We went to see the Zurbaràn exhibit at the National Gallery, which featured quite a few crucifixions in deep chiaroscuro. I was curious to see this detail, the shadow cast by the nails in Christ’s feet tell us the time was 3 o’clock, the biblically recorded time of the event.
We happened to be viewing Hockney’s iPad-drawn mural at the Serpentine Gallery North in London the very day he lay dying elsewhere in London. This tree-house painting was in the garden outside behind the coffee shop and I crouched down to include the flora growing in front of it to make it fit into the scene more organically.
Another stop on our tour of Hove Artist Open Houses was the Paul Houlton Studio – he was displaying a lifetime’s worth of work in a variety of styles, capturing much of the 20th century in Western art. Some remarkable work.
In October we visited the Kiefer / Van Gogh exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Not previously familiar with more than Kiefer’s name, the work and its relationship to van Gogh was stunning. Entirely different, one can nevertheless feel how Kiefer has responded to van Gogh in every image.
“In 1963, aged 18, Anselm Kiefer received a travel bursary that allowed him to follow in Vincent van Gogh’s footsteps through the Netherlands Belgium, and France, first in Paris and ending up in Arles and the neighbouring village of Fourques in Provence. On his travels, which he termed an ‘initiation journey, Kiefer kept a daiary filled with notes and drawings.” ﹣from the exhibition guide.
This is one of the ceilings in the main public library on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Remarkably for one who’s lived in NY for over 60 years, and whose birth was announced in the library’s employee newsletter, I’d never been inside before doing some research a week or so ago in the Division of Art, Prints and Photographs.
“‘The Window Set’ does not break down the threshold between the body and its environment, but rather makes visible the ambient poetics of their complex interdependence. In nature, the dream, and the domestic, Koak explores the ways in which identity extends beyond ourselves , and in doing so, envisions the revolutionary potential of self-knowledge and intimacy － transforming tenderness and vulnerability into outward resistance. Like Bell’s work before her, Koak’s work positions femininity and tenderness as the domain of radical connection. Here－ to borrow the words of Ursula K. LeGuin－ resistance cannot be bought, or stumbled upon. Instead, it is contained within us, yet ripples outwards － in landscapes, spirits, bodies and homes.”
－ Ella Slater, from the brochure accompanying Koak, The Window Set.
Can’t say I see it, whatever it means….
Click any of the pictures below to see them all larger.
I had the great good fortune and honour to be invited to spend the first day of the September Test match between Surrey and Durham at the Oval, Surrey’s stadium (Surrey won by 10 wickets in only 3 days, retaining their title for a third year). The day included a tour of the historic stadium, its museum and library, and a visit to the roof, with its splendid views of London (see panorama above). Throughout the stadium are artworks depicting famous players and moments from its history, including the group portrait below.
The painting above, with embedded video was from an exhibition about a local man who escaped the mines by becoming a flamboyant wrestler. I can’t find any trace of it on the museum’s web site.
We also saw an interesting exhibition called The Valleys, with work by over 60 artists including Tina Carr and Annemarie Schöne, photographer Robert Frank, Josef Herman, photographer Bruce Davidson, and Ernest Zobole as well as introducing the work of collier artists and makers including Nicholas Evans, Harry Rodgers and Illtyd David.
Click any image below to see them all full-sized.
Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Standing Man (Uomo in Piedi) is one of his mirror paintings, allowing me to take this shot.
In the last post, I discussed liminal spaces, a subject that we have been discussing in my Photography MFA class. Imagine my delight in finding the Limin restaurant! (Click either image below to see them both enlarged – you may have to click the post title first if you’re seeing this in an email).
This is a slightly disorienting view but it’s no more than the view from the top of a staircase, showing 2 stories of this local gallery.
