sculpture

Cowboy

Jann Haworth [b. 1942]
Cowboy
1964
Kapok and unbleached calico
Wilson Gift through Art Fund (2006)

“The American cowboy is an enduring motif in Hollywood films, which has in recent years been reconsidered through a more contemporary lens, raising issues of gender, identity and social history. Jann Haworth recalls seeing her first rodeo in 1956 and, for her, the rodeo cowboy is a 'fossil of the imperfect/perfect Great American Myth! Cowboy is one of her earliest soft-sculpture figures, depicting a macho subject in a material commonly perceived as feminine.“

Rana Begum, No. 1367 Mesh

I first saw this backlit, as you see here, and didn’t think much of it, but as I progressed through the museum, catching views of it from different angles and in different light, I kept seeing new pictures of it.

Love’s End?

Last month we went to see the big Tracey Emin retrospective at the Royal Academy. The best work, for my taste, were the large paintings from her latest period, which she considers a kind of rebirth. For me, the earlier work was very much like reading a teenage girl’s private diary, full of adolescent anger at people who “just don’t understand me,” and extremely narcissistic (to be fair, private diaries probably are all mostly narcissistic, albeit not often shared publicly). I took a lot of pictures – here they all are in roughly reverse chronological order (click on any one of them to see them all full-sized):

Repetition

Nature and Art

A close-up view of vibrant succulent plants with reddish-brown leaves and green centers, accompanied by a decorative glass flower stake featuring blue hues, set against a blurred green background. — The Hidden House, Fiveways, Brighton

Another weekend another Artists Open Houses neighborhood to explore, this time in Fiveways.

Flight of the Langoustine

View of a decorative metal structure along the seaside, with the ocean in the background and a seagull flying above. — Hove Plinth (Grand Ave)

I’ve photographed Hove Plinth before, but now from a different angle with more sea and the flight of a seagull. I was scouting the viability of this path for a “dividing the frame” group shoot.

Afloat

A view through a circular, textured bronze sculpture, framing a calm sea and distant wind turbines on the horizon. — Doughnut Groyne, Brighton

A view through Afloat, commonly known as the Doughnut, in Brighton.

Idiom II (detail)

After the Marina Abramović at Saatchi Yates, we walked across the street and up some stairs into Smithson Plaza where, instead of massive land art (a different Smithson, I guess), we saw several sculptures by Charles Hadcock.

Marvel Universe?

I get to marvel at her every day!

(sculpture by Charles Hadcock.)

Student Corridor

The Continuing Story Of

Sculpture

Yet another geometric abstraction from the 2006 archive.

Not Amused

Conservatory

A Modern Take

Jackson’s Cousin Worked in Telcoms

An art installation we came upon in phone boxes during open studio month. There was no other information and it was difficult to see into the booths but I did find this article which I think is about the same artist.

Floaters

We visited Charleston in Lewes to see the Vanessa Bell exhibit. It was bookended by the Quentin Bell sculpture above and the Koak exhibit, below.

“The Dreamer (2025) presents a woman in suspension – self-contained, serene, and held in a peaceful dream state. Her body is sculpted in concrete, a material often associated with foundations and stability, yet here taking on a surprising tenderness and warmth. The figure reimagines Quentin Bell’s sculptural series of levitating women, and Louise Bourgeois’s arched figures, as an embodiment of powerful vulnerability and radical dreaming.”
– Ella Slater, from the brochure accompanying Koak, The Window Set.

Yarn Bombed Pillar Box

Paper Cut

At Owen Gildersleeve & Friends’ open studio we saw the work of cut paper artists (Owen Gildersleeve and Helen Ferry).

According to the measure of your faith shall be your achievements

We went to the Hove Museum of Creativity largely to see Beside The Sea: Photographs by JJ Waller and Martin Parr. Scroll down almost halfway through this history of the museum building to learn about the inscriptions on the Jaipur Gateway, shown above (the post’s title is from the Sanskrit inscription).