April 20, 2012
Filed under: Art events,Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 10:16 pm
Graham Sutherland exhibition comes to Pembrokeshire
Artist Graham Sutherland (1903 – 1980) has been celebrated as the ‘outstanding painter of his generation’ and is a major figure in twentieth century British art.
A selection of his work, as well as archival objects from the Sutherland collection which is housed at Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Museum of Wales, is to be put on show in a new exhibition.
Graham Sutherland at Oriel y Parc Gallery and Visitor Centre, in St Davids, Pembrokeshire, is running from the 1at April-1st July 2012, and will make a great UK day out for the whole family.
The exhibition shows both the breadth of material in the collection and archive from Amgueddfa Cymru and suggests connections between objects and art and between the people and places that shaped Sutherland’s career. This exhibition is well worth an afternoon of anyone’s time and will make a great UK day out as part of your holiday in Wales.
Initially inspired by the English Romantic tradition, Sutherland developed a personal approach to nature which increasingly drew on modern European art. The places in which Sutherland worked had a profound influence on his work: from the rural landscape of Kent to the hills and valleys of west Wales and the heat and light of the French Riviera. Sutherland wanted to leave a collection of art to Wales because he felt ‘having gained so much from this country, I should like to give something back’.
Bryony Dawkes, Partnerships Projects Curator, Amgueddfa Cymru, said, “Many of Sutherland’s best known works are inspired by the wild coastline of Pembrokeshire. This exhibition celebrates both Sutherland’s work and this inspirational landscape, so we hope that visitors to Oriel y Parc will enjoy these wonderful works from Amgueddfa Cymru’s collection, in the place that was so vital to his creativity.”
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority Chairman Cllr Tony Brinsden said: “The award-winning Gallery at Oriel y Parc was originally created to house a Graham Sutherland collection bequeathed to the people of Pembrokeshire, so we are absolutely delighted to showcase this exhibition from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
“I’m fond of the Sutherland quote: ‘All in all, I look on the hidden places where I work as a marvellous playground’. We’re proud that the National Park is working towards conserving the Pembrokeshire landscape that so inspired him.”
April 19, 2012
Filed under: Art crime,Art events,Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 4:54 pm
Between 1995 and 1997 Franco and Eva Mattes stole very small parts of some of the most famous artworks in the world. They do not deny that during this period they stole shavings off some of the world’s most famous pieces of art including work by Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons.
The two people responsible for stealing these small fragments of the artworks admitted that they had done so in 2010 and have recently announced that they are going to be putting them on display at an art show. At the show there is also a film of them stealing a tiny fragment of cellophane from a work of art by Alberto Burri.
The two parties claim that they were stealing the small fragments because they felt it was a way to revitalise the pieces of art, which they felt had lost their interest among the public when they were moved to a museum.
The two thieves are also artists and they have often confessed to the various crimes they have done. They claimed that as well as being thieves they are hackers and fraudsters. This is the first show that they have put on a displa and it is going to be taking place in London. The collection also includes various forgeries that they have created, one of which they claimed was by the famous Italian artist, Cattelan.
They originally tried to sell this piece of artwork that they forged, and they were made an offer after it was authenticated which was a significant amount of money. Instead of going through with the sale, they informed the potential buyer that the artwork was a forgery and the offer to buy the piece of art was withdrawn.
There are also artworks on display that were not part of various illegal activities conducted by the two artists. Despite being legal, they do however remain controversial. In one of them, there is a fake video of the artist killing himself and the various responses that were received to the perceived hanging posted on the Internet are being displayed at the exhibition as well.
April 17, 2012
Filed under: Art events,Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 2:53 pm
Hans-Peter Feldmann, a German artist, is holding an exhibition of his work in London. The exhibition is being held at Hyde Park’s Serpentine Gallery. This is Feldmann’s first solo exhibition in a gallery in London and features, amongst other things, several women’s handbag contents.
Feldmann has been a key figure of Düsseldorf’s art scene since the 1970s. At the exhibition in London’s Serpentine Gallery, you’ll find plenty of new pieces all neatly presented in traditional glass-paneled cabinets. Among the new additions are 6 women’s handbags, along with all their contents.
Original owners of the handbags are identified using their first name, age and the city they’re from. Each woman was given 500 Euros in return for the handbag and its contents, on the proviso that the woman was not allowed to tidy up the bag before relinquishing it. No items, except important objects like passports, credit cards and money, have been removed before display.
The results are several bags that contain a vast array of items from business cards, mobile phones and crumpled receipts to painkillers, sanitary products and a variety of other items. All paper money on show has been photocopied.
Feldmann enjoys collecting curious items and, aside from handbags, you’ll find several other things on display including seascape oil paintings, images of bathtubs before and after use and several caricatures of the artist himself drawn by Madrid street artists.
Visitors will also receive a complimentary image of the Queen in her childhood. The Feldmann exhibition is free to enter and runs until 5th June 2012.
April 10, 2012
Filed under: Art events,Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 8:11 pm
Gunther Von Hagens has previously come under a great deal of criticism after showing the exhibition Body Worlds. Among other attractions, this featured a fetus that was preserved as well as a horseman with his skull split open. Another exhibition has been put together and is on display at the Natural History Museum and it includes 100 exhibits which are this time focusing on animals.
The exhibition is called Animal Inside Out and features, among other things, a red shark, a hairless gorilla and a 50-year-old elephant. The animals in the display have been preserved by the use of the process invented by Von Hagens, called plastination.
This process involves the removal of the fat and water from the specimens before these two fluids are replaced with polymers. Once these substances have been replaced, the skin of the animal is dissolved and the systems that were beneath the skin are able to be seen in their true level of complexity.
The new collection of preserved animals is as much a piece of art as it is a scientific display. The effort that has gone into creating the display is clearly enormous and many of the pieces are enormously complex. One of them shows two reindeer involved in a fight and it is quite incredible to be able to see all the anatomical detail.
The animals that have been used in the exhibition come from enclosures where they have died of natural causes. The most notable item in the collection is a giant Asian elephant and it dominates the final room of the exhibition. It is fascinating to see the muscles and internal organs of this enormous animal. The elephant is supported by a metallic structure that has been designed to also demonstrate the exact path of the blood vessels through the animal.
Filed under: Art events,Exhibitions,sculpture — Alan @ 8:08 pm
A show by Damien Hirst is currently taking place at the Tate modern and it is a retrospective of much of his art from the past few decades. Damien Hirst is the richest artist in the UK and his exhibition is showing off some of his most famous pieces which have only previously been seen together in private collections.
Over 70 other famous works are being featured at the gallery including the shark that was famously preserved in formaldehyde. The show has a simple name and is titled after the artist himself. There are also some new pieces of work on display at the gallery that have never been seen before, including wallpaper that is decorated with diamonds and butterflies.
There are few other artists in the world who have enjoyed such a successful career as Damien Hirst and he has become known for his unusual pieces of art. One of his most famous pieces of work, which he first displayed in the early 90′s, featured a room filled with butterflies that were feeding on fruit. This work has not been put together again until this latest collection, and those who did not get to see the exhibition first time round will be looking forward to it.
Visitors are also likely to be shocked by some of the pieces of art they see. One of the most disturbing is that of a cow’s head which has been left to rot and has many maggots feeding on it. The maggots are frequently turning into flies and then they are quickly electrocuted by an insect killing device.
Many visitors will be coming to see his most famous work, For The Love Of God. This is a human skull that has been covered in over 8000 perfect diamonds and it can be found in the Turbine Hall at the Tate modern.
April 4, 2012
Filed under: Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 10:52 am
The free exhibition space at the Barbican is called the Curve and a recent exhibition that has been put on there might leave visitors feeling as if they have accidentally stepped into a storage area that should be off-limits.
Modern art installations have made people somewhat aware of art that looks more like a collection of random objects, but this latest collection goes beyond what has been seen in the past.
In this installation there are a wide variety of different objects including discarded toys, washing-up bowls, and plastic bottle tops. One of the greatest puzzles is the collection of empty toothpaste tubes which have remained a part of the installation since it was first put together in 2005.
The installation was put together by Song Dong, the Chinese artist who has called the collection Waste Not. Dong was born in Beijing and has exhibited work all around the world. His works are very varied in range from sculptures and paintings, to video art. This collection of objects at the Curve is his first show that he has ever put together for the UK.
There are 10,000 objects in the collection and most of them are very small. They are the sorts of things that clutter up homes, such as used up ballpoint pens, strange food containers, and broken crockery.
Some of the objects in the collection, such as the toothpaste tubes, could have been returned for money, and it is likely this is why the collection built up. However, as is often the case with these things, the objects were never returned. The items have all come from China, however this does not mean that they will be unrecognisable to a Western audience. You are sure to recognise some items as you walk around the exhibition.
April 3, 2012
Filed under: Art events,Art News — Alan @ 10:50 am
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is a masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci that has recently undergone some restoration work. The restoration work has been met with a great deal of controversy as it is a major change to the work, which will restore the original colours as they were painted in the 16th century.
However, when the work was first released to the public at the Louvre yesterday, the response has been very positive. The results are quite remarkable and the piece of art looks better than it has ever done before. The overwhelmingly good result suggests that many other works by Leonardo da Vinci will undergo a similar sort of restoration in coming years. There has been some degree of speculation that even the Mona Lisa could be subject to restoration.
There is an exhibition taking place at the Louvre until 25 June which will allow visitors to see both this restored work as well as the Leonardo da Vinci painting, Cartoon, which is leaving its home at the National Gallery in London for the first time in around 300 years.
This is the first time that the two masterpieces have been shown in the same collection for 500 years and the one from London is a charcoal drawing which was created around 20 years before the painting held at the Louvre. 50 years ago, someone attempted to purchase the paintings but they were bought by the National Gallery so the public can enjoy them for decades to come.
The painting which has recently been restored became discoloured over time by varnishing and a failed attempt to restoration in the 19th century. In modern times, a restoration was attempted around 15 years ago, but it was abandoned because the project was too challenging. Digital techniques have made accurate restoration more possible in recent years.
April 2, 2012
Filed under: Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 6:37 pm
Sheep set to create unique portrait of the Queen
A moving portrait of the Queen, that literally moves, will be achieved on the Malvern Hills thanks to 200 sheep. Will Halford is a performance artist and sheep farmer, and will work with his flock, with the assistance of a few sheep dogs, as part of the Worcestershire Art Trail that is to be held over 1st-4th June, the Jubilee celebration bank holiday weekend.
Starting from the north end of the Malverns, Will will be initially creating a portrait of the Queen as she was when she first came to the throne. The sheep will then be herded across the hills to form a final portrait of how her majesty looks now. The process will last the full 4 days of the Jubilee celebrations.
More than 74 artists across 48 locations have signed up for this year’s Worcestershire Arts Trail. Over 10 of the artist’s involved are creating unique portraits of the Queen which will be on display to the public completely free of charge during the event.
Commenting on the unusual portrait, Worcestershire Arts Trail, organiser Sarah Jones said: ‘Anything that gets people talking about art is a good thing. Worcestershire is a farming county so it seems fitting that one of our tributes to the monarch should reflect our heritage. It’s great to put a different spin on things”.
One of the main aims of the Worcestershire Arts Trail is to debunk some of the myths about art such as it being expensive or out-of-reach for most people.
To find out more about what else is on offer on this year’s trail, visit www.worcsartstrail.org
March 30, 2012
Filed under: Photography — Alan @ 6:03 pm
Ivory Coast United © Luca Sage, Winner Best in Show, FOTO8 Summershow 2011 Enal with Pet Shark © James Morgan, People’s Choice Winner FOTO8 Summershow 2011
This years FOTO8 Summershow will be taking place between 7th July-19th August, and is both the largest and most influential show based around photography that takes place in the UK, and this year is it’s 5th celebration of all things photographic, and entry is completely free of charge.
The FOTO8 Summershow provides a international window for all new and emerging photographers as well as those who are established in the field, and is a great showcase for the stories they have captured in their images. Photographers of every level are encouraged to take part in the show, and the only remit is that their images convey powerful stories, evoke questions and provide a window on life.
The open entry format creates a vast and visual tapestry of issues, life and stories that are both national and international. This approach, along with the diverse combination of work that is on show also raises thought provoking questions about the nature of today’s modern photography.
For collectors the Summershow provides the most significant chance to invest in new photography with prices for prints starting at just £75. The event is also one of the most popular on the photography calendar – around 4,000 people attended the Summershow last year.
Of the 3,000 photographs usually entered, just 150 will be carefully selected for display in the Summershow and offered for sale. A panel of internationally respected judges, including for 2012, BAFTA award winning artist/photographer Alison Jackson, will select an image to be Best in Show for which there is a £2,000 prize. The winner will be announced at the FOTO8 Summershow party, on 6 July when the photographic community come out to party at a huge street celebration with more than 600 revellers taking over Honduras Street. The show opens to the public on 7 July 2012.
The Show is underpinned by the belief that everyone can take a picture but few people can take a great photograph. FOTO8 asks visitors to take part in this idea, by asking visitors to vote for their favourite image over the duration of the exhibition. The image with the most votes receives the Peoples’ Choice Award announced two weeks prior to the close of the Summershow.
This year’s Summershow benefits from newly refurbished premises. The FOTO8 gallery, previously known as HOST Gallery, has been significantly expanded and will provide increased gallery space for the 2012 Summershow.
Jon Levy, FOTO8 Founder and Co-Director, said: “The opportunity to capture an image that dramatically communicates a moment in time is no longer just the reserve of the professional photographer. We are keen to support the democratisation of photography by providing an open call for anyone to submit images. The Summershow is a unique opportunity for photographers from all backgrounds and disciplines to tell their stories and in doing so illustrates the diverse ways we see the world. The 150 images in the gallery act as a mirror to society and the lives we live now. The Summershow is also a recognised platform for new talent and a unique canvass for evolving photographic styles. This makes it hugely popular with photography collectors and enthusiasts alike.
“Since our inaugural show in 2008, the FOTO8 Summershow has grown in size and reputation. Each year the Summershow captures and reflects the mood of the moment becoming in itself a document of current photographic practice while simultaneously pointing to a future which is both promising and exciting.”
Alison Jackson, photographer and FOTO8 Summershow Judge 2012 said: “Anyone can take a picture but the fun and interest is exploring what makes a great photograph. What is so exciting about this competition is that it does just this by being open to everyone across all subject matter. Choosing just one image to win is wonderfully provocative and I am very much looking forward to taking part as well as seeing the new talent coming through.”
Have you got an image for the FOTO8 Summershow?
If you think you have an image that tells a powerful story, why not enter? To enter and for submission guidelines visit http://bit.ly/foto8show. Entries must be submitted by 14 May
March 29, 2012
Filed under: Art events,Art News,Exhibitions — Alan @ 12:01 am
The Arts Newspaper has recently made the announcement at the Louvre Museum in Paris was the most visited art museum in the world in 2011. It estimated that throughout the year nearly Nine million people visited the museum, which is a significant increase on the figures from the previous year.
Second place is held by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum came in at third place. In fourth place was the National Gallery and fifth place was held by the Tate Modern, both museums located in London.
The list was first put together by the newspaper in 2007 and since this time it has always been led by the Louvre. The deputy editor of the newspaper, Javier Pes commented that, “The Louvre is so popular because it is the home of the Mona Lisa as well as numerous other remarkable pieces of art.”
Despite the global recession, more people than ever before are attending art galleries. This is despite many galleries having a budget cut as they look for ways to save money. Museums are having to rely on their great collections and putting them back on the shelves has proved an excellent low-cost alternative.
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