January 25, 2012
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 2:42 pm
Running until the 24th of June 2012, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is hosting ‘The Sculpture Show’. It has received many additional sculptures in order to make this show a success. With a huge variety, from classic sculptures such as those crafted by Edgar Degas and Auguste Rodin around the start of the 20th century, to very modern pieces made by Damien Hirst and this year’s Turner Prize winner Martin Boyce.
The pieces are grouped according to their style. The show starts with realistic traditional works focusing on the human body. This demonstrates how sculpture and painting started as rivals, and the show plays on this to demonstrate the evolution of sculpture.
The main focus point of the Show is ‘A Girl’ by Ron Mueck, a 16 foot long sculpture of a baby girl. This piece has travelled the world and is now back home to be admired. Around the main space, the work of Ben Nicholson demonstrates a mixture of painting and sculpture. As Frank Stella said, when discussing the similarities and differences between the two mediums, a painting standing up by itself is a sculpture.
Another painting in this sculpture show is Wall Drawing #1136 created by Sol LeWitt. These rainbow swirls spread across the room, further blurring the line between a painting and a sculpture. David Weiss and Peter Fischli’s 1987 work is a video installation of a domino variant, showing a chain of consequences for 30 minutes; another example of how the lines of sculpture are blurred.
Sculpture can no longer be considered to be simple representations of the facts. There is a lot more representation and interpretation involved in the more modern sculptures. The Sculpture Show in the SNGMA is showing some of the best work from all around the world.
January 20, 2012
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 3:51 pm
The London Art Fair is Britain’s first, and largest, exhibition of contemporary modern art in all its forms.This year the Art Fair, taking place from 18-22 January at the Business Design Centre in Islington, features works from 120 major galleries in the UK. It includes an entry by Scream for the first time, and the major attraction here is the pop art of Pakpoom Silaphan, a Thai native with a strong bond to England.
Silaphan uses a ‘canvas’ of tin or enamel advertising signs juxtaposed with portraits of artists and others whose work has influenced his own art. It’s a sort of connective tissue between the visual media and an eclectic series of high-profile human figures such as John Lennon, Andy Warhol, Barack Obama, Che Guevara, John-Michel Basquist and the Queen.
In this exhibition his latest sculpture appears; an aluminum representation of a paper plane that stands seven feet tall, called ‘The Identified Flying Object’. It appears to be made from the painting ‘Whaam’ by Lichtenstein, and uses that well-known work instead of the artist’s portrait to create his (Silaphan’s) distinctive imagery.
The sculpture was the inspiration for another aspect of Silaphan’s art that’s on show, in this case a series of paper planes in a ‘cut-out-and-keep’ format. In co-operation with Stylist Magazine, the artist created five designs that can be downloaded from the magazine’s website, printed and folded to make paper airplanes. Collectors who bring all five of the planes to Scream’s stand at the Fair will get a certificate of authentication.
Pakpoom Silaphan says of his art that it is a way to “. . .see everything as a symbol and symbolise everything”. To him, the airplane is a symbol of ambition and progress; as with art in general, the viewer draws his or her own inferences and conclusions.
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 10:58 am
The Art of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark
Arken will be opening the doors for their latest exhibition on January 28th 2012. Entitled ‘The Essence of Colour – The Art of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, this is the biggest ever showcase of the Queens’s art, and allows visitors to follow her artistic progress over the past 35 years. There will be over 130 water colours, acrylics and decoupages on display, including several new woks that have never been seen before in public.
Christian Gether is the director of Arken, and he says of ‘The Essence of Colour’ that is a unique insight into Margrethe II, the artist. He added that we meet a vulnerable human being who is searching for ways of converting her reflections of live into lucid, yet simple, works of art’.
Colour first and foremost
In 1969 the Danish Queen read Tolkien’s epic fantasy, which inspired among other things the series of water-colours Landscapes for Lost Legends. Since then, nature has been a central theme in the Queen’s art. “It is not only charming, it is also vast and frightening – and most fascinating of all when it is vast and frightening,” explains the Queen in conversation with Christian Gether about her sombre, depopulated landscapes. This is a mythical universe where the intensity, depth and atmosphere of the subject are created by colours. At the same time the tones in the Queen’s water-colours and paintings express emotions beyond the reach of words. The Queen herself says to Christian Gether: “For me it is always the colour, first and foremost”.
Humour as an artistic ploy
The Queen’s works reflect a special relationship with history and the present. This is most clearly seen in the découpages; incredible compositions of cuttings from art periodicals and art sale catalogues, teeming with references to the history of style and architectural details that create a setting for a burlesque sense of humour. The découpages have been used among other ways as scenery in the filming of The Snow Queen and The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, where they have evoked a fascinating, highly distinctive pictorial universe.
Traces of lived life
In her most recent works the Queen moves from the large landscapes to small natural fragments and ‘zooms in’ on individual elements such as rocks, carcases and bones. The bone series is brand new and has never been exhibited before. The urge to paint bones came irresistibly, just as the urge to paint stones and carcases was something inherent that simply had to come to expression through the brush.
The bone pictures are not ‘true to life’ and the Queen describes them as “large, strange pictures of imaginary bones on a yellow ground.” There is something latently eerie about them, and reflections on mortality inevitably spring to mind. There are both humour and seriousness in these raw Vanitas symbols with forms so organic that you feel like reaching out and touching them.
As a viewer one can simply enjoy the insight into the artistic universe that the Queen has so generously chosen to share with the public.
January 18, 2012
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 9:55 am
Newspapers have been describing David Hockney as the greatest living artist in the UK. He has rebutted these claims saying that it is just media hype, saying “It doesn’t really mean that much to me and doesn’t bother me. I don’t leave the house a great deal and I’m not very social so I find media speculation about me rather dull.”
Mr Hockney is due to have a new exhibition at the Royal Academy this January. The work is going to feature the area of East Yorkshire and these are the first works that he has painted of the UK since he returned from the United States in 2005.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Mr Hockney said that he feels landscapes are much less appreciated in the art scene than they once were. He commented, “People think that photographs can do everything and therefore they do not paint landscapes so much. Instead a drawing, or painting, allows you to present the world in the way you see it, and this is something that photography is just not capable of doing.”
The Royal Academy first approached Mr Hockney about doing another major exhibition over four years ago and they initially wanted it to be launched in 2011. Mr Hockney said that he would not be able to prepare an exhibition in such a short time and said that he needed an extra year.
Mr Hockney, who is now in his mid-70s and is suffering from a degree of deafness has said that loud cities are now a challenging place for him to be in and this is why he has returned to East Yorkshire to paint in a more quiet environment. Mr Hockney is also someone who has embraced new technology and often uses an iPad is to create his works.
January 14, 2012
Filed under: Art crime — Alan @ 10:01 am
Thieves have recently taken several famous paintings by the masters of the 20th century. Police have described the art theft as ‘spectacular’ and among the stolen artworks are paintings by Pablo Picasso. The thieves broke into the Athens National Gallery on Monday morning and the alarm failed to sound because the thieves had previously tampered with it.
The heist only lasted for seven minutes, and the lack of alarm meant that the response time to the incident was slow. On Sunday, the thieves had purposefully set off the alarm numerous times so that it was not set off when the actual heist occurred on Monday. A 1939 work by Picasso called ‘Women’s Head’ was stolen, as was a work by Piet Mondrian called ‘Mill.’ An additional painting they tried to steal was discarded as they fled the scene.
A spokesperson from the police has commented on the incident, “These thieves were experts and they had clearly been planning this heist for a long time. Everything about it was well calculated and well executed.” The police spokesman also confirmed that Interpol had been notified and anti-art theft experts are working to recover the arts and return them to their rightful owners.
Over the past few years, Greece has been putting greater pressure on art thieves by working with Italy to crack down on people who are trading in the stolen art market. Previously, both countries had problems with antiquities thieves and tomb raiders and there was not enough protection in place to protect these valuable artefacts.
This recent theft is sure to be something that the Greek authorities working in the anti-art theft world would have preferred to have avoided.
January 13, 2012
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 9:39 am
The United States dealer of Damien Hirst works has been Larry Gagosian for some time now, and the pair have recently come together to create an exhibition of Hirst’s work that is going to shown right across the globe. His ‘Spot’ paintings are going to be shown at Gagosian’s galleries all around the world, from New York to Hong Kong.
The works in the exhibition are all going to be the sale, but they are going to be far out of reach for most people. In the past, his works have sold for a minimum of about £600,000. For those who are unable to afford this, there are plenty of other products available based on the Spot artworks, including cufflinks and even tea towels. One of the more expensive items in the collection is a clock that is based on the artworks and retails for nearly £500.
The worldwide exhibition will showcase around 300 paintings which have been painted over the last 25 years. Many critics have criticised these works for being trivial and uninteresting, but Mr Hirst hopes they are still going to be welcomed by the world and sell for his typically high prices.
Mr Hirst has commented, “I am an artist who is not afraid to try things and take risks. Often I go against the flow in the art world and do things that most people think will not work. For example, in 2008 when I sold 200 works at Sotheby’s, it was something that people thought was far too over the top but it worked and the sale was very successful. This is something that people can resent, especially the English.”
The sale in 2008 netted Mr Hirst over £100 million in the first two days of the auction, but there were rumours that he was manipulating the bids by having friends and business associates bid large amounts of money on the items to raise their value.
January 4, 2012
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 2:02 pm
The Ulster Museum is going to be hosting some of the best work by street artists from the United Kingdom, and there is to be a special exhibition that will open before the touring exhibition of Street Art. This is a tour featuring exhibits from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Local street artists from Ulster have also been selected to have some of their work shown alongside some of the biggest names in the street art scene.
At the exhibition, some of the various street art from around the city of Belfast will be shown through photography. Street artists are now working with paint as well as digital mediums and one of the artists to be featured at the event is Marian Noone, who is also known as Friz. She is best known for her work as part of the SPOOM Collective, which is a group of artists who work together to create murals on a very large scale.
Another piece of work that Friz is particularly known for is the creation of the artworks for MTV that were used during the European Music Awards, recently held in Belfast. She recently commented, “To have work displayed in the Ulster Museum is a huge joy, it is a very prestigious gallery and a fantastic opportunity for me to display my work to the general public.
My style has been influenced by what I studied in college, which was classical animation, and I get a lot of inspiration from these old styles. I first became interested in street art because it was a way for me to display my style on a much larger scale. The street art scene is particularly enjoyable for me because it is such a strong community and people are always looking to help each other out and give tips about how they achieve their unique style.”
The Head of National Museums for Northern Ireland is Kim Mawhinney who has said, “This display of art is designed to show off what some of our most capable Street artists are doing and we have selected some of their best works that we feel will be most appealing to the public and we are very excited to welcome them into our galleries.
Some of the submissions have been outstanding and they are very different to what we normally offer the visitors of our museum. We hope that this collection of street art will also attract a younger audience to the museum and get them interested in all sorts of art.”
The winning artists at the event have been selected by a special panel assembled from representatives of various museums in Northern Ireland. Adam Turkington was one of the judges and he has said, “This is a wonderful exhibit because it shows off some of the best international street art and also welcomes local talent.”
December 31, 2011
Filed under: Photography — Alan @ 3:33 am
The four artists who have made the final short list for the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize of 2012 have been announced, and they are John Stezanker, Rinko Kawauchi, Christopher Williams and Pieter Hugo. This selection showcases the diversity of both the photographic approaches and subject matter, ranging from documentary and everyday photography to re-contextualising found images and also new concepts.
The 2012 Deutsche Borse Photography is presented the Photographers’ Gallery of London. This annual prize of £3000 is awarded to a living photographer of any nationality for their specific body of work that has been in either a publication or exhibition format. It also has to have made a significant contribution to European photography between the period October 1 2010-September 30 2011
The four artists on the shortlist have received their nominations for the following projects; John Stezanker, born in 1949 in the UK is nominated for the exhibition he held in London’s Whtechapel Gallery from January 29-March 18 2011. Rinko Kawauchi, born in 1972 in Japan, has been nominated for her publication entitled Illuminancec, which was published by Editions Xavier Barral in France in 2011.
Christopher Williams was born in the USA in 1956, and has been nominated for his exhibition ‘Kapitalistischer Realismus’ that was held at Dum unemi Ceske Budejovice, Budweis, in the Czech Republic from May 5-June 12 2011. Finally, Pieter Hugo, born in 1976 in South Africa, receives his nomination for the publication ‘Permanent Error’, published by Prestel in Germany in 2011.
Julia Taeschner is the head of corporate responsibility for Deutsche Borsche, and she has said of this years short list that their esteemed judges have once again made an excellent selection with their short list for the 2012 prize. She added that these four individuals were all outstanding artists that reflect everything this prize is all about, and it is a privilege to showcase and acknowledge some of the years most exciting artistic contributions.
December 29, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 2:12 pm
Helen Frankenthaler, a celebrated painter and printmaker, finally succumbed to her long term illness at the age of 83. Throughout her career she has triumphantly created a crossover bridge between Color Field painting and Abstract Expressionism through her – among others — gestural brushwork and shimmering washes.
Lamenting the loss of this painter, who is fondly remembered for her bold color shapes and fluid, the former president of the Knoedler & Co gallery, Ann Freedman, said that finding an artist of her stature would be hard — especially those who are “as open to risk and change”.
What made Helen Frankenthaler special, according to Ann, as one of her close friends, was how she was “…open to everything around her.” People, nature and art included.
Helen’s foray into the world of abstraction and European art may have started during her brief study with the great Hans Hoffman. Whereas it was Symbolist painter Rufino Tamayo who critics believed she acquired her mystical edge from.
The art community remembers Helen most for her work in “Mountains and Sea”, where the artist applied a more refined technique of “staining”. The result was a surreal merge of the rock, ocean and horizon. But more than that, her ability to immerse people with her paintings will always be cherished.
December 21, 2011
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 11:41 am
Since his move to London, Henry Wood has been chosen to go to the United States to showcase art in Los Angeles. He will be showcasing his work at the Orange County Centre for Contemporary Art. He is one of the few artists that will be going to the USA to display his work there as part of a programme organised by a Notting Hill school.
Mr Wood recently graduated from Kingston University and was invited to attend the school as he was identified as having a particular talent. About being selected to go to the United States he has recently commented, “It is very exciting to go and put on a display in Los Angeles.
To be able to travel to California is a wonderful opportunity and I’m very grateful to the school who is choosing to back the project. The platform is wonderful for young artists and it is a great way for us to display our work in another country. “The flavour of the exhibition will definitely be British and most of the pieces are about the culture of the capital city.”
Most of the artwork that Mr Wood produces is created using primitive and raw materials such as bone and salvaged wood. A new piece of art has been created from objects that he has gathered from the River Thames. He said he chose the River Thames together with the items as it is such an essential part of the capital city.
The pieces of work that he has created are certainly interesting and explore the idea of the people of London having a shared history with the River. It also explores the idea of how the river has been controlled by the population into how this has changed over time.
The group of artists heading to America have been described as some of the best young artists in the United Kingdom. When you consider the artists who are going out there to exhibit you can understand why they have been selected.
Nicola Anthony is another one of the artists and she was the recipient of a scholarship from the Tate Britain. She has also recently had pieces of art displayed at the Tate Modern gallery and both Banksy and Saatchi are said to be collectors of her art. Rosie Emerson is another artist and she is most known for her work at The Southbank Centre.
The trip is especially unusual because currently there is a significant lack of funding in the art world due to the economic recession. Many people have said that this is a good sign that funding for the art world is back on track and marks a great day for art culture in Britain.
Mr Wood commented, “We are currently raising funds so that we can get as many artworks out there as possible, it is not an easy task in these times but it is something we are very dedicated to. This is going to be an empowering exhibition for all of us young artists.”
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