Marc Quinn: Frozen Waves, Broken Sublimes

There are some impressive installations across London at the moment. I love these huge stainless-steel sea shells which have washed up on the shores of the Fountain court of Somerset House. 

They are the work of artist Marc Quinn, and were recently shown at White Cube Bermondsey as part of his The Toxic Sublime exhibition.

The contrast between the unpolished and highly polished reflective surfaces are lovely, and their monumental scale works well in the setting of the courtyard of Somerset House.

Marc Quinn: Frozen Waves, Broken Sublimes
until October 21st
Fountain Court
Somerset House

Ladybird by Design

I ventured to a much changed King's Cross to see this celebration of 100 years of the iconic Ladybird book series at the House of Illustration. 

I loved Ladybird books as a child (and still do), and remember them extending my vocabulary and knowledge after having read the equally as important (in my opinion) Happy Venture, and Wide Range Reader series of books. 

The design of Ladybird books though - one page of text against one full page of illustration is a design classic.

 

I used to spend hours pouring over the illustrations and looking at the lists of other books in each series on the back of the books to see if I could get to read those as well. 

I think Ladybird books were instrumental in sparking my interest in books and illustration, and were perhaps key to my going on to study graphic design and illustration, and a career as an illustrator. In this more enlightened age Ladybird books have attracted some criticism for racial and gender stereotyping, but they are/were a product of their time and did not set out to malign race and gender out of spite. Their main purpose was to educate, and they more than succeeded in this aim.

The exhibition was a wonderful excercise in nostalgia for me as it brought a smile to my face and evoked many happy childhood memories. It was also a fantastic opportunity to see the actual artwork for Ladybird classics such as - Shopping With Mother and Tootles the Taxi. 

The exhibition features the work of illustrators I liked at the time whose illustrations did so much to bring the text of the books to life such as Eric Winter and Robert Lumley who provided artwork for Ladybird's Well-Loved Tales' series which included Puss in Boots and Cinderella, as well as John Berry who produced great illustrations for the educational People At Work series. This is a good exhibition, a really good celebration of the art of illustration, and an important British publisher. Many happy returns Ladybird!

Ladybird books from my collection

 

Ladybird by Design
until 27th September
House of Illustration
2 Granary Square
King's Cross
London
houseofillustration.org.uk 

The Riddle of the Sphinx

 "Which Creature in the morning goes on four legs,

at midday on two, and in the evening upon three,

and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?"

The mysterious Sphinx! A recurring motif that kept haunting me this summer.

Anna Pavlova: The Dragonfly Ballet

I found this image at about the same time that I was creating my Dragonfly series. I didn't realise it at the time, but it is of the renowned ballerina Anna Pavlova performing her Dragonfly Ballet. Having looked at the work of dancer Loie Fuller and her Butterfly Dance in earlier posts (here), I felt inspired to do something similar with this dragonfly inspired image.

Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) was one of the most famous ballerinas of all time. She was born in St Petersburg, and was inspired to become a ballerina after seeing a production of Sleeping Beauty. She trained at the Imperial Theatre School, and then joined Mikhail Fokine who became well-known for his revolutionary ideas with choreography. He was so impressed with Pavlova that he devised the Dying Swan for her.

By 1909 Pavlova had moved to Paris and was dancing with Diaghilev's company, she then worked with the Russian Imperial Ballet before settling in London. She moved to Ivy House in Golders Green, and here she was able to study the swans that lived in the large pond there, which helped to bring a realism to her most famous dance role of the Dying Swan. 

At Ivy House Pavlova was able to develop and rehearse her own ballets after forming her own company in 1913. She was the undisputed star of course, and she was able to travel and build both her own reputation as a ballerina, and that of dance, making ballet a popular art form all around the world.

The photographs displayed here depict Pavlova as the Dragonfly, a short solo ballet that she choreographed herself to music by Fritz Kriesler. As the photographs show she danced the piece with a large pair of gossamer wings attached to her back, and her movements attempted to replicate those of a dragonfly. She debuted the Dragonfly during a tour of America from 1914-1915, and it became one of her signature pieces.

As well as being one of the most gifted dancers in history, Pavlova had an artistic gift and also gained a reputation as a sculptress. She produced several figurines of herself in poses from the ballets and roles in which she became famous. Pictured below is a figure created in porcelain of herself in the Dragonfly role. A copy of which is held in the collection of the V&A gallery, London. Some lovely original footage of Pavlova dancing Dragonfly can be found here.

New dragonflies

Colourful and gold-leaf Dragonflies, cut and incorporated into a recent piece of work.

Aureole

A new version in gold leaf, currently gracing the front window of (and available from), Orso Major. (Original silver leaf version can be seen here).

Butterflies Through Other Eyes #11: Stephanie Valentin

Beautifully coloured insect photograms from Valentin's Ether series.