Time off over Christmas? I hope so. The time between Christmas and New Year is the ideal chance to get out and about and see a few of the many exhibitions that London’s art galleries have to offer. We’ll start with…

Alex Hartley’s “The World is Still Big” at the Victoria Miro Gallery
22 November 2011 – 21 January 2012
Free

Alex Hartley Clearing, 2011. Constructed mixed media on C-type photograph 90 x 72 x 7 cm 35 3/8 x 28 3/8 x 2 3/4 in
Source: http://www.victoria-miro.com/exhibitions/_426/

This is an exhibition of Hartley’s large-scale photos with scale-models of architectural structures painstakingly build into the surfaces of the prints. Somewhere between a steam punk inventor, an early 20th Century mustachioed explorer, and a tree-house dwelling earth child, Hartley creates images dystopian architectural pieces – scale models of super-villan hideaways in remode desert landscapes. True to the explorer archetype, Hartely has gone on intrepid expeditions into the high arctic, and the gallery show includes objects and artefacts from his expeditions.

Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn (Ceramic Works, 5000 BC – AD 2010) at the VA
15 October 2011 – 18 March 2012
Free

Coca-Cola vase, Ai Weiwei, 1997, Neolithic vase (5000-3000 BC) and paint. Courtesy of André Stockamp & Christopher Tsai collection, Ancram, New York
Source:http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/ai-weiwei-dropping-the-urn-ceramic-works,-5000-bc-ad-2010/

Ai WeiWei is a conceptual artist who I can really get excited about. He creates pieces that are truly thought-provoking, and does so with a light touch. His works are often almost visual jokes, but in a way which is subtle and doesn’t shout its message. “Dropping the Urn” includes the use of Neolithic and Han Dynasty Ceramics transformed and reinterpreted. For example, the Coca-Cola urn above has been repainted, and the exhibition features an original Han Dynasty figurine contained in a Johnnie Walkey whiskey bottle.

Hokusai’s Great Wave at the British Museum
3 November 2011 –
8 January 2012
Free
Room 3
Open late Fridays

Hokusai’s Great Wave is one of the most recognisable, reproduced and popular images in the whole of international art history. It’s even been reinterpreted as a mural on a house in Camberwell, South London. This exhibition presents a unique opportunity to learn about the history and context behind this iconic piece.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), Under the Wave off Kanagawa (detail). Colour woodblock print. Japan, Edo period, c. 1831. Acquired with the assistance of The Art Fund.
Source: http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/hokusais_great_wave.aspx

Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum
See the best wildlife photos on the planet.
21 Oct 2011 – 11 Mar 2012

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition attracts amateur and professional entrants of all ages from around the world. The best entrants are chosen for exhibition, and this is a show that will astound and amaze, and give you a fresh perspective on animals and the natural world. Photographers go to extraordinary lengths to get these images – for “Pester Power”, pictured below, Mateusz Piesiak wrapped his camera in a plastic sack, lay down on his front and dragged himself across the wet sand to get these detailed shots of oystercatchers feeding on Long Island, New York.

Mateusz Piesiak
Pester power
Source: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/photo.do?photo=2794&category=57&group=4

Royal Manuscripts: The Genius of Illumination at the British Library
11th November – 13th March 2012

The library might not be the first place you think of when you want to see an art exhibition, but the British Library’s latest exhibition is well worth drawing attention to. It’s a chance to see the Library’s collection of illuminated manuscripts – illustration from the medieval period, many of which are in amazing condition and are executed in stunning colour. According to the Library, the manuscripts are

our most vivid source for understanding royal identity, moral and religious beliefs, learning, faith artistic trends and the international politics of the period.

The Shrewsbury Book
Rouen, 1444–45
British Library, Royal 15 E. vi, ff. 2v
Source: http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/royalman/about/index.html

From me and everyone at Art2Arts, have a fabulous festive season and a colourful New Year!

Tags: art, Art Gallery, artist, artists, exhibitions, gallery, London, painter, Painting, UK art
Posted in Art in London, Exhibitions, Multi-Media Art, Painting, Sculpture, UK Art, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Until the 2nd of January, Tate Britain is showing a retrospective of Barry Flanagan’s early works. Best known for his leaping hare pieces, Flanagan studied at St Martin’s School of Art from 1964 -66, and the exhibition covers his progress from 1965 -1982. Flanagan was a pioneer – as one of the first scultptors to use unconventioal matierals such as sand, sticks, and hessian rags, he created controversy and paved the way for a new generation of sculptors who would look for the physical and emotive qualities in ungalmorous materials, including waste materials.

“Time and again, we see Flanagan bringing the best out of his unpromising materials, shedding new light on traditional sculptural concerns such as weight and matter, surface and space.”

- Evening Standard

As Flanagan’s career progressed, he began to work increasingly in the far more traditional medium of bronze. These bronzes include depictions of elephants, cougars and horses, as well as hares. These sculptures seem to have fairy-tale like qualities; they echo human feelings, but never in a sentimental or truley anthrompommorphsied way. Flanagan’s particular focus on hares began when he saw a hare in a butcher’s and was struck by its appearance. He said that hares are

“rich and expressive,” with “the conventions of the cartoon and the investment of human attributes into the animal world”, both of which are “very well practised devices in literature and film… If you consider what conveys situation and meaning and feeling in a human figure, the range of expression is, in fact, far more limited than the device of investing an animal – a hare especially – with the expressive attributes of a human being. The ears, for instance, are really able to convey far more than a squint in an eye of a figure or a grimace on the face of a model.”

Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/barryflanagan/default.shtm

I personally find Flanagan’s work most interesting when considered side-by-side with his interesting bohemian character and lifestyle. He was a true and uncontrived eccentric, who regularly wore tweed suits paired with sandals, regardless of the weather, and late in his life, played out an itinerant existence in a vintage camper van, with his partner Jessica Sturges.

Barry Flanagan: Early Works 1965-1982 is at Tate Britain until 2nd January. Booking is advised.

Tags: art, Art Gallery, artist, Barry Flanagan, exhibitions, gallery, London, sculpture, Tate Britain, UK art
Posted in Art in London, Exhibitions, Sculpture, UK Art, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

China is a truly exciting country when it comes to fine art at the moment, and one of its brightest stars is Ai Weiwei. Keen art fans might remember his 2010 “Sunflower Seeds” installation at the Tate Modern, where he piled millions of porcelain sunflower seeds onto the gallery floor. The seeds had been individually hand painted by 1,600 artisans in Jingdezhen, China. At first, visitors were invited to walk around in the seeds and experience the satisfying crunch underfoot. Unfortunately this was not to last, as the gallery fenced the installation off due to safety concerns as a result of the porcelain dust.

Ai has an eclectic career background; he studied at Beijing Film Academy in 1978, where he was a founder of avante-garde art group “The Stars”.In 1981, he moved to the US, and studied at Parsons School of Design and the Art Students League of New York. He’s also been a professional blackjack player, and is regarded as a top-tier professional player within the blackjack world.

As well as being known for his elegant large-scale installations, Ai Weiwei is also known for his human rights work and opposition to the Chinese government. This summer, he became known around the world after he was held under arrest for two months following his criticism of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights. The European Union and United States opposed the detention, and the Tate Modern changed their display to read “Release Ai Weiwei”.

Ai is now out of detention, but forbidden from leaving Beijing. Despite this, he’s just opened a new exhibition, and this time it’s in Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwain ; though he won’t be able to actually attend it. It’s called “Ai Weiwei Absent” and most notably featured an installation on grand scale, called ”Forever Bicycles”. The piece is made of over 1000 bicycles, arranged in a 10 ft high display area. The piece reflects the rapid pace of societal and technological changes in China. The museum’s website says:

Its layered labyrinthine space creates what appears to be a moving abstract shape that symbolizes the way in which the social environment in China is changing.

The exhibition also features a self-portrait photo sequence of the artist as a young man, along with a series of bronze heads representing the Chinese Zodiac. The general theme and message of the exhibition focuses around Ai’s forced absence. He remains defiant; after his release, he was forbidden from using Twitter or talking to the media, but has continued to do so regardless.

 

 

Tags: Ai Weiwei, art, Art Gallery, artist, Forever Bicycles, installation, Sunflower Seeds, Tate Modern
Posted in Artist Corner, Exhibitions, Installation, Meet The Artists, Multi-Media Art, Sculpture | Comments (0)

This year’s Turner Prize exhibition is held not in London, but in Newcastle’s Baltic Gallery. The exhibiton will now alternate year-on-year between the Tate Britain and other major art galleries around the UK. The 4 artists shortlisted this year are:

Karla Black

Karla Black is from Scotland and studied at Glasgow School of Art. She makes ephemeral sculptures from materials such as cellophane, paint and sellotape, which often have a visceral feel. Images are sourced from www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk

Hilary Lloyd

Hailing form Halifax in Yorkshire, Hilary LLoyd makes work in mixed media and dimension, ranging from video to photography to performance. The subject can be anything from roller-skating to paint patterns left behind on a studio floor.

George Shaw

George Shaw is a painter based in North Devon who makes surprisingly emotional and nostalgic photorealist paintings of mundane clips from urban landscapes. Image source: www.guardian.co.uk

Martin Boyce

Glaswegian Martin Boyce creates really strong and striking architectural sculptures, which take inspiration from modernist design history. Image source: www.channel4.com

The Turner Prize Exhibition runs at the Baltic until 8th January 2012. The Tuner Prize winner will be announced on 5th December 2011.

Tags: art, Art Gallery, artist, Baltic Gallery, exhibitions, installation, painter, Painting, sculpture, Turner Prize, UK art
Posted in Artist Corner, Exhibitions, Installation, Multi-Media Art, Painting, Sculpture, UK Art | Comments (0)