The Alexander McQueen A/W16 collection was showcased at London Fashion Week earlier this year. Butterflies featured heavily in this collection as did mythology, and images from surrealism as Sarah Burton took inspiration from the night, and wanted her models to seem 'as though they were sleepwalking'. As usual there was beautiful craftsmanship and attention to details and the resulting dresses were amazing. The level of ornamentation and decoration on the beaded pieces (at bottom) are truly incredible.
These large, wonderful textile hangings are the work of Malian artist Abdoulaye Konaté. He is a new discovery for me, and I really enjoyed exploring his work at this first UK showing at Blain Southern.
They are exquisitely composed fabric constructions that explore colour relationships and harmonies, and incorporate embroidery and tie-dye techniques, whilst making links between tonal colour gradations and musical tonalities - both elements which are important in Malian culture.
The cotton fabric strips that make up these works are dyed with vibrant, deeply saturated colours, and the strips that are tie-dyed intentionally resemble, and make reference to the naturally occurring veins and streaks found in the rocks and geology of Konaté's homeland.
There is something about these works that also reminds me of stylised Egyptian hieroglyphs and pyramid paintings, especially Goddess figures such as Isis, and also the structures of birds wings and the way their feathers are arranged and hang.
This is another show like Etel Adnan's, where the colours used really energise and uplift you. It really is a symphonie en couleur.
Abdoulaye Konaté: Symphonie en couleur
until 24th September
Blain Southern
4 Hanover Square
London
www.blainsouthern.com
A new, gold-leafed piece of work - Lumen - based on light reflection and lighting effects observed in nature. Each butterfly is individually hand cut. It is approximately 125cm x 60cm in a box frame and went out to the Rowley Gallery last week. Contact the Rowley here.
We eagerly await the results of The Big Butterfly Count, a survey which gives an indication of the state of the butterfly population in the UK, but there was some really good news in the Guardian and Times newspapers of late of the resurgence of the Large Blue species of butterfly which was thought to be extinct in the UK at one point, but has been spotted in huge numbers this year.
Conservationists first noticed the decline in large blue numbers in the early 1900s and became alarmed in the 1950s when numbers dropped significantly. They spent 50 years trying to halt the decline in numbers of the large blue and declared it extinct in 1979. It was only in 1984 when the large blue was reintroduced from Sweden that conservationists discovered more about its life cycle and that it could only survive in the nest of one species of red ant.
The large blue has a very unusual life cycle. It feeds for three weeks on the flower buds of wild thyme or marjoram and the caterpillar then produces scents and songs to fool a certain species of red ant (Myrmica sabuleti), into believing that it is one of their own grubs and is carried underground into the ants' nest and incorporated into their brood. It then feeds on ant grubs for 10 months before pupating in the nest and emerging to crawl above ground as a butterfly.
This year about 10,000 adult large blue butterflies were recorded and estimated to be active in Gloucestershire and Somerset based on the observations of huge numbers of eggs laid on the thyme and marjoram flowers which are abundant in the reserves in those areas. If numbers remain at their present levels then the large blue - Britain's most endangered butterfly - could be removed from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species. It is not only the large blue that are benefitting and flourishing due to the knowledge and applications of scientists and conservators, but also other species of plants, flies and frogs who were also thought to be in terminal decline.
Our eco-system is so amazing, and it surprising how small changes that we humans make on the landscape impact so badly on other species. Kudos to the scientists and conservators making these discoveries, allowing us to alter our bad habits and thus improve the environment. Hopefully we can continue to reverse the decline in numbers of as many species as possible that we share this earth with so that they can flourish for many generations to come.
Whilst enjoying the Serpentine pavilion and summerhouses in Kensington Gardens earlier this summer, I also popped into the Serpentine gallery to view the work of Alex Katz. Katz's exhibitions in London are always a draw for me. I posted about his last show in London in March of last year here.
This latest exhibition concerns his attempts to capture the light in landscape at different times of day as well as the change of seasons. I do like the fact that some of the paintings are very minimal in their mark-making and verge on the abstract. They are like exercises in shape and colour when reduced to the basics. I think the portraits are more successful and descriptive, though the multiple figure paintings are the weakest in the show. Wonderful though, that he is still finds the inspiration to paint at 89 years of age.
Alex Katz: Quick Light
until 11th September
Serpentine Gallery
Kensington Gardens
London, W2
www.serpentinegalleries.org
