ArtFest 2011

This year's celebration of professional artists in Ryedale is well under way with exhibitions in local galleries and open studios.  Duckett and Jeffreys Gallery in Malton is host to one of the shows, where my work was selected this year.  It is an interesting show, with some great work by several artists including Gill Dearman, (textiles) Serena Partridge, maker of tiny hand stitched garments with reference to historical costume and museum curatorship, newly graduated Steff Mitchell, Catherine Scriven who has made an new digital photocomposition for the show and Lyn Wait, showing a film.

The following four images are of the work accepted for this year's ArtFest:

Boundaries, acrylic on gesso, on board

Track, acrylic on gesso, on board

Lost, acrylic on gesso, on board

Low ll, acrylic on gesso, on board

Duckett and Jeffreys touring caravan gallery is also out and about: an early port of call was Ryedale Folk Museum, in time for the opening of Sally Taylor's show.

Anyone reading this who is interested in finding out more about ArtFest and the participating artists should go to the website and blog provided by The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum:

www.thegalleryatryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com


www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk

Away With Hepworth, Moore, Frost et al and up with Sally Taylor

It was remarkable that so few works were required in the gallery for our Herbert Read exhibion; the Hepworths and Moore sculptures and the Terry Frost and Creffield paintings in particular have such stature both physical and artistically, that very little else was required to make an exhibition of real impact.

I had a frantic day taking down the paintings by Dennis Creffield, Terry Frost, and Brian Kneele and packing them carefully back into their travelling crates. The small Henry Moore sculpture was safely nestled back into its crate and we were then ready for the handlers to come and pack away the much larger Hepworth sculpture.  I felt releived that we didn't have to handle it ourselves given its artistic significance and value.  Our tribute to Herbert Read over, we then looked forward to receiving Sally Taylor's drawings for the next show.

Safe and sound!

Andy Dalton the manager of The Gallery and I worked with Sally to hang her show, "All Say The Same" and it looks great.   The longest part of the process is always deciding where to hang the individual pieces within the gallery space.  Once these decisions have been made, usually after much pondering and swapping things around and sometimes back again, the actual hanging takes very little time at all.  The whole show was up in just over a day but it is a period of very hard work.

We were on tenterhooks to see if Sally would win the Jerwood Prize for Drawing as she was shortlisted for the third time.  Sadly she was not successful, but it is a tremendous accolade to be shortlisted.  Sally's professionalism made it an easy show to hang; it has an excellent accompanying catalogue with an essay by Vanessa Corby who is currently Senior Lecturer in the Theory, History and Practice of Fine Art at York St John University and an interview with Sally by Gavin Delahunty, Head of Exhibitions and Displays, Tate Liverpool.  The show runs at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton le Hole, North Yorkshire until after half term, October.

Some Excellent Exhibitions

I am a bit behind with my blogging due to the many family members who have been up to North Yorkshire to visit me recently.  We had a ball, but now I am recalling some of the really good shows I managed to fit in before they all descended.

Towards the end of August  we went to Gateshead, to The Baltic, to see the fascinating Robert Breer show, the unsettling Maurizio Anzeri stitched photographs and the  photographic installation. by Maria Robertson.  All 3 shows were really good, gold star again to the Baltic.

The Robert Breer show ends 25th September so anyone reading this that wants to go needs to get their skates on.  Breer is acclaimed as a major influence on the development of film animation and I was absolutely mesmerised by the films shown.  The films included his own artwork and photographs.  His paintings often became major parts of his films. 

I have to admit that I had not really been aware of Robert Breer until I saw this exhibition; but I am so glad that I have had the chance to experience his work.  The exhibition was arranged chronoligically from level 3 to level 4, but true to form, I saw it back to front as we treated ourselves to lunch on the top floor before we started!  Breer's paintings, which were influenced by the grids of Mondrian were a little derivative but the colour Breer employed was more subltle than Mondrian's. One of the paintings also reminded me of the cut out by Matisse, The Snail.  Breer was fascinated by the idea that a painting could be simplified and reduced in its expression to potent sign language.  The paintings, flat areas of colour divided in various ways across the picture plane are full of energy. 

However, it is Breer's Floats and Films that were so exciting.  Breer used found objects and sculptures that parodied real objects while others are purely abstract.  What makes them so extraordinary is that they are mechanised so that they move at an almost imperceptible speed.  The viewer is left wondering if they actually saw the movement or not.  Their environment thus continually updates itself as the objects move about and change direction.

The films were the best thing as far as I was concerned; they incorporate Breer's own artwork, his photographs of family  and familiar logos and objects.  Their jerky nature left me feeling very disorientated in a good way; they had an obvious link to his flick books which were also exhibited and which I yearned to have a go at!   A quote from the accompanying leaflet:
"Breer's art always uses one force to define another in an intricate play with opposites: the recognisable is employed to highlight and condense the abstract, while stillness is employed only to accentuate change."

Sums it up completely.  The exhibition is really worth a visit.

Maurizio Anzeri's stitched photographs are fantastically fabulous.  They are sinister, but leave you wanting more, a bit like when you can't help watching a horror film or some such.  The accompanying sculptures using synthetic hair were also amazing yet faintly unsettling; like fettish objects.

I enjoyed the photographic installation by Maria Robertson simply because they had loads of energy, brilliant colour and were like gutsy paintings but they were done using photographic techniques and materials.  The way the huge roll of printed paper was draped over the high partition wall raised questions about our perception of photography and the way it is displayed.  The large pieces in frames were placed asymmetrically within the space again challenging the viewer to think about these issues and to see the work in a fresh way.

I really would recommend all three of these exhibitions and am glad that I saw them.




We finally made it to Wakefield to the Hepworth Museum. 

A brilliant space, the light is excetional and  the work is displayed very well.  Being a painter, I particularly enjoyed the gallery displaying paintings by associates of Hepworth.  We found the car parking inadequate and the gallery was not signposted very well so we got a bit lost and when we finally arrived desperate for coffee, the cafe was trying too hard to be a restaurant when it should simply supply good food fast.  Was it necessary to take an order for an egg sandwich and have it made up fresh while we waited for at least 30 minutes?  Why not have fresh sandwiches ready?  What is good enough for the Royal Academy . . . . . But enough; the art is FAB !

Visual Ponderings

Not quite a drawing a day as C86 aka my good friend graphic artist Matt Lyon has been doing since the start of the year, but part of a record of my visual thinking of the last few weeks plus some paintings that are underway.

I started this year thinking that the theme for my work would be death; a response to the fact that I lost 4 of my best friends not long after I moved up to North Yorkshire 6 years ago. 

 I have since revised this and am now thinking about the cycle of life, the seasons and tree of life imagery.

I am gathering information in the form of sketches and colour studies from the local landscape, thinking about personal, symbolic colour and symbolism.  It is a very slow process that will eventually produce a series of paintings that will refer to the landscape as a metaphor for the human condition and journey. 

Stage 2 of some of the colour studies I have done for the 4 seasons

Stage 1 of sketch book work study for 4 seasons

All this is work in progress, the final series of paintings will develop from the studies I have made and will make, they will inevitable become less figurative as I endeavour to express the theme of life, death and the human condition. 

CIDA Course

Yesterday was the final of the 4 Monday afternoons I spent at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds, where Anamaria Wills was running a short course to enable us creatives to be more business like and aware of opportunities open to us all.

It has been an inspiring and enjoyable time, mixing with dancers, choreographers, photographers and visual artists, all of whom shared experiences and a strong sense of humour, making a great atmosphere in which to soak up all the information that Anamaria gave us.  

The handouts are now filed away so that I can find them to look at again when I need support and inspiration and I am now going to start being much more proactive in promoting myself as an artist and setting up my business properly. It is good to know that the CIDA team are contactable for advice in the future too.

The postcards I had printed by Moo were a good market research tool with the group and I am now planning to have more printed based on what I have learned and observed from how the group selected one from the pile.  Several group members have shown my cards to other people and the response to them has all been very positive, so who knows, an opportunity may arise from that simple act just like Anamaria kept telling us!

All in all, a really worthwhile 4 Monday afternoons, thanks to all at CIDA.

Exhibitions and Courses

I spent the weekend of 29th and 30th July in London with my daughter.  The schedule of 3 exhibitions, plus lunch by the canal was a good one; neither of us was too exhausted by the end of it.

Saturday: Tracey Emin, The Hayward

Saturday 29th July: we met under the clock at Waterloo Station where I arrived from my parents' house in good time for the Tracey Emin at the Hayward.  I was really keen to see this exhibition, Sarah less so.  As artists, we all put ourselves into our work but Tracey IS her work and the exhibition is remarkable.  Her raw emotional response to the events in her life using media that span traditional "womens" skills like sewing, and the media of drawing, painting and film make for an absorbing and emotional show.  Some of her imagery and use of language is maybe a little too raw and explicit for many people's taste, but I applaud it.  How else could she express some of the awful things that happened to her as well as her gutsy joy of life and her sheer bloody mindedness?  

I have always admired Tracey's drawings, the way she manages to express difficult subject matter so economically with  a few expressive, scratchy lines but I had no idea she could paint so brilliantly.  The few fantastic paintings in the show were an absolute revelation to me; they were utterly beautiful and uncompromising at the same time. The sophistication of the painted surface seduces the viewer, entices them in and, as you stands there, the subject matter emerges, challenging you to equate one with the other.   Hats off Tracey, we both loved your show!

The South Bank was teeming with people enjoying the fountain, the beach area and the rooftop garden complete with raised vegetable beds, scarecrow, wild flower meadow and lawns.  The bunting flapped gaily as we made our way after lunch, past Gabriels Wharf and on to Tate Modern for the Miro exhibition.

 

Saturday: Joan Miro, Tate Modern

This time, our enthusiasms were reversed; Sarah really wanted to see this show, while I was not all that interested.  I found myself very irritated as usual by the way that Tate hung some of the paintings, putting two paintings close to a corner which created a bottleneck of viewers while further along the wall there was a large space.  I wonder sometimes if they ever go round the exhibitions once they are open to see how the space is working?  I think not. 

It was interesting to see Miro's early paintings of the farm and countryside of his boyhood.  I particularly enjoyed the series of collaged pieces and the Constellation series.  The wall of drawings that were on display with imagery that was similar to Picasso's Guernica was impressive but I could not  engage with Miro's personal imagery and symbolism.  I found myself becoming increasingly irritated by the seperate images floating about on the picture plane and have an aversion for the raw, fairly unmixed colour even though I understand that Miro chose them deliberately.  In the end, I think I just prefer paintings to be a bit more gestural and painterly, less "coloured in" than Miro's work appeared to me.  I was impressed by the way Miro refused to toe the party line during his lifetime and continued to make work that was honest and critical of his government.

 Sarah was really absorbed by it all and found it far more interesting than I did; her love of all things Spanish and her knowledge of Spanish art was obviously an advantage.  However, I have to say, that on Sunday, I was able to see some connections that surprised me.




Sunday: Twombly and Poussin, Arcadian Painters, Dulwich Picture Gallery

A lovely lazy lunch in an Italian resaurant on the canal near where Sarah lives in Bethnal Green, then on to the Twombly and Poussin.

What a fantastic show!  Somehow I didn't mind the imagery, marks and words or calligraphic non words floating across the ground of Twombly's paintings; I have known and admired his work for a long time.  This connection with the Miro show on Saturday made sense and enriched my experience of both exhibitions.  I love it when that happens, it makes looking at art so rewarding and memorable! 

The parallels between the two artists were explored in this show.  Both moved to Rome, albeit 500 years apart and both artist were referencing nature, the pastoral, life, death, eroticism, poetry, myth and the antique.  I have never studied Poussin in depth and this show forced me to do so.  I now have a greater appreciation of his work and I was struck by his use of light and dark across the picture plane, his use of colour and how the figures in many of his paintings were arranged in a band across the surface, emulating carved friezes of ancient times.  The rythms within his drawings made me think of Pollock.  The use of colour and light in some of the paintings resulted in an abstract quality shining out across the surface of the painting, had me quite transfixed.

Twombly's paintings and drawings are wonderful, full of vigour, beauty and enigma.  Only by standing in front of the work for a length of time that is longer than a glance as one walks past is it possible to see the work properly.  As you stand there, the work reveals itself to you; marks and words that were not clear gradually appear and the meaning and beauty of it becomes more apparent.  I say more, because I am never sure that I fully understand Twombly's work but it doesn't matter.  The gestures, the drips, use of colour and division of the painting surface is fascinating and inspiring.  Of course the show was poignant as Twombly's death had been announce only a few days before. I reflected upon my experience of standing in front of Tracey Emin's paintings the day before and again marvelled at how interesting unexpected connections between artists are.  I bought the catalogue that accompanies this exhibition and it is excellent.

All in all a fabulous weekend; thank you Sarah!


CIDA Courses

I have been attending some excellent one day courses run by Anamaria Wills and her colleague Lea, whose surname escapes me and I am not sure that I have spelt her christian name correctly either.  The courses have been run on Mondays during July and August at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds and have only cost £5.00 per session, which is excellent value.  The final session is next Monday 15th August and is about "Surviving and Thriving in Yorkshire".  So far we have covered "The Work of Art: Artist as Entrepreneur", "Earning Your Money" and "Professional Presentation".  

All have been incredibly thought provoking and stimulating,. The passion and enthusiasm of Anamaria and Lea has been quite inspirational.  Meeting other people from the arts, lots of dancers and performers as well as visual and conceptual artists has also been very useful; we have learned a lot from each other and shared experiences.  I recommend CIDA to everyone earning or trying to earn a living from their creativitiy.

Anniversary

To Margaret and Peter, with love.

Today is our 38th wedding anniversary. Our good friends Margaret and Peter were married on exactly the same day and year as us and I have just finished 2 small paintings; one for them and one for my husband Pete.  Happy anniversary to us! 

Happy anniversary Pete, with all my love.