to discuss this social paradox in a more playful and creative way. We’ve brought together some incredible street artists from around the world to present some inspiring representations of what this social problem means to them.”

The exhibition takes place from 23rd to 26th November at the Stolen Space Gallery in London, curated by Rom Levy. The general public will be able to attend the show on the 25th and 26th, following private viewings on the Thursday and Friday.

FourPure, an up and coming Bermondsey based craft brewery will be at providing the craft beer at the event whilst Butler’s Gin, a Hackney Based gin company will be creating special Calio Cocktails. Calio is eager to support up and coming local brands who complement its brand ethos. Calio is a new personal calendar app, making it easier for you to organise events with friends and family. Its aim is to encourage people to use technology and social media in the right way. ‘The Social Paradox’ is one of the Calio’s key believes and through events, the Calio team is raising awareness of this social problem.

Rom Levy, curator of the exhibitions, added: “Coming from a movement that rose to fame thanks to the use of Internet and Social Media, it was really motivating for me to curate The Social Paradox Exhibition. The theme could also be applied to Street Art, as the influx of images online is kind of stopping people from exploring the streets to find new artworks. As the most popular movement in art history, Street Art is a great platform to raise awareness on this message. Striking and vibrant artworks were created for this unique exhibition which will surely get people to reflect on “The Social Paradox” in a different way than anything they’ve seen or heard before.”

iHeart, one of Artists, commented: “Social media is so deeply embedded in our daily lives that I felt it was unfair for it to be exempt from any mockery. It’s sad to think that the technology that has made us privy to every waking moment of each other’s lives is also the wedge that drives us further from the people peripheral to our screens. However, I take refuge knowing that we can still bring people together for art shows that celebrate them drifting apart.”

Every piece of art is exclusive to this exhibition bringing artists from Canada, Italy, America, Dubai, Iran, Norway and London, with each artist giving their own interpretation of the social problem.