Slightly annoyed

I have messed up a little bit.

 

I decided to take advantage of a deal on getting 100 6x4" prints from Jessops for a very reasonable price. I thought this might be a different way of handing out my work to people, something a bit more than a business card and something nice for people to keep.

 

I also purchased a ink pad and stamp so that I could put my details on the back of the photographs.

6x4" photographs stamped on the back

I love the prints and I love the stamp - look how cool those look?

 

However I had forgotten how none absorbent photography paper is. I have stamped lots of the 100 and the ink on the back - even after a day - is still smudging.

 

Grrrr. If it doesn't dry I will not be able to hand them out as they will smudge onto the front of the photograph they sit next too. Perhaps I could put them into an envelope - but that takes away from the idea. Slightly annoyed with myself. However if they do dry I will be very chuffed. Any suggestions on how to get them dry. I have tried using a hair dryer and also blotting them - but still they remain smudgeable!

 

Answers on a postcard please.

 

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Compton Verney

After seeing a piece in the Guardian on Saturday - decided to visit an Exhibition on 'Flight - and the artistic imagination' at Compton Verney. The exhibition explored the instinctive human desire to fly. There were paintings, sculpture, photographs, documents, prints and video. All coming together to show how artists have represented the experience of flight in both fact and fantasy from the 1400s to the present day.

There was work by Leonardo da Vinci, Henri Matisse, Paul Nash, Elizabeth Frink and Mark Wallinger amongst others.

I was unable to take any photographs whilst in the exhibition so will provide links to websites so you can see the works I am referring to:

Paul Nash - Battle of Britain (1941) bbc website

Paul Nash - The delicacy used to depict the con trails are not replicated in the landscape or cloud structures, perhaps emphasising how frail and delicate man is amongst all this.

Henri Matisse - Icarus - in Jazz (1947)

Henri Matisse - It was a delight to see this book - in the flesh - it was open on page 54 and I spent a while trying to translate the french : 

"un moment

di libres

ne deviation

pas faire au

complis un

grande voyage

en avion aux

jeunes gens

ayanlteermime

leurs etudes".

Pat Douthwaite - Death of Amy Johnson (1976). National Galleries Scotland

Another painting that stood out for me was Pat Douthwaite's Death of Amy Johnson - I think it appeals to my love of abstract.

What a lovely day. I got so much inspiration for new ideas and projects from this visit - it is always good to recharge your batteries with looking at other work and it does not have to be in the field of photography.

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Latest Canvas

Picked up my latest canvas the other day from Jessops. I am really liking it - a blue print, a blue print for life. An image created without using a camera:

It is already on the back of my new buisiness cards - think I have a thing about blue!

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London - A Gig and A Gallery

Off to London to a gig at the Royal Albert Hall. Cannot believe going to the hottest, stickiest place on a hot day. Bad planning. But you cant plan the weather. Decided that galleries will be a cool dark place to be.

Treat on the drive into London - went in via M40/A40 route for a change (actually it was just so I could drive past the Hoover Building). As we drove past I managed to capture a few shots out of the passenger window and have put together a very crude panorama.

What is not to love about this building

Art Deco-tastic. I am going to try and get the opportunity to go in and photograph it one day. Next we drove past the Television Centre - again a lovely building.

BBC Television Centre

Going to see the Ed Burtynsky work at the Photographer's Gallery. Haven't been there since it re-opened so it will be nice to see what changes they have made. Wow the new building is something else - very pleasant.

The Camera Obscura can be seen poking out of the building near the 'P'

It was great to get up close and personal with Ed's work and I also got the chance to investigate some options for mounting/framing my work ready for the exhibition in 3 weeks. Must get on with that this week.

A wander around London in the heat was not a good idea but did get to see Regent Street. The flags are going up and it is starting to get all jubileed and olympicd up!

Regent Street, London

Too hot so then sat in a pub the other side of Hyde Park and discovered that my phone is actually quite cool.

Cool Phone

Then it was too the gig. Seats right at the back, in the highest heights of the Royal Albert Hall - so far away performers were but 10mm dots on the stage. The revolving song book was huge and I took this image with my little point and shoot on maximum zoom.

Songbook Wheel

He was in fine voice and I would say his voice gets better with age. Will be listening to the back catalogue over the summer. Also heard some songs I have never heard him do (or heard he has done) live before - particularly Tramp the Dirt Down. Brilliant.

Home about 2am - hot and done in.

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Private Eye

Day down in London on Wednesday - and no not for Christmas shopping - do people not know me! I detest shopping so much that even though I'm going down the dress sizes because of all the exercise I'm doing at the moment I have no desire to go shopping for new clothes. I will just add more holes on my belt. Anyway back to London ...... a grey day but the Shard looked interesting and already the top of it is in the clouds:

Popped into V&A to see the Private Eye exhibition - very amusing. Had to remortgage the house in order to buy two cups of tea and a slice of cake, but the cafe is a gorgeous place to sit.

Over to Tate Modern to see a number of exhibitions including:

Photography: New Documentary Forms:

Mitch Epstein, Luc Delahaye, Guy Tillim, Akram Zaatari and Boris Mikhailov

Mitch Epstein

Of all the photographers work on display I think I preferred Mitch's work - not just because it was the first one I looked at and I am inherently lazy! - but because he had a good idea, he researched it, he got people interested, he took his time completing it and he has got recognition at the end of it - oh to be so lucky.

Arte Povera

In the late 1960s artists began to experiment with using old, everyday materials. They were after all impoverished students. As I have learned recently at a lecture given by Erik Knudsen - Poverty can bred better work - so I was excited to see this exhibition. Some of the work was quite dull and other pieces very imaginative. Not only did they explore using poor materials but they also explored changing physical states. The piece about masturbation was - hum - interesting! I particularly loved this piece - which reminded me of my friends work.

Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism:

I got to see a Picasso and a Braque side by side - lovely.

Reminded myself just how much information I get from the Art timeline. It is painted across the entire wall of the Tate charting and marking the time of each Art movement and who was involved in it. I need to get my copy back up in the gallery dining room.

Silver birch trees outside the Tate Modern:

Had tea overlooking the Thames and St Paul's, watching the tide go out and watching people.

Then to the Odeon at Marble Arch to watch new Sherlock film. Home at 2am and totally done in.

Reflection:
For a long time the Tate only ever exhibited photographs that were taken by artists who use photography - like Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince - but what is clear now is that they are changing their policy on acquisitions and exhibiting photographer's photographs. I believe this has a lot to do with the the new appointment of their first-ever curator of photography - Simon Baker. This can only be good for photographers and I am pleased to have read that he asks photographers how they want their work to be displayed and this was clear to me when I saw the room containing Boris Mikhailov's Red and At Dusk projects.

This has finally answered a question which was raised in my head after reading 'Sausages and Food' by Keith Arnatt 1982 where he explored and examined whether we are artists or photographers and questioned why the Tate did not currate any photography exhibitions. He was certain that the Tate would change their policy at some point - seems it took another 25 years.  

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Turner Prize 2011

Learnt something new today. Not only do you need to be under 50 to be considered for the Turner Prize but that the judging is done on the exhibitions of the artists work over the previous year.

It has been running since 1984. This year, for the first time, it was held away from the Tate in London, at the Baltic in Gateshead. It has been such a success and boosted visitors to the area that they are going to hold it away from London every other year - starting in Derry in 2013.

Previous winners that I am aware of are Tracey Emmin 99 (who actually was only ever nominated and never won). Damien Hurst in 1995 and nominated in 92. Wolfgang Tillmans in 2000 - the only photographer to win. Grayson Perry in 2003 one of my favourite artists and I will be seeing his latest exhibition the 'tomb of the unknown craftsman' at the British Museum on 21st December and use my Art Pass. Anish Kapoor in 91 whose work I enjoy seeing and have seen two of his exhibitions over the last year.

This years' winner - Martin Boyce is 42 and from Glasgow. Some say he was the safe choice because they were nervous about being away from London.

A younger Martin Boyce

He is good and his work is very nice. He is experimenting  with his work - just like everyone else does - but it's not obscure, it's not cutting edge. It is art as we know it rather than a new development in contemporary art, which surely has to be the point of the Turner prize.

My favourite piece was the 'Air Vent'
Image courtesy of Guardian.co.uk from Channel 4 recording

Do you have to suffer for your art or can anyone do it? If you haven't suffered has it been worth it? After all when Picasso's work started to get noticed critics were heard to say: "Why a child of 6 could do that".  

www.squidoo.com

www.fineartcompany.co.uk

www.redyellowbluemakeyou.blogspot.com

Footnote:

The Turner Prize celebrates new developments in contemporary art and awards a prize each year (except 1990 when the sponsor went bankrupt). The prize is currently in excess of £40,000.

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One Day Three Galleries

On a day trip to London one should never plan to do too much because there is never enough time. Three galleries in one trip sounded like a lot as we would be looking at four different exhibitions - but we were game.

NPG:

First stop NPG - no nothing to do with Prince and the New Power Generation - get on.... But the National Portrait Gallery to see the finalists of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. Red head with red guinea pig was the winner - better known as 'Harriet and Gentleman Jack' by Jooney Woodward. Up close and personal this is a stunning shot. There were two other portraits that caught my eye. One was the boy in shower 'Oliver' by Kelvin Murray and 'Happy at 100' by Karsten Thormaehlen. Before looking at the exhibition I went and had a look at my favourite portrait Johann Christian Bach by Thomas Gainsborough. It is a lovely painting.

Harriet and Gentleman Jack, 2010 - Jooney Woodward

Happy at 100, 2011 - Karsten Thormaehlen 

Oliver, 2011 - Kelvin Murray

Johann Christian Bach, 1735-1782 - Thomas Gainsborough c 1776 Oil on Canvas

Lunch:

Next was time for lunch which we enjoyed in an Italian around the back of the National Gallery. Then after watching Charlie Chaplin, Batman and a unicyclist entertain the crowd in Trafalgar Square (and also try to work out which rooftop they shot the reluctant bomber from in Spooks) we set off across the Thames to the South Bank and the Hayward Gallery.

Charlie Chaplin begging for money

The sun was making weird things happen to the Thames

Hayward Gallery:

Here the shows by George Condo 'Mental States' and Pipilotti Rist 'Eyeball Massage' were enjoyed. I had seen the interview Alistair Sookes had with George Condo on the Culture Show about this exhibition so it was rather startling to see this work for real. It is frankly disturbing, funny and challenging in equal measure. I don't like the demonic glee associated with the portraits he has created over the last decade - but I love his abstract work from the 80/90s. My favourites were 'Nothing is Important' 1985, 'Pink and Orange Abstraction' 1997 and 'Expanding Canvas' 1985.

Pink and Orange Abstraction, 1997 - George Condo
Image curteosy of www.pbs.org

Pipilotti is an artist who enjoys moving images and playing with how we view those pieces. It was all very entertaining, interesting and challenging. I loved the way the huge space was broken up into smaller spaces with the use of voile hanging from the ceiling. This separated her earlier work from the current work. My favourite was the small projection on the floor as a spot of light this drew the crowds because of the way it was viewed. Clever artist.

Heads waiting to go into the Hayward Gallery

Somerset House:

A stroll over Waterloo Bridge looking for the Shard and we were at Somerset House.

We were not entirely sure which building was which

The Dazed and Confused exhibition 'Making it up as we go along' is what we had come to see and very interesting it was. Intriguing portraits and some great ideas.

Dazed and Confused Show

Spent a lovely 15 mins watching the ice skaters and if I can work out how to download the video off my Flip and onto here I will show you it.

And then the journey home.

The jewel that is London at night

Conclusion: you can do 3 galleries in one trip and not feel worn out at the end of it.

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Dining/Gallery

My dining room shall have a dual purpose when it is finally finished. Walls and ceiling now done, carpet laying last thing to do.

Once completed my plan is to use the wall space to showcase my work. Clients do occasionally call round and they will be able to see it up on the walls rather than the usual glimpse they have on my iPad.

Knowing I had planned this for the room I have ensured it is painted in plain light colours so that the work becomes the feature. No feature wallpaper for me. (A current trend I do not subscribe to).

The biggest piece will always hang above my gorgeous black and silver fireplace and I need to make sure I do not cover all the wall space with shelving units or book cases. It is going to be a challenge but one I will certainly enjoy.

Now I need to think about lighting and the windows. I have enough choices with lamps and spot lights to show off any work. But the windows are a different matter altogether. My curtains did not survive the wash I gave them. A whole new approach might be needed. I'm thinking black out blinds. This will also mean the images don't get direct sunlight on them. Win-Win.

Pics will follow when it's all complete. In the meantime here's one I prepared earlier...

As it all comes together it will look great ... or is that grate!

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Fauvism

The name given to short-lived phase in the modern art movement. At the 1905 Salon d'Automne in Paris several young artists, led by Henri Matisse, offered the first collective expression of this new influence. Full, vivid colour to the point of violence, the pictures compelled attention and provoked scandalised protests. In the same gallery a small bronze in the Italian renaissance manner prompted Louise Vauxcelles, the critic, to describe it as "a Donatello among the wild beasts" (chez les fauves) - from which the epithet fauvism was coined.

Typical of the fauvist manner was an exultant handling of brilliant pigment. Imitative colour was rejected. Colour instead of light and shade, was used to illuminate the picture surface; and colour shapes were related, rather than contained, by flowing lines. Each separate element was exploited to intensify the expressiveness of the whole. At first paint was applied in a pointillist style, later in areas of flat decorative colour. The main influences which still permeated the movement were the acutely personal vision of van Gogh, the rich bold designs of Gauguin and the prevailing taste of Oriental and primitive art.

Fauvism evolved no creed and proposed no programme. It sprang up among a group of burning enthusiasts, all of whom endorsed similar aesthetic theories and technical innovations without submerging their individuality's.

Outstanding in the movement were Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Charles Camoin, Andrés Derain, Kees van Dongen, Raoul Dufy, Othon Friesz, Henri Manguin, Albert Marquet, Jean Puy, Maurice de Vlaminck

Matisse - Jazz: Icarus, 1943

Braque - Two Birds on Blue Bottom, 1963

Charles Camoin, Bouquet of Flowers

Andres Derain, Charin Cross Bridge, 1906

Kees van Dongen, Le Carrousel, 1963

Raoul Duffy, The Basin at Deauville

Othon Friesz, Paysage da la Ciotat, 1907

Henri Manguin, Jeanne resting at Villa, 1905

Albert Marquet, Barques des Pecheur, 1906

Jean Puy, Un Fauve en Bretagne, 1906

Maurice de Vlaminck, Les Pecheurs a Nanterre, 1906

Plenty of inspiration, interest and artists to research here. I have discovered that my specific interest in Modern Art falls in the period 1945-1960 but it is interesting to see where those artists get their inspiration from.

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Paris

I loved it so much I am organising a trip back. February sounds like a good month, so have got my travel consultant onto it.

Montmartre

A whole day in the Centre Pompidou and didn't see half of the exhibitions. But I have discovered what art influences me. It seems it is a quite specific part of the Modernist movement. Also discovered a new movement - Fauvism - will write about that shortly. There are so many wonderful galleries and of course the Mona Lisa to revisit that it demands a return visit.

Paris

Went to the top of the Eiffel Tower to recreate an image of me taken when I had my first camera at the age of 17.

Then

Now

Had a lot of fun with the tilt and shift lens. I found it's limits for what I was trying to do and also marveled at some of the gorgeous effects I was capturing. Some of my favourite images:

Eiffel Tower

Pompidou Centre

 

I also found the extra functions on the Canon 5D Mark II (which I had pooh-poohed in the past) really useful. I even tried some video. Being able to push the ISO up to 6400 made for capturing images in all sorts of difficult and dark lighting conditions. I even managed some half decent shots of the photographers at the gig as it got underway:

I am beginning to think I could part-ex my 5D - I think the business could manage to find a way of making this happen. Will look into this.

A magnificent few days. I even got looks from blokes like I used to when I was in my 20s - an excellent boost to the self-confidence and ego. You have just got to love Paris.

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