Allegedly it is actually summer at the moment. Whether you’re getting some sunshine or not, these summer-themed original paintings are sure to create a sunshiney mood in your home or office.

Nirvana by Simon Kenny
Reach a divine state with Simon Kenny’s Nirvana, which brings Turner’s seascapes to mind. Simon is a multi-award winning artist who aims to balance materialism and spiritualism through lyrical abstraction. He uses his artistic process to better understand his experience of the human condition and has sold to multiple public and private clients around the world.

Nirvana by Simon Kenny

Cresting by Denise Allen

Surf’s Up with Cresting by Denise Allen. Denise’s travels in Menorca and Bermuda have informed her fresh and inspiring seascapes. She teaches watercolour painting, including regular watercolour painting holidays in Menorca.

Cresting by Denise Allen

Langdale by Lita Narayan

Lita Narayan’s Langdale brings to mind the quiet of lazy summer days spent in the countryside. With its warm colour scheme and relaxed feel it’s the perfect choice for a living room or bedroom.

Langdale by Lita Narayan

Sutton Church by Alice P Jenkins

Alice P Jenkins’ painting immediately evokes the English countryside. Fresh, bright colours and a whimsical style make this a good choice for a quirky contemporary interior, perhaps displayed in salon style with other works.  Alice loves to paint from life, en plein air.

Sutton Church by Alice P Jenkins

Virginian by Irina Rumyantseva

Virginian by Irina Rumyantseva is a fabulously textured painting with strong colours that compliment each other beautifully. As a contemporary abstract painting, suggestive of landscape, it would work perfectly in a corporate interior or modern home. Irina says “When I paint I pour my emotions out onto the canvas and convey the beauty that I see in everyday life in a way that others can see it to.  When I finish a piece I am filled with a sense of accomplishment and integrity. ”

Virginian by Irina Rumyantseva

Tags: Art Gallery, artists, original art, paintings, UK art
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Young artist Fujiwara represents an interesting departure for Tate St Ives, who usually focus on the St Ives landscape painters and sculptors of the early – mid 20th century. Fujiwara grew up in St Ives but was not impressed by the local scene – rather he longed to escape to bigger and better things, so he moved to Tokyo and then Berlin and Mexico City. He works with installations which create a feeling of archaeological remnants, and the influence of his architecture training at Cambridge University is apparent. Fujiwara cites Tracy Emin as one of his greatest influences, which may explain his enthusiasm for the installation medium.

Simon Fujiwara Installation

Source: http://www.carusostjohn.com/projects/frieze-art-fair/

 

Much of his work centres around biography and auto-biography, sometimes incorporating his family history. He envisioned an erotic novel based around his parents lives, and his work explores his distant relationship with his father, who lived on the other side of the world, and wasn’t great at keeping in touch.

The exhibition includes important recent works such as The Mirror Stage 2009–12, based around the story of an encounter with old-school St Ives artist Patrick Heron, and Welcome to the Hotel Munber 2008–1, an erotic novel where the protagonist becomes sexually obsessed with a hotel building.

Installation by Simon Fujiwara

Simon Fujiwara
18 January – 7 May 2012
March – October: Daily 10.00-17.20, last admission 17.00
November – February: Tuesday – Sunday 10.00-16.20, last admission 16.00
Closed 24, 25, 26 December
£6.50 (£3.90 concessions)
Free for Tate Members
Book online with Tate or call 01736 796226.

Tags: Art Gallery, artist, exhibitions, gallery, UK art
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It’s half-term already, and to celebrate the approaching spring weather, Art2Arts online gallery is holding a half term sale, with hundreds of pieces from our popular UK artists at up to 50% off, with free UK delivery. Be quick, as the sale ends on Sunday 19th February. Here are a few of my personal favourites from the half term sale – have a quick look; you might discover a new favourite artist.

We’ll start with Tiffany Budd’s Sunrise in Spain. Conveying a strong sense of the heat and brightness of Spain, this painting will bring a sense of warmth to the home during the cold winter. Tiffany has won numerous awards for her work, and has created art to commission for Marks and Spencer. Sunrise in Spain is pastel on paper, and it’s down from £120 to £100.

Next up is Casimira Mostyn’s Quirky Psychedelic Hares. Using the combined media of watercolour and ink, this piece achieves a strong brightness and depth of colour. This artwork is £75 down from £85, and don’t forget, it’s free UK delivery on all sale art pieces from Art2Arts online gallery.

With its cheerful naive style, Suzette Datema’s Making a Joyful Noise is an ideal gift for any musician. Painted on deep-edge box canvas, this art piece is ready to hang, without framing. It’s £165 down from £175.

In his painting Spring Colours, Rumen Dragiev uses a vibrant impasto technique along with acid brights to create an energetic springtime atmosphere. With its modern and semi-abstract feel style, Spring Colours would work well for the corporate interior. It’s discounted by a whole £100!

Another painting making great use of acid brights, Arie Coetzee’s Winter Sun evokes the sun warming through the biting cold on the Isle of Skye. Winter Sun is painted on box canvas, and is ready to hang.

Tags: Art Gallery, online gallery, Painting, UK art, UK gallery
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Need a specific art piece for your home or corporate interior? Art2Arts online gallery’s Made to Order section features pieces that the artist can customise to your requirements. The initial idea and inspiration are already there – you just let them know details like sizing and colour scheme. Like all art pieces on Art2Arts, Made to Order works feature:

• Free UK Delivery
• Free 14-Day Returns
• 100% Original Artwork
• 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Here are a few of my favourite pieces from Made to Order:

Pink Allium Hearts by Kaye Lake

Allium Hearts Duet by Kaye Lake

Kaye Lake’s  Pink Allium Hearts and Allium Hearts Duet  feature  big, bold garlic flowers, with heart-shaped tendrils. Kaye’s works are painted on to box canvas and varnished, so you can hang them on the wall straightaway, with no framing required.

Unwilling Model by Steve Bonds

Nosey Parker by Steve Bonds

A bit of an indulgent choice this time as I’m such a cat lady – Steve Bonds’ pieces are ideal for pared-down, contemporary spaces, and of course cat lovers. Best of all, you can choose a colour scheme to suit your interior. A former graffiti artist, Steve Bonds brings this bold, graphic style to his works on canvas.

Acid Rainbow by CA Jasper

 CA Jasper’s Acid Rainbow presents the perfect fusion  of colour and texture. A flexible artistic style to suit many types of contemporary interiors.

Ocean City by Anni Rice

Anni Rice’s Ocean City Triptych will add a touch of bold colour to any neutral space. I love the strong texture and use of metallics. Anni’s paintings are based on a love of nature, and their texture is so pronounced that she asks ‘are these paintings or sculptures?’

Tags: Art Gallery, bespoke, made to order, Painting, UK art, UK art gallery
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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
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In 1865 a young girl vanished down a rabbit hole, emerging into a fantasy land which has captured the imagination of children and adults ever since. Like other 19^th century novels such as Bram Stoker’s  ‘Dracula’ and Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ , the original novel has been eclipsed by the sheer volume of spin-offs, copies  and related art-work, films and TV shows.  This exhibition is the first to try and explore how the fantasy world of Wonderland influenced the world of visual arts.

Source: http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/exhibitions/aliceinwonderland/default.shtm

The magic  world created by Lewis Carroll is a highly visual one, populated by bizarre yet appealing anthropomorphic beasts and characters. Caroll himself drew illustrations for his books and some of these are shown in the exhibition alongside the original manuscript.  You can also see the original drawings made by the artist John Tenniel, who provided 42 wood engraved illustrations for the first edition of the novel.

Wonderland was embraced by the early Surrealists who were engaged in creating their own fantasy land in which natural laws were suspended and physical objects lost their solidity. The spirit of Alice is alive and well in paintings by Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí. Conceptual artists of the 60s and 70s, such as Marcel Broodthaer,  Joseph Kosuth, Peter Blake and Yayoi Kusama also drew on Carroll’s world of twisted logic and linguistic ambiguity.

Scale and perspective (“Drink me!”),  meaning and nonsense (“Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils”) and the perception of reality (“All persons more than a mile high to leave the court”) provide the link to contemporary art, with artists such as  Anna Gaskell, Annelies Strba and Torsten Lauschmann all on display.

In the end the sheer volume and diversity of the art purporting to have been influenced by Alice and her illogical friends can make the exhibition somewhat confusing. With its seemingly endless collection of Alice memorabilia including biscuit tins, playing cards, crockery, numerous early editions of the novel, photographs of the children Dodgson based the novel on after a punt down the river Isis, there is plenty to keep the fans entertained but the artwork itself is patchy and in some cases, just plain bad, creepy or irrelevant.

The motivation of the great man himself in photographing and spending endless hours entertaining pre-pubescent girls has been well explored and the presence of five artworks which have been declared ‘unfit for children’ suggests that this aspect of the author’s psyche has not been ignored.

The exhibition opened on  the 4^th of November . If you are a fan of the female predecessor of Harry Potter or fascinated by 19^th century fantasy literature you will find plenty to absorb you. If you are a lover of great art you may well be left unmoved. Ultimately, we are reminded that ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is no more a children’s book than ‘South Park’ is a kiddies’ cartoon. Don’t take the kids but take the child inside you and catch this exhibition before it disappears, like the Cheshire cat, on January 29^th 2012. Visit Tate Liverpool’s website for more information.

Tags: Alice in Wonderland, art, Art Gallery, artist, exhibitions, gallery, Tate Liverpool, UK art
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Recent controversy over the reselling of tickets for this exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s surviving paintings at the National Gallery in London, which have been re-selling at an eye-watering £300 (18 times their original price) is an indication of the appeal that this paragon of ‘Renaissance Man’ still has for the public in general and art lovers in particular. The Renaissance ‘Rock-Star’ is famous for being an engineer, scientist, inventor and polymath but this exhibition is the first to concentrate on his technical development and artistic aims as a painter.

Source : http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-painter-at-the-court-of-milan

The exhibition, which opened on November 9th and runs until February 5th 2012, was a sell-out and has been a critical and financial success for the gallery, despite the fact that there are only nine paintings on display from a total of around 16 known to have been painted by Leonardo. However, there are also numerous drawings and sketches giving an insight into the thought process behind the creation of each painting.
The works cover the period of approximately 17 years, between 1482 and 1499, when Leonardo was in the paid employ of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan and a patron of the arts during the Milanese Renaissance. The most famous paintings of the period ‘The Last Supper’, which was commissioned by Sforza, and the iconic ‘Mona Lisa’ are not in the exhibition but, despite the absence of arguably the two most famous paintings in the history of art, the exhibition is considered as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to see ‘the most complete display of Leonardo’s rare surviving paintings ever held.’

Indeed, one of the paintings “Christ as Salvator Mundi”, was originally attributed to one of da Vinci’s pupils. It’s provenance is still disputed by some critics but a later revaluation saw the value of the painting inflate from a trivial £45 to a staggering $200 million – an inflation rate even higher than that of the exhibition tickets!

During this period of Leonardo da Vinci’s life he was able to concentrate almost entirely on developing his painting technique. Thanks to the Duke’s patronage he had the time and the resources to develop his skills to the point where he could blend an almost photographic realism with a deeper sense of mystery and idealism, creating icons of beauty which still leave us breathless more than 500 years later.

The paintings on display include ‘La Belle Ferronière’ , ‘Madonna Litta’ , ‘Saint Jerome’ and two versions of ‘Virgin of the Rocks’, one owned by the gallery and recently restored. Although the ‘Last Supper’ itself is absent, there is a copy of the painting made by his contemporary Giampietrino, together with sketches and the preparatory drawings Leonardo made for the original.

So if you feel compelled to join the carefully controlled crowd flocking to this exhibition try not to pay £300 for the privilege, although if the hype and the critics are to be believed, and this really is a unique and not-to-be-repeated-in-our-lifetime opportunity to see some of the most beautiful paintings ever created, it may just be worth it.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Painter at the Court of Milan runs until 5th February. Ticketing and opening time information are available at the National Gallery Website.

Tags: art, Art Gallery, artist, exhibitions, gallery, Leonardo Da Vinci, London, painter, Painting
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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.

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

“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.”

Thinker on a Rock by Barry Flanagan

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
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