El Anatsui: New Work

Last visited the October Gallery exactly a year ago, to see - a show by El Anatsui! How quickly a year has flown! This is a show of new works however, and contains more of his signature 'cloths' constructed from thousands of discarded bottle-tops. They are like chain-mail or armour, just wonderfully sculptural, and reflect the light beautifully. I love the way their construction makes them warp and buckle when hung on the wall. A great show.

El Anatsui: New Works
until 2nd April
October Gallery
24 Old Gloucester Street
London
www.octobergallery.co.uk
 

Deborah Klein: Butterflies Through Others Eyes #19

Australian artist Deborah Klein's mysterious series of Moth-masks.

Tibor Reich

Visited the Tibor Reich exhibition at the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, recently. I really enjoyed the mid-century imagery on display created by Reich who is credited with being one of the designers responsible for modernising textiles in this country. Reich was of Hungarian origin, and trained in Vienna before moving to Britain in the 1930s and setting up his own successful design company - Tibor Ltd whose designs introduced a much needed shot of colour to a grey, post-war Britain. Some lovely examples of the colours, graphic styling and ceramics below.

Complementing the Tibor Reich exhibition beautifully is Wallpaper, a show featuring highlights from the Whitworth's collection of mid-century wallpapers which includes designs by Lucienne Day among others. Some of my favourites were snapped below. The display runs until September.

I found this short film of Reich explaining his inspiration and design process on YouTube. Enjoy!

Tibor Reich

until August 2016

Whitworth Art Gallery

Oxford Road

Manchester

www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk

Chopin - Nocturne Op,9 No.2

Some images from a recently completed private commission which was to be a surprise present for the client's partner, to whom the music had a special significance. It was based around Frederic Chopin's Nocturne in E flat Opus 9, No.2. It is a lovely piece of classical music that I'm familiar with, so it was really nice to be commissioned to create a piece of artwork based on it. The finished artwork was 1 metre wide.

After conversing with the client, it was agreed that I should aim for a combination of butterflies and moths in the final piece, so I went for vibrantly coloured butterflies, and gold leafed moths to reflect the twilight/nocturnal aspect of the commission. 

I was really happy with the resulting artwork and felt it accurately reflected the spirit of Chopin's music and the golden time of day that a nocturne represents. Press play below to hear the piece.

Generation Painting 1955-65

I recently visited the new Heong Gallery at Downing College in Cambridge. It is a small but beautifully designed space (which was at one time a stables), by the architects Caruso St John, who also designed Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery. The inaugural show is a series of paintings from the collection of former Director of the Tate Gallery - Sir Alan Bowness who studied at Downing College.

Peter Lanyon - Loe Bar, 1962

I am increasingly being drawn to abstract pieces and liked this piece by Lanyon.

 William Scott - Ocean, 1960

The colours in this piece, and the layering of those blues is lovely. I am curious about Scott's use of the square shapes as they contradict the fluidity and flow of the body of water that he is attempting to depict.

Patrick Heron - Soft Vermillion with Orange and Red: April 1965

The warm tones of this painting were really soothing and relaxing and seemed to soften the shapes which were really bold.

Allen Jones - Parachutist, 1963

I love Allen Jones' work from the 1960s, the bus series in particular, and the series where he fuses males and female forms in paintings such as Man Woman, and Hermaphrodite, so it was a pleasure to see this small painting in the collection. 

William Scott - Blue Still Life, 1957

Another favourite from the collection was this William Scott still life. I liked the drawing style of the simple forms, and the fact that you could still see traces of the under drawing peeping through. I also liked the minimal, bleak colouring and the heavily textured surface. 

 Peter Lanyon - Drift, 1961

This piece by Peter Lanyon was probably my favourite in this small show. The sense of movement in the strong brushstrokes, the sparse colouring and overall mood of the piece really spoke to me. I was reminded of the piece I created with the same title that sold at Christmas in Cambridge. The Heong Gallery is a beautiful space and welcome addition to the Cambridge art scene.

(Also worth a visit if you are in the area is - Death on the Nile: Uncovering the afterlife of ancient Egypt, at the Fitzwilliam Museum, part of this institutions' bicentenary celebrations. It contains some beautifully decorated mummies and other Egyptian funerary objects, and is on until 22 May).

Generation Painting 1955-65

British Art from the Collection of Sir Alan Bowness 

until 22nd May 2016

Heong Gallery

Downing College

Regent Street

Cambridge

http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk