Ceramic Art London 2018

Yesterday I went to Ceramic Art London which describes itself as ‘The International Contemporary Ceramics Event’.  It is a 3 day event held at Central Saint Martins in the remodelled Granary Building which is a fantastic setting of striking architecture.  I got there with what I thought was plenty of time to grab a coffee & piece of cake before heading to the lecture theatre for a talk by Grayson Perry.  Appaerently not.  The lecture theatre was filling up fast and I didn’t want to miss out so I forwent the planned midmorning indulgence and took my seat.  Grayson Perry did not disappoint.  He had the whole (very full) room laughing within 2 minutes and he continued to entertain us with his extremely open and honest talk about identity and social classes for an hour including some Q & A at the end.

There is a full schedule of talks by many others working in the creative sector including Phoebe Cummings – winner of the Woman’s Hour Craft Prize 2017 and Keith Brymer Jones – renowned ceramist and judge on The Great Pottery Throw Down. I only had time for one talk unfortunately.

Onward to the actual exhibitors and their work! Amazing quality and variety.  For me it was a particular joy to see Jonjin Park and his incredible pieces made from layered papertowel & porcelain slip.  We chatted about how he acheives his ‘Stratum’ effect and some Korean traditions in ritual vessel making which has now added to my ‘to do’ list for further research.  I only wish I’d bought that piece from his MA show back in 2014 which was above my budget then, but now with his advancing career and work……ah, well, I can admire from afar!

Others who I really enjoyed seeing were Hannah Tounsend, Patricia Shone, Ashraf Hannah – actually I can’t pick as they were all a joy. What a great opportunity to see and sometimes handle works by makers who I admire as well as be introduced to work by makers that I hadn’t come across.

(Pictured : Ashraf Hannah, Lara Scobie, Grainne Watts)

To me, this is a top day out – it was only slightly marred by the train home being packed so I had to stand for the entire journey which meant that not only did my legs ache but I didn’t get to sit with the catalogue for an hour going over it all again.  I did however rectify this when I got home by poring over the catalogue with a chilled glass of wine.

 

Tate Modern

Recently I was fortunate to have an afternoon at the Tate Modern.  I haven’t been since the Lichtenstein Retrospective in 2013 – which was a triumph!  I decided not to go into the Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture exhibition, but to investigate the other galleries of the main collections instead.  A tough choice, as I would like to see the Calder, but with so much to see and time limitations, that is what I went with.  I find that if I try to cram too much exhibition viewing into 1 day then I get overloaded and tend to glaze over, not really appreciating what’s in front of me.  Alexander Calder is on until 3rd April so perhaps I’ll make another trip.

So, decision made, I went into the collection displays on Level 4.  ‘Media Networks’ exhibition explores the different ways in which artists have used media and technology within their work.  This is a wonderfully curated show.  Andy Warhol and the Guerilla Girls kick it off with vibrant screen prints to convey political and social comments.

Then this gem of a piece ‘Unique Forms of Continuity inSpace’ 1913 by Futurist Umberto Boccioni who embraced the new technologies of the early 2oth Century such as cars and electricity.  I love this, the form shows power, speed and movement all in heavy, beautiful, shiney sleek curves.

The next piece that caught my eye was this collage by Linder “Untitled” 1976.  Much of Linder’s work centres around feminist politics . This altered image of an embracing couple shows the woman gouging out her eyes with a huge fork suggests that this is not the perfect romance. Clever and funny in my mind.

Cildo Meireles’ “Babel” 2001 is a tower of radios all playing at the same time and it is concerned with ideas of information overload or failed communications.  It is a piece of scale and drama which looks very futuristic from a distance yet as you approach, you see vintage analogue radios which make up the bottom layers of the tower.  Smaller mass-produced electronic radios are near the top.

After a quick cuppa, I went on to the  “Material Worlds” exhibition.  This intriguing installation got me thinking.

“Behold” by Sheela Gowda is a room full of car bumpers strung up by what I thought was very thick wool.  On reading the blurb, I discovered that it is corded  human hair. Weirdly, with this new knowledge, I felt compelled to sniff deeper (not closer) just to see if there was any hint of smell in the air – which there wasn’t, thankfully.  The work was inspired by the talismans of human hair that are knotted around car bumpers in India to ward off bad luck.  The hair is from local temples, where pilgrims have cut it off as sacrificial offerings to fulfil sacred vows.  This piece took me from an initial “Oh, wow!” as it’s striking visually, like a massive 3D drawing, to “Oh, and slightly Ew!” for the human hair realisation (I’m not sure what’s wrong with me, it’s only hair!) , then back to “Oh wow!” because it’s a very interesting multi-layered work.

 

The next thing of note for me was this wonderful piece ‘Industrial Painting’ 1958 by Pinot Gallizio.  Here Gallizio challenged established methods of production and distribution of art by adapting mechanised manufacturing techniques.  The paint was applied to long rolls of canvas by a team of assistants using a low-tech painting machine, so the result was mass-produced but also unique.  Sections were then cut off to be sold. I like the idea behind this but also the way it has been displayed here.  I’m not sure it would carry the same weight for me if a strip were cut and framed the way the artist intended. Who knows? …but I do love the long drape flowing down from the ceiling.

Lastly, before I left,I stumbled upon these Latin American photobooks.  They are from photographer Matin Parr’s collection and they reflect an era in the 1960’s of political conflict and social unrest in this area.  After the success of the Cuban Revolution, which bought Fidel Castro to power in 1959, there were many rebellious groups and guerilla movements against the harsh regimes.  Military governments clamped down on legal and civil rights and brutally repressed opposition groups.  These photobooks were inexpensive to print and easy to circulate and allowed artists, photojournalists and activists a voice. Some very powerful images in these books, made me feel quite emotional.  Clearly time for another cuppa before heading home. Fab day though.

 

A cheeky few hours at NPG.

A trip to the National Portrait Gallery is always a treat.  From the moment I enter, I leave the rest of the world behind me – I think this is my personal form of meditation.  I have spent many hours here and enjoy the historical pieces and the contemporary works alike.  One of my favourite pieces, which always delights me is the small portrait of Mary Seacole by Albert Charles Callen.  I never leave without saying hello to Mary. (Not weird at all).

On this visit, the main contemporary galleries were closed but they had arranged some of these works in ‘Contemporary Conversations’ with the historical paintings.  Hanging contemporary portraits of actors/soldiers etc along side their historical counterparts worked really well for me, showing how professions were depicted and perceived then in comparison to now.  Very thought provoking.

On this visit, I spent quite some time looking at the sculptures in the room at the back on the 1st floor which shows work from 1919-50.I teach teenagers how to sculpt heads in clay, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to get some resources for them.  Sir John Betjaman by Angela Conner, Lucien Freud by Jacob Epstein and Dorothy Stuart Russell by Ismond Rosen all have a lovely textured, spontaneous finish to them, where sculpting marks are still present.  This is something that many of my students struggle with -they just can’t stop smoothing! Maybe it’s an experience/confidence thing? Or maybe an age thing?

Sir John Betjeman by Angela Conner (1973)

Lucien Freud by Jacob Epstein (1949)

Dorothy Stuart Russell by Ismond Rosen (1960)

George Bernard Shaw by Jacob Epstein (1934)

Of course I visited the café! They’ve re-jigged it and moved the bookshop upstairs allowing a lot more seating.  Good move! This new area is adorned with some fantastic wallpaper.  I’m not really a wallpaper kind of a girl, but this – yes please.  It is by Blackpop and was inspired by the Tudor Collection of paintings and in particular the portrait of Mary I. They do a fabric too, which may now be on my list, even if I can only afford enough to make a cushion.

Wallpaper by Blackpop

I didn’t have time to sit on Trafalgar Square for my lunch like I usually do, which is a lovely area for people & pigeon watching.  Perhaps next time.

Gallery Day.

It was a couple of weeks ago now that I had a trip to London to browse round some galleries.  First stop was Courtauld Gallery where I was fortunate to see the Peter Lanyon exhibition on it’s last day.  If i’m honest, he wasn’t a painter that I was aware of but his paintings based on his gliding experiences were…well…lifting.  Beautiful colours and gestures that I could look at for ages.

Next I ventured across the courtyard of Somerset House to see the “Disorder” Prix Pictet photography exhibition.  Wow! The exhibition features a diverse range of artists who have investigated the notion of disorder with all genres of photography.  Some truly powerful photography here!

Ilit Azoulay’s reconstruction of demolished buildings and Yang Yongliang’s ‘Artificial Wonderland’ were fabulous.  Ori Gersht’s exploding flowers were there, and although I have seen these before, they are always a joy – weirdly.  Maxim Dondyuk’s powerful images of the Ukrainion Revolution in 2013 show the dramatic sense of scale that these clashes brought about.  This was a fabulous show, and those I have mentioned a just a few that stood out for me.  I will definately try and see next it next year.

Ilit Azoulay – Israel

Yang Yongliang

Ori Gersht – Israel

For a few days barricades was burning on Hrushevskoho street, they were all the time with new tires and Molotov cocktails. Kiev, Jan. 23, 2014 Maxim Dondyuk – Ukraine

Determined to make the most of my day in London, I hoofed it over to the V & A for a quick mooch in the ceramics rooms.  a lovely opportunity to re-acquaint myself with some of the greats whose work I haven’t thought about for a while : Angus Suttie, Colin Pearson, Jaqueline Poncelet, Duncan Ross, Takeshi Yasuda and the amazing Gillian Lowndes. Some of these I had the pleasure of meeting while on my degree course when they came as visiting lecturers, a truly wonderful experience to watch skilled craftspeople do their thing!

Colin Pearson

Duncan Ross

Takeshi Yasuda

Gillian Lowndes

Gillian Lowndes

I was like a kid in a sweet shop as usual- my pottery geek monitor was on overload.  It amazes me that after 30 years of making (how old?) and looking at ceramics, this medium can still get me so excited.  Still so much to do and much to learn.

Work update.

Over the last few months I have been developing my forms into pieces that also have a function.  The technique I use in some of my sculptures, where I roll the clay into small scrolls, I decided would work fabulously for vases.  So here are my latest vases which really make the most of even a small selection of flowers – or actually even just a single stem.

Currently I am making these in two sizes, a small round (above) which I call a ‘smartie’ vase as the main shape is like a huge smartie, and a larger oval one. I am enjoying playing around with the shapes I cut in to fill with scrolls.  I am working on some different shapes too, but these are still in the design stage.

I am really pleased to say that these vases are now available from The Moreton Gallery at Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire

http://www.themoretongallery.co.uk/  So if you are anywhere near there, pop in and take a look as there are also many other fabulous hand-crafted pieces at the gallery. Moreton-in-Marsh is a beautiful old town to visit and I also recommend that you stop for a coffee and a cake at Cacao Bean, which is at the other end of the high street (not at all far) – or try the amazing hot chocolate which is the best I’ve tasted this side of the channel.

Also *EXCITING NEWS*  : My work has been selected to be part of ‘Crafted’ for Christmas which is a selling exhibition at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. I can’t wait. It opens on Sat 23rd November and runs until Sat 4th January 2014 so if you’re looking for some unique hand crafted christmas gifts then check it out.  Oh yes, there is a coffee shop on site so again, coffee & cake. Have you detected a theme?

Pots in France

I was in Limoges over the summer.  We go every year but until this year I had never been to the porcelain museum there.  In the past I had suggested to my family that we should visit but I was always out voted.  This year, I left them shopping and café lounging while I headed up to La Musée National de la Porcelaine, and I’m so glad I did.

It was a scorcher of a day and the sculptures that greet you in the gardens looked amazing with the beautiful museum building as a backdrop.  I just wanted to jump in with this guy…

Entry is not very much, €4 I think I paid and they did have English guides for me, although all the signs  explaining exhibits are  in French, but that’s understandable and I was able to get the gist of most things even with my poor pigeon French.  There is a film (in French) at the start that explains the ceramic process and then exhibits that support this with many artefacts from potteries that help to bring to life the different stages of working with clay.

There are many rooms with historical pottery from all over the world in vitrines which pretty much takes you on a journey via pottery up to the present day.  It’s not all porcelain but there is plenty of it.

As well as the main museum type rooms, they also have an area for temporary contemporary exhibition and when I visited it was a stunner. “Luminous Experience” is an overview of contemporary porcelain art in Limousin and Catalonia – “2 regions shrouded in rich and unique ceramic traditions.”  This exhibition was inspiring and refreshing on many levels and fantastic to see porcelain used in so many different ways…and, they let me take photos so I can share it with you.

This was the star of the show for me.  It’s called “Fruits défendus”  (Forbidden Fruits) by Emilie Floge who impresses designs into the porcelain which then glow once the light is added.  I love the addition of the fibre optic light tendrils.

This is a close up of a piece by Mercè Coma Taulé (Catalonia).  These printed faces are on porcelain petals that have ‘fallen’ from a larger flower sculpture.

This particular exhibition is on until October 7 2013 and I would fully recommend you go if you are anywhere near.  I thoroughly enjoyed my whole visit but was glad I hadn’t dragged my family along as their interest in ceramics wanes fairly rapidly despite my own enthusiasm.  We were best as we were, me able to enjoy this fantastic museum at my own pace and them full of coffee & cake while buying up the best of the french fashion.  Fab!

Accueil

Summer

This summer has gone so fast! I have been really busy working on my new designs. No finished pieces just yet but nearly. Here are some pics of work in progress to whet your  appitites. 

It’s all been very exciting…can’t wait to get them finished and out into galleries. Still lots to do though!

I have also been out and about at exhibitions – my 2nd favourite thing to do besides making my art.  I can highly recommend the exhibition at the V & A -Ballgowns since 1950’s.  It’s a really well curated exhibition and interesting for those into fashion, textiles, sculpture, history of fashion and those that simply like looking at fancy frocks. The V & A is also great for a cuppa tea & a scone – has to be done!

Also, I really enjoyed the Damien Hirst exhibition at Tate Modern. I baulked at the ticket price to get myself and my daughter in, much to her embarrassment because I actually said to the cashier that it had better be good if I was spending all that the get 2 of us in! Well, it WAS worth it….it takes you right from the beginning of his early work through to his current pieces. Each room bringing new delights and horrors – I have seen some of these pieces before but there was plenty that I hadn’t and also it was brilliant watch my daughter (18) gipping at the sliced cows.  You see, Art is fun! ….I think it best that she dropped her original notion of becoming a vet.  At the end is the Damien Hirst ‘Shop” where you can get your limited edition DH spin painting umberella, your DH butterfly wallpaper etc.  A funny commercial twist I thought initially, but why the hell not?  Why can’t artists make money AND art?  It’s not a crime to earn a living from what you do.  He’s a rare artist who is good at marketing and self promotion as well as producing contemporary art. Does he do masterclasses in how to do this? Now, I might sign up if he did!

The Saatchi Gallery has a photography exhibition on : Out of Focus.  It is great.  Photography doesn’t often float my boat for very long but this exhibition is so varied that I was raving about it since I got back.

As well as all the arty stuff, I have grabbed a week painting windows & laying floors in France ( lovely weather, lovely wine) and a 2 night camping trip with the kids (stitched on smile-airbed deflated, canvas flapped all night).

It’s been great!…..Hope yours has too!

Current Work in Progress….

   Thought I’d keep you updated on what I’ve been doing this morning….I’ve started a new painting.

This time it is actually someone real, my daughter, rather than my usual ‘nobody in particular’ faces, and yes my friends, she has HAIR.  In previous paintings I have deliberatley not given my figures any hair because it gives too many clues as to gender and time, but for this one, and maybe others, I am happy with the introduction of hair.

This is just the first stage of the painting and it has a long way to go yet….better get on with it!

 

 

 

Modern British Sculpture -Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition

I went to see this exhibition on a Saturday, and was pleased to see how busy it was…not just arty types and students either, but families, yes, with children taking an interest. Didn’t know that could still be achieved! As you know, my children will merely tolerate a quick shufty around a gallery and only reluctantly admit that they might have seen one thing that could have been only slightly interesting. Anyway, I feel sure that after the bribed (must have been) exemplary behaviour, that the up beat and interested attitudes of these youngsters descended into my more familiar family dynamic of bickering and moaning. Maybe not, but it makes me feel better to think that that was the way it panned out.

This exhibition shows work by  key sculptors that influenced and shaped British Sculpture to what we have now. Each room having a completely different feel to the one previous. Some great works to be seen here. Jacob Epstein’s Adam, a fantastic work carved from a single piece of alabaster, is full of energy , weight and strength.  This piece really dominated the space and I was pleased that there wasn’t much else in that room.  Alfred Gilbert’s Jubilee Monument to Queen Victoria is amazing, but I did feel that Phillip King’s Genghis Khan was a bit lost at Queen Vic’s feet. Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Anthony Caro are all quite rightly given their due space.  Although I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of Caro’s work that I have liked or felt moved by.  To me his pieces look like unresolved sketches or maquettes that have been enlarged for not really any good reason.  Sorry, that’s just how I see it.  Actually, while I’m at it, there is a room in the exhibition which has vitrines of ceramic tea bowls – don’t know whether it was the sudden museum like display or the fact that they were domestic tea bowls admittedly by important craft figures, but they felt very out of place.  That said, it represents the time, between the wars when potters and artists showed in the same galleries and shared friendships as well as ideas……definately good to show this, I’m just not sure it fully came together in this room.

Damien Hirst’s abandoned barbecue sealed in a box with flies feeding on rotting meat etc offers some drama through repulsion which weirdly I quite enjoy. A Boyle Family piece, Stacked by Tony Cragg, Jeff Koons’ ‘Ball’ vitrine all great to see and for me after this it was the beginning of the end.  The final 2 rooms left me very cold and a bit let down, and honestly a bit worried that all that great sculpture in previous rooms culminated in what followed to be thin soulless works with not much substance or presence.  The  room with newspaper articles about the exhibition itself and various other sculpture related articles just looked like the curators had simply got tired  given up and gone home. Just peculiar.

What must be said though is who WASN’T represented there…Anish Kapoor, Anthony Gormley, Andy Goldsworthy, Eduardo Paolozzi are just a few who could have truly bought some weight particularly to the last few rooms of more modern sculptures.  Why weren’t they included? I think from reading the papers,  that is the question that haunts this otherwise great exhibition.

It is on until 7th April 2011 and I strongly recommend a visit -then come back and tell me what you think.

www.royalacademy.org.uk

Rating : Another glass or 2 of that full bodied red, with some chilli crisps.

How to get a head in clay – BBC4

Although this programme was on for the first time in Oct 2010 (ish), I only just saw it repeated the other night and you can still catch it on i-player.

It is an hour long programme about the sculpted head through history as well as how it is still a great source of inspiration for artists today.  There is a wonderful interview with Sir Anthony Caro and his wife Sheila, where they both talk about the heads he sculpted of Sheila (circa 1955).  Mr. Caro talks of how actual representation is not  necessarily that  important in a  portrait and I would agree with him.  His portraits of Sheila, certainly don’t represent her kindly , nor could they be skeletally correct, but you  can clearly see her there in the work – he captures the essence of her look rather than mapping out every exact detail.

Maggie Hambling talks us through the sarcophagus style sculpture she created in memory of Oscar Wilde -A Conversation With  Oscar Wilde.  It is so much more enlightening to have the actual artists talk about the work they have created rather than other artists or critics to give a view on ‘perhaps’ what was meant. Anyway, Maggie is a proper character and a true inspiration.

Other works looked at include ‘Mask II’ by Ron Mueck. I’ve yet to see this man’s work in the flesh and am desperate to do so, so if anyone knows where he is next showing in the UK then please let me know. Ron Mueck makes awesome ‘hyper-real’ heads and bodies that are often larger than life physically as well as visually.  Also discussed is “Self’ by Marc Quinn, which is on display at National Portrait Gallery, London. It is a cast of the artists head made from 10 pints of his own frozen blood. I have seen this piece and is is quite moving. Due to the vitrine it is hard to see it clearly without reflections and refractions which I think add to the piece, also, the lighting seems to give the blood a glow/shimmer. It is quite gory as well as being quite beautiful and peaceful, a bit like a death mask, these are also discussed on the programme.

The main thread of this programme follows actor David Thewlis to 3 very different sculptors with the intention of getting each to do a portrait of him and to see the 3 different artist approaches and outcomes. David Thewlis was a pretty good subject/presesnter, asking questions etc to find out what each artist is thinking and trying to acheive. First up, Martin Jennings. A representational portrait artist who talks openly about his approaches to his subjects, his thought processes and we get to see him developing the portrait at various stages of the process.  The outcome was a quality likeness of David Thewlis.  Next we had Raphael Maklouf, the man who sculpted the image of the Queen that is used on our coinage.  Maklouf explained that his work would portray Thewlis as more regal as they were to put the end result on a coin.  We got to see Maklouf working on the portrait and talking about his work as he went along.  The final coin/portrait was actually quite fun.  It depicted Thewlis more as a Roman Emporer character than an actual likeness but it was Thewlis none the less. Finally, David Thewlis goes to the last sculptor – Tom Price, who creates small scale heads with extraordinary detail.  Incredibly life-like pieces that draw you in and are more powerful perhaps because of their scale, but that’s another whole topic.  Price however, did not show us any methods of sculpting or any work in progress.  He did explain that he wasn’t a traditional portrait artist and that his pieces were not worked from real subjects, more made up faces evoking real emotions.  I have no problem with this. The result though, was the  portait of a black man who bears no resemblance in any form to the actor!  Mr Thewlis (caucasian) was not laughing alone when the piece was revealed..I was chuckling away with him -only difference was that he had to gather himself quite quickly and respond to the artist.  All I can think is that Mr Price struggled with this commission, it all went disastrously wrong (let’s face it, it happens) and he just pulled out something he’d done earlier & said ‘That’s you that is’.

Overall, a really enjoyable programme. I recommend you head straight to i-player for a look-see. http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/vjmqh/

Programme rating :  a bottle of Merlot from about the £15 mark. Hoo-yeah.