Happy Hallowe'en

Self: Bacon Hirst Koons Picasso at Ordovas

This a very small but well formed show consisting of just five pieces of art, and is quite timely with this current craze for selfies. It is always fascinating to see how artist choose to depict themselves and the media in which they choose to express this. On display is the notorious Damien Hirst photograph posing with a severed head in an anatomy museum. it could be interpreted as him literally looking death in the face and laughing. Hirst explains that he was absolutely terrified at the time and this was his way of coming to terms with his own mortality. Death, and medication to prolong life have been themes which were to become a constant in his work ever since. It's a very powerful image.

Self Portrait R., 2008, a series of x-rays above continues Hirst's medical theme.

I really liked the Jeff Koons self-portrait marble bust sitting on those jagged crystalline structures which reminded me of Victorian marble sculptures. There was something very narcissistic, but also meditative about it. It is perfectly and beautifully carved and I liked the way elements of the marble glistened as they caught the light.

 

The two stand outs in the exhibition though, are the Damien Hirst owned portrait of Francis Bacon and a stunning Picasso preliminary sketch for his 1901 self-portrait Yo-Picasso. It is funny that Bacon loathed his own face and wasn't what most would identify with as being "attractive" in a traditional sense. He still manages to make something that I regard as unique though with his painted self-portraits. The colours and textures/mark-making combine to create a portrait that is beautiful on canvas at least.

It is the first time that the Picasso drawing has ever been exhibited and it is rather wonderful. I was entranced by the painting Yo-Picasso at the Courtauld's Becoming Picasso 1901 show from last year which I wrote about here, and I was similarly entranced by this drawing. It is beautifully sketched with a series of flowing lines about the arms and body, and I like the way he has actually left the face really sparse in comparison with just a few marks to describe the eyes and facial features. I am really fired up to go and see the Rembrandt Late Works show at the National Gallery now to see his self-portraits in comparison to these.

Self: Bacon Hirst Koons Picasso
Ordovas
25 Saville Row
London W1
until 13th December

 

 

Kerry James Marshall: Look See

 

Kerry James Marshall is an African-American artist whose work I particularly like. I was fortunate enough during the summer to be in Madrid where a retrospective of his work - Kerry James Marshall: Painting and Other Stuff, took place in both the Reina Sofia and Palacio de Velazquez, an outpost of the museum in the Retiro park. That show also featured other aspects of his output such as his cartoon style drawings, prints and video works.

I visited the show on a couple of occasions, (it finishes on 26th October if any of you are able to catch it in Madrid), and really like his take on the African American experience and his depiction of black people where he exaggerates the blackness of the skin, by using only shades of blacks and greys for the skin tones of the figures in his paintings and prints.
This is done purposely in an effort to redress the balance in the way black people have been depicted in art history.

This show at David  Zwirner focuses on his paintings and is a strong one with some real gems in it. There is also a large unfinished painting (below), which gives us a glimpse into his working methods showing how he layers  the paint in blocks to build up the finished image.

 

The show Look See is about the act of actually observing placed on both the artist and viewer. "Looking" is generally understood to be a removed, detached action, "seeing" involves perception and making connections between elements". In the paintings the figures are either doing things that make them aware that they are being looked at, or are engaged with looking at something within the picture frame, or straight out of the frame at the viewer. I like the image below where Marshall draws us into the drama of an intimate situation involving a young couple, where the young man is about to propose to his girlfriend and holds the ring behind her back, making us complicit in his plan, whilst the young lady remains unaware of the surprise about to be sprung on her.

 

I really enjoyed this show and it was good to experience the uplifting, intense colours of Marshalls' palette in London's autumnal drizzle.

 

Kerry James Marshall: Look See

David Zwerner

24 Grafton Street

London, W1

until 22 November

 

 

Dragonfly Tattoos

 

I wanted to do a follow up post to the recent Butterfly Tattoo post I did in June, and inspired by the recent Time: Tattoo Art Today, exhibition at Somerset House, and a dragonfly piece that I have just finished, here are some more tattoos, this time dragonfly inspired. There are some really nice examples here, and some not quite as successful in my humble opinion. If you're going to make as bold a statement as a tattoo I think it really pays to get the best tattoo artist that you can. The piece above really works in terms of placement, scale and simplicity. The clean lines and monochromatic work of Chaim Machlev, (first two images below), is a real winner also. Great attention to detail and beautifully inked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orso Major has a show - Cabinet of Curiosities, opening next week which will feature one of my Dragonfly pieces. I have been made aware that one 'artist' not content with emulating my Butterfly Balls, has now also started making Dragonfly pieces only a year after I debuted mine. Coincidence? Accept no substitutes or pale imitations people!

 

 

 

 

Burberry's Bloomsbury Collection

The world of fashion and its designers have long looked to the art world for inspiration. This Autumn/Winter 2014 collection by Burberry sees them looking to the Bloomsbury Group - a collection of artists, writers and philosophers which included Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, who were active in the early part of the 20th century.

 A Duncan Grant textile design

 

A Duncan Grant textile design

A Vanessa Bell textile design

Part of the Bloomsbury Group philosophy was to break down the distinctions between 'fine' and decorative arts, so it is interesting to see how their distinctive style of art with its painterly brushstrokes has been adapted and used on this new collection of clothing for luxury brand Burberry. As you can see from the examples above, as well as being painters, Grant and Bell were used to designing for other media. The large brushstrokes and patterns on this seasons Burberry clothing done in a Bloomsbury style are particularly striking and makes the collection stand out from others this season.

 

The accessories are pretty fantastic too.

 

 

 I like the craftsmanship and technique of this leather bag with blue velvet flocked onto it

 

 

 

 

Grayson Perry: A House For Essex

I really like the look of, and want to visit this new building - A House for Essex, which is a collaboration between artist/potter Grayson Perry, and FAT architects for Living Architecture, when it is finished. It will be a holiday home available to rent from summer 2015.

The building is situated in the north Essex countryside at Wrabness. Living Architecture describes the project thus:- "The house is both an artwork in itself and the setting for a number of works by Grayson Perry exploring the special character and unique qualities of Essex. the building has been designed to evoke a tradition of wayside and pilgrimage chapels. It belongs to a history of follies, whilst being deeply of its own time."

It really reminds me of architectural projects (albeit on a smaller scale), such as House for an Art Lover by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Viennese Secession architect Josef Hoffman's Palais Stoclet. These buildings were designed as total works of art, (Gesamtkunstwerk), where as well as designing the building and furniture to go inside the houses, even the smallest details such as light fittings and door handles were designed by Mackintosh in the House for an Art Lover, and Hoffman and fellow Wiener Werkstatte designers providing the furnishings and fittings and Gustav Klimt providing murals and artwork in the Palais Stoclet.

 Mackintosh - House for an Art Lover, (exterior)

 Mackintosh - House for an art Lover, (interior)

Hoffman - Palais Stoclet, (exterior)

Hoffman - Palais Stoclet, (interior)

 

Perry and FAT architects bring much of the Gesamtkunstwerk spirit to A House for Essex. It reminds me of something from a fairy-tale and also those old onion-domed chapels dotted around Russia. The tile-work outside gives it a really decorative quality, and the interiors will be equally decorative, filled with specially commissioned tapestries, pottery, mosaics and woodwork commissioned from Perry. I am really looking forward to seeing what artworks Perry creates for the interior next year. 

Perry says of the project:- "The idea behind this project relates to buildings put up as memorials to loved ones, to follies, to eccentric home-built structures, to shrines, lighthouses and fairytales. I have a deep fondness for Essex and I am happy to invest a large chunk of my energy and time into a project that I feel will add greatly to the cultural standing of the area."