April 30, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 8:21 am
In addition to the 2010 Art Fund Prize, the Ulster Museum has yet another stepping stone in its successful path. It has earned the chance to be called the best museum in all of Europe. The Ulster Museum has made it to the finals in the competition for the highest honour, European Museum of the Year, to be revealed 21st May in Germany.
“The museum’s success bodes well for Northern Ireland”, the director of National Museums Northern Ireland, Tim Cooke boasted. “They are admitting that our culture and the presentation of it are worth something by placing the museum on the list of finalists.
“This changes the way people think of Belfast. Of course we hope tourists will have a stronger reason to come see our beautiful country and learn more of our rich heritage.” Following a remodelling of the building in Fall 2009, the museum has hosted over 800,000 tourists.
In addition to the Northern Ireland museum, other museums in the running include Austria, Russia, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, and Turkey. The various attributes the judges are considering include an extraordinary atmosphere, innovative methods of educating, new and unusual presentation and interpretation of the material, and social consciousness.
April 28, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 6:50 am
Featuring the faces of Davey Jones and Elvis of Pirates of the Caribbean, these a-peeling sculptures will certainly make you go bananas. The detailed fruity art features are carved with a spoon and toothpick and there is not room for a mistake because they need to be done in less than a half hour before the lovely bananas turn rotten.
Once complete the sculptures are photographed and then eaten by Japanese artist Keisuke Yamada. The 23 year old has developed a cult following ever since he posted pictures of his fruity business online. His fans send him new ideas and thus far he has made a total of 11 pieces that include ghoulish skulls and dragons.
He says he started about two weeks ago and once the pictures were posted it has taken off. He started innocently peeling a banana and thought how it may be interesting carving a face into the curved fruit.
The first was a face with a smile and he was shocked at the positive response he received so he just decided to carve more and once people started to make suggestions he received inspiration. He is an electrician and is looking forward to making many more sculptures in the future.
April 25, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 10:56 pm
A new way of viewing art will soon be available at the new Ruskin Gallery, part of the Anglia Ruskin University. The art is to be displayed on 9 HD screens. One of these will be the world’s first 103” 3D and HD plasma screen. Made by Panasonic, it is being imported specially from Japan.
The unique character and vaulted ceilings make the Gallery the ideal place to exhibit such a ground-breaking show. The head of the School of Art at Cambridge, Chris Owen, says that this gallery will be an extremely valuable facility for the University, the city of Cambridge and the UK in general. He added that whatever branch of the arts they were studying, students would benefit from seeing a great exhibition of contemporary art.
The gallery, which is situated at the Cambridge school of Art, opens on the 9th of May. It is open to the general public and all the exhibitions are free. Vice Chancellor Prof. Derrik Ferney said that the space allowed student to exhibit in a whole new way and in fields as diverse as film, photography, computer games and fashion.
April 20, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 2:50 am
During the Edinburgh Fair, the faces of Jesus Christ and the Devil plan to be set on fire by a renowned Scottish artist. Two busts made of matchsticks have been in the works by David Mach for months and will be lit in the street in front of City Art Centre, Edinburgh where this religious themed event is being hosted.
Plans to move his entire studio from London to a floor of the centre are underway so that fans and visitors can watch his work being completed. Know best for his Big Heads sculptures on M8, Mach is unveiling four huge crucifix-like figures made of coat hangers and over 70 cinema themed collages that were inspired by the bible.
He was not expecting any problems with authorities or protests against the burning of the sculptured busts, even though he is expecting a great deal of interest and he admitted he had no specific religious beliefs of his own.
Permission is not needed of anyone we can burn outside and he thinks if you are going to burn the head of Devil it is fair to do that to Jesus as well. Plans to hang one of the crucifix figures outside were shelved because of weather worries.
His plan has been in the works for close to three years in celebration of the 400th anniversary that the King James Bible was published. The event will run from July 30 to October 16 and will cost the City Council of Edinburgh over £115,000.
April 15, 2011
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 4:25 pm
The Turner Contemporary Art Gallery, opening April 16th in Margate on the North Kent coast, is going to be very good reason for a whole lot of visitors to spend some time in a town not well known for its cultural attractions. The gallery stands on the Margate seafront; on the site of a 19th century cottage where the visionary artist JMW Turner stayed during his many visits to Margate, and it embodies an equally visionary approach to the world of art and artists.
Never before has Britain seen the construction of three new contemporary galleries in one year, but Turner Contemporary is just the first of these regional galleries to open its doors. On 21 May, the Hepworth, on the river Calder in Wakefield will debut, and in September the spectacular ‘gold plated’ firstsite will be opening to the public in Colchester, Essex.
The Turner was designed by architect David Chipperfield, who said it is “not a museum, it is a cultural centre”, and that his design was meant to bring art to the people, not make them go searching for it. Chipperfield also says that the Turner should be more a community gathering spot and a place for enjoyment and learning, rather than just a ‘stuffy’ conventional gallery or museum.
The hope and expectation is that these unconventional galleries opening in non-urban areas such as Margate will have a regenerative effect on the various regions. The example set by the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Tate Modern in London has encouraged this expectation. It appears that the average citizen really does appreciate art in all its forms; art just needs to be more welcoming.
April 13, 2011
Filed under: Uncategorized — Alan @ 1:21 am
The Venice Biennale, or Biennale di Venezia is kind of like the Olympics of the art world. Prizes include the Golden Lion for Best in Show and the Silver Lion for Best Emerging Artist, and the works of artists from different countries are displayed in pavilions reminiscent of World’s Fairs.
The Biennale 2011 runs from June 4 to November 27 in various locations around Venice including the Arsenale and Giardini, and this year will see the biggest exhibition so far, with at least 88 countries represented. Among them will be Wales’s chosen representative, Tim Davies. He is a multi-media artist whose works range from found imagery to film.
To assist the artist with his presentation and provide interaction with the public as well as security for the works on display, ten art students and graduates from Wales have been chosen to spend two and a half months in Venice. They will be working as invigilators to help promote the Welsh artist’s work amongst visitors and curators from all over the world.
For these aspiring artists, this is a fabulous opportunity to immerse themselves in the international art community. Rebecca Voelcker, one of the chosen invigilators, said that it will be a wonderful inspiration for her own work and a chance to express her knowledge of and passion for the art of Wales.
The Welsh exhibition will be hosted by the Arts Council of Wales and curated by Tom Rowland, a notable London curator and long-time supporter of Tim Davies. This year the Welsh pavilion will be situated in the Ludoteca, a former chapel and sacristy in the Castello area at Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, a premier central location.
April 7, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 9:27 am
Sex Pistol star John Simon Beverly, better known as Sid Vicious will have some newly found artwork auctioned off for a reported £4,000. While studying as a teen at the Hackney College of Further Education in London Vicious created a variety of both paintings and sketches. Included in the works are a mosque set against a red sunset, a landscape featuring a dismembered head, reminiscent of Dali and a still life buttercup.
The collection, Sid Vicious’ Book of Artwork is expected to be very popular when auctioned in London on Monday at the Fame Bureau. The entire group of artwork was done while he attended art school and was most likely part of his course work says Alan Parker, the Sex Pistols biographer.
What the people’s impression of Vicious is now, is completely different from the side of him that used watercolours or sketches to create art. He was probably considered a very good artist and not a troublemaker and the biographer continued saying that Vicious was probably a sweet guy underneath and most punk fans would find it incredible.
Anne Beverly, Vicious’ mother was in possession of the artwork until her subsequent death in 1996 when it was handed over to the star’s estate. An expected £3,500 is expected for the contract to be auctioned as well, that was signed in 1978 for the band’s last concert shortly before his death at age 21 in 1979 of a heroin overdose.
April 5, 2011
Filed under: Art events — Alan @ 8:55 pm
The Classic Brit Awards will recognize Il Divo as artists of the decade where they will be bestowed an honorary award in next month. The newly created accolade will be given to the operatic quartet to mark the impact on the classical music world they have had worldwide.
Launched by Simon Cowell, the international group have had more than 50 number one songs globally and has sold over 25 million albums. The presentation will be on May 12 at London’s Royal Albert Hall at the Classic Brits formerly called the Classical Brits.
In marking there first UK performance in more than 3 year they will also perform with the group’s David Miller saying recording and performing is our love and receiving this award is an honour. Myleene Klass will host the Brits for the fourth year running and just recently she became a mum for the second time.
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