Metamorphosis

This is a true story posted by Chris Hamer of the Rowley Gallery, on their 'Frames of Reference' blog.

One day a man from over the hills came into the shop to buy a greeting card. He was a graceless man of few words though he did say the card was for his sick mother, but the words seemed to stumble over his tongue as he spoke. He was a large, lumbering, oaf of a man yet he was very quick to choose a card, and he paid for it with a crisp, new £50 note.

The humble shopkeeper took the payment from his calloused hand and felt a shiver in her bones, but she completed the transaction and gave the man his change. When she later tried to deposit the note at her bank the cashier refused to accept it, saying it was a fake and not worth the paper it was printed on. The shopkeeper was outraged and determined to increase the value of her payment. She went to see the Scissor Wizard whose dexterous hands transformed the counterfeit note into a trio of perfect butterflies, increasing its value threefold. His quick fingers animated the creatures and they flew into the welcoming hands of the shopkeeper. She held them gently as she carried them home. Her friend the frame-maker offered to build them a protective shelter but she declined, preferring them to be unconfined and free to fly and flutter-by. She keeps them now by her bedside so that each night as she sleeps they circle and spin around her head tying knots in the air to protect her from nightmares.

She dreams peacefully of winning the National Lottery, EuroMillions and Thunderball, little knowing that these are the names of her butterflies and she is already rich beyond her dreams.

Urban Art

Look out for the man with the butterflies....

Cambridge Summer Show

I have been invited to take part in the Summer Show at Cambridge Contemporary Art. I went up there last week and dropped off four framed pieces and a couple of my new Kaleidoscope screen-prints. The exhibition opens on Saturday and runs from 23 Jun 2012 - 26 Aug 2012. Cambridge is a beautiful historic city and a good day out.

Cambridge Contemporary Art
6 Trinity St
Cambridge
CB2 1SU

01223 324 222 
info@cambridgegallery.co.uk

Money, Money, Money

I have been a collector of various bank notes since my student days when I studied graphic design. I love the graphic imagery they contain and how each design is a unique representation of national heroes, animals, industry or iconic buildings of their particular country. In my view they are actual miniature pieces of art, (having been designed and engraved by skilled artists, craftsmen and designers), and in this respect I consider banknotes themselves to be large run, limited edition art prints. Bank notes pass so quickly through millions of hands every day as part of various commercial transactions, that the beauty and intricacies of their design is usually ignored.

As a teacher, one of the projects I set for students was to have them design their own bank note which included their own hand drawn portrait, and objects which represented their lives, for their own bank.   

Part of my recent output has involved exploring the connection between love and money, especially in this current economic climate, in which it is reported that redundancies are leading to the breakdown of marriages. It seems that when the money runs out, so too apparently does the love! I have been exploring this issue in collages using bank notes, which take their inspiration from song titles. This in turn has led to the production of a new print.

Can't Buy Me Love, is an archival inkjet print on Somerset paper in a signed limited edition of 100. This print is based on one of my original collages. There is, in addition a further edition of 50 prints where several of the cut butterfly banknotes are enhanced with diamond dust. The edition is available directly from myself or the galleries that represent me, as well as Jealous Gallery and print studio. Many thanks once again to the fantastic team at Jealous.

Heartbeat: New Lasercut

"Heartbeat" is the title of a new laser-cut design that I have just taken delivery of. It is available in either red or black card, and each colour-way is a signed limited edition of 100. They are available mounted in an ash frame to show off the beautiful shadows that they create, or in an envelope for you to hang by a thread in a window, or display as you please. They are available to order direct from myself via the website contact page or through the usual gallery outlets.

Ron Mueck

I am always fascinated by artists who use processes and materials to create work which makes me wonder how on earth they created the pieces that they do, and leave me with a sense of amazement and wonder. One such artist who does this for me is Ron Mueck.

I ventured up to Hauser and Wirth, and I am so glad I managed to catch this show before it closes. His work first caught my attention at the Millenium Dome with the huge crouching boy installation and then again as artist in residence at the National Gallery a few years ago.

He creates a sense of wonder with his hyper realistic figures, but adds a surrealistic twist when he plays with the scale of the figures - either reducing them or enlarging them in scale. 

The attention to detail is amazingly obsessive, down to the individual application of single hairs in eyebrows and eyelashes and on legs.  

The hyper realistic figures are very reminiscent of Duane Hanson's work in the 1970s. There were only four pieces in this exhibition but again the sense of wonder and empathy for the figures made the visit worthwhile for me. Stunning!

Piccasso's Vollard Suite

There is a rather wonderful exhibition currently in the Print room of the British Museum. It shows off the complete set of 100 etchings created by Picasso in his classical period, between 1930 and 1937, and commissioned by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. This set of etchings is known as the Vollard Suite. 

The prints reflect Picasso's obsession with his young mistress Marie-Therese Walter, his interest in classicism, and brief flirtation with Surrealism. The Suite is divided into themes which include, The Battle of Love, The Sculptors Studio, Rembrandt, The Minotaur and The Blind Minotaur, and the last being three portraits of Ambroise Vollard. The display is complemented by the inclusion of etchings by Rembrandt, (the best ever etcher?), Goya, and also classical busts and ceramics.

Among the prints my favourite image is Blind Minotaur Led through the Night by Girl with a Fluttering Dove 1935. This beautiful, atmospheric image in which a young girl with a dove leads the blinded minotaur through the night, hold its own against many of his actual paintings. It is an image full of tenderness and pathos and I wonder how it would have looked had Picasso developed it into a large painting. There is a beautiful contrast of light which emanates from the bodies of the characters, and the rich black of the night scene.

Whilst some of the plates would have benefited from more work by Picasso, the exhibition displays his inventiveness and mastery of line and composition. It is one I shall definately be returning to again before it closes in September.