January 27, 2012
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 11:02 pm
Manchester museums and art galleries are soon going to benefit from a multi-million bonanza as the cash is going to be split between deserving foundations. A large piece of the £60m fund has already been reserved for top culture venues the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum in an effort to get a new generation of youth interested in culture.
The cash will be used on various promotions targeted at babies, school children, and even some activities are aimed at getting pensioners to appreciate spending time at the galleries. Those in charge of the project hope to increase visitor numbers to the galleries up to 1m a year before 2015. Currently the number of visitors sits at 850,000 yearly.
How the money gets dispersed and more details will be described in April after the Arts Council finishes its negotiations, but until then it is hoped that at least a few million will go towards creating new visitor programmes throughout Manchester.
One such hope is that a sensory programme will be created for babies to help get them geared towards art lessons and arts. Another hope is that tours will be created for older people to take part in and that a volunteer programme can be established for those that would like to offer their services as a guide.
Joint director of the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Art Galleries Maria Blashaw stated that for the last several years they have made investments in order to help an increase of people benefit from what they have to offer, but there was always the question of what would happen in the future. Now Blashaw says that the news of funds coming their way will help them to start new programmes to help widen the audience that the museum is able to reach.
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 1, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 7:31 am
A new gallery on New Bond Street is to be opening this month. The gallery is a new one from Halcyon Galleries and it will be hosting a special exhibition by Dale Chihuly. Mr Chihuly has recently commented, “This new collection of my work is something I’m very excited to present and returning to London to do it is a great joy for me.
This new gallery is located in a wonderful building and has enough space to show off my new work. In terms of scale I am pushing my medium as far as it can go and I’m constantly trying out new techniques.”
Next year is a particularly important year for the artist as it is 50 years since the foundation of the International Studio Glass Movement which he is the leading proponent of. The movement was started in 1962 in the United States and since those times has grown significantly and is particularly important for all artists who are working with glass.
The exhibition by the artist is going to be using all of the space in the gallery, which includes three floors. A special piece of work has been designed to fit in one of the larger rooms and it is 24 feet long. There are also numerous paintings and drawings by the artist featured in the gallery alongside the work that is done in glass.
Mr Chihuly has said about his work, “I like to work with glass in a very natural way and use the fewest number of tools possible. I want the glass I design to come from nature and not from a factory. The glass blowing process is incredibly inspirational for me and seeing glass being shaped by human breath is something I am continuously impressed by.
I also greatly enjoyed using colours in my work and I have never found a colour which I’ve added to glass to be something that I haven’t liked.” The artist is most famous for his architectural installations, where his glass forms a part of an important building. In many historic cities, private houses, and public museums around the world you will find his installations and in many cases, this work is one of the key features of the building.
His work is very popular among collectors in the United Kingdom and he is probably best known for a very successful exhibition that he had at the V&A Museum in 2001. One of the most impressive pieces of work that this gallery had was an almost 30 foot high chandelier which has remained as one of the museum’s permanent exhibits. Since it was first installed in the gallery, this chandelier has been seen by millions of people.
Another very notable installation by the artist is at Kew Gardens where he designed a glass garden specific for the location. Since it was installed in 2005 the exhibition has been seen by nearly 900,000 people. Throughout his career the artist has been featured in over 200 museums and has been commissioned for installations in several private locations.
November 7, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 8:56 am
It’s been years coming but federal regulators have finally approved the ‘Over the River’ project that has been planned by the artist Christo. The project is going to cover part of a river in Colorado with over 6 miles of luminous, silvery panels that are made out of fabric.
The entire installation will cost $50 million and has received a great deal of criticism for its potential impact on the environment. Federal regulators were urged by the wildlife commission in the state to refuse the project but regulators have approved it and insisted that the artist take over 100 steps to prevent any damage to the environment.
The project is being funded by the artist through the sale of previous drawings. The installation is predicted to bring around $100 million of tourism to the state of Colorado. Ken Salazar is the interior secretary and he has commented, “this is going to bring a great amounts of recreation opportunities for visitors to Colorado and is going to see the jobs in tourism industry thrive.”
Christo, who is now 76 years old has commented to the New York Times, “The greatest compliment an artist can be paid is the people to think about their work and the thought people have put into approving this piece of art is flattering”. This is the first piece of art to ever have an environmental impact statement drawn up. There are several local regulations that will have to be met before construction can start however.
November 5, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 6:47 am
Next summer the Hayward Gallery which is located in London will be turned into an art school that will be open to the public. Such famous artists as Martin Creed, Mark Wallinger and Jeremy Deller will be offering lessons. There will also be internationally famous artists at the school such as Marlene Dumas and Thomas Hirschhorn. The school will consist of a series of workshops and lectures, and at the end of the exhibition there will an art show which includes some of the public’s work.
Patrick Brill has commented, “This is going to be a great place where people all come together and share their artistic ideas.” Jude Kelly is the artistic director on the Southbank and she has said, “It will be running for a month and anyone is welcome and it would be a great experience for people to gain a better understanding of art.”
The event is tying in with the Festival of the World which is taking place on the Southbank next year. Date wise it will coincide with the Olympic Games and should be one of the highlights of the festival. Other events that are taking place at the festival include a world record-breaking gathering of poets and several orchestral performances. The event is very diverse and there will be performances by deaf and disabled artists and these events will run at the same time as the Paralympic Games.
The director of the Hayward Gallery is Ralph Rugoff who has commented, “The Olympic Games are the inspiration for running the school next summer and is intended to encourage people to get off the sofa and do something more productive than just sitting at home. The art event is something that can appeal to those who do not have sporting talent but talent in other areas.”
At the event over 200 poets will be present where they will be running a workshop and performing readings. At the end of the event will be a final gala for all of the writers. A representative has commented, “We want to make the Southbank next summer a place where poets can come together as a community.”
Music will also be a large part of the festival and several temporary concert halls will be assembled on the Southbank and musicians will be offering teaching sessions to young musicians. There will also be a Latin music fiesta as well as music from Africa being performed. There will also be a series of debates and talks surrounding African music and what the African continent can bring to the international community. Debates on social change will be held using African examples and those of the events will involve a mix of young and old people.
October 28, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 3:10 pm
Three modern artists have taken photography, painting, and video to a new level. William Sasnal, Jacob Kassay and Piplotti Rist are proving to be masters at adding new twists to these traditional art forms.
While painting and photography may seem to be competing forms of art, William Sasnal has skillfully combined the best of both forms. He takes his inspiration from newspaper photographs. But he adds his own take to the pictures.
A photo of a Palestinian woman holding apples becomes a woman who appears to be wearing the belt of a suicide bomber. A photo of farm buildings now looks like a painting of a death camp. A painting of a beautiful young woman was inspired by a photo of a person accused of being involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Sasnal, born in 1972 in Tarnow, Poland, is a painter of contrasts. His works combine beauty with an underlying darkness, goodness with a sense of malignancy. His paintings are drawn from contemporary events, yet transcend those events to become universal.
A photo of a young woman, covered in a filthy blanket and standing in the midst of the debris left by the tidal wave that hit Japan this year, becomes a painting of the same woman now surrounded by a whirlpool of abstractions, suggesting that her plight is universal, one that has been experienced by many.
Jacob Kassay combines painting with chemistry. He primes his canvases, then electroplates them. The process gives his monochromatic paintings a silvery sheen which allows the viewer to almost see themselves in the painting. His work is on display at the ICA until November 13.
Pipilotti Rist takes video art and turns it on its head by adding psychedelic colours and unusual effects. One video features a chandelier made out of women’s underwear. Another video depicts a woman swallowing a camera, which immediately appears out of her backside, only to come around to her mouth again. Rist is currently displaying over 30 works at the Hayward Gallery until January 8.
September 10, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 8:26 am
Few artists have worked from more dramatic and tragic inspiration than the Cambodian painter Vann Nath, who died last Monday at the age of 66. He was one of only seven survivors of the Khmer Rouge
prison known as S-21, where in the years from early 1975 to late 1978 as many as 16,000 people were tortured and killed for having violated some ambiguous precept of the Khmer Rouge regime. In all nearly 2 million deaths due to overwork, starvation and execution are attributed to that regime.
Before Vann Nath was arrested and taken to Tuol Sleng, a school-converted-to-prison for ‘enemies’ of the Khmer Rouge and its leader Pol Pot, he had been making a living as a relatively undistinguished sign painter. The records that exist indicate that he would have been executed at some point if not immediately, but his paintings won him a reprieve; he was kept alive on condition that he supply portraits of Pol Pot and other leaders.
Vann Nath spent about a year at S-21, and he watched and experienced the tortures and deprivations inflicted on the prisoners. When Vietnamese forces overcame the Khmer Rouge in 1979, there were only a handful of prisoners still alive and with the death of Vann Nath only two are still living. However, while the artist lived he created a momentous legacy of art depicting the horrors of that regime and that prison.
He was also the first to testify as an eyewitness at the trial of Kaing Kek Lev, the man known as Duch, who was the prison chief at S-21. In June 2009 he spoke to the court about the evils propagated by Duch and his cohorts, and his words were compelling, but his pictures are even more so. Vann Nath spent the years from 1979 until his death painting detailed and horrifying scenes of the remembered hell of his prison.
He also wrote a vivid memoir of his experiences, titled A Cambodian Prison Portrait, and spent most of his time, even when battling ill health, speaking and writing in his passionate desire to express his experience as a reminder and warning to his countrymen and the world of the physical, psychological and spiritual damage that man is only too capable of wreaking upon his fellow man.
The tribunal that has been dealing with Khmer Rouge crimes is entitled to try and sentence those who were “most responsible” for the genocide and accompanying atrocities of the regime. Last year the prison chief Duch was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison for crimes against humanity, but four more accused criminals like him have yet to be tried, and there is concern amongst some human rights organizations that they never will.
For Vann Nath, that would be a sad commentary on the judicial system and the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal (called the Extraordinary Chambers), as the trials have been so long in process that some believe the participants just want to be done with it, and the remaining accused are getting more support from sympathizers while the victims of their crimes wait for justice that is too long in coming.
August 26, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 8:40 am
Street artist King Robbo, who is based out of Holloway, has recently been involved in an incident that left him with a serious head injury. One of his main rivals is Banksy, another street artist. King Robbo was placed in a coma by doctors after the accident and he remains in a critical but stable condition. The artist was set to open an exhibition of his work just days later in Shoreditch. There is no criminal investigation into the incident that caused his injury.
King Robbo has been involved in a rivalry with Banksy for two years. Banksy has recently been urged to donate some of his work to a fundraiser for the injured artist to help pay for his medical bills. Members of King Robbo’s graffiti crew, ‘We Rock Hard,’ say they have not heard anything from Banksy, while other artists are donating some of their works. They intend for the fundraiser to raise money for any long term care that King Robbo may need. This money will be given to his family, which includes his young daughter.
One of the members of ‘We Rock Hard’ has said that, “If Banksy chooses to donate one of his works, it would be a very nice way for him to extend a hand of friendship that we would gladly take. The rivalry between the two of them is not seen personally by King Robbo.” However, a month before his injury, King Robbo stated that the rivalry began when Banksy insulted him at a meeting.
The rivalry between Banksy and King Robbo came to the public’s eye in 2009 when Banksy gratified over some of King Robbo’s art. This started a competition which has seen King Robbo alter a great many of Banksy’s works.
The fundraiser will be taking place in Shoreditch, at Cargo, located on Rivington Street on the 4th September. It will see an auction of various works that have been donated to the cause. Banksy has not officially commented on the issue. Recently one of Banksy’s works has been graffiti-ed over and one academic has argued that the buildings with his more famous graffiti on should be protected.
July 26, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 7:49 am
Lucien Freud, the great painter, passed away at 88 in London on July 20th. He had established himself for quite some time as the last of a group of English masters from John Constable, Thomas Gainsborough to J.M.W. Turner. He was also the classic bohemian who drank hard, spent hard, screwed hard and most of all painted hard. He was only married twice but had many the lover and untold children with them.
The chaos in his life was reflected in the chaos he left on his canvases and that was his intention. His start was rocky and it took figurations in the 1980s to return to fashion for him to become a global star. But, for all the acting up that he did, he still ended up being British Art’s grand old man.
He was born into elitism in Berlin and was the grandson of Sigmund Freud, and his family had enough foresight to flee the tyranny of Hitler arriving in England when the painter was 11, in 1933. Like a great deal of people that age that were transplanted, he neither merged seamlessly into the new culture nor did he fully ignore it.
Before him, British art sat out many of the movements that were radical in America and Europe. While the art world in Moscow, Paris, New York and Berlin were following the Malevich’s abstractions, Picasso’s cubism or Duchamp’s conceptualism most in London were just mired in the legacies of the 18th and 19th century forefathers. Freud took on all the conservatism that was in London.
July 7, 2011
Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 9:24 am
The artist suffered many mental health problems including schizophrenia and those diseases he suffered from affected VanGogh artistic career. He did the renowned Starry Night while a resident of a Sanit-Remy insane asylum in France. There were a number of other disorders that plagued the talented artist his whole life and are able to be seen in some of his works.
He was a famed artist and an even more intelligent individual and Vincent Van Gogh knew when was enough and actually admitted himself a number of times into mental asylums throughout Europe. Once released from those self imposed recovery institutes increasing signs of improvement could be seen but were short term at best. After a bout with depression he committed suicide.
Today his sister-in-law is the one responsible for him being popular. Six months after the death of Vincent, his brother Theo passed away and Theo’s wife Johanna decided to devote her life to making sure Van Gogh received the recognition he rightfully deserved. Without her efforts the world would not have known of his mastery.
Vincent loved Theo and everyone knew that and that love for his brother extended to both life and death and time and space. He directly attributed all his accomplishments to his brother even if his brother had no nothing or very little to do with it. His words for his brother were always of the highest regard. He often said a finer brother no one could ever have.
Happiness obsessed Van Gogh and he was one that felt all he ever needed was wrapped up in happiness and then his world would be right. He always chased happiness his entire life and that craving is evident in all his works. In his entire lifetime he sold just one painting but he also created 2,000 pieces of art, 1,100 pencil drawing and sketches and more than 900 paintings.
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Manchester museums and art galleries are soon going to benefit from a multi-million bonanza as the cash is going to be split between deserving foundations. A large piece of the £60m fund has already been reserved for top culture venues the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum in an effort to get a new generation of youth interested in culture.
