SAW Blog

When all the art exhibitions finally arrived...

2012-01-23T07:22:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! The start of January was actually pretty quiet (in exhibition terms) until the end of the month when loads arrived all at once! Two exhibitions, a project in the High Street and the beginnings of several big exciting projects coming up-soon and during the Olympic torch ceremonies. 2012 has landed!

In no particular order:

Tuesday 17th - Friday 27th Get Creative @ Taunton -

Hosted by Actiontrack, Creative Carnival, Somerset Film and The Brewhouse, 'Get Creative' is a two week series of free events, workshops and debates based in Mendip House at the top of Taunton High Street.

From what I gather the point of having the building is to talk to the public/artists/performers etc. etc. [in terms of what they would want from an arts space] whilst having the opportunity to learn some new skills [film/web based] and take part in some performance pieces one of which includes a gamelan. Confused? Me too, slightly, there's quite a mix of stuff going on there although I think using the empty space, that is Mendip House for anything creative, no matter how confusing, is better than leaving it empty. Certainly I also hope that Taunton High Street can use events like this one to run further exhibitions and activities that will draw people into our High Street. All of this is of particular interest to me personally as it has a natural link to the 'Big Draw' project we held in the same place last October.

http://www.actiontrack.org.uk/news.html

These two images are from Simon Lee Dicker's exhibition, 'Show and tell' at 'The Old School Room', West Coker - 18th until 29th January

"This exhibition brings together the work of artist collective OSR projects, established by artist Simon Lee Dicker. The Old School Room has been a place of learning, meeting and gathering for over 160 years and this exhibition works with the social history of the building as a catalyst for creative exploration." -Evolver

I hadn't been to 'The Old School Room' since Somerset Art Weeks so it was great to go back and see how things have changed (the addition of a gold painted wall for example!) and what new art works waited in store. I think its a bold move that warrants a lot of credit, to bring contemporary art of the, what I would call more conceptual nature into a relatively small Somerset village. But as West Coker proves, why conform to the stereotype? Why have landscape paintings and pictures of cows when you can have tartan on the walls and on the floors!(I actually think there's a place for both!) That's not to say its eccentric for eccentrics sake, but there is always a very playful and witty side to all the work that is shown in 'The Old School Room'. Even more appropriate when you consider it was actually a school room and, for it now to act as a place of play and a place to make you think/question is highly relevant. There are a lot of very 'cool' and clever visual elements to this exhibition and if you like art that is reminiscent of the balancing sculptures of Fischli and Weiss then this is definitely for you.
http://osrprojects.wordpress.com/

14th January - 18th February Richard Pomeroy 'Landscape: Imprint', Brewhouse Theatre -

New, big and bold paintings from SAW artist, Richard Pomeroy!
"Somerset based artist Richard Pomeroy explores the link between landscape and humanity. The artist lies down in carefully prepared wet paint on primed linen. The resulting image can form either the dramatic centrepiece of the painting or can be gradually subsumed by the subsequent layers of paint. The body's clothing is clearly modern with zips and denim defining the figure as contemporary. Aspects of the landscape are then painted as an upper layer on top of the body print. This physical union between body and landscape dramatises the subject of the paintings and creates a memorable image." -Brewhouse website

Yes! A painter! I'm very pleased that a painting exhibition has come to the Brew, and its an exciting one too! I won't bore you by re-aliterating what the descriptor above states instead I will talk a little bit, from a painterly point-of-view what I thought of the show. Out of the 10/12 canvases there's a wide exploration of colour palettes and techniques that, whilst the subject matter [of rivers/landscapes] remains relatively constant the surfaces and moods of the paintings are very different. It's those different textures and layers or colour that, for me, best reflect the idea of how the landscape in Somerset is connected geographically but is also very varied from place to place. Out of all the work the more subtle, 'white/grey' pieces appeal to me the most because I like the sharpness of the detail picked up from the printed clothing on the top that I feel is detracted by the brightness in some of the more colourful pieces. Overall, I spent a lot longer in this exhibition than a lot of the more 'sculptural' Brewhouse exhibitions which is clear to say that I really enjoyed it.

Really worth a look and if you want to find out more then come along to the 'artist talk' on Wednesday 2nd February from 6pm
http://www.thebrewhouse.net/exhibitions/1163/landscape-imprint

So, phew! All of that in a week, and that's without mentioning the upcoming, 'Iluminos' project as a part of SAW's 'Maximum exposure' in which pill boxes along the Taunton stop line will be lit up with projections between, Feb 24th and 4th March. Plus there's a whole load of events happening surrounding the Olympics, all of which I'll have to fill you in on next time!

That's all for now, I'm off to hear a gamelan being played! 6.30pm tonight in the High Street, onwards. See you there!

It was a very good year.

2011-12-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

As we say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012 I congratulate you for surviving another year of cliched blog post titles. Hopefully they won't have put you off reading some of my ramblings which have documented just some of the inspiring artistry that our artists from Somerset and beyond have had to offer.

It has been a very good year, and for those of you who might have missed it (why would you!?) then here is the SAW blog review of the year 2011!

January/February - 'Exhibition of the teenager' at The Brewhouse Theatre and arts Centre, Taunton

Kelly Smith, a merry band of enthusiastic college students and me participated in organising an exhibition, event and project that involved a wide range of the community. The aim of the project was to challenge and make people question/reflect on 'what is a teenager? throwing the stereotype out of the window. After weeks of collecting art work (in the form of some very creative but also darn heavy mannequins), interviewing people, recording vox pops, building an installation of a teenager's bedroom, dance floor and organising several bands to perform on the opening night, the 'Exhibition of the teenager' was born!

March - Opening of The Crescent Contemporary, Taunton

On Saturday 19th of March Taunton's new contemporary art gallery opened with an exhibition of Gordon Faulds' drawings and mixed media paintings. This marked the first of what has been many more exhibitions this year showcasing some of the best contemporary art from local artists and further afield. Look forward to seeing what this gallery space has to offer next year!

www.crescentcontemporary.co.uk

April - 'England, my England' at The Brewhouse Theatre and arts centre, Taunton

A beach indoors at the Brewhouse, what fun! Set around the time of the Queen's birthday and the royal wedding, the 'England, my England' festival was a great way to explore all things English and put my beautiful (but deadly) pinwheels all around the theatre.

May - 'Outside space' at The Brewhouse Theatre and arts centre, Taunton

Yet, another offering from the Brew! What can I say? I live in Taunton so the Brew is my most local art facility, if I wasn't involved in what they do then quite frankly then something would be wrong! 'Outside space' saw the theatre open its backstage areas to the public for the first time with a few added surprises from local artists in the form of installations, paintings and participatory works. This was a fantastic project and I remember really enjoying the work on offer.

June - 'Ad Lucem and the end of year shows at Somerset College'

No review of the year would be complete without highlighting the annual end of year degree shows from the illustrious Somerset College. Always a pleasure to see and this year was no exception. Prior to this in May was the second year, Fine Art Show in the Collar Factory in Taunton (watch this space next year!...)

May/June - My regular visits to 'The Somerset Heritage Centre' as a part of the 'Professional Development Opportunity' with SAW

What an opportunity exploring the artifacts in storage in the SHC was! The tools that I found there became the basis for a body of work I made that was to be later shown later in the year during art weeks. Not only access to the tools themselves but to the expertise and knowledge from the curator who works there. Truly inspiring stuff.

July - 'Homecoming' at The Regal Theatre, Minehead

In July I ventured out of Taunton.

After months of suspense and build up, Hannah Bishop's multi-disciplinary, art, music and theatre extravaganza 'Homecoming' finally arrived and it did not disappoint.

July - Willow Cathedral opening ceremony, Longrun Meadows, Taunton
It might have rained but we still had a good time when hundreds of people came out to celebrate the official opening of Taunton's very own willow cathedral. The Albion Horns led a procession from the Oak barn to the cathedral where the festivities continued until the rain came!
www.longrunmeadows.blogspot.com

July - 'Jamaica Street artists' Open studios, Bristol

www.jamaicastreetartists.co.uk

August - Pitt Rivers, Oxford

In August, at last, hooray! After years of speculation and failed attempts at getting to Oxford in August I finally managed to see the 'Pitt Rivers' museum! This was still part of the 'Professional development opportunity' I'd begun embarking upon earlier in the year and proved to be far better than I had ever thought it would.

Later in August I had my first solo exhibition in the Hot House Gallery in The Taunton Conference Centre.

September - 'A Night of Light', Hestercombe, Taunton

(Pictured Chloe Brooks' 'Plans for Portals')

I now realise these photos aren't exactly in chronological order, this photo was taken in September, but the 'Night of light' event happened as a part of the end of art weeks of which the photo of that is yet to come in this post. No matter. 'Night of light' (organised by SAW and Reveal)featured several film, light and sound installations from artists such as Michael Fairfax, Sue Palmer, Simon Hitchens, Tim Martin and more.

September - '10 Parishes Festival' -The Recessionists', Wiveliscombe

An exhibition in the dark, with torches! Another innovative use of an abandoned building, the Recessionists group pulled off another cracking exhibition as a part of the 10 Parishes Festival. Pictured above is one of Fork Beard Fantasy's creations.

September - Somerset Art Weeks 2011

(Pictured above, Marte Bless Liland's work at Somerset College)

This year's art weeks took the form of exhibitions and events with around 400 artists participating at around 100 venues, I did my best to visit as many as possible travelling from Porlock to Yeovilton and Wells and a significant number of places in between. SHEDS in Hemyock by Bhaam! (Blackdown hills artists and makers) was definitely one of my personal highlights. It was also the first time I'd exhibited in art weeks on my own which was a really daunting at first, but turned out to be a great experience allowing me to meet a lot of interesting people. More importantly, people who were also interested in tools!

Registration is still open for art weeks 2012, click on the link below for more details:
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/art_weeks_2012

September - Bath Artists' Studios, Bath

www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk

October - 'British Art Show 7', Plymouth

I missed the previous six and would have missed the seventh had the British Art Show not come to Plymouth, which it did, for the first time this October giving myself and many the opportunity to see (what could possibly be my favourite art work of the year), Christian Marclay's, 'The Clock' plus many more contemporary art offerings.October - 'The Big Draw: Street Carpets', Taunton

The weather was fantastic for this event in which I, Helena Haimes, Jo Lathwood and Neil Musson were the project artists on the 'Street Carpets' project in Taunton's High Street. This was a great learning experience for me personally as well as an opportunity to gain some creative and valuable insight into what the public would like to see on the re-development of the High Street. Please click on the video link below for a film that explains the project (filmed and edited by Dan Gale):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kooCTF7oL_g&feature=player_embedded

November/December: 'The Museum Show Part 2', Arnolfini, Bristol and 'The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman', British Museum, London

This year really has been the year of the museum and artists/curators have responded by creating fantastic shows using the Museum as a site and source of inspiration for making work.

http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/details/1170

The rest of December has been pretty quiet allowing me to focus on other things like being able to reflect on the year to write this review for example, there are many more exhibitions and events that happened this year, so many that I haven't been able to include them all in this review but have mentioned in previous posts throughout the year in this blog. With one year of my MA in Fine Art done and another to go I'm continuing to learn about art academically and in the 'real' world. A big thank you to everyone who's been following the blog, held fantastically inspiring art exhibitions, organised projects and met me for drinks this year!

I wish you a very Happy New Year, with the 2012 Olympics and a few exciting projects and exhibitions that I'm beginning to hear about in the pipeline it looks like its going to be even better than this one!

November Book Review: '100 New Artists' by Francesca Gavin

2011-11-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

Behold! The long awaited return of the 'Art book of the Month' review. Quite frankly there was just so much happening in the last few months so a book review wasn't exactly on top of the priority list of things to write about. Now, with the sudden change of pace there is time to reflect and enjoy delving into books like this one!

Don't be fooled by the white, minimal looking front cover because inside this book is 225 pages of glorious colour images featuring the work of the 100 chosen few, contemporary artists working today. I'm always a bit skeptical as to how exactly the editors of these types of books ('Cream' being another example) choose and select a mere 100 artists out of the wealth that is contemporary art today. The author of the book, Francesca Gavin is both a writer and curator based in London and has a CV that includes writing for The Guardian online, Time Out, The Sunday Times Style plus to name a few. She writes,

'The selection of artists in this book emerged as that 'selfish capitalism' spread across the globe. The artworks featured here were made in the self-promoting era of the blog and the Facebook page.'

So we know that the artists featured in this book are 'new' but throughout the whole introduction we never really get to know 'how' the artists are selected. Should it matter? I don't know, but I find it interesting to speculate how certain artists might have been chosen over others. What makes an artist more successful, contemporary, important, new etc. than any other?Anyway, the book is at least true to its statement on the cover, 'Despite moments of clarity there is no 'ism' in this book'. Nice! So that's a no, to surrealism, impressionism, minimalism and post-modernism and others. I couldn't find any 'ism's in the book, but I suppose you could argue that the influences of all those past art movements in some cases are present in the work. What this book does show is new approaches and forward thinking in art practice today or as Gavin writes,

'This is a vital new wave of art -post conceptualism, post-minimalism, post-pop. Not only is it a snapshot of art if the moment, 100 New Artists, is the place to discover the people who will define our aesthetic future.'

What of the artists?! You ask. It has to be said that there is a healthy mix of painting, video, installation, new technologies, print-making, sculpture, photography and performance art in this selection featuring artists from across the globe. A few favourites of mine being; Steve Bishop http://stevebishop.org/work.html, Guillermo Caivano http://ibidprojects.com/guillermo-caivano/, Jompet Kuswidananto, Littlewhitehead http://www.littlewhitehead.com/, Richard Mosse http://richardmosse.com/, Anita Moure, Pim Palsgraaf http://www.pimpalsgraaf.nl/, Joao Pedro Vale http://www.joaopedrovale.com and Aleix Plademunt http://www.aleixplademunt.com/. There are 91 more that you may also find interesting. Its always good to have a parooz through books like this proving that there is still lots of new and contemporary art out there! Enjoy!

A few things to think about...

2011-11-20T12:08:00.000-08:00

Hmmmmm......

Apologies for not having written on here in the last two weeks, my Internet is running at the speed of a snail but I have managed to upload most areas of the SAW blog for now. I will be running upstairs to do some painting in between as I wait for different pages to load up. Anyway, I thought I'd take this opportunity to fill you in on a few things:

Firstly - SAW is now on Youtube! Click on the link below to see several videos of recent SAW projects and please keep an eye on it as we will be loading more videos to it in the future.

http://www.youtube.com/user/websitesaw#p/u

You can also access this page, anytime by clicking on the youtube link on the left hand side of the SAW blog.

Secondly - Registration for Art Weeks 2012 are now open! This year is an 'Open Studios' event and runs from the 15th until the 30th of September. Deadline for entries is 31st January. Visit http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/news/art-weeks-2012-open-studios-registration-now-open for more info

And Finally... On Thursday 8th December SAW are holding a networking event for emerging artists and/or artist led-projects at the SAW Hub in Langport 6.00-7.30pm This is an ideal opportunity for any artists who have just 'emerged' (or graduated) or artists who have ideas to develop a project for art weeks 2012 that are not necessarily intending to sell work but wish to explore their practice further and gain some experience in professional art practice. As usual click on the link below for more info:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/Art_weeks_2012_event_8dec

Thank you. That's all the house-keeping done for now. I'll be back soon with some more art book reviews, gallery visits, SAW projects and more (internet speed permitting!).

The pilgrimage to London and the power of making

2011-11-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

I have been saving writing this post all week in anticipation of my long over due visit to London. So yesterday I finally got the chance to go, I awoke at 6.30 to catch the bus then after a few tube stops and a walk later I had, at last, made it to The British Museum. Hooray!

Ironically I had made the pilgrimage to see 'The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman' exhibition by Grayson Perry which is pretty fitting to the theme of the exhibition in which a lot of the content has come from Perry's own pilgrimage on a motorcycle (which features in the exhibition) around Germany with his childhood teddy-come god Alan Measels. The exhibition itself is a combination of the personal and imaginative works (which isn't just the ceramic pots he is well known for) created by Perry alongside artefacts from the British Museum collection. I've written a bit about this before in my last post as I am a particular fan of all things art and museum related, however it was great to go and see the exhibition and what I thought was particularly clever and successful about it was the way it was sometimes difficult to tell apart the museum pieces from Perry's own work. That's not to say that Perry had tried to make his work look too deliberately 'old' the works he has made are much more about borrowing some of the craft and style from the museum artefacts. The result is that from afar they look like museum pieces but on close inspection they are made up of very contemporary themes or imagery. Those of you who have seen his pots will know what I mean. Perry himself describes, "There is also a mystical resonance to the word craftsman. He is crafty. A trickster, a sorcerer, an androgynous shaman communing with the spirit world, a member of a secretive guild holding his alchemical secrets close to his chest."

Based on my own experience of working with a museum, I found reassurance in what Perry had to say about how he selected which museum objects to put into the exhibition by choosing ones that visually appealed to him. He asserts his role as an artist and not a historian so he did not choose things which had a prestige to them because of their historical significance, as 'an expert in looking' he choose the things which had a resonance with him. I find this reassuring because I had a similar decision to make where I was learning and finding out about the people and history connected to these wonderful tools I was looking at, but I was more interested in what the tools looked like,i.e their form/shape/texture. Those qualities are what drew me to certain objects over others, I only wish I had had more conviction in asserting this reasoning in my work instead of trying to search for meaning for meanings sake. I think that what this exhibition gets across really well is that it is ok to 'just be an artist' without all the complicated conceptual tags and Duchampian waffle; that you can just do what I always thought an artist was meant to do, 'make things' and in this case make them very well. Not to say that the show is a void-less un-meaningful thing because its definitely not, its easy to make the connections between the style of the museum pieces and Perry's contemporary counterparts which are full of personal meaning and narrative to Perry's own imagination.

I'm really pleased I went to see this exhibition it has reminded me not to become carried away into research or searching for meaning in my work and should stick to what I know is more important and that's the making.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx

Talking of 'making', no trip to London would have been complete without a visit to the V&A and specifically to see the 'Power of Making' exhibition.
Now, if I was a design student then this exhibition would be so brilliant, so inspiring and so useful. I cannot stress how good and important it is that anyone studying in any of the design fields goes to see this exhibition. Why? This doesn't represent craft from a commercial point of view far from it, it is much more creative, personal, social and cultural in demonstrating how great design and high quality craftsmanship can have an impact on everyday things. Some of the pieces in the show are fun and seemingly ridiculous, for example a brilliantly made life size crochet model of a bear, a lamp shade made in the shape of the owner's fingerprint, a six necked guitar, to a high-heel guitar (that plays a tune when the wearer flexes their leg). The majority of the pieces in the exhibition throw the idea of 'form following function' out of the window. They are pieces of art in their own right. You don't need to know anything about fashion for example to know that Susie MacMurray's pin dress (yes, a dress made entirely out of pins) is not meant to be worn (it would be far to heavy and probably slice its wearer to pieces just trying to put it on), it's an artwork. Titled 'Window Dressmaker' there is much to be admired at the skill involved in making or winced at from merely looking at the piece, but there is also meaning to be read into what a dress entirely made of pins has to say about femininity to give one example. And that is the nature of the entire exhibition, it is full of the weird and the wonderful, familiar objects reinvented using new materials and techniques. The traditional techniques of craft are given a contemporary twist, so the materials present in the work remain largely the same as what they always were but the tools in which they are moulded have advanced, for example 'Bloom' (a ceramic) by Michael Eden is a complicated form of interlocking lines that cross over and make the form of the pot to such a density and complexity that the most accomplished ceramicist could not make it by hand using traditional methods, but with the aid of computer technology new possibilities are opened up as to what can be achieved. It's exciting! Anyone for a surfboard made from cardboard? A ceramic eye patch? Or how about an embroidered surgical implant? Its this sort of innovation and creativity that the arts, in the broadest sense of the word, are all about and I think this show really celebrates that. Craft isn't only about function or purpose; it's about skill and creativity as well. The objects on show here might not be the most 'practical' in their physical usefulness, but what they have to offer in the way of usefulness in how they make us think, question and relate to materials, people, world around us and objects is priceless. And that truly is the power of making. Plus you'd have to be an emotionless cyborg not to be impressed at the skill it takes to carve the letters of the alphabet in the lead on the tip of a pencil (as in the image below, by Dalton Ghetty).

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/power-of-making/

The Museum of Museums

2011-10-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

In Taunton, 'The Museum of Somerset' (previously Taunton Museum) has just re-opened after a 6.93 Million re-development. In Bristol 'The Industrial museum' has been revamped into what is now called 'The M Shed' and in Bath The Holburne museum (see fifth image below) has also had a massive 13.8 million pound transformation in the form of a glass extension to added onto the original building. With all of these re-vamped and modernised re-openings of museums in the South West as well as the exhibition titled, 'The Museum Show' now open at the Arnolfini gallery in Bristol it definitely feels like museums really are 'the flavour of the month'. Two weekends ago I popped down to the Arnolfini to find out if this was the case...

Featuring the work of over 40 artists this is no small show and to my delight included some old favourites and some fantastic new ones. I was not disappointed. Susan Hiller's 'After the Freud Museum', Duchamp's 'Boite-en-Valise' (the retrospective of the artists work in a suitcase) and Peter Blake's 'A Museum for Myself' are three museum inspired pieces on show in this exhibition that I have previously seen before, however it was fantastic to see them again without having to have made the pilgrimage to London and in the context of a show of museum inspired art. What is quite unusual about an exhibition of museum inspired work is the context, i.e normally a lot of the work on show in this exhibition would be in an actual museum where as here you have almost the opposite. The element of surprise of seeing work by an artist in a museum is part of the point of using the museum as a context to make work and play with interpretation. In the Arnolfini show having all of those museum inspired art works in an 'art context' of the gallery brings the viewers attention to the work in a different way again or as the Arnolfini describes the show as, 'a museum of museums'.

The museums on offer include: 'The Museum of Failure' by Ellen Harvey, 'The Museum of Safety Gear for Small Animals by Bill Burns (which I recommend you looking at the website for
http://www.safetygearforsmallanimals.com/home.html), The Davis Museum (a.k.a the smallest contemporary art museum in the world) http://www.davismuseum.com, 'Museum of Contemporary African Art' by Meschac Gaba, 'Moon Museum' (which sees the first-and most smallest works of art to land on the moon)by Forrest Myers, 'Voting Booth Museum' by Guillaume Biji (proves you can learn so much about a countries politics from the style of their voting booths) and 'The Museum of personality testing' by Sina Najafti and Christopher Turner to name but a few! It really is a mix of the ridiculous and the sublime.

A personal highlight for me was Herbet Distel's 'The Museum of Drawers' which holds 500 miniature artworks collected during the 1960's and 70's. Yes! So we have, David Hockey, Andy Warhol, Sol Lewitt, Joesph Beuys, John Cage, Claes Oldenburg, George Rickey, Cy Twombly, Roy Lichtenstein, Larry Rivers, Jasper Johns, Jim Dine and many many more all in little 2.25" wide and 1 11/16" high spaces within 20 drawers. Looking at the collection and the list for ages all I could think was how many cool artists were there in the 60's and 70's! And on a serious note the idea of drawers and collections in art generally is something that appeals to me as a person, maybe because I naturally without trying seem to collect lots of books and strange what can only politely be described as 'bits of tat', but whatever the reasons I thought this work was great.

On a completely different tone, the 'World Agriculture Museum' shown off site as part of the Arnolfini exhibition, is a much more global and thought provoking affair. The museum, curated by Asuncion Molinios', is set in what was previously Bristol Police Station. Inside the museum feels more like a theatre or stage-set in the way it is quite dimly lit and in the empty and dusty space which is quite haunting and creepy (its a creepy old police station not a smart shiny new one) there are cases of hundreds of different seeds and information on the doomsday vault in the North Pole (supposedly that contains seeds from all plant life on Earth). Anyway, it is an interesting collection and touches upon ideas in agriculture from food production to folklore. With news stories of the world's rapidly increasing population over the last few years which is set to rise even higher; all of which will put greater pressure and need on food production and how we grow food, this whole piece feels incredibly topical as well.

Whether we have museums being used in art or having art in museums are two ways in which these artists have used the concept of 'The Museum' in their work. There are many more variations of this all throughout art history and the history of how we collect, curate and display art works, artifacts and history and anthropology. It is, however, very exciting to see how artists take the museum as an institution and use it, parody it or interpret it in different ways of which this exhibition represents that diversity of what can be done with museums in a very successful way.

This is only part one of what is a two part exhibition (the second part to come in December) so I really recommend you paying this a visit.
For more details visit: http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/

I think my own recent bias (see image above of one of my pieces of work influenced by museum collections) working with the collection of agricultural tools at The Somerset Heritage Centre could have had a distinct influence in my interest in writing this post.
But, I'm not alone in this either, Jon England (see image below) has also worked with a museum, 'The Fleet Air Arm Museum' in Yeovilton on his recent project, 'Operation Chameleon' which can be seen until December. I have written on this blog before about what I believe to be just some of the benefits of an artist working with a museum and how the presentation of that research can make certain artifacts in museums collections more accessible to the public or present new interpretations of existing collections to new audiences.

(below) The Holburne Musuem, Bath

Finally, if you are still not convinced that museums are 'where its at' then look no further than the also very recent exhibition by Grayson Perry in The British Museum, 'The tomb of the unknown craftsman' (image below) where the artist has made his distinctive styled work in the form of ceramics and tapestries and then looked to the museum collection to find pieces that are similar, or in the artists own words, 'All I could do was choose the things that fascinated and delighted me.' The result is an exhibition that combines the two old and new side by side. Perry is no stranger to working with museums and has used artifacts alongside his own collections before in the piece 'Charms of Linconshire'. I've yet to visit this exhibition and I think it goes without saying that I'm obviously going to visit it soon, but I wanted to share it with you here as it fits so well with this post. Some of Perry's observations I've read in news articles that talk about his experiences working with museums and their curators has been particularly poignant for me recalling my own experiences working with the curators in the Somerset Heritage Centre. He says, 'Curators seemed to like nothing better than showing off the treasures in their care. Their profound enthusiasm I found infectious and endearing.' So true. As you walk around these massive and often quite cold 'warehouse-like' storage spaces where all the artifacts are boxed and catalogued, there is nothing better than to be in those spaces than with someone who knows exactly where to find the thatcher's whimbrel you're looking for, or the collection of gloves maker's tools and then can tell you all about those things. It really is wonderful and that's coming from, me, someone who never studied or really liked history.

So, with lots of attention on all these newly opened museums there's a lot of opportunity to discover and re-discover some remarkable objects, people and stories. Museums don't necessarily always hold the truth, with a lot of theorists believing that history has always been a matter or interpretation and who has been doing the interpreting. This leads the way nicely for artists to make their own interpretations or accept existing ones and how we may then choose to use that knowledge in our own work or to say something about our own time.

That is where things start to get really exciting.

For more details on 'The Tomb of the unknown Craftsman' click on the link below:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx

Join us tomorrow for the BIG Draw!

2011-10-20T12:24:00.000-07:00

Hi, I haven't abandoned you, dear SAW blog. I've merely been out visiting exhibitions (details of that coming to a post on here soon) and preparing my canvas for the Big Draw: 'Street Carpets' event happening in the High Street tomorrow and Saturday. Yes, this is an unashamedly blunt plug, but if there's a better way of letting lots of people know about it at short notice then I'd like to know how, besides you'd enjoy it if you chose to come along and take part! Its going to be fun!

Look out for artists in red tomorrow and Saturday! We'll be in Taunton's High Street with four different fun activities for you to try.
There's a digital photography projection piece to be involved in making, two different drawing activities and a weaving activity with lengths of coloured tape as well.
All of the work is for the Big Draw 2011 but in Taunton we are also specifically using the opportunity to collect your ideas, thoughts, memories and experiences of the High Street. The responses we collect in the form of drawings, words, text, photos etc. will then be used as a creative resource to help inspire and provide input into the architects new designs for the High Street when it is re-developed.
We'll be there from 11.00 to 2.30pm tomorrow and Saturday! We'd love to see you.

All are welcome to come and draw on my map of the High Street! Pens provided, just bring yourselves!
You know you want to, why else would you be reading the SAW blog unless you were interested in something arty?

More details can be found on: http://streetcarpetstaunton.blogspot.com

British Art Show comes to Plymouth!

2011-10-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

The first six British Art Shows really passed me by (understandable when you take into account that the first two happened before I was born) in fact I hadn't really heard of BAS at all until this year. So, when British Art Show 7 literally came to town there was no way I would be missing it this time round!

Here's the info: "Held every five years across four cities nationwide, British Art Show comes to Plymouth for the first time in the city's history. British Art Show 7: In the days of the comet features work by 39 artists and artists' groups working in the UK today. It is exhibited across five venues -Peninsula Arts : Plymouth University, Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth College of Art Gallery and the Slaughter House: Royal William Yard"

Brilliant! And as I am down in Plymouth at least once a week studying for my MA it has been pretty convenient to go and see all the art on offer which is all mostly in walking distance near each other....except for the Slaughter House (which is walkable but only if you like a thirty minute power walk, for those of you that don't its very easy to get a bus there). Any who, the show as a whole, for me, was one that got better with age. I've made it my mission to go visit the exhibitions in their venues more than once, and have found the second time round I enjoyed it all a lot more. There's a mix of sculpture, installation, video work, photography and painting. I found that the painting side of things to be quite disappointing and won't dwell too long here on the ones I found to be shockingly bad, which is a shame because it doesn't reflect a lot of the interesting painting I see happening elsewhere. Two of the best pieces for me were video works. Elizabeth Price's 'User group disco' (see image below) shown in Plymouth Museum in which extreme close-ups of kitchen utensils and other miscellaneous objects are whirled around to A-Ha's 'Take on me' whilst philosophical text is scrolled across the screen. The work is about archives and taxonomies (even more appropriate when you consider that it is being shown in a museum) and how we classify objects. I could relate a lot of my current thinking and work to this piece and I liked its energy and pace which made it an engaging piece to watch. The second video is one that I think virtually everyone who visits the BAS enjoys is, Christian Marclay's 'The Clock' (see image below), in which a 24 hour series of cut scenes has been edited from films where there is a reference to a specific time so that when edited all together you have an entire video that tells the time: a clock of clocks, watches and time from hundreds of movies. This can only be best explained with an example, so, you go into watch the film at 2.45pm and on the screen is the famous scene from 'Safety Last!' with Harold Lloyd. Time moves on and there is a scene from Raging Bull etc. etc. that mirrors real time. Totally brilliant! I love movies and I could have sat there all day watching to see what films would come up next.

They might have been my favourite two pieces but there is still plenty more to see with work by Sarah Lucas, Wolfgang Tillmans and Roger Hiorns. The list almost reads like a Turner Prize nominees retrospective. It was also worth checking out Karla Black, Mick Peter, Brian Griffiths and Karin Ruggaber who for different reasons also had elements to their work that appealed to me (interestingly they are all sculptors/installation artists).

There you have it. Not that I have any previous years to compare it to, but I can say that the BAS7 is a real marmite mix of a show, there's a lot to love and a lot to hate, but in a way that's what makes it great. What could be more British or more contemporary than so many contradictions: art that makes you mad, art that makes you think, art that makes you feel, art that makes you laugh, art that shouts, art that inspires and art that just bamboozles you!

Glad I didn't miss it this time.

BAS7 at Plymouth College of art
BAS7 at Plymouth Art Centre

BAS7 at Plymouth City Museum and Gallery

Mick Peter - 'Moldenke fiddles on' 2008-09

Elizabeth Price - 'User Group Disco' 2009 (still)

Christian Marclay - 'The Clock' 2010 (still)Brian Griffiths - 'The body and ground (or your lovely smile)' 2010

British Art Show 7 is on until December 4th 2011 in Plymouth. For more details visit link below:

http://www.britishartshow.co.uk/

They said it changes when the sun goes down...

2011-10-02T03:57:00.000-07:00

Over the river going out of town you'll find Hestercombe gardens, the venue for a special Art weeks event:

"A Night of Light' presents an evening journey through Hestercombe Gardens as darkness descends. By subtly highlighting these historic gardens and their place in the history of garden design it features the work of 14 artists and projects that respond to either landscape or make artworks for very specific contexts. Light, in its many forms, is used here to heighten the viewers' awareness of differing aspects of the landscape and gardens be they historical, ephemeral, botanical, social, zoological or geographical."

Friday the 30th of September, and the event 'A Night of light' is finally here! Myself and my best friend, Jess were not going to miss the opportunity to see light, sound and site specific art works in Taunton's Hestercombe gardens in the dark. It just sounded too cool to miss! In fact we almost didn't get in, as tickets had completely sold out! However, we were lucky this time as there were a couple of volunteering opportunities to be taken up that meant we could get in and see the show after all.
The event as an experience was really good fun, like 'Sheds' you were given a map of the gardens showing the locations of the artworks along the way. I think the success of this event was being able to discover and follow the route on the map around the gardens with 13 artworks spaced at good intervals along the way allowing you to pause and enjoy the scenery on the way to the next artwork location. The atmosphere created by the large numbers of people visiting made it also a lively and entertaining evening which was heightened by the excitement of people's children who were, possibly as excited as me, to be running around Hestercombe gardens in the dark!

The art work on show is where I am more torn in my opinion, from loving some pieces like Mark Anderson's 'Kinetic flowers' and 'Woodpecker' pieces which really lived up to my expectations of 'A Night of light' in the way that they used 'light' and lots of it! The piece, 'Woodpecker' really made use of the space of the trees in Hestercombe, drawing your attention to the architecture of the trees as the green lights jumped from one tree to another along with the sound of a woodpecker which made you think about the wildlife within the gardens as well as drawing your attention to the garden itself. Similarly, Simon Hitchen's piece, 'Soul shadow' (a large mirror standing at the edge of the lake that had been lit on one side creating a long 'shadow' of light) was quite subtle but also beautiful as it was in context with its surroundings of the lake where you had similar reflections of light hitting the surface of the water. The continuity of this then followed by Tim Martin's graphic animation, 'Temple' on the Tempe Arbour in Hestercombe (the building is up quite high above the gardens)which also reflected back down onto the surface of the water.

Given the dramatic spaces that are on offer in Hestercombe I think the disappointment for me, in 'A Night of Light' came from the use of too many videos shown on television screens with several being shown in buildings/covered areas in the grounds of the gardens. The actual videowork being shown was ok, but I think given the context it was disappointing to have them shown on flat TV screens in rooms. Why was there not more use of projectors onto the outside of the buildings or gardens, for example? There is so much opportunity to use the space, but instead we are viewing videos in rooms and in tunnels behind metal bars(even if the sound was amplified by the tunnel as a space, why not just have the sound and no images?). To be fair I have no technical skill or expertise in any of the mediums that were on show during this event so I can only speculate at the sorts of things I would like to have seen happen without really knowing how technically possible it would be to make a reality. At the same time though, I found a lot of the art that was on show almost too subtle, slick or conceptual. All of which, are things that, if I am being honest, dislike in art as a rule (I don't mind it in moderation, sometimes...). Interestingly, the longer I spent with some work the more I did come to appreciate it, for example Chloe Brooks' piece (pictured below) became more endearing and less like an MDF stage set the longer I spent with it in the space. It was actually my friend that noticed the reflection the archway made in the pond (pictured in the photo below) and it did conjure up images of Indian architecture in relation to the space(and what the artist intended to do). I'm pleased that I was encouraged to look at the work for a sustained length of time as it was worth it and also a learning experience in terms of fighting with my own impatience in viewing art work and the benefits of staying with a piece of work for longer periods of time.

The show was definitely contemporary and despite my personal dislike of some of the work I acknowledge that having all kinds of art in Somerset is a very healthy thing. As someone said to me during the evening, "I'm a maxamalist not a minimalist." So true! I would have had gardening tools hanging from all the trees and bushes, I'd have planted some spades covered it in paint and lit it all up with fireworks! I am of course exaggerating to make a point and maybe that's because I like theatrics or am a little bit tacky, but if I had a canvas like Hestercombe why hold back? I would have loved a little bit more.

(above) Chloe Brooks' 'Plans for portals'
"Plans for portals' is a remaking of the India Gate, New Delhi on a domestic scale, and made with modern building materials. Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the original monument about 10 years after his additions of the Orangery and Dutch gardens at Hestercombe. Remaking the 'Gate' and positioning it within the environs that it references almost brings it back full circle. And yet, having undergone this double displacement, in this context the structure seems somewhat awkward, forcing a re-evaluation of both the place it inhabits and from where it came."

(above) Meg Calver and Tim Martin's 'These walls have ears' (sound installation in the Orangery)

(above and below) In the day and in the night photos of Mark Anderson's 'Kinetic flowers'
"Mark Anderson's work covers a broad spectrum, communing sound, light, kinetics, fire, pyrotechnic elements and frequently involving specially designed 'musical' apparatus, to create installations and performances for site specific outdoor events. Kinetic flowers was originally commissioned for Power Plant, an international touring sit specific show, of sound and light installations."

*Thank you very much to Jess Thorne who gave permission to use her photos on this blog post.

There's still time to know your roots!

2011-09-29T03:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Lyn Mowat who has contributed a review of the exhibition 'Roots' for this post (in italics):

THE FRIENDS OF SAW AND THE ARTISTS OF SAW CREATE A DREAM TEAM

"Corporate Sponsors of SAW, King's College, Taunton, have kindly hosted Venue 97 in this year's Artweeks. The exhibition which has been carefully curated by the artists consists of the high quality work of four artists who compliment each other in every possible way. Two artists work in wood, Trevor Salway-Roberts' formal carving is exquisite and is a lively contrast to Emma Duke's wood constructions that use driftwood and have a sense of the wild and free. Samantha Gilbert's printmaking has the feel of textiles and sits well with the beautiful installation by Lucy Lean who's work seems to go from strength to strength.
King's College generously hosted a Friends' Event and prizes for the lucky winners of the two recent Friends' Prize Draws were presented. The Friends Committee is enormously grateful to Julia Thompson who has given a silver pendant to a delighted Audrey Roux and kind Jo Luxstead has given a beautiful angel to Shirley Lomas.
Art is uplifting and inspiring and forging partnerships like the one with King's College, Taunton is a wonderfully positive experience for everyone. Thank you one and all."

(above) Lucy Lean -mixed media/installation
(above) Emma Duke -driftwood sculptures

(above) Samantha Gilbert -printmaking

(above) Trevor Salway-Roberts -woodcarving

This week I went to visit 'Roots' myself and I agree with what Lyn has written about how the four artists' work has come together really well in this exhibition. There are similarities and comparisons to made of the textures, materials and surfaces that the artists have used. Whilst they are similar in their use of natural forms/materials the exhibition also demonstrates a variety of techniques (from wood carving to print making) and ideas that the artists have used to make the work (and if you talk to them they will tell you lots more about it all). The gallery at Kings College is small but perfectly formed and makes this an intimate and thoughtfully curated exhibition.

For more details please go to: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/roots-kings-college-taunton or venue 97 in the SAW catalogue.

You still have three days of art weeks to go! There's still lots to go and see!

Curiouser and curiouser....

2011-09-29T01:58:00.000-07:00

Whilst I was in Bath visiting the Artists Open Studios I also stumbled across this exhibition off the main high street in the city centre.

The exhibition, titled, 'Wunderkamer' from the German, 'Cabinet of curiosities' is an Off-site exhibition curated by the Bo Lee gallery at The Octagon Chapel, Milsom Place.
Featuring, Sarah Ball, Mat Collishaw, Angela Cockayne, Jayne Dunsmuir, Tessa Farmer, Patrick Haines, Marcelle Hanselaar, Melanie Jackson, Alexander Kozer-Robinson, Cornelia Parker, Robert Priseman, Dawn Lippiatt, Ione Rucquoi, Rose Sanderson, Rebecca Stevenson and Viktor Wynd.

I seem to be making a habit of seeing art exhibitions in abandoned buildings of which 'Wunderkamer' is another to add to that list. Whilst I do not have many photos here showing the impressive exhibition space you might get a rough idea from some of the images below that it is very grand looking and certainly a lot smarter than some of the other empty buildings I've seen exhibitions in recently. A quick search online reveals that the Octagon Chapel (named so because it is in fact octagonal inside) was designed as a church in 1767. Anyway, it has to be said that this a very cool show, and because of my own personal interests in all things cabinets/sheds and curiosities I found it to be particularly useful. Insects in bell jars, bones in boxes, x-rays, taxidermy, cases, sculptures made from unusual materials meant that the work in this show read like a natural history or science museum meets elements of the surreal and mystical. There was much to be curious about with most pieces requiring close inspection to see what was either in them, or what they were made of. In ways the show was also slightly macabre and Gothic which was probably helped to some degree by the period location it was hung in, I half expected to see the Patrick Haines' raven to spring to life and swoop down crying, 'Never more'. Luckily, this didn't happen and I continued to wonder around the exhibition exploring the different work on offer. The whole show was a really great surprise as I hadn't expected to find such a surreal and intriguing exhibition on the main shopping street.

The show is still on until the 1st of October, please check it out if you're out in Bath.

(above) http://www.tessafarmer.com/ -Tessa Farmer, artist

(above) http://www.ionerucquoi.com/home.htm -Ione Rucquoi, artist

(above) http://www.duncancameron.org/Duncan_Cameron/Welcome.html

"These collections of dead insects, objects from the bottom of a river and sea urchins are housed in cabinets, boxes, shelves and rooms that are recognisable as 'museum-like' and familiar, yet are encountered on the street or in the gallery." -Duncan Cameron, artist

For more info on this exhibition and future bo lee exhibitions/artists please see link below:
http://www.bo-lee.co.uk/

Weekend escape to Bath

2011-09-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

You: "What's all this then? A post about a non art weeks event in the middle of Somerset Art Weeks!"

Me: Yes.

Perhaps if I was a person who didn't think about/do art all the time then I would have been more than satisfied with last weeks prolific tour of arts weeks venues. Was 26 venues in one week not enough?! Maybe I just don't know when to say, enough art is enough for one week, but then if I started doing any of those things then I wouldn't be me and there would be no point in writing this blog.

So for whatever madness or reasons, I decided to board the train this weekend to see, yet more art. This time a visit to 'Bath artists' studios' where they had an open studios event over the 24th and 25th of September. Forgive me for bringing this to your attention right in the middle of art weeks, but it was such an inspiring visit I couldn't resist to tell you about it.

Click on this link for more info: http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/home.html
This was my first visit to Bath Artits' studios and I was pleased that it was a lot easier to find than I thought it would be (at around twenty minutes walk from the train station). Prior to going I wondered if it was going to be a similar set up to the 'Jamaica Street' and 'BV' Open studios and when I arrived my assumptions were quickly confirmed that it was the same format of a main gallery space for exhibiting work with a labyrinthine set of corridors and rooms making up the artists studios alongside the working spaces for 3D sculpture. Brilliant! With 59 artists work and spaces to see, I armed myself with a map and set out to explore. The following images are just a few of the artists I met and spoke to during my visit.

Carole Tonge-print maker http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/carole-tonge.html

Carole has an excellent print studio with a brand new press! Her current work is uses historic maps for reference and the landscape which she uses as inspiration for her prints. Over the weekend she was running dry point and collagraph workshops which are ongoing, for more details click on the link above.

Mary Jane Evans -ceramics http://www.mjmceramics.co.uk/index.html

These ceramics are delicious (am I allowed to say that?) They're not actually edible, but its the surfaces and textures in Mary Jane Evan's pieces that got me excited.

Alice Shields - http://alice-shields.co.uk/

Alice is a kind-of hybrid artist as she makes ceramics as well as illustrating them with images of all sorts from bicycles to bees and moustaches. She also makes fanatstic badges!

Photo of the 3D sculpture area. Not sure whose work this is, but it certainly photographs very well.

John Gooch -painting http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/john-gooch.html

What would an open studios be without its share of painters? I'm pleased to say there are plenty here.

Felicity Roma Bowers-printmaking http://www.felicityromabowers.co.uk/

The image above is a close-up of what was a huge print that can be very basically described as being a print of a human figure (whose hand you can see here) made up of leaves and layered with images from science/alchemy/mysticism books. They're excellent prints and the thinking behind the imagery used in them is really interesting (reminds me of Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings for example) and reminded me of several of my peers who I know would be interested in this work very much. Please check out her website which displays and explains the work in greater detail.

Charlotte Moore -painting http://www.charlottemoore.org.uk/

These paintings are made of wire mesh layered, cut and assembled to create compositions or scenes (if you look on her website you'll see what I mean).

Brian Elwell- painting http://www.bathartistsstudios.co.uk/brian-elwell.html

And in case you were wondering there was a graphic designer in there to: http://www.beninternational.org/ if you fancy a look.

Excellent stuff all round, and there's more to come soon from another exhibition I stumbled across on my visit to Bath, but that can wait until next time. Looks like Bath Artists' Studios will be another annual visit I will look forward to visiting again next year.

SAW Roadtrip day 3: To Wells and back

2011-09-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

Friday was the last day I had to visit arts weeks venues and this trip turned out to be a much more leisurely venture visiting four venues travelling from Taunton towards Wells on the A361 taking a few detours along the way and then back again. Although this is the last full day of SAW visits I still plan on visiting a couple more venues in Taunton that I haven't been to yet (I can walk to those so it will be a lot more relaxing). Anyway, this excursion started off with the fantastic Stoberry Park in Wells and what has turned out to be overall one of the best venues visited. I think it is fair to say that the reason its so good has a lot to do with the park itself which has brilliant gardens and views over Wells and the Cathedral. All of which is definitely made more interesting and engaging by having the sculptures of five different artists in amongst the gardens and grounds. It was a very enjoyable experience to look around and discover and in some cases search out the art. There are sculptures from artists, Sonja Klinger, Ian Marlow, Christine-Ann Richards, Fiona Campbell and Alex Relph (see images below for some of their work).

(above) Ian Marlow's sculpture overlooking views of Wells Cathedral the Tor.

(above) Fiona Campell's wire sculptures can be seen hidden amongst the gardens .

(above) Sonja Klinger's 'Getting blood out of a stone' (II) in the gardens at Stoberry Park

From Wells we headed further upwards into the Mendips into the village of Priddy (sadly no sheep this day) where we visited October House and the work of eight artists; Belinda Brownlee, Christina White, Susan Walker, Duncan Simey, Peter Davey, Cath Bloomfield, Alison Potter and Linda Briscow. Lots to see here, some great ceramics and photography and personally loved Cath Bloomfield's collagraphs (pictured above).

Onwards and back down the A39 and past Galstonbury to visit Spring Farm Arts at Moorlinch. Five artists here, Nancy Farmer, Anne Farmer, Jenny Graham (pictured above), Clio Graham and Susan Gradwell. Similar set-up to Hurstone Studios in Milverton with lots of artists working in farm buildings. Lots to see here and worth going to see and meet the artists and their studio spaces.
And.....finally 'Level Space' at Stoke St Gregory and the work of the four artists listed below and very near the Willows and Wetlands Centre (a great place to visit). Sadly, I'm not really a fan of minimalism so this venue wasn't, if I'm being honest, to my taste, but is great if you like that kind of thing. Plus there's some great conker trees outside if you fancy picking up some (I did).
(below) Pennie Elfick, Bronwen Bradshaw, Tony Martin and Caroline Sharp at Level Space near Stoke St Gregory

More info in the SAW catalogue. Or click on the links listed below (in chronological order):

venue 60: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/stoberry-park
venue 63: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/october-house-priddy

venue 75: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/spring-farm-arts

venue 108: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/level-space

Thus, my friends, concludes this years art weeks road-trips. Its been busy, inspiring and I've had the pleasure of meeting and talking to lots of interesting people. Hope it may have inspired you to get out there and visit some venues too (or even take part yourself next year?). There's still a few places I've not yet been to so I'll keep you posted when I visit those and of course there's the 'Night of Light' event at Hestercombe Gardens this Friday, 30th to look forward to as well. Watch this space. You've still got a whole week to explore until the end of art weeks on the 2nd October, so get out there!

Quorum-contemporary paintings and sculpture at Nyehead, Nr Wellington

2011-09-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ooops! I seemed to get so carried away with all the arts weeks venues I visited during the day that I nearly forgot to mention ones like this, that I visited in the evening. Monday evening last week saw the opening night of 'Quorum -Contemporary paintings and sculpture' at The Orangery in Nyehead and featured work from four artists. The show includes, abstract, dynamic paintings from Diane Burnell, Michael West's sculptures made from recycled found objects (pictured second image below), Scarlet Von Teazel's mixed media, found object assemblages and landscape inspired paintings from Andrea Rowbotham (pictured below).

For more info please look in the SAW catalogue under Venue 103 or click on the link below:
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/quorum-contemporary-paintings-and-sculpture

SAW Roadtrip Day 2: South Somerset and round in circles at Muchelney

2011-09-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Its Saturday, but in blogging terms it is a Wednesday and all of these images are from Wednesday's travels around South Somerset and a record of eight art weeks venues. Is that a lot? It is if you end up taking a couple detours here and there as you're looking for any yellow SAW arts weeks signs in the predominately green lanes of Somerset's countryside. Anyway, in chronological order here are the venues visited on this day:

At Venue 28/29: Muchelney Abbey, Muchelney, Langport: Cranes at Muchelney Abbey- Two venues in one place! The Cranes (pictured here) created by school kids and the community as a part of the 'Great Crane Project' adorn the lawns leading up and around the Abbey. Inside the Abbey there's work to be seen from Emily Colenso, Will Shakspeare, Carol Mackenzie and Mary Vanderplank. All in all a great example of art in a site specific context with some of the artists taking features from the Abbey's architecture and history and using it in their work or the 'Crane project' located on the site where Cranes have been released.

(above) Part of the charm of art weeks is visiting places you've never been to before. This was the first time I'd been to Muchelney Abbey and so I couldn't resist taking lots of photos of things like this wall painting in what is a remarkable building.

(above) A couple of Kitty Hillier's engraved and coloured wood pieces can be seen inside the Abbey at Muchelney. Kitty was also an artist who worked on 'The Great Crane Project'.More of Kitty's work can be seen at Pitney (Venue 32).

(above) Fiona Campbell's wire work created in workshops with schools and community groups at Muchelney Abbey as a part of the Great Crane Project. To see Fiona's own wire creations this art weeks visit, Stoberry Park, Wells (Venue 60).

www.greatcraneart.blogspot.com

(above and below) Venue 27: Mucheleney Forge, Langport: 'Five at the Forge' - Fantastic forge and (below) Julia Thompson's caravan where she makes hand crafted bespoke lockets and jewelery. Also at this venue expect to see forged ironwork from Nick Ostroumoff, carved alabaster mathematical art from Nick Durnan, firuartive oil paintings from Corrine Short and woodcarvings and prints from Jane Mowat (who was carving the most huge impressive bed when I visited). On different days there are all sorts of demonstrations and activities to see which makes this a lively place worth a visit.

....and of course the fact that there happened to be a forge with loads of tools in had no baring on my decision to visit this venue...

(above and below) At Venue 1: Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton: 'Operation Chameleon' -Jon England's installation of mixed media pieces is so site specific to the extent where you'd almost believe the work is not only part of the museum, now, but looks as though it could have always been there. The work in response to the restoration being undertaken of a WW2 Grumman Martlet plane mimics the processes used by the restoration team (whose portraits have been created as a part of the exhibition -see below). The pieces in the show document the history of the plane in images of the pilots who flew it and places the plane journeyed throughout its history before it arrived at Fleet for its restoration. The work is situe alongside the plane itself making it a very poignant exhibition. Worth a visit as the museum itself is also incredibly cool.

(above and below) At Venue 11: The Old School room and Lanes Hotel at West Coker: 'Under a new sun' -Simon Lee Dicker's exhibition in the recently turned gallery, The Old School room at West Coker. Featuring work from Somerset based contemporary artists, Megan Calver (you'll possibly see her out in the village with her pole...), painting from Angela Charles, musical instruments (or are they sculptures) from Michael Fairfax, Lucia Harley, Simon Hitchens, Tasha Stevens and new media and video pieces from Luke Paramore. Pictured is Simon's bicycle, titled, 'The way to work' (he actually does ride them in apparently?!)

On that note, I'm going to get on my bike and have a moment to digest all the things I've seen these art weeks. Until next time!

For more information about all the venues and more along the way then pick up the SAW catalogue at a library or venue near you!

Or in the order we visited venues are as follows:

venue 28 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/news/cranes-muchelney-abbey-and-art-weeks-crane-talk-22-september

venue 29 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/muchelney-abbey-0

venue 27 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/five-forge

venue 1 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/operation-chameleon

venue 11 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/under-new-sun

venue 12 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/drawn-hung-quartered

venue 21 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/related

venue 22 http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/art-feast

Please look at the SAW map before heading out because there are loads of other venues along the way...

SHEDS you like

2011-09-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

It was last Sunday that I visited SHEDS in Hemyock, but with what has been one of the most prolific art weeks ever, you'll have to bare with me as I try to retrospectively type and upload all the photos of the venues I've been to see during the week since then. I think at the moment the total of venues visited is running at 26 of a possible 108!

Anyway, this venue, 'SHEDS' at number 102 in the guide and is probably going to be up there in one of my favourite venues overall, but definitely scores the most points for being the most fun SAW venue I've been to (ironic, as technically this venue is actually in Devon, but just on the edge, so its ok -but more interestingly because BHamm!, who put the show together often make work in response the Somerset/Devon border as well).

Sure, there aren't any Concorde planes or views looking out onto Wells Cathedral here (like at two of the other venues, no. 1 and no. 60 if you're interested-equally fab but in a different way), but there doesn't need to be because, you've got, er... sheds! Not convincing you? Well, I've always been a believer that the most everyday and mundane things make the best art and this was no exception. You've got 18 artists made up of painters, installation, photography, mixed-media, sculpture, pottery, site-specific (need I go on) all exhibiting together under the theme of sheds with really creative sheds that they've built which in some cases either house the work and/or become the work entirely. The field its situated in at Simonsburrow house is like an eccentric shanty town of artists, each with their own very unique interpretation of a shed which makes it a venue full of surprises and things to explore. I've tried to resist putting too many photos on here to show you and hope that you go and check out the exhibition for yourselves because there's a fair bit more than what I've shown here.

Good fun, just be sure to take your wellies if its raining.

Me outside Liz Gregory's shed

"My shed is a homage to the one you can see across the field. It is made from the monumnet fence that we decorated in 2008. I want to paint the inside in a similar way with colours adn images inspired from all the things that are found in sheds. Please come and paint a stripe in the shed. I've been painting from two old farm sheds over the last year. Inside these sheds I've found objects: abandoned, forgotten, dusty and rusty, and these objects have become the basis for my prints."-Liz Gregory"Please Shed before entering"Tim Martin's Sheds
"The shed theme for me has manifested itself in several ways from a series of landscape paintings made in a shed last year to 'Shed Gateway' and 'Heartseaese', two works made from stakes designed to change colour when viewed from different sides."-Tim Martin Gordon Field's 'Shed of Curiosities' is awesome!
"The 'Shed of Curiosities ' is a purpose built shed which after the 'Sheds' project will then become my Zen thinking-shed. Now it is full of work and is a smaller version of a previous art weeks installation. The 'Shed of Curiosities'. The black exterior is inspired by the fisherman's sheds of the South East coast and my newly converted studio."-Gordon Field

Gordon Field's 'Shed of Curiosities' (detail)-

Of course there would be tools, its all about the tools!

Tim Martin's shed for a single tool, but what tool I wonder....

Its Liz Father's piece, 'The lambing shed'

"Farming is an important part of the Blackdowns way of life. through imaginative play we are able to develop an insight into the work and routines of the farming year." -Liz Fathers
Cousin-it takes a ride on Andrew Bell's mechanised shed (it was exhausting!!)
"Oyster fisherman in Arachon, France clean off their brushes on the side of their sheds after painting their boats. The resulting effect is unintentionally artistic. My shed is inspired by those I saw in Arcachon. I am intrigued by mechanisms that operate by unusual forms of power, particularly if they are a bit like the creations of Rowland Emett. Such a mechanism opens the door of my shed, if you pedal hard enough." -Andrew Bell
(and if you're like me and wondered who Rowland Emett is then click on this link and all will become clear: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Roland_Emett)
I was also thinking of Heath Robinson as being similar too.

For more details about visiting SHEDS please look in the SAW catalogue under venue 102 or click on the link below:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/bhaam

SAW Roadtrip: Day one - Porlock and around there abouts

2011-09-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

(above) Some of Jenny Barron's paintings in the Old Church at Old Cleeve -Featuring, tools and more! A great location and good variety of painting and some printmaking and sculpture on offer.
Venue 83

This post would probably do better with the title, 'So much art, so little time!' as Sunday saw my family and I visit seven arts venues around the Minehead, Porlock region. Compared to last years art weeks which were open studios this years SAW format means that there are often a lot of artists exhibiting together in one place (which is better in my opinion as it means you get to see more work). The below is a collection of images from that days viewings, with a little bit of commentary. Hopefully you might find it useful as it provides a route of venues that you can visit. This journey is from Taunton to Porlock along the Minehead road. Enjoy!

(above) A familiar art weeks visitor inspects Lucy Large's work at Castlake Farm.

Venue 90

(above) I know it isn't the 'art' but can't resist taking photos of dusty old tools that you find at so many art weeks venues. These are from Castlake Farm

Venue 90

Hannah Bishop's installation about the shops vs. the architecture of Brighton city centre at Castlake Farm (please note dear Waterstones colleagues that this drawing features us)
Venue 90

(above) One of the best venue locations ever (you have to visit to see what I mean)! This wall features work from Angela Wood, Len Payne and Richard Beart.
Venue 87 (above) Harbour Studios at Porlock Weir
Venue 88(above) Never been to Porlock Weir before, but its a really beautiful place (and that was when it was raining!) Plus it is seriously worth checking out the Miller's (as in the Millers antique guides) hotel there as inside it is one of the most quirky, lavish and antique filled places I have ever been to. (above) Porlock Weir and a Christopher Jelley 'Story Walk' venue. Those of you with a smart phone head to this location (one of three) for a site specific story walk around Porlock Weir.

Venue 91

For more info on all these art weeks venues please go to the following links below:

Venue 90 :http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/castlake-farm

Venue 83: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/six-watchet-artists-old-cleeve

Venue 87: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/richard-beart-val-berry-angela-wood-and-len-payne-broken-barn

Venue 88: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/harbour-studios-porlock-weir

Venue 91:http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/story-walks-0

There's art in them thar' hills!

2011-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

Still on my whirlwind tour of art weeks venues....last Friday night was the private view of a four artists show at 'The Lamb and Flag' pub in the village of Blagdon. 'An exhibition in a pub!' I exclaimed. Hrrrmm...looks like this years art weeks is not going to be kind on my liver...However, on with the show, visitors to this venue this art weeks will see; still life paintings from Michael Tarr (pictured), Sara Dudman's paintings of people, animals and plants (also pictured), Richard Holt's 'site specific' sculpture and Phil Dudman's landscape paintings. All set in the converted skittle alley of the pub (its very cool, believe me) there's a lot of work on view!

Michael Tarr
Sara Dudman

For more details of when and where to visit please look in the SAW catalogue at venue 104 or click on the handy link below:
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/lamb-and-flag

I remember when I found out about Chymistry...

2011-09-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Phew-ey! I'm writing this to you the evening after the night before. And what a night it was! Yesterday afternoon saw the opening of the Crescent Contemporary's latest exhibition titled 'Chymistry'. I never liked Chemistry at school, preferring the other sciences Physics and Biology as they were the ones that seemed to me could be most easily applied to everyday life. When was I ever going to need the equation for rust or sulphurous acid as it decomposes? I'm much more interested in the effects of rust than knowing how chemically the process occurs. Although a strange thing happens to science when you start studying art and all of a sudden what are sometimes more scientific practices such as mixing, experimenting, rationalising, testing and so forth become quite similar to what a lot of artists do.
With, that in mind take a look around this exhibition that features ten contemporary artists of local talent as well as a few artists from further a field meant that overall there was a lot of diversity and good quality of work on offer. This is the second exhibition I've been to now since the gallery first opened about a year ago and both times I've been surprised at how much art it actually manages to pack in without being overcrowded. So, this time we had (what was a particular favourite of mine), Sam Hall who creates ceramics with interesting surfaces/painting on them, that without being able to show you a picture can only really be best described as being like a Tapies, graffiti on the form of a ceramic vessel. They're worth seeing. The exhibition also brings together; Cedric Christie's witty dictionary pieces, Chinks Grylls' light/glass sculptures, Faye Dennis' coiled ceramic pot and sculpture, Gordon Faulds' mixed media paintings/drawings, as well as painting from Elizabeth Earley and Nick Gray and more...(I'm not going to give it all away!)
A gem of a show, with lots of different components that come together in a fizzing concoction of surfaces, textures, colours and ideas. Chymistry has never been so appealing!

Check it out, at SAW catalogue venue number 98 or for more info click below:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/crescent-contemporary

Darkshines at Wivey

2011-09-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

Whilst I haven't, unfortunately gone out and seen a lot of the many art exhibitions participating in the 10 Parishes Festival this year I was fortunate enough to visit 'The Recessionists' exhibition, titled 'Fading light' with a good friend yesterday afternoon. The delight and brilliance of this exhibition is definitely in its location, a derelict, crumbling and aged second floor of the Wiveliscombe Town Hall (no not the Supermarket half I hasten to add). What makes it so special is that all the windows are nearly entirely boarded up (minus some holes and slots allowing a chink of light in here and there) making it a particularly dark space. 'Oh no, but how will we see where we're going yet alone the art work!' I hear you exclaim. Well, don't worry because that's the beauty of it, it's not so dark that you can't see where you're going just dark enough to create an atmosphere and all together fun viewing experience created by using the torches that are hanging alongside the work.
Funny, because it wasn't that long ago that I said how I'd like to have more 'art in the dark' after viewing dark pieces in the Fine Art end of year show at Somerset College and work at The Brewhouse in the 'Inna Space' festival and it would seem that I'm not alone in that opinion. Good stuff. The exhibition features the work of, Beatrice Hammond, Alan Christian Aass, Sam Jeffs, Scarlet Von Teazel, Penny Elfick, Sara Dudman, Angela Wood, Toni Davey, Andrew Davey, Nicolette Cornwallis and Eugina Bowery. Plus there's some extra surprises from Forkbeard Fantasy which I won't give away as you'll have to see it yourself.
Really enjoyed visiting this show, I feel always really inspired by the way artists adapt and create exhibitions in abandoned spaces (like the second year Fine Art exhibition in the Collar Factory in Taunton) using and working sympathetically with the space instead if trying to overly renovate/tidy it up. In example, this show, using chains to hang paintings or in other cases hanging work on walls where the paint is peeling off, yes I know its not right for everyone's work, but it definitely does suit some, perhaps too much in some cases. There is always the danger with venues like this that they can almost upstage the work leaving you sometimes thinking why not just exhibit the whole empty building as it is. When we had a show last year in a brilliant Tithe barn in Cotley, Chard we were faced with the similar problem of heaps of compliments for the building, that unfortunately weren't really matched in number by feedback of the art work. Still, on the flip side of this one could argue that it is actually the art and exhibitions in these incredibly interesting decaying buildings that brings them into the public's attention in the first place. Would I have ever seen how cool Wivey town hall was had there not been an art exhibition in there? Answer, no. Not only that but the art within these kinds of places is often hung so that tiny details that might have previously gone unnoticed or marked as 'damage' or 'in need of repair' become noticed as interesting artworks in their own right. There is something very powerful about how art can change how we interact within a space. Art invites you to start noticing things. So, it's good to have a decayed building as much as it is to have a white gallery wall every once in a while.
So, please go check it out, the exhibition is still on until the end of the week. As I have already mentioned how cool I think the venue is (and hope it is continued to be used as an arts venue), but what I haven't mentioned enough is the artists who are involved and as with all the Recessionists shows I've been to now I almost take it for granted that there will be a diverse amount of work on offer by contemporary artists working in Somerset and this show still lives up to that. I look forward to the next one.

(above) Sara Dudman(above) Andrew Davey

(above) Investigating Beatrice Hammond's painting with a torch.
(below) Scarlet Von Teazel's installation

The exhibition 'Fading light' is still on until the 16th September, 10-5pm. Please visit: http://www.therecessionists.co.uk/

http://www.forkbeardfantasy.co.uk/

Don't be afraid! Its venue 101!

2011-09-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday this week Carol Carey from SAW, Tim Martin from The Brewhouse, several recent arts graduates and I hung 'Transformations' at Somerset College. Running as a part of art weeks 2011, 'Transformation' features the work of eight artists/designers who have graduated from the college this year. They are; Nigel Banks (Fine Art), Marte Bless Liland (Interior Textiles & Surface Design), Rachel Davies (Fashion), Hazel Holman (Fine Art), Nichola Hunt (Interior Textiles & Surface Design), Gillian Jones (Fine Art), Sebastian King (Graphic Design) and Claire Parker (Fashion Textiles). In the words of the SAW catalogue info,

"Over the last 15 years the Arts and Design faculty at Somerset College has produced a large number of talented graduates in the fields of fashion, fine art, graphic design, textiles and surface design. 'Transformation' is an exhibition which celebrates the quality of the work produced by the graduates of 2011. The exhibition is supported by SAW's Curatorial Services, in partnership with the School of Art and Design, Somerset College."

I believe I wasn't alone in thinking that it is actually quite exciting to put together an exhibition where you have work from the different arts disciplines side by side. Whilst I'm from a Fine Art background (and still am) I definitely think that there is always a lot that artists can pick up in the way of ideas/surfaces/techniques from designers and vice versa. Of course Fine artists, Graphics/Fashion designers are all going to use these things differently, but generally and broadly speaking as visually minded people there are crossovers and similarities with much potential inspiration and idea sharing to be gained. Which....is what I am getting into saying, is why it is interesting to pick out the themes, connections, differences within this exhibition. The work was selected and curated with the graduates with that idea in mind. Please have a look and let me know what you think.

Hanging the show was a good experience and I am personally glad that I didn't have to hang the incredibly complex piece that was Marte's (first photo below). In fact all of the hanging was done by the graduates involved with Tim and Carol's assistance including the graphics done by Sebastian King. From my own experiences of graduating, now...um...two years ago, any opportunities like this to hang work, receive feedback and all the skills that would fit under the heading of 'professional practice' are really helpful, I'm still learning now.

Anyway. On with the show! Its up and ready to go, all the work is for sale and there's more to see than in the photos here (I didn't want to give too much away), but expect video art, photography, collage, fantastic felted body parts and more....

Please check it out!

And whilst you do, you can also go visit my exhibition over in the Conference Centre (to the left behind the art block) at the same time!

Marte Bless Liland (Interior textiles and surface design)
Hazel Holman (Fine Art)

Nigel Banks (Fine Art)

Rachel Davies (Fashion)

'Transformation' is in the Art weeks catalogue: Venue 101

Please click on the following link for opening times and further information:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/transformation-somerset-college-graduate-artists-exhibition

Also at Somerset College: Natalie Parsley 'Tool Tales' Venue 100

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/natalie-parsley-tool-tales

Printing archives of the Somerset College print room...

2011-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hi, with Art Weeks 2011 looming get used to lots of posts coming your way in the next few weeks. Take this post for example, a really brief but beautiful exhibition in the White Space at Somerset College featuring hundreds of prints from the print room archives, displayed 'Oh so neatly' by Ash Thomas (Somerset College's print room technical demonstrator). In fact it was so brief by the time you read this, it won't actually be up anymore. Which is a shame because, as my photos kind of show here, there was a lot of really interesting prints to see. Actually, SAW, Tim Martin and several students helped hang a new show (for art weeks!) in the space where these prints were hanging yesterday....more to come shortly on that exciting news.....
But for now, I know its late but I couldn't write about any other exhibitions until I paid a proper tribute to this awesome, less known about collection of prints. So please take a peak at the photos and enjoy!

(above) Personally, I was particularly excited to see a print of an umbrella -a favourite thing of mine to paint and draw in the past.
Wood-cut, lino, etching, silk screen, lithograph are just a few of the processes that were on display, but as you can see there's lots of variation on offer within those techniques.

More prints -abstract pieces to more figurative ones.

Natalie Parsley walks into a bar....not before going to an art exhibition

2011-09-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

Helena Haimes -"It's the way I tell 'em"

Saturday 3rd September until Saturday 1st October

at The Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton Somerset

"Helena Haimes' exhibition brings together ideas around the British sense of humour and its connection to artistic movements. It examines and meditates upon the history of The Brewhouse as a place of laughter, comedy and comedic performance, as well as looking at how their aftermaths are formed, and how they inhabit the audience's memories."

That's what I read of the Brewhouse website prior to coming to visit this exhibition last Friday evening, and the image above is of me, recycling the Brewhouse invite into a 'snazzy' pair of cut-out glasses, after all 'Its the way I tell 'em' is surely meant to be all about humour isn't it? I thought so and upon seeing the work I can confirm it definitely has elements of humour in it, but its also (like a lot of comedy to some extent) got more going on in it than just a bunch of one liners. It's actually quite thoughtful and almost nostalgic in the way it is made up of three maquettes of the Brewhouse, past, present and future on which tiny projections of people run, act and walk across their surfaces. It is definitely fun to see and watch as each of the different projected characters stand and ponder or do different things in miniature form on the models of the Brewhouse, they're like borrowers or ghosts from time gone past, but either way it is very refreshing to see projectors used for such small details and in a playful way as to the large/square outdoor film projections that are becoming all too familiar. I have to add, though, that it did take me a while to work out that the maquettes were actually of the Brewhouse, and once I made that connection the characters projected on them seemed to make more sense and fit in with the context of a theatre being a site for acting/characters/projection etc.

In the image above, and projected on the 'present' Brewhouse is Helena (who incidentally plays all the parts in the piece -perhaps another way of alluding to ideas around performance/theatre) peeling and re-peeling a banana. I'm all for banana skins and comedy, but maybe this part of the installation was a bit lost on me and I actually preferred the novelty and surprise of waiting for the tiny projected people to come walking on screen.

The above image, showing 'the future' of the Brewhouse is slightly disturbing, maybe in the way that rocks and what looks to be tumble weeds could be read as meaning that the theatre is deserted and abandoned (let's hope not!). However in a topical kind of way, with the lack in arts funding perhaps this 'future' of the Brewhouse is a dig at what could happen if it isn't supported by the community. Still, like most comedy it doesn't take itself too seriously and can poke fun at current affairs if in its poking it also draws to light a potential problem.

Anyway, whilst this exhibition wasn't exactly the bundle of laughs that I had maybe anticipated it to be, there was still a lot of wit and fun to be had in the surprise and novel use of projectors. I think that I would have liked to see the characters in the projections maybe do more than just walk, or stand and look around, but still loved watching and waiting for them to arrive. It certainly held my attention.

For now its time to make like a chicken and cross the road. I'll see you on the other side!

Venue 94 in the SAW catalogue or for more details visit: http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/brewhouse-theatre-and-arts-cent
Visit on Wednesday 21st September, 6pm for an 'artists talk' as Helena will be discussing the work and about her residency at The Brewhouse.

http://www.thebrewhouse.net/exhibitions/1157/its-the-way-i-tell-em

Parsley's most wanted list for 2011:

2011-08-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

After having a look at the Somerset Art Weeks catalogue over the last month I've picked out lots that I'd like to go out and see and the following is a selection of some of the venues that appealed to me. I'm not sure exactly what people look for when choosing what art week venues to visit, do you use the catalogue to decide? Or do you just hop in the car and drive down Somerset's country roads in search of yellow signs? Myself, I tend to visit venues where my friends are exhibiting (naturally, of course I would) or I am drawn in to finding new art work based on how interested or intrigued I am by the image in the catalogue. There are plenty of other ways people decide, based on location, what's happening near and around where you live, or by art practice. Anyway, whatever the reason you always end up finding new things along the way. So get out there and enjoy art weeks this September 17th til October 2nd. Without further ado here's my picks of 2011... In no particular order!

Click on the link below each venue which will provide further details of each venues location/opening times/contact details and more:

Four mediums-Many creatures: Venue 35

Metal work, painting, prints, drawing, photography and sculpture from four artists: Michelle McCullagh, Deborah Burt, Emma Harris and Amy Goodman.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/four-mediums-many-creatures
Transient Threads: Venue 17
New work by Laura Rouse, Jenni Dutton, Ingrid Helsing and Esme May in the fantastic Tithe barn in Cotley. Had our show here last year, its a brilliant building. Look forward to seeing how its used this year.
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/transient-threads

Painting and animation: Venue 58

Paintings from Kate Noble and animations from loads of artists!

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/painting-and-animation

Sheds: Venue 102

Coming to you from Hemyock (Blackdown Hills artists and makers) a.k.a BHaam! explore, er... Sheds. Expect curiosities and discoveries aplenty.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/bhaam

The Reading Room: Venue 65

Meet the Calvers': Meg, Michael, Julia and Harriet as they install sketchbooks, notebooks and writing in the Reading room at Wrington.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/reading-room

Light Scribbles, Oakland Children's Centre Yeovil: Venue 10

Photographic images of work created by children at the Oakland's children's centre. Great photo here from the catalogue, I'm very intrigued to find out more.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/light-scribbles-oaklands-childrens-centre-yeovil

Operation Chameleon: Venue 1

Jon England reveals his new work in response to the restoration of a WWII Grumman Martlet by The Fleet Air Arm Museum. The exhibition also set inside the museum features site specific installation/mixed media pieces that use both imagery and meticulous processes associated with forensic archaeology and history.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/operation-chameleon

Richard Beart, Val Berry, Angela Wood and Len Payne @ the Broken Barn: Venue 87

Ceramics, painting, prints, drawing and photography from the artists mentioned above.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/richard-beart-val-berry-angela-wood-and-len-payne-broken-barn

The Lamb and Flag: Venue 104

At this venue see, paintings from Sara Dudman (above), Phil Dudman, Michael Tarr and sculpture/installation from Richard Holt.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/lamb-and-flag

Under a new sun: Venue 11

Wow! Loads of artists at this venue, Simon Lee Dicker, Meg Calver, Angela Charles, Michael Fairfax, Lucia Harley, Simon Hitchens, Luke Paramore and Tasha Stevens, phew! Set in the slightly weird but wonderful Lanes Hotel and Old School Room in West Coker expect contemporary film, sculpture, installation, new media and more.....

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/under-new-sun

'Chymistry' at Crescent Contemporary: Venue 98

Another 'good value' visit with all your favourite artists all under one roof. Go to link below to see them all listed very neatly:
http://www.crescentcontemporary.co.uk/

Roots at Kings College, Taunton: Venue 97

Here's my friend, Lucy Lean! Alongside fellow artists, Emma Duke, Samantha Gilbert and Trevor Salway-Roberts. Looks like it features a great mix of practices with a natural/nature kind of theme that seems to unite them together.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/roots-kings-college-taunton

ECHO: Postcards from a seaside town: Venue 85

A performance/film/site specific piece set in the postcard seaside town of Minehead. I absolutely love postcards so I wonder what I will make of 'living' ones?
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/echo-postcards-seaside-town

Harbour Studios Porlock Weir: Venue 88

I really need to get down there to Porlock, can't remember when/if I ever have been there? And with Porlock arts festival on the way I really fancy a visit, plus this image by Merlyn Chesterman is fantastic.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/harbour-studios-porlock-weir

Related: Venue 21

Featuring work by Andrew Davey, Toni Davey, Fay Davey, Leo Davey and Rose Davey at The Ilminster Meeting House

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/related

Homecoming: Venue 84

More from Hannah Bishop and company who held the successful 'Homecoming' multidisciplinary event earlier this year.
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/homecoming-exhibition

Quorum -Contemporary paintings and sculpture: Venue 103

Sculpture from Mike West, mixed media-installation pieces from Scarlet Von Teazel and paintings from Diane Burnell and Andrea Rowbotham.
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/quorum-contemporary-paintings-and-sculpture

Blue II at Rook Lane Chapel: Venue 40

'A fascinating 18th Century dyers woad recipe book from Wallbridge Mill in Frome inspires a group of professional artists.' Sounds very interesting to me.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/quorum-contemporary-paintings-and-sculpture

Story Walks: Venue 91

Three walks, stories and locations from Christopher Jelley (I remember you!). What could be a better art experience than being outside! A brilliant idea for a family day out.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/story-walks-0

Stoberry Park: Venue 60

For your sculpture, stone carving, glass and ceramic needs visit, Stoberry Park and see work from Sonja Klingler, Ian Marlow, Fiona Campbell (pictured), Christine-Ann Richards and Alex Relph.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/stoberry-park

And that's only the start of it! There are 20 venues listed here out of a possible 108. So there really is something for everyone.

Back from my, er..holidays?

2011-08-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Aloha! Apologies not to have posted in the last few weeks, I'd like to say I'd been on holiday...

....except I haven't (although I did enjoy an orange juice in Bath one day). In fact, I've been busy making...

this! And....
this! You see, because obviously a head's got to have a body. In my spare time I've been writing this...

My MA Fine art proposal. Aaaannd when I wasn't doing any of that I was probably hanging this...

...my exhibition currently on at the Conference Centre at Somerset College til October 2nd.

But now that's all nearly out of the way I'm back and ready to share with you all the art weeks events and exhibitions happening in Somerset very soon (September 17th). There's a lot to look forward to so watch this space.

Give it a go!

2011-08-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

The following is a press release about the exciting 'I love art' project involving local schools and being run by SAW artist, Sara Dudman. Please see details of an opportunity to volunteer and 'give it a go' at helping hang an exhibition of students work/get involved in workshops at The Brewhouse this August. On a blog post about a month ago I talked about my own experiences at working with the 'I love art' project and how inspiring it has been as a part of my practice. So please take the time to read the information below and 'Give it a go!'

I Love Art (at The Brewhouse)
'KS2-3 Young Artists Gallery Education Project 2011'
_______________________________________________________

Coinciding with SAW 2011, an exhibition of work by pupils and teachers from 4 Taunton Schools will be held in the Box Office at the Brewhouse from 21st – 28th September.

It’s all been happening over the past few weeks at The Brewhouse and Castle School in Taunton. Young artists from 4 Taunton schools have been working alongside their teachers with artists, including Double Elephant Print Workshop and art educators to explore, interpret, analyse and respond to the visual art exhibitions on show at the Brewhouse Gallery and Café Bar. 20 children from 2 primary schools and 2 secondary schools and their teachers have been stuck into drawing and printmaking on Wednesday afternoons from 2-6pm in The Cultivate Hub at The Brewhouse, working on themes and subjects suggested by the visual artwork exhibited at The Brewhouse.

On August 24th, 25th and 26th The Brewhouse’s Cultivate Hub will once again be alive with activity as the children and teachers will come together again to create paintings responding to the current exhibition, “Absinthe and Presence” – it is a rare and valuable opportunity for children and adults alike to meet the challenge of exploring a conceptual abstract exhibition as inspiration for their own explorations in paint.

‘Arts Adventures’ is a programme of after school and holiday arts activities available to children and young people in Somerset. Secured by SPAEDA, funded by Somerset County Council as part of the ‘Give it a Go!’ scheme, local professional artists will be running a series of free arts activities during the summer term and holiday period. ‘Arts Adventures’ aims to give, children and young people who wouldn’t usually have the opportunity, the chance to explore the arts, whilst encouraging them to discover their own creativity - a safe space to try new things, gain new skills, build confidence, make friends and have fun!

In partnership with The Brewhouse, the project aims to encourage schools to visit and engage with live visual art available on their doorsteps, developing analytical, critical and creative thinking skills in addition to the practical artistic development of the youngsters and their teachers. The project fosters children’s confidence, self-esteem and commitment, whilst also acting as a catalyst for further development of practice in schools more widely.

Nicky, secondary school art teacher said: “We all really enjoyed the session and I was slightly amazed how quickly the girls became absorbed in the whole process”.

Potential Opportunities for Placement Artists:

Gain valuable experience by coming along to help out and enjoy the experience on 24, 25, 26th August : contact Sara below. We will also be holding further sessions at the Brewhouse in September, with an exhibition to run from 20th – 28th September at the Brewhouse Boxoffice. Any volunteers to help hang the exhibition on 20th September would again be most welcome and should contact press@somersetartworks.org.uk for more information.

When Parsley went Pitt rivers,

2011-08-03T08:47:00.000-07:00

Pitt Rivers: Oxford (scanned image from catalogue) -because its so dark in there!

Hooray, after eight years and two failed attempts (long story) I finally made it to Pitt Rivers in Oxford! That's to say that my interest in everyday bits and pieces, household stuff, tools etc. etc. has been with me ever since GCSE Art when I started drawing socks and slippers. Car engines, bicycles, umbrellas, cupboards, a few spanners (to say the least) later and at last I find myself outside the Oxford Museum of Natural History.
It certainly wasn't disappointing, rows and rows of glass museum cases full of weird and amazing oddities, artifacts and curiosities (well, unless you are 127 years old and from the People's Republic of Congo then some things may seem pretty everyday and mundane to you -but you get the point I am trying to make, anyway)to my eyes an endless amount of stuff to process. I can just imagine having a similar museum of the artifacts of tomorrow, putting together all the bits of our social history/material culture done in a similar way to Pitt Rivers. To some extent many artists have done this; Peter Blake and Hirst being two that immediately spring to mind. Anyway, what made exploring the collection even more enjoyable was the way it was ordered (by function as to location/period in history) so as a result you have a whole case full of drums, or surgical tools, scissors, combs or keys, or currency or clothes fastenings. Except sometimes you're not really sure what some of the things are for, certain objects might be in a case marked 'tools' but a lot of them are tools of the likes you have never seen before, its all very different. Sure, you can see that some tools are serrated so they must be used for cutting or others have large flat heads so they might be used for digging, but even so its not always quite that obvious as to what the things actually are. Exploring the collection in the darkly lit room also added to the feeling of wonder and mystery surrounding the objects, it wasn't clinical or stuffy, but (those of you who've also been will know what I mean) invited you to look and peer all around and above the objects.
I spent a great deal of time here of what could have easily been a whole day had I not had to catch the train back to Taunton and it is the sort of place that you could look at again and again and still find something new. This visit has definitely reinforced and re-acknowledged my confidence in the importance of tools, not just in our society, but to humans as a whole. It has also opened up new ideas in thinking more about; unusual tools/shapes/definitions where it is not always necessarily clear what purpose they have. Visually I will take away the aesthetic of collections (in example, how they are arranged), which I have always enjoyed doing in my work, but perhaps now I am thinking I could use that idea more. The labels on all the artifacts were completely beautiful, interesting and are still something I would like to explore using in my own work although I sort of feel that labels might be too obvious and done/used by artists a million times before so I'm thinking about that one.
If some of you are wondering what all of this very splendidness might actually have to do with SAW then the answer is that the research in both this trip as well as the trip I made to MERL (Museum of English Rural Life, Reading) the week before came out of the Professional Development Bursary that myself and four other artists received from SAW to develop a body of work for art weeks this year. We've met up as a group on several occasions (those of you who are no stranger to this blog will know). So given the fact that my project has been rooted in the storage facility of The Somerset Heritage Centre looking at their agricultural tools, a trip to Pitt Rivers seemed to be an important place to visit in connection with that. I'm really pleased that I finally managed to see it and hope to use the notes I made/pictures etc. to make some new work as a result of this visit.

The Somerset Art Weeks catalogues have landed!

2011-07-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here they are! Sixty-eight pages, one hundred and eight venues and featuring the work of over four hundred artists all contained neatly in this years new SAW catalogue.
As well as finding all the info you need in the guide you can also check out all the details about this years art weeks and look at individual venues locations, artists and opening times online:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/node/6606

Where you can either locate art week venues by location; plan your route or search by art form

Or, if you're like me and prefer the paper copy that you can take with you in the car then you can pick up your Guide from libraries and arts venues across the county or order your free copy from the SAW officemailto:%20info@somersetartworks.org.uk

I love it! What is it?

2011-07-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I think a blog should be observational, a bit like a sketch book of images that records places you've been, things you've seen and stuff that inspires you. On that note: I don't know exactly what this is/was (I'm guessing it was a lamp post) but I really think it looks cool. Every time I arrive off the train at Bristol Temple Meads I see this thing across the road all on its own and completely out of place. One day I just had to take photos of its flaky, crumbling painted surface and note the colours and forms/shapes you see in the photos below. In the same way that peeling paint on old wooden doors, torn posters, graffiti and other similar looking surfaces have great appeal artists and some people alike this lamp post, whatever it is, aesthetically appeals to me.

(above) Brilliantly out of place, the 'interesting' lamp post outside Bristol Temple Meads

(below) Close up of the surface, which reminds me of something almost Aztec in its shapes/lines.

Well, its that simple really. This blog wasn't always going to be reviews and details of exhibitions and events. Like art itself, if sometimes the only thing I can do is draw your attention into looking at something slightly differently or with 'new eyes' then that's not a bad thing. Look out for this next time you might happen to pass the train station at Bristol.

Jamaica Street Artists Open Studios 2011!

2011-07-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

(above) Helen Williams' owl creations

Yesterday marked my second visit to JSA (Jamaica Street Artists) Open Studios event. Amazed that already a whole year has passed since my first visit! Last time was brilliant and quite honestly so was this time with some new artists as well as some new work from the familiar ones. There were a couple film makers and animators there this year (well, if they were there the year before..I might have missed them...sorry) and the usual mix of graphic artists, illustrators, painters, textile art, mixed media, collage, printmaking and more. Although listing it that way doesn't really do it justice, because there's a really diverse range of painting styles, from hyper-realistic/photographic paintings from the likes of Karin Krommes and Philip Munoz to the more abstract work of Elaine Jones. Anyway, what I really enjoy about visiting these studios and meeting some of the artists who work there is how each space has its own individuality, so as well as seeing the work you see the kind of context its made in. It is a bit like going into someones house, where the character of their environment is reflected in the work they produce. For example, Graeme Mortimer Evelyn's studio is taken up with lots of books and a big wooden work bench that he uses for chiseling his wooden semi-abstract pieces. Whilst down the corridor, Mr Mead (as he likes to be known) has one of the few studio spaces with no windows, which actually really suits his work (see image below) which is dark and if I was making work on a similar theme I'd probably want a space that reflected that. In nearly all the spaces there's interesting stuff on the walls as well as (importantly!) the work itself.

Whilst I find London art galleries inspiring in an academic and 'thinking', conceptual way, I think for being inspired (in what I would call the truest sense of the word) in a motivational and 'cor! I want to try that!' kind-of way then what is happening on my doorstep, by the likes of Jamaica Street artists, recent graduate shows etc. is much more valuable and gives me confidence as an artist than any shows I've probably EVER seen in London. From open studio visits like this one, you tend to take away ideas, colours, textures, materials and stuff that you think you'd like to use in your own work. For example, I was thinking I'd like to start using wood stain to paint with and try some things with, not because I saw anyone doing that at Jamaica Street but because you get that creative, sort-of bubbling in a place where lots of artists are working and it genuinely is inspiring. No frills, no art jargon, there's something very honest and celebratory in the fact that the studios present themselves as what they are. They seem to say, 'Hi, yes I am an artist. This is my studio and this is where I make art.' That's not to say there isn't any mystery or that there isn't a great deal of research and knowledge that is both informing and can be read into the work, but all I'm saying is it is very refreshing to just meet artists that are both contemporary and enjoy doing what they do. As the fantastic quote at the beginning of the JSA catalogue reads, "Its astonishing the great Professor of art has written: 'There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists." Nice one!

There are plenty of artists here. I'd really recommend paying a visit here, well you'll have to wait a year, but it'd definitely be worth it. See you next year!

Alternatively, you could look at the pictures below and if you're really keen have a look on the JSA website (link at the bottom of this post).

(above) Karin Krommes
http://www.ksk.lu/(above) Outside Jamaica Street Studios

(above) 'Voxman' on the door of Mr Mead's studio space
http://www.mrmead.co.uk/

(above) Dan Parry-Jones
http://www.danpj.co.uk/

(above) Detail of one of Rose Sanderson's mixed media pieces
http://www.rosesanderson.com/

(above) Some more reasons why visiting Jamaica Street/Stokes Croft, Bristol is always exciting.

(above) You may have seen it many times before, but this is still a fine example of why Bristol is one of the best cities for graffiti art.
For more info on Jamaica Street artists please click below:

http://www.jamaicastreetartists.co.uk/index.html

Guess where I've been....

2011-07-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

On Thursday this week I finally got round to visiting MERL a.k.a The Museum of English Rural Life in Reading. Glorious! So, just for your enjoyment here are a couple of snaps just to give you an idea of what it was like and prove that I was there.
For those of you that may have no idea why you're looking at a bunch of tools, firstly you shouldn't be too surprised, as after all you are on a blog titled SAW but for quite different reasons if you are reading this blog for the first time then, yes, you are in the right place for arty happenings, exhibition viewings, general art banter and whatnots it just so happens that right now you're reading a post about my own personal research interest, which is also, rather conveniently, tools.
So, thanks to SAW I am using my 'Professional development bursary' to go visit places like this and take lots of photos/sketches and feast my eyes on all the tools that I can use as a source for creating work.

(above) Come in, come in! Here we are at the museum entrance! Well, you obviously can't see me here because I'm the one taking the photo, but you get the idea...
(above) Shears! But note the way they are displayed, hrrmm...interesting

(above) Crafts of all kinds. Behold some basket making tools, and again I think what appeals to me the most is the 'collection' and the way they're displayed. I love the way all the different shapes are arranged. Brilliant stuff!

Well, thank you for taking a moment to read into some of the research I've been doing. More to follow soon as I plan to make a long over due trip to Pitt Rivers in Oxford.

I'll tell you even more about what I've been doing with all of this as well very soon or please click on the link to my project below:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/natalie-parsley-tool-tales

When Homecoming finally came!

2011-07-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

Hello! Apologies, it has been a while. However, the good news is that there's lots to write about because so much has happened! Whilst all the schools and colleges have wrapped up for the summer holidays it is just about hitting my really busy couple of months where I am making frames and organising things in the run up to art weeks. That and a looming essay due in August for my Masters, plus the usual whole bunch of living to do in between makes for a pretty busy time.

One of the first exciting art events I recently went to being: 'Homecoming' held for one night only at The Regal Theatre in Minehead, a couple of Wednesdays ago. The 13th of July to be precise!

This event was planned, organised, curated by the mastermind that is Hannah Bishop and featured local talents from painting, sculpture, graphic design, photography, live performances, musicians, dance and more. I wasn't really sure what to expect, I'd never been to The Regal before and I was looking forward to being able to explore it and discover art on the walls and backstage. It certainly lived up to that expectation, and I was reminded of a similar experience I'd had some months before at The Brewhouse for their visual arts event called 'Innaspace' in which you also went around with a map backstage and around the theatre discovering art along the way.

Although, personally, I wasn't keen on some of the 'less is more' kind of music that went on this evening, both myself and my friend did have a good time and like I said I really enjoyed the diversity of talent on offer and exploring the theatre. The organising, which included a really quirky and cool programme, blog and brilliant poster and if you like 'marketing' of the event were really excellent in building up an awareness and hype surrounding this show which meant for a busy and lively showing with a large audience of people. If I had been a performer/artist involved in this show I would have been very proud to put it on my CV.

Lets hope we have more multi-disciplinary events like this in other 'creepy', unusual locations and I look forward to seeing what Homecoming will feature when Hannah, re-opens it with some of the work for art weeks this September.

Joseph Buckler and the band on the stage at The Regal

'I' the audience somewhere in the bar area

Stay tuned for more this art weeks where, 'Homecoming' the exhibition takes place: see venue 84 or click on the link below:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/homecoming-exhibition

*Thank you to Hannah Bishop who gave permisssion to use her photos*

Peter Blake exhibition at the Holburne Museum, Bath

2011-07-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Last Monday I paid a visit to the recently revamped Holburne Museum in Bath (see third photo down). However, what I was really interested on visiting was the Peter Blake exhibition, 'A museum for myself' located in a modest sized room on the top floor. I wouldn't exactly say I'm a Peter Blake fan. Out of the British Pop art scene I'd say Richard Hamilton and Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney (if you would categorise Hockney as a Pop artist?) would have been my personal favs. I only really associated Blake with the Sgt. Peppers album cover; as fantastic as it is, it didn't actually inspire me in the same way that say, Roy Lichtenstein's 'Whaam!' did with its dynamism and energy. Ok, maybe that's not exactly a fair comparison, but anyway the point I'm making is that despite the fact that I have always and continue to have a personal love for Pop art, for some reason the work of Peter Blake has always just passed me by...
That is of course, until now. As I was saying, I had remained pretty ignorant of a lot of Blake's work until visiting this exhibition which I came to find through a very small review of it in my newspaper. I read the title, 'A museum for myself' and thought how appropriate given (to those of you who don't know) that my current project is based researching the agricultural tools in storage in my local museum in Taunton. 'Maybe it was time to give Blake a go.' I said to myself, 'after all he is a Pop artist so he's bound to like the 'everyday' and the banal, perhaps almost as much as me.' Turns out that this time the optimism paid off and upon entering the exhibition I'm surrounded by what I can only describe as a feast of 'stuff' for the eyes. Four large display cabinets stuffed with the most unimaginable tat from tacky seashell trinkets, to a massive collection of elephants, puppets, signed memorabilia, artworks from other artists, postcards, tins, stuffed animals and a whole bunch more of assorted ephemera adorning the walls of the gallery space. 'Cool.' Where to begin?'

Granted, that this sort of thing in a museum as a context, isn't exactly for everyone. After all, nothing here is particularly old, has a similar kind of history/art/skill/value to it in the usual way that regular museum artifacts do. Although, that's not to say none of it isn't valuable. The whole point of Pop Art to some extent was all about questioning the 'value' of things, of everyday things and how something mass produced and of relatively no value could be placed into the context of art and be made into something popular. Which isn't necessarily to say that something popular it also makes it valuable, but to some extent in the celebrity and media dominated climate we find ourselves in, its a reasonable enough statement to make. So here I was in this eclectic exhibition of work which if it hadn't been displayed in glass cases and box frames would have probably felt a bit like being in a car boot sale. A pretty fancy car boot sale, mind. A car booty that happened to have some Kitaj, Damien Hirst and The Beatles autographs on the walls...?...What I am trying to say is that it is the museum context, the museum modes of display and presentation that made it into an interesting, 'non-car booty' exhibition. Some of the work is collage where Blake has collected different scrapes and fragments and reassembled them into a pleasing kind of tapestry, and even the collections of actual 3D objects are treated like a collage in the way that they are ordered and arranged by formal qualities like, size/shape/material etc. In the piece 'Museum of black and white 8' (above) lots of tiny objects are displayed together because of the quality they share, that makes them similar in being black and white. Its almost Surrealism, I mean, why not have a cow next to a domino and a chess piece above a cigarette lighter? I genuinely find it really interesting and really enjoyed exploring these works of which there were many variations including a piece that consisted on nothing other than a collection of screws and hooks (fantastic! -especially because that's tools in a way)

As it transpires, guess I was wrong about Blake after all. Once you get past the Beatles, there's actually a lot more going on in his collages. Still not a fan of his paintings, but then you can't win them all can you? To some degree the whole exhibition is like a collage in the way it was made of lots of collections that came together as a whole and that 'whole' is really like an exhibition of all the different interests that make up the personality that Peter Blake is. You've got the celebrity, the collections, the collages, the theatrical, the weird and the everyday. So in Peter Blake's terms I guess he can really say, this is a museum of himself.

Peter Blake's 'A museum of myslef' can be seen at The Holburne Museum, Bath until September 4th

http://www.holburne.org/

I love art, especially on a Wednesday between 2pm - 6pm

2011-07-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

'I love art'. That probably goes without saying. I'm not alone in loving it either, as the 'I love art' project in association with SPAEDA aims to prove. The educational programme [created and run by Sara Dudman] takes four pupils who are in the last year of primary education and four pupils in secondary education who are either interested or enjoy creating art and possibly demonstrate skill or enthusiasm in the subject area. Featuring several different schools the groups of school children are then invited along with their teachers to take part in four hour workshops at The Brewhouse or The Castle School. These creative sessions are all about, er, art! Well art appreciation kind-of. How to read art? Make studies of work in a gallery context, become familiar with looking at work in galleries, learn how to talk about art, recognise themes/reasons why someone has created a piece of work etc. Essentially its taking a group of pupils, some who may have never been to an art gallery before and teaching them how to be an art detectives. What clues in a work of art make you arrive to certain conclusions or assumptions? And so forth. Although, of course it would never be as dry as to just analyse art work, the project is also about engaging with art and using it as a resource to inspire and fuel their own work.
At this point I should probably mention that I, by chance events, ended up helping on this project and hopefully plan on seeing it through to its conclusion in September. We've had two sessions, the first of which was at The Brewhouse looking at the 'Ad Lucem' exhibition and the second session was at The Castle School in which we 'threw' ourselves into dry point etching. So, anyway as I was saying, it isn't just about analysing work, oh no! It's also about how to make notes about art, record and document works of art you see, things like: how to keep a sketchbook. Ok, I know you know what I mean, but if you were 11 or 14 years old then this would be very inspiring. In fact even though I have kept numerous sketchbooks, I still feel like I learnt some things from having it explained again, and certainly inspired. I'm always amazed at artists that don't keep a sketchbook, they're such a useful resource to have. Apart from sketchbooks the pupils and teachers alike got to try some mono type printing with Simon from the 'Double Elephant Print workshop' where the idea was to use their studies of the work in the exhibition to create some prints. No pressure. The whole programme is about 'giving it a go' and breaking away from the angst and pressures of 'having to make good art' (whatever that is exactly?). As the adult here, I can not begin to tell you how good it feels to not worry about the end result and just play. Playing and learning to 'let go' is something I often forget or I am too uptight to do in my own practice so it was fantastic to experiment for an afternoon. Given the amount of prints produced by the children and the energy they put into the work, I can only assume that they enjoyed it too. There should be more of these kinds of things going on, I feel. As an artist I find working with the school pupils inspiring and makes me want to be more experimental in my own practice and seeing how the children react to working with artists [using Simon from the print workshop as an example here] I think they also have a positive experience learning from someone other than their teachers. There's something refreshing about a different context other than 'the classroom'.
So the whole thing is very positive and it deserves to be, with lots and lots of enthusiasm and great quality drawings whizzing about the rooms of the Brewhouse and Castle School art room who wouldn't feel inspired? The greater goal for this ambitious project is both to help year six primary school pupils with the transition into secondary school life as well as hopefully the pupils on the project sharing their experiences with their peers. That on top of the teachers (who also attend/take part) in the sessions makes for a good amount of filtration to make the whole project inspire as many people as possible to 'love art'.Well, its not really even about 'loving' art, it's about learning to engage with it better and maybe beginning to understand and answer why it is that some of us do love it.

That and sometimes its just great to draw a pair of ballet shoes!

(above) Ever since I wore a badge that bore the word 'dragon' I've always believed that badges should state the obvious.

(above and below) Some continuous line mono type prints by me done at the first 'I love art' session at The Brewhouse.
The 'I love art' project continues....

For more details on SPAEDA projects and more please go to: http://www.spaeda.org.uk/
And why not check out 'The Double elephant print workshop' website too: http://www.doubleelephant.org.uk/

Exactly!

2011-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

In advance of art weeks 2011:

2011-06-20T05:30:00.000-07:00

Whilst art weeks is only a mere two weeks in the running, this year from September 17th until October 7th (plug plug) if only the same could be said for the amount of time it takes to put it all together! Whilst last years art weeks had barely finished planning for art weeks 2011 had begun, and with around 450 artists taking part this year; most needing to find venues, submit photos, devise and curate a show and somewhere along the way actually maybe, perhaps make some work to exhibit; then its easy to see where the time goes! In preparation for art weeks this year myself and a group of four other artists received a small bursary to create a project/exhibition. The professional development opportunity that this bursary was a part of began in February this year and during the last four months, Simon Lee Dicker, Lucia Harley, Jon England, Hannah Bishop and myself have been meeting to discuss our projects and give each other feedback. This isn't the first post on the blog where I have mentioned this, so forgive me if some of it is repeated from before. Anyway, last Friday the 17th was the turn of visiting Jon England who's project researching with the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton is based and also visiting Simon Lee Dicker's new studio/exhibition spaces at The Lanes and recently renovated Old School House at West Coker. All in a days work!
After flying in with Jon and Hannah we arrived at the spectacularly windy car park at the Fleet Air Arm Museum where we met up with Simon, Lucia, Kate Noble and Carol Carey and Zoe Li from SAW for a whistle stop tour of the museum and look at the restoration hanger in which Jon's project particularly is focusing on. I know from my own experience working with the Somerset Heritage Centre in Taunton that the curators/museum staff are incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic people about their subject and so meeting David Morris, curator of aircraft at the museum was no exception. In case you are in need of a little context here allow me to explain; Jon England has previously used World War 2 related research/photos/memories/artifacts to create both his own work and curate it sometimes in installations. Last year's art weeks featured work alongside Edward Milligan whose work included portraits and drawings from when Ted was a prisoner of war. You can begin to see then why some of the planes at Fleet would hold particular interest and resonance for Jon to use in his own work. In particular, the main focus in Jon's project is the Grumman Martlet which is currently being painstakingly (and believe me, it really is a huge task!) restored to its original war time paint scheme. This is really a project of forensic archaeology and the ethics of restoration. I'll explain, here we have in Fleet the last complete Grumman Martlet in the world that has in its lifetime been repainted either for a museum or during its wartime use. Therefore all of its history, its wear and tear and signs of human use have been covered up by layers of paint over the years. What the restoration team at Fleet are doing is to remove the layers of paint very gradually and very carefully (and it takes ages and ages) to reveal the original body of the plane. Along the way this tells the team a lot about the use of the plane, where it had been and all the patina and use it had that make the plane, not just a show piece in a museum but an actual working account of the people that flew it, mechanics that worked on it and more. A fascinating project, because I can see similar kinds of restoration being undertaken (but on a much much smaller scale) on the tools I've been looking at with the museum in Taunton. Anyway, Jon has been recording and researching this project in great detail with the crew at Fleet and is using his findings to generate and inspire his own work that relates to the plane and the idea of forensics. Some of his work in progress mimics the process that the team are using of removing layers of paint of the plane which Jon is combining with his own style of drawing using representational imagery connected with the history of the plane. *See image below for more details*

Moving on and the seven of us now embarked down the road to West Coker where we rendezvoused at the Lanes Hotel and the site of 'Under a new sun' exhibition from Simon Lee Dicker. The exhibition 'Under a new sun' will feature the work of eight artists some of whom have been invited/challenged by Simon to exhibit and create new work in ways they haven't worked before...I appreciate this concept is best explained with an example, so I'll provide: Michael Fairfax is part of this show and is best known for his stone/wood sculptures. As a part of 'Under a new sun' Michael has been invited to show something different and is going to exhibit some sound sculptures/works as a result. Not everyone has to do something 'different' and from the list of artists taking part already it looks as though there is a great mix of painting, installation, video, light and sound pieces! Artists include: Luke Paramore, Lucia Harley, Michael Fairfax, Megan Calver, Angela Charles, Simon Hitchens, Tascha Elena Stevens and of course Simon Lee Dicker himself. You see this project is slightly different because it sees Simon in a more curatorial role which is interesting because he's also an artist and how the two roles might work together differently to that of someone primarily from a curating background. However putting eight great artists in one venue like the Lanes is not all, no. Simon has completely renovated and transformed a near by School House (literally opposite the Lanes Hotel) into a beautiful, contemporary gallery and studio space. You should definitely check it out on his blog on the link below because its a fab space! So the resulting show is going to be across the two venues and won't be as obvious as 'hanging another painting where anther painting once was' to quote Simon's own words, but aims to come up with more creative ways in which art/artists can engage with the spaces and the people that use them in new ways. I really look forward to seeing what happens. *See image below for more details*

Some crispy noodles with chicken and a pint of cider later and we're ready to call it a day: with myself and Hannah left on the list of people to visit, next time the pressure will really be on! Like I said this is really a taste of the things to come and have been used to get us together as a group of artists talking through and testing our ideas. Actually, I've found that its been very good to talk. Speak to you soon!

Jon England exhibiting at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/operation-chameleon

Luke Paramore exhibiting as part of 'Under a new sun' at The Old School room, West Coker, Somerset
http://underanewsun.wordpress.com/artists/luke-paramore/

Lucia Harley exhibiting as a part of 'Under a new sun'
http://underanewsun.wordpress.com/artists/lucia-harley/

So in advance of art weeks which run from 17th September - 2nd October you can check out details of the exhibitions created by the artists mentioned in this post now:

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/operation-chameleon -Venue 1
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/under-new-sun -Venue 11
http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/natalie-parsley-tool-tales -Venue 100

Its showtime!

2011-06-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

End of year shows! 'Ad Lucem' at The Brewhouse and Somerset College.

SEE,

pencil, tracing paper, foil, food wrappers, plaster, bell jars, fabric, perspex, milk cartons, orange emulsion, string, leaves, pulp, wood, nails, glue, light, sound, paper, steel, chair, latex, tape, newspaper, darkness, frames, boxes, foil, wheelchair, pins, the human body, canvas, flowers, fruit, ink, turps, salt, Dave's jeans, oil, acrylic, clock mechanisms, gin, evidence, glass, wool, felt, blood, sweat, tears, gloss, plastic, paper, card, rust, film, wire, cable, sound, shadow, bed, cogs, concrete, resin, board

TRANSFORMED, AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THEM BEFORE!

This isn't a review; I quickly came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to articulate into words the vast qualities, styles and thoughts surrounding the work in an end of year Fine Art degree show like 'Ad Lucem', where I can only but try (in so few words) present to you an accurate enough flavour of the wide variety and diversity of work on offer. I'll do my best to summarise and perhaps, if need be, convince you why the above statement is correct. You'll just have to trust me, and take it from the list of materials above that there is STILL something inherently magic about the way in which artists (in particular these artists) transform existing stuff...into new stuff! And once again my friends, peers, fellow artists, protagonists from Somerset College have pulled it off, yet again, with no exception.

Themes of, history, the environment, abstraction, expressionism, illusion, identity, the mysterious, the banal, space, time, illusion and ecology that borrow from minimalism, conceptual ism, formalism, surrealism, feminism and traces of just about every other kind of 'ism' you could probably think of are evident in the work. This is one reason why end of year shows, in general, are always so exciting. Why be stuck looking at a Futurism exhibition at the Tate, when you can indulge in a show of new contemporary work that takes inspiration from lots of different art forms? Maybe I'm just greedy in my eclectic tastes, but isn't this truly what contemporary practice is all about? In example, why stick with one thing when you can recycle from many and invent something new?

'Ad Lucem' (read as Latin for 'Into the light'), in case you were wondering is the second exhibition of the same name from the now graduating, third year BA hons Fine Art students at Somerset College, University of Plymouth. The first 'Ad Lucem' was the second year show at a Tithe Barn in Pilton, Glastonbury and took place last year. Ironically, perhaps this years show could have, in places, also been called, 'Ad Umbris' ('Into the dark') as there were around four or more installations at least in which the you as the viewer found yourself, rather trustingly, walk into a black void as a part of the experience or the way in which certain works needed to be 'viewed'. Hooray! If you had read my post about the Brewhouse 'Inna space' show then you'll know I'm particularly becoming a fan of, art in the dark. Don't ask why.

Ha ha, anyway, both at The Brew and at the college there is a good mix of painting, photography, sculptural, mixed media and installation, with more including sound and video works as well at the college site. Phew! I'm exhausted! It has always been a challenge at these sorts of private views to somehow take 'anything' in, even to understand properly just one piece of work, whilst somehow still managing to look at the entire show and talk to dozens of different people you haven't seen in ages having to summarise the most interesting things (of which you can no longer remember) that you've been doing with your life in the space of five seconds! But if you can somehow manage to do all that then I salute you, as I am particularly bad at the latter. Social awkwardness aside, when and IF you do get round to looking at any work you'll see everything from igloos made of milk cartons, to shadow martial arts, abstract paintings, delicate drawings, multi-layered psychedelic collages and prints, rich 'earthy' textured surfaces, stop motion animation, historical documentation and re-presentation, felt-y body parts, wooden hideaways, narrative photography, more paintings! And more!!! "Look upon it as you watch the stars," a wise person once told me when viewing art work. Without being to corny or romantic I think what they were basically saying was that you just as you cannot always rationalise stars and space, and nor need you have to do so in order to enjoy them; neither should you overly try to force meaning on art. That doesn't mean that meaning isn't there, just that it should reveal itself naturally as you look at it. I guess that's resonance isn't it? Hmmm, anyway, I digress and the 'how one engages with art' is a debate best left for another day.

Back to the show. If you're interested in my opinion and if I can say without trying to sound too pretentious, my feeling is that there is a really strong overall consistency to the work this year, in the sense you've all probably seen shows where you think that there is real glaringly different standards of work with some strong and some really weak work in them. In my opinion I can honestly say that the overall show was really great. Pride is a word that seems to be popping up a lot these days and did you know it works in all directions. I'm still really proud to have graduated from this particular course and seeing my friends graduate from it as it continues to grow and thrive. Even better when we have got to work together since and how we continue to support each other in our practices in Somerset. Things are looking very healthy indeed. Thank you and good stuff to all involved!

Looks like in the end it did turn into a bit of a review (or an essay!) after all. Maybe next time I'll just make it simple, express it in a few words. So there you have it:

Ad Lucem: illuminating, enlightening, incandescent, blazing, shiny, radiating

Go see it now!

For more info from 'the horses mouth' please go to:

http://www.a-n.co.uk/degrees_unedited/projects/single/1188130

'Ad Lucem' can be seen at The Brewhouse until Wednesday 22 June and Somerset College until Friday 24th June.

May's Art book of the month: 'Dirt: the filthy reality of everyday life'

2011-06-05T03:02:00.000-07:00

May's art book of the month is quite simply, filthy. 'Dirt: the filthy reality of everyday life' is the accompanying book to the exhibition of the same name at the Wellcome Collection on Euston road, London. One of my friends, knowing I'm a keen fan of anything banal, domestic and everyday recommended that I see this exhibition, especially since I'd recently at the time just come back from a trip to Paris where I went on a tour of the sewers there. I don't quite know exactly what it is, why the recent fascination with sewage, waste, dirt and water closets? Maybe its from an ever increasing drawing realisation of how much 'stuff' there actually is in the world. That and I find the whole thing quite funny too, I mean who wouldn't want to visit the sewers then followed by a trip to the Louvre without seeing some sort of irony in that! Perhaps we take art too seriously most of the time, and that's why its good to every once and a while be reminded of something really practical, that at first seems kind of silly or bizarre but is actually a necessity and says a lot about human ingenuity and innovativeness. Anyway, whatever my reasons, my curiosity led me to going to see this exhibition and read the catalogue which is my book of the month for May.
Firstly, what made the exhibition so great was it covered a broad range of 'dirty' places and themes within what was quite a small overall exhibition. From the home to the street, the hospital, the community and the land: the theme of dirt was explored in these different contexts. What does 'dirt' actually mean, is one of the key questions the book/exhibition seeks to answer,

'Dirt, is a term used to encompass dust, excrement, rubbish, bacteria, and soil. It is also used as a metaphor to denote social, cultural or ethnic outsiders. Humans like all living organisms are efficient generators of dirt, which may partly explain why dirt can provoke visceral fear or disgust. Ultimately, the deterioration of our own bodies is the most profound and unsettling reminder of how everything, in the end disintegrates.'

The book continues and describes the ways in which science has been used to explore and form what our are modern day conceptions of cleanliness and hygiene are, how engineering and creative means of problem solving led to our sewer system, how we organize ourselves and how waste on a global/environmental scale continue to affect our planet and how dirt can appear magical in the way in which crops grow from soil and strains of antibiotics have been discovered in sewage. When it comes down to it, from a speck of dust you can end up talking about an awful lot! Its particularly good as well because it doesn't just focus on the West and looks at our human relationship with dirt from other countries, Peking and India to name a few. The book itself is made up of six essays all of which are backed up with lots of photos of the artifacts, images and artworks in the exhibition. The latter an important point to mention as a nice touch to the exhibition was the presence of some contemporary artworks in amongst the museum collection. For example a normal everyday broom stands propped in the corner of the gallery and as it turns out on closer inspection is actually a Susan Collis and all the detail of splashes of paint are actually mother of pearl set into the broom handle. Other work such as 'Raw material' a video showing a pair of hands being obsessively washed by Bruce Nauman and an installation of a Breman carpet made from dust on the floor of the gallery by Igor Eskinja add to the story telling and challenge our perceptions of dirt. Of course the book wouldn't be complete without references to Piero Manzoni's 'Artist's Shit' in a can and our old favourite, Duchamp's 'Fountain. For the environmentalists among you the book/show also features work by Mierle Laderman Ukeles and her project with the New York sanitation department.

Like all good books should probably have in them somewhere is that this one has a comic book in the middle, how cool! Obviously, its in there deliberately as the story is about a cartoonist whose art and creativity was aided by being surrounded in junk and dirt, which leads me onto my next point that ultimately at the end of reading this book, if you didn't already, you come to accept the fact that dirt in all its forms, contexts and meanings is a part of what makes us human. Whether you like it or not it is also vital to our existence. In terms of creativity and art, some would argue that a degree of mess is essential in order for anything creative to be generated at all? Some of the moral implications, however, like how it affects our environment are also addressed, but, as is very often the case its the debate and realisation that balance is what is needed, that makes this an interesting and eyeopening journey to read. The book marries with the exhibition very well but actually takes it a lot further and the essays, by six different authors from historians to anthropologists looking deeper into some of the history and politics surrounding the themes mentioned above. An interesting and unusual exhibition and an equally informed and good record of the show in the book. Sure, its not exactly the sewers meets the Louvre like what I experienced before, but in its wit and charm of having art and artifacts together its not entirely dissimilar either. I'm off now to go make some mess! I don't think anyone could hardly complain. So, what are you waiting for? Wash your hands and immerse yourself into the grimey, fascinating book on dirt!

You can still visit the exhibition too until August 31st, see website below for more details:

http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/exhibitions/dirt.aspx

An outside view from Inna space

2011-05-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

(Above*) 'Break a leg' commissioned mural by Korben Dallas in the scene dock at The Brewhouse

After work yesterday afternoon I went to The Brewhouse to see what work several artists had created as a part of 'Inna space'. The festival allowed visiting members of the public access to some of the backstage and other areas in the theatre where the artists had made artworks specifically commissioned for this event. I liked the touch of being given a map to read and find the artwork around the building as a trail you could follow and I started with running up the stairs in the box office to listen to Pennie Elfick's sound/colour installation, which I have to admit didn't hold my attention for very long because if I'm being honest I was more excited about going down into the dark under-the-stage areas where I have never been before. So I dashed back down and quickly headed into the ladies toilets (not because I needed to go) to see Jenny Graham's, 'Garden of Unearthly delights' installation. The most unlikely place to see 'art' and not one that many artists would necessarily be able to do, but expect no Duchampian urinals here. It was great to see a really well put together, kitsch fest in the ladies loo. Imagine taking that flowery toilet roll cover that your nan has and the potpourri and times it by a hundred, then you'd have a rough idea of what this looked like. It was a really fun and seriously zealously and immaculately put together installation and a reminder that art should be fun and have a sense of humour sometimes.
Moving on...into darker places, I proceeded from the loo to the 'under the stage' door where after beginning to adjust to the light I stumbled across Sara Dudman's paintings. Titled, 'Haunting' and in location under the stage and in the dark was a great location for these ghostly paintings of a mysterious figure. The paintings were lit but only enough so you could see the colour and streaks of paint that make up the recognisable painting gestures that Sara uses in her work. As I descended the stairs, alongside the paintings which also went down I quickly came to the biggest paintings of the series placed directly under the stage itself. Being able to hear the footsteps of people on the stage above was an atmospheric bonus to seeing the creepy paintings down below.

Onwards and out back into the theatre itself where you see the sound installation piece by Morag Kiziewicz. A shower curtain surrounding a chair takes centre stage where the participant sits and listens to a soundtrack of what, sounded to me a bit like a shower. I think the whole piece being on the stage made me think of the sound of applause and the idea of being 'showered with affection' from an audience if you are a performer. That idea in contrast with the fact that a shower is somewhere usually private and where you feel at your most exposed which is in complete opposition with the 'show' and spotlight of being on stage. You feel kind of vulnerable yet isolated at the same time. At this point, you're possibly wondering why I didn't read what the artist had to say about the work, and the answer is I didn't, for two reasons. One, I wanted to experience as much as I could in a limited time and two, I'm not sure if I ever really like reading the artists statement often preferring having to work at finding some sort of understanding of it. This isn't always the case; but, if I am being very honest is more often than not how I feel about viewing artwork.
Round the corner now and down the corridor to the dressing room where I am at once greeted with a now bearded but recognisable face. It could only be Sue (who doesn't normally have a beard by the way! -as will become clear). Sue Palmer's piece involved her raiding the theatre's costume department and inviting visitors to create, mix and match their own outfits before having their photos taken outside at the scene dock door. The idea of creating a character as a kind of hybrid of Aslan the lion, snow queen, doctor, feather boa creation is fun and used what was available and in context with the Brewhouse. When I arrived, apart from seeing Sue in a beard, two other visitors were dressed and getting ready to go outside to have their picture taken. This was probably a good idea as it meant anyone walking past could see what was going and and would hopefully be intrigued enough to have a look themselves.

Phew! Nearly at the end of my tour and in the scene dock up a scaffold is Korben Dallas creating a mural on the Brewhouse wall. Two photo realistic portraits sprayed directly onto the brickwork wall. I thought it was great seeing both Sue and Korben actually in the Brewhouse creating work on site, even though the other work was made for 'Inna space' it was a different kind of dynamic and more engaging to have these two artists working when visitors came. Similarly, I recommend checking out the graffiti artists blog (link below) to see his other commissioned work as well.
So overall a really brilliant way to end the day and a very exciting change to have work in different contexts in the Brewhouse other than in the gallery. There was a video piece by Maia Conran and an artistic meets cuisine encounter in the cafe restaurant by artist, Stuart Crewes amongst colour bricks and more happening in the gallery/restaurant spaces too. I'd like to see more unusual exhibitions, paintings in the dark and in unexpected places. Thanks to everyone involved, it was fun! This has been my outside view from Inna space.

(Above) My Inna space map handed to me at the start of my exploration of The Brewhouse

(Above*) 'Haunting' a series of paintings under the stage by Sara Dudman

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/artists/sara-dudman

(Above) 'Garden of unearthly delights' installation in the ladies toilets by Jenny Graham
http://www.jennygraham.co.uk/
(Above) 'Try this on, become something other with me' in the Brewhouse dressing room by Sue Palmer.
http://www.biggerhouse.co.uk/sue

More artists involved in innaspace include:

http://www.pennieelfick.co.uk/ -Penny Elfick

http://www.maiaconran.com/ -Maia Conran

http://martinjoiner.co.uk/blog/ -Korben Dallas

Stuart Crewes, Sarah Jenkins, Nicci Wonnacott, Ben Cody and Morag Kiziewicz.

For more about Inna space please go to: http://innaspace.net/

*Thank you to Korben Dallas and Sara Dudman for permission to use their photos

From the Tate Britain

2011-05-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

'From the Freud' museum and other works by Susan Hiller came together in a retrospective of the artists work at the Tate Britain this spring. Running for sixteen weeks I managed to catch this exhibition just before it closed on the 15th of this month. The exhibition features the artists postcard works of the 1970's up to the more recent mixed media installation and video projection works. Prior to seeing this show I didn't really know much about or had either seen any of Hiller's work, which is sometimes much better because it meant I had no pre-conceptions of what to expect. Some of the best shows I've seen in fact have been 'better' because I've gone into them blind and not knowing anything about the artist or the artists work; Annette Messager's exhibition at the Hayward being another example of this. So, the question beckons then, 'why, then exactly did I go to the Susan Hiller exhibition if I didn't know anything about the artist or her work?'
Answer: I did go specifically to see the 'From the Freud museum' piece (in the image below) because of my recent project working with the Somerset Heritage Centre (a.k.a The Museum of Somerset) for art weeks and Hiller's work was mentioned as an interesting example of how an artist has worked with museum forms of presentation responding to ideas of the collection and archiving. I have to admit, I did enjoy exploring this piece of work and how everyday and banal bits of 'tat' from toy plastic animals, records and bars of soap sat labeled and like 'precious' artifacts in their respective cardboard boxes. It was intriguing and invited you as the viewer to look at it with a different pace to that of which I'm used to. For example, in my own work I have always opted for the more iconographic, 'boom, in your face!' kind of approach as to a more subtle one that lures you in and quietly asks you to read and inspect it. When you learn of Hiller's background as an anthropologist you can see where the interest in objects and collections comes from, but more importantly I suppose for Hiller its the significance of the objects in the piece that she is more interested in and playing with the context the objects are in and how that creates alternative meanings.
However, this piece was just one of the many delights of this exhibition as a whole and for me the piece that really surprised me was 'Witness'. To briefly describe it, 'Witness' is a sound installation about people's encounters with UFOs or extraterrestrial phenomena, in which recorded dialogues from people all over the world are played all at once out of different speakers hanging from the ceiling (see second image below to get an idea). Anyway, the result is this room full of chatter of which none of it makes any sense until you walk in amongst the hanging speakers and pick up the sound of a language you understand (obviously in my case, I am pretty limited to English with the occasional bit of French or German). It is then that you hear someones story of their 'extraterrestrial experience'. Its not so much the content of what they're saying that's interesting, but the overall feel of being an individual in a space trying to make sense of things. In this case the you as the viewer, trying to make sense of one story/voice over all the other voices but in a way I think its trying to allude to the bigger metaphor of how we are all one voice of many voices all chattering at the same time and how we wander through our busy lives trying to make sense of things amongst all the other noise; sometimes picking out bits that resonate and speak to us as individuals or otherwise missing other things that pass us by. In a way 'Witness' is a perfect example of how one can be surrounded by hundreds of people yet feel completely alone. That, and the way in which all the cables/speakers picked up the light as they were hung in a dark room kind of made me think of stars/space or even UFOs, making it also visually interesting. As you can tell, I was pretty impressed with this piece and it once again reaffirms my ever increasing belief that installation art is up there in the way it creates experience and 'moves' you more often than painting does. I say that, however, the act of painting certainly has the same affect for me, its the end product from that which I'm not sure if it has the same affect as the making of it.
That was just the start of things, this exhibition had a whole lot more and I haven't touched upon some of the video projection pieces, like 'Psi girls' as well as a postcard project and a Joesph Beuys style piece that consisted of hundreds of labelled bottles of water in a glass case (to put it very simply). So all very exciting and coming from four decades of the now 70 years old artists career, making this a diverse and surprising show. I say surprising because for an artist that, in a way has become famous from categorising everyday objects, I wouldn't however, really know how best to categorise her. She's not really entirely conceptual, minimal, feminist, anthropologist, surrealist, installation, mixed media, photographer, film maker, found-object, Dada, Duchampian anything-a-ma-bob. That's why I like it, because like the nature of anthropology and humankind, we are a polysemic, organic and forever changing and re-writing of the same things. The diversity of the work in Hiller's career really reflects that.

(Top) 'From the Freud museum' 1991, (Middle) 'Witness' 2000, (Bottom) Auras: Homage to Marcel Duchamp 2008.

Susan Hiller at the Tate Britain has now ended but you can check out more info/images of her work at:

http://www.susanhiller.org/

It was Ms Scarlet, in the Pear Tree with the coffee grinder!

2011-05-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Whilst the name Scarlet von Teazel may conjure up flamboyant or promiscuous persona's of the likes of Miss Scarlett from Cluedo, I can assure you murder was not on the agenda at the recent private view of the Somerset based artists solo show at the Pear tree art gallery, East Reach, Taunton. The opening of which happened Monday evening this week.
And of course, as ever, I was there to see if I could unravel the mystery...
The Cluedo analogy isn't completely far removed from Scarlet's work, as truth be told, there is in fact always a little mystery involved in which the work features carefully selected everyday objects transposed alongside abstract bleached, soaked and stained paintings. An odd single child's shoe, worn and wrapped in paper lies amongst a box of old photos, books and assorted curiosities; whilst in another corner coffee stained paper books are rustling as someone walks past; sewn and stitched cocoon-like sculptures sway from the ceiling taking on an other-worldly-ness and all around you the room is warm, and glowing from the rich sepia colours that conjure up ideas of nostalgia and associations with history and archaeology. There is something about the way all these different oddities, tactile surfaces and objects come together that lures you in and invites you to explore and try and unravel the mystery of how they came to be. Or in some ways, what I think it does is allow you to create your own narratives as to where the objects came from and who they might have belonged to.The artist herself says,

"When I work, I am following instincts and distant echoes, leading a dialogue with the unconscious to try to achieve a deeper understanding of our world. My art is an extension of my search for answers and through it I try to connect with other people who like me feel at times a bit lost..."

Exactly, and there is something really honest about bringing 'stuff' together, as an artist whatever your preferred media that is really about trying to find answers and I personally like the fact that such everyday banal things such as envelopes and old receipts (in Scarlet's work for example) can undergo an alchemical transformation and be turned into something 'other'. Whatever that 'other' is exactly still remains a mystery and I think I like it that way.

Scarlet von Teazel's exhibition, 'Exposed' can be seen at the Pear Tree Art Gallery from now until the 10th of June.

For gallery opening times and details please go to:http://www.peartreegallery.co.uk/home

For more of Scarlet's work please go to:

http://www.scarletvonteazel.com/

Taunton's willow cathedral is growing!

2011-05-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, that is a massive (in fact 30metres by 16 metres -8 metres high!) willow made structure springing out from the ground in a field situated between a college, a supermarket, a river and a park in the middle of Taunton in Somerset. Further more, for those of you interested, yes, that is me looking at it in the top photo and proudly so, because anyone living in Taunton/Somerset or interested in sustainable buildings/art or fantastic spectacles of human and natural processes working together in harmony should be excited and should find themselves a spot down there to have a look at this for themselves. It really is the first willow cathedral to be built in the UK, the only other cathedral of its kind (I believe) is to be found in Germany. The cathedral is has been designed by local artist, Stephan Jennings who is also building it with fellow artist, Sophie Courtiour. Here's what Stephan has to say about the project:

Stefan comments, “Creating the cathedral is a serious test for us due to the dimensions involved and the nature of the materials used. The opportunity to create this type of structure is something we have both been working towards for a number of years and as far as we are aware nothing of this scale has been made before in the UK.
“It’s locality near the banks of the River Tone in a fresh new public space seems right for Taunton. Longrun Meadow is a really expansive green space close to the town centre, which is proving very popular with local people. I believe that the structure will fit perfectly into the landscape and will offer a connection with nature and the life of the river.”

-taken from Somerset College's Genesis webpage http://genesisproject.com/2011/03/tauntons-willow-cathedral

Those of you with excellent memories may recall me mentioning Stephan before as I first had the pleasure of meeting him on the 'Routes, river, rail' project in which I was the assistant artist on back in 2010. http://routesriverrail.typepad.com/blog/ We were talking to Stephan about the routes along the river, specifically in relation to the wildlife that lives there and ways in which people can interact with these environments sustainably. Back then, we hoped that the willow cathedral proposal was going to go ahead and obviously now the reality is that it was both successful and is under construction as we speak. It aims to be finished by the end of May when it will continue to grow eventually turning mush more green than in these photos. However, the purpose and potential opportunities for the cathedral have yet to be decided with some suggestions for public gatherings to performances and celebrations. Personally, I really like the fact that it is so open to debate as to what its function should be because the construction of it being built and that it will continue to grow and become a part of the floodplain landscape in which it lives in are as if not more interesting anyway.

I cannot begin to tell you how exciting it was to come across this structure whilst I was out walking, its impressive in its sheer size but worth a closer look too as you can see all the different colours of willow within it and how the whole building has been woven together, its quite beautiful. It reminds me of the seeing the Eden project just when it opened and was more like a massive man-made hillside or quarry in these two giant domes with very little growing in it to begin with and then a year later and, whoosh! Everything was huge and it no longer looked like a building site; as any person who spends time in a garden will tell you, about how rewarding it is to see something living grow and transform well its the same with this cathedral. I'd recommend seeing it now and then watching it change as it shoots and turns green.

Thank you Sophie Courtiour for permission to use your photos.
If you 'like' what you've read here and want to follow further willow cathedral updates please 'like' the Willow Cathedral page on facebook by clicking below:
http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Willow-Cathedral/201244869904355?v=info
We'll keep you updated about when its due to officially open to the public, however anyone can go visit anytime now whilst its being built so please go check it out!

20pph

2011-04-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

20 pph = 20 pinwheels per hour: the rate I can make pinwheels

I have a good reason explaining how I came to find out that unusual statistic, you see after spending the afternoon on the 21st of April and again during the evenings this week making pinwheels you kind of pick up not only a certain amount of skill and speed in what you do, but you also become increasingly aware of how many you've made. Why? You ask. You'd need to look down the page at a previous post about this project to understand fully, but basically it has something to do with the 'England, my England' festival at the Brewhouse (ends May 1st). In particular their indoor beach in the gallery space met with an enthusiasm from my mis-spent youth to make pinwheels, lots of 'em! It was fun, and I promised to share some of the results with you so please see images below...

However, this is not all! Its been a busy few days at the Brew. I attended a workshop hosted by Slingshot (creators of IGFEST) from Bristol in which artists came together and created and played games all day! It sounds quite funny and to some extent it was, after all I haven't really played 'games' as in street based ones since I was 12, so to suddenly have to abandon any self-consciousness I felt about playing again wasn't entirely easy, but it certainly was funny. With in seconds of arriving for this workshop I found myself playing the role of a tree (great! I was always the tree!) in a game where a deer (who was blindfolded) was hunted by a wolf (who has bells on their ankles). The aim being that the wolf has to steal the horns off a belt worn by the blindfolded deer, except the wolf can be heard due to the bells so its not as easy as it sounds. Me, the tree, I was one of many who make up the circle in which the game is played in. Anyway, I hope you get the idea of what we were up to. The end result of which was to take some games we created and play them on St George's day with the public outside the Brew. By the time Saturday 23rd arrived the games had been played, tested and approved.

Lastly, but not least, Saturday 23rd also saw Megan Calver's interactive piece of public art in which members of the public could either wear a dragon or maiden badge handed out by Megan. Maiden's had to hiss at any passing dragons and show 'a little gallantry' by opening doors for people whereas dragons had to roar at any and every opportunity. Naturally, I chose the dragon! This was a really fun and simple way to encourage people to participate in a piece of what essentially could be seen as performance art. People seem less keen to dress up or feel more self-conscious about it anyway, so a badge along with a fun and simple instruction makes for a fun and easy result that encourages participation. It was also fun to interact with fellow dragons and maidens that came into the bookshop where I was working whilst wearing my dragon badge that day (well, I don't need much encouragement or an excuse to roar at people all day most of the time anyway!).

So, its been a busy Easter break and with more still to come soon. I didn't even get the chance to tell you about Simon Lee Dicker's projection tower outside at the Brewhouse that was built during the festival...well, I just did tell you, but expect to here and see pictures of it again very soon because its great and means all sorts can now be watched on the wall outside. Or, see it as a possible opportunity for any of you film makers out there?

The festival's still on till May 1st and there's lots more still going on so please check it out if you haven't already. More details at: http://englandmyengland.wordpress.com/

Until next time!

(above) The dragon badge as modelled here, so nicely.

(above) Megan Calver handing out her 'dragon' or 'maiden' badges outside the Brewhouse

(above) "Oh I do like to be beside the sea side"

Welcome to four tonnes of sand in the Brewhouse gallery, featuring: Kites made by local children in a workshop run by Richard Tomlinson, projected beach scene of Minehead and complete with real buckets and spades.

For more info about slingshot click here:
http://slingshoteffect.co.uk/

For more info about Megan Calver click here:
http://www.megancalver.com

You don't need to be working with a listed building or museum to join but it helps...

2011-04-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

During the last couple of months, myself, Jon England, Lucia Harley, Simon Lee Dicker and Hannah Bishop have been meeting up as a part of a professional development opportunity created by SAW. Please read the following extract from the SAW web page which explains why the opportunity was created,

"A recent survey of our artist members confirmed a need for continuing professional development support and increased opportunities for work for post graduates. This programme is threaded through all aspects of SAW's overall programme.Creative Pathway 2011: SAW’s Professional Development Programme for Artists Somerset Art Works is testing a new pilot professional development programme."

In order to part take in this all artists working/lived in Somerset or locally were eligible to submit their proposals for projects and how they would like to use the opportunity and support network to further develop their practice. The four artists mentioned above and myself were then selected for this opportunity in which,

"Creative Pathways aims to provide tailor-made support to artists in Somerset to develop their practice and to deliver high-quality work. Artists in the programme will be offered a 6 month tailor made programme including:- a block of five coaching sessions with external advisers and Reveal partners- a small bursary to develop a project for Somerset Art Weeks 2011- Curatorial support of their Somerset Art Weeks 2011 project/exhibition/event- unlimited usage of digital equipment in SAW hub, including all the film and image editing tools on a 24” Power Mac computer."

As the months leading up to art weeks 2011 draw closer I will be posting more detailed information about each of the artists individual projects, but for now I wanted to give you as concise, yet brief as possible overview of those involved, what we've been up to so far and where you can find out more information.

Myself, (Natalie Parsley) I'm working with The Museum of Somerset, based in Taunton and set to re-open this summer. So far, I've been located in the Somerset Heritage Centre where a lot of the museum artifacts are currently in storage. There, I'm learning from the curators and researching agricultural tools from the local area. My intention is to create work in response to some of these artifacts. In terms of the professional development opportunity, I personally wanted to use it to have a support network with other artists and have the chance to work with other professionals like those at the museum to develop a more local and contextual approach in my work.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/artists/natalie-parsley

Hannah Bishop is currently finishing her final year studying Critical Fine Art Practice at The University of Brighton. Originally from the South West, Hannah is coming home to curate an exhibition titled 'Homecoming' held at the Regal Theatre in Minehead (opening 13th July from 7.30pm). In Hannah's own words,

"Homecoming is a multi-disciplinary event to celebrate the creative endeavours of graduates from West Somerset and illuminate the importance of the arts in the county. Examining the relationship between contemporary and rural, the evening will showcase art, design, fashion, dance, performance and film made by over 15 graduates originally from the area. In exploring where this talent is nurtured, and the potential for imaginative arts projects in the Regal, the event will utilise every space within the theatre. From the dressing rooms to the bar, the stairwells to the balcony, the evening will transform the entire building into a journey through the theatre and the live installations of the inspired work created by young people form West Somerset. Including; Leanne Anderson, Helen Arnold, Elizabeth Banks, Hannah Bishop, Louise Body, Joseph Buckler, Elizabeth Crossman, Jacob Daley, Sarah Dawes, Ben Dean, Theo Hawkins, Jac Husebo, Amy Lewis, Carl, Lewis, Sophie McCarthy, Amanda Quartly, Jennifer Reed, Adam Ridler & Tom Stephens. Curated by Hannah Bishop. Image by Jacob Daley. Event Support, Adam Ridler."

http://www.hannahbishop.com/

http://www.homecomingsomerset.blogspot.com/

"Jon England’s latest work responds to the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Engineering Department’s pioneering restoration of WWII Grumman Martlet AL246. Through a process akin to ‘forensic archaeology’ the team are painstakingly removing the plane’s entombing layer of 1960’s gloss paint, at once unveiling its Chameleon–like wartime camouflage schemes and revealing traces of the accumulated history of people and places associated with it."

You may have read previous posts about Jon's work on this blog such as the 'POW WOW' event held as a part of art weeks last year.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/operation-chameleon

And Simon Lee Dicker's curatorial project 'Under a new sun' for Somerset Art Weeks 2011:

"An exhibition of new work showing the range of creative talent at work in Somerset today, at two venues: Lanes Hotel and the Old School Room. The exhibition's title Under a new Sun relates to the Anglo-Saxon naming of Somerset - Sumorsaete - as 'the people of the summer lands', when farmers would bring their livestock down to the peat rich levels to graze, only to retreat to the hills during the flooded winter months. Although still a predominantly rural county, with flooding and extreme weather high in the public consciousness, this exhibition reveals how contemporary artists make connections with, and are connected to, the world around us. Featuring artists, Simon Lee Dicker, Megan Calver, Angela Charles, Michael Fairfax and Lucia Harley"

No stranger to the SAW blog, Simon is on this project, investing his energy into developing curatorial skills. As he is an artist, from my point of view I think its really interesting to learn how that experience as an artist will translate and feed into Simon's role as curator on this project.

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/venues/under-new-sun

Finally Lucia Harley who is also one of the artists exhibiting at the Lanes Hotel and School Room. Lucia Harley’s work delves beneath the surface of day-to-day life and explores the entanglement of thought, memory and emotion.Her intuitive drawings using objects and mixed-media explore the space in which they are made, creating pathways and plateaus of clarity or reflection.
Lucia has spent a significant amount of time in Brazil, where she has family and studied at the Art School in Sao Paulo. This has influenced both her life and creative practice. She maintains strong links with fellow artists in Sao Paulo. In this professional development opportunity Lucia is returning to her own practice seeking to develop it further.

Ok, essentially that's what everyone is, to put it very briefly, interested in. I hope to soon give you in their own words what they feel about the professional development opportunity and what it is allowing them to do. Already, it has been useful to myself as an individual, but when we meet up as a group its really helpful to have the group to talk to and in beginning to learn about their projects how there are parallels and similarities that help reinforce/challenge our practices. The, kind of, discipline of writing an action plan or a SWOT analysis (as we've done so far) are, on one hand quite tedious exercises done mostly by businesses, but are in actual fact useful means of planning your practice in a way that keeps you motivated and provides goals and aims to strive for. Its these sorts of skills that aren't entirely new to me, but I've never really used them in the past, and that I am now picking up again with reason.

There's really too much to tell about all of this on one post so please keep reading regularly as I keep you updated on the latest meetings and progress from each of the artists involved. For some reason all of us are either working with a museum or in an old or listed building which certainly makes interesting conversation! Look forward to telling you how things develop. Thanks for reading.

Paris, my Paris!

2011-04-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

Bonjour mon petite choux fleurs! When I wasn't worrying about what I was going to do for the 'England, my England' festival I was in Paris exploring the Catacombs, Sewers and of course The Louvre (in that order). For a while, forget England and immerse yourself in a few of the highlights that 'Paris, my Paris' has to offer... 1) Palais de Tokyo: Located next to the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Palais de Tokyo a.k.a Site de création contemporaine is a massive space that hosts contemporary art exhibitions. Nothing new there, I hear you say, but take into consideration that it is currently undergoing a major refurbishment/construction on a massive scale it soon becomes all the more interesting and with good reason...It was a complete delight to see the building site of a space being used to project several contemporary videos. So crumbling brick walls become transformed into an interesting surface to project a pair of hands with fingers running over a typewriter's keys, and the vast hollow shell makes great acoustic space to have a violinist playing complete with projected image on another one of the worn walls. Surprising and really great to see a space being used in this way.

2) Montparnasse cemetery: A lively place full of all your favourite deceased artists, poets, philosophers and musicians. Brancusi, Man Ray, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean Baudrillard and more. Really interesting in a slightly creepy way.

3)Ponts des arts bridge: A truly brilliant little bridge, it is directly adjacent to Pont Neuf bridge over the river Seine and has all these padlocks all over it. The idea being that couples write their names on a padlock and attach it to the bridge. Sweet!

4) Monet at the L'Orangerie: Pretty self explanatory, these paintings in the flesh really are worth seeing. They're far rougher and painterly than I had ever imagined and equally beautiful and engaging from a distance.

5) Don't ask me where exactly this was? Somewhere around St Germain maybe? However, its proof that sometimes the most simple graffiti is still the best.

6) Musee du Montparnasse: Located very discretely and modestly off a road in Montparnasse is this beautiful ivy clad ally that once was occupied by the likes of Picasso, Leger and Soutine amongst many other famous artists who either had studios here or would socialise in this space. Compared to all the showy and huge 'look at me!' galleries that Paris is famous for, I was really pleased and welcomed this more modest and quiet little retreat away from its flamboyant neighbours. So quiet in its location, in fact that I nearly missed it. I'm glad I didn't because it was one of the more humbling moments during the trip. There was an Andre Masson exhibition on in the gallery and a few studios around in the alley had some interesting work on show, but I think I liked just being there the best and spent (a very rare) few moments just sitting in this space, thinking.

I hope this would all be good research for the 'England, my England' festival....after all you don't really know what England is until you experience someplace else. Here's to you Paris! Its been great!

This was my first visit to Paris, let me know if you have any recommendations of places to visit/things to see in Paris or anywhere and we'll see what we can do? As always leave a comment or email me on: press@somersetartworks.org.uk

Wots all this then?

2011-04-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

"Pinwheels...pinwheels...pinwheels" I read off the flyer handed to me by a member of staff from the Brewhouse, whilst I was at work in the bookshop today. Can you ever have too many or too much of pinwheels I wondered? The lady handing out the flyers asked, "Would you be able to put any of these in the shop by the tills?" "I should think so." I replied, "I'm running it!"

I acted pretty surprised, because I actually still am! The whole pinwheeling shenanigans was something I concocted months ago back in October as a response to the 'academic-ness' I was feeling upon starting my Masters degree in Fine Art. I've been to the beach as much as anyone and have always liked pinwheels, I've drawn them in still lives back at school and think they're pretty neat things. They'd probably be up there somewhere with umbrellas in the top ten of inspiring things to draw. So, I did what I always do when daunted at the prospect of having to study and rationalise my work, I digressed and made something for fun! I ended up with 133 pinwheels made from every page from a copy of 'Wind in the willows' which I then planted under a willow tree near to where I live much to the confusion of Frodo the dog who had not expected to see 133 pinwheels in the way of his usual route to the willow tree. Hmmm... So, you can imagine, I was delighted when the 'England, my England' festival came to The Brewhouse. Well, specifically because they have built a beach inside the gallery as a part of the programme of events. Perfect! You may have gathered my train of thought here, but basically I thought pinwheels/beach = good combination! Well, at the very least I now have a use for them. Eventually, this brings us back around to me being handed the flyer about these pinwheels at the bookshop. Cool. You see to make the whole process more interactive and exciting, I'm/we're inviting people to come to pinwheel making workshops next Thursday 21st at the Brewhouse where you can make your own pinwheels, plant them on the beach or take them away. I'll be there from 1.00-5.00 planting my ready-made ones and making some more. You can bring photos or any flyers/things you'd like to recycle and we'll turn them into pinwheels. It'd be great to have a whole field of them if possible. I think I was originally excited at the whole Ai Wei Wei installation of seeds at the Tate Modern, in the way it took something very simple (the hand-made sunflower seeds) and took it to a massive scale in which it became something incredible. In a smaller, Natalie, kind of way I thought maybe pinwheels could have a similar affect! Why not?

So please join me on Thursday 21st April from 1.00-5.00pm at The Brewhouse and again on the 26th and 27th (6.00-8.00pm) and make some pinwheels or just hang out on the beach.

There are loads of arty things happening over this festival too which runs from: Thursday 21 April - Sunday 1 May Coinciding with the Queen's birthday, St George's Day, the Royal wedding and May Day bank holiday, England, my England explores the ideas of Englishness, identity and tradition in the 21st Century.

For more details click on the blog link below:

http://englandmyengland.wordpress.com/

I'll keep you posted about some of the other arty events as they happen so stay tunned.....

White space - Nick Gray

2011-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Very retrospectively I couldn't pass by on the opportunity to mention that Wednesday the 16th March saw the private view of an all new exhibition of Nick Gray's work at the 'White space' gallery within Somerset College art block. Hmmm, should have mentioned it nearer the time methinks, but life and love and laughing intervened so you're hearing about it now -better late than never so please don't complain! Anyway, the show! Great. Firstly though, no one does a private view like Scat does Private views, you just have to go to one to know what I mean, so before you even get around to seeing the work there's the festivities that need to be addressed. And appropriately for Nick's work, perhaps festivities and joy is a good place and a good context to start off from, after all there is something inherently joyful about the colours and moods that arise from his work.

I remember seeing Nick Gray's first show at Scat back in, um...2006, I think when I had just started my first year on the FDA in Fine Art also at Scat. Whilst the new work is still distinctly Nick Gray; the very meticulous, busy coloured and layered lines and colours remain the same; I think the new work is more colourful, there's less white now and if I had to articulate it merely in words and in terms of form, I'd say these new works are less about line and more about colour (as is my view). In my own opinion, I have always felt that they [Nick's paintings] have been about space. The space within all the abstract shapes and forms created within the painting, the space that colour creates within the space of the painting and gallery and the space that these seemingly busy up close, yet peaceful from a distance paintings create between you the viewer and the physical painting itself. If that makes sense? It would be worth having a look yourself to see what you think?

So five years on from that first time I saw Nick's work and its inspiring to see yet even more new work that has been met with the same energy in its display and execution as before. In terms of my own practice and thinking around the arts, a lot, a lot, a lot has changed in those five years and its a real pleasure to see new work and who'd have ever thought write a blog about it. Here's to another five years when I hope to see yet more new work again.

The exhibition of paintings and lots of brilliant fun drawings is on display and to buy until the 1st of April, every week day from 9-5pm. Check it out!

(above) 'The beach' -oil on canvas

(above) 'Autumn' -oil on canvas

For more images of Nick's work and more please check out the following link:

http://nickgray.isendyouthis.com

On the eve of the super moon, sees the launch of The Crescent Contemporary

2011-03-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Not last Saturday, but the Saturday before (the 19th to be precise!) saw the launch of the Crescent Contemporary in Taunton. 'Good stuff', I find myself thinking as this was yet more proof that there is ever increasing amounts of contemporary art to be found on my doorstep. So, for those of us who weren't spending the evening of the 19th howling at the moon or watching England vs Ireland in the rugby we were at number 19, The Crescent, Taunton drinking wine, celebrating, chatting and doing whatever else you normally do at private views (as well as looking at the art of course)! I am amazed at the quick turn around of this space, that my friend Liz Earley has moved into and transformed into a gallery in such a short amount of time. After all, setting up a gallery isn't just about painting a few walls white, there's the website and all the business sides of things to juggle with as well. Its exciting to have another contemporary art space in Taunton, after the week before having gone to the Recessionists opening at the Pear Tree Gallery, put this together with Somerset College, The Brewhouse, Ginger Fig, Quartz festival etc etc and you begin to have quite a healthy variety of venues to exhibit work in Taunton (mainly focusing on Taunton particularly because I live here). The first exhibition and one currently still on at the Crescent Contemporary features mixed media paintings and drawings by Gordon Faulds (please see images below). What I particularly liked was the way that the some of the original objects (which Gordon's drawings are made from) were in the window on display in the exhibition. Being able to recognise and relate the drawings to the original artefacts was a fun addition to looking at the work. Personally, after my recent exploits into looking through Taunton Museum's tool collections (more to be revealed about this soon) I can relate to both the appeal and style Gordon uses in taking objects and drawing them, making them look aged and creating layers. Whilst our work is different in style there are similarities in subject matter which is always exciting to see any artist who enjoys taking banal objects and re-presenting them in their work. Whilst we unfortunatley lost the rugby that evening, I did have a really good time looking at Gordon's work, seeing the new space and meeting the usual, but charming suspects. Great to see you if you were there that evening and I look forward to many more exhibitions at the Crescent Contemporary -just don't go when there's a full moon....

(above) 'Duppy Ducky' 2011 -Mixed media on paper on board 44.5cm x 57cm

(above) Portmanteau 2009-10 - Mixed media on paper on board. 85cm x 122cm

For forthcoming exhibitions and to find out more info about the gallery, opening times etc. click on the following link:

http://www.crescentcontemporary.co.uk/index.html

For more images of Gordon Faulds work click on his website below:

http://www.gordon-faulds.com/

....and in other news...

2011-03-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

So...just because your artworks in the garage doesn't necessarily mean you can't have some fun with it... At Parsley headquarters we recently had a clear out in the garage, as you do, and with the house bursting with my creations already it seemed like a good idea to put the left overs in the garage. To be honest, in many ways my work could probably never be more at home in this context. A painted fork alongside the garden sheers, a fishing net, the lawnmower, a cut out hybrid of a hammer mixed with what could be a radiator key are just a few of the surreal delights that now make having to take out the rubbish or find the garden tools all the more fun (if not confusing!). That's all. I promised I would post these images for my family who were very pleased with their cleaning up efforts and hanging the work, and I'm really chuffed to, so here we are. So, I figured whilst I still like white walled gallery spaces, for now, if some of my work is going to be in storage then it might as well be in 'style' (ha ha, well sort of)!

'Out with the hammers' in Exeter!

2011-03-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

'Out with the hammers' is the recent solo exhibition from Edwina Ashton and has been comissioned by Animated Exeter and Exeter Pheonix (where it is also on show unitl the 20th March). When I saw the title of this exhibition, 'Out with the hammers', could you blame me for getting quite excited and as a result heading on the train to Exeter Pheonix to check it out. Afterall, it had 'hammers' in the title, so it had to be good, right? So this Wednesday myself and a friend disembarked on a train from Taunton to find out.

Ashton's work in this exhibition includes a series of videos, animations, drawings and a few mixed media sculptures. The first room of which we entered being a moss green painted room with the crude and niave bird-like sculptures in. The sculptures had been made from bits of plastic/bottles/junk/tape and sat on perches around the room whilst on the walls were delicate little drawings (of the kind of style you can see here). I've always thought drawings on walls are quite interesting, especailly as you know they cannot be bought or taken away which makes them temporary. This temporary-ness can make any drawing more interesting as you know its not going to be there forever, so for some reason no matter how good or bad the drawing it makes you want to look at it longer. Anyway, these creatures in this space, I read from the blurb on the wall are supossedly gathered around a rockpool. The text and drawings inspired from 19th century natualist, Philip Henry Gosse who studied marine life in Devon's rockpools. "Ah, ha!" I find myself saying, "now its beginning to make sense." There is something sensitive and intriguing about the little drawings on the walls that does almost whisper to the viewer, to come closer and investigate. You can begin to understand that this is similar to investgating rockpools themselves, often rockpools at firstappear empty and it is only after further and closer inspection that we begin to see the tiny and often unusual looking forms of life living within them. The fragility and delicateness of the exhibtion space possibly (it doesn't say) also echoes the fragility of these tiny ecosystems and habitats.

The video next door featuring shrimp and other creatures is not without humour in the way it is quite child-like in its visual style but watches like a very knowledgable scientific documentary (admitedly I didn't watch the whole thing through, due to a noisy group of children and the fact we really needed a drink round about the time we got here!). After the weridly isolated experince of seeing the plastic constructed ganets and 'elephant looking' figures drawn on the walls in the previous room, where everything was still and silent; the animation next door was much more of an immersive experience and demanded more attention than I gave it. Such is the way of viewing exhibitions sometimes.

There were even more werid videos in the other rooms of the Pheonix which I won't go into now, in order to keep this blog from becoming an essay. However I will say that on viewing the whole show I didn't think I was 'blown away' by any of it at the time, but funnily enough after writing this and having to put down my thoughts in words, I actually now think it wasn't so bad after all. In fact, for the reasons and things I talked about around the drawings on the walls and the way the project was linked with the kind of biological sciences/natural history I am liking it all a lot more. Its been interesting in seeing how this artist, Edwina Ashton has used that research to create her work. Most contemporary art requires an active audience so whilst this exhibition may have required more thinking than others, I think it was worth it.

The only question that remains is that, 'what do hammers have to do with it?'

Writings on the wall

2011-03-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

I was thinking...After reviewing the '1000 journals project' book, that some of the images in that book reminded me of the graffiti wall that people created/added to during the 'Exhibition of the teenager' at the Brewhouse last month. The wall acted like a huge sketchbook that anyone could look at or add to, which resulted in a mixture of doodles, song lyrics, political rantings and a whole bunch of random chatter! All, of which is not unlike the '1000 journals project'.

Below are three images taken from the wall:

For the rest of the images of the madness, that is 'The Exhibition of the teenager' wall please visit their facebook page on the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Exhibition-Of-The-Teenager/188551641156619

The local artist, Scott Walker who set up workshops for this graffiti wall also creates graffiti/doodle walls, murals and more... Scott has worked on projects with Spaeda in the past and uses 'Posca pens' (which are more like painting, but with a pen) to create his community based work like seen here. Check out his website below for more:
http://mildlyartistic.co.uk/

Book of the month for February: The 1000 journals project by some guy

2011-03-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

At last, here it is! February's long over due 'Book of the month' and this one doesn't require reading for it to be enjoyed. This book is a visual feast for the eyes! In fact, if you want to look at the book itself (for free!) and to get a 'taste' of it, please click on the link at the end of this post.

The 1000 journals project is 'some guy's' idea in which in the year 2000, 1000 blank journals were unleashed into the world. If you were one of the people to find one of these journals you'd discover instructions inside asking you to use the journal to create personal pages in it and then pass the journal on to other strangers. It made me wonder if I would ever pick up a journal someone had left say in a park or would I not notice and walk past? Or what would I put in a journal if I actually found one? Would it be similar to my own sketchbooks? And how would I pass it on for the next person to find?

This book features copies of the journals that arrived back to 'some guy' (its not clear but I'm assuming they include an address or someway of sending them on?) or have been published/posted onto the projects website online. Those journals have been scanned and printed in glorious colour inside this book and some of the pages are actually stitched making this book tactile and a work of art in its own right. Not only is it fascinating to see how many different countries the journals ended up in (Japan, Canada, Spain, Germany and Australia to name a few) it is even more fascinating to flick through and look at the collage, doodles, poetry, adverts, photographs and diary entries that those who owned a journal created. To anyone that has ever kept a sketchbook, you'll understand what useful tools they are for documenting a vast array of people/places/experiences, expressing thoughts and creating ideas. Often more casual and more intimate than any other work produced by an artist, I feel that sketchbooks open up the window of the intention behind an artists work. Whether as an artist you're a musician, a writer, a performance artist, or whatever the sketchbooks that creative people keep are often the most revealing and raw parts of their practice. Understandably, not everyone wants to share their sketchbooks with the outside world, so this project is great at providing an opportunity of opening up and revealing sketchbook work to those that are happy to share it. Another point being that when I say 'creative people' I don't just mean artists, after all if Joseph Beuys has taught us anything, its certainly agreeable that 'everyone is an artist', and that therefore everyone can be creative. In fact, the dedication written at the start of this book, is 'dedicated to everyone who's ever said, "I'm not creative." Quite frankly, that's exactly what this book goes on to prove, that anyone can be a part of this project and indeed be creative. Another nice touch to this book is that it adds notes from the owners of the journals, giving details of where they're from, what they used the journal for and who they were passing it on to (whether it was someone they knew of a stranger). This gives a really personal feel to the book and makes it more 'readable' for those of you out there who don't just want visual images but a bit of contextual info too.

To conclude, this is one of those rare books, that you can dive in and out of and every time see something different. From someone like myself who loves keeping sketchbooks (often more than creating separate art works themselves) it's also a very inspiring and reassuring book. I never went to see the 'Blood on paper' exhibition at the V&A gallery a few years back (an exhibition featuring artists books) but I can imagine it was similar in the way it recognises journals/sketchbooks or artists books as an art form in its own right. The wonderful thing (as already mentioned, but I'm repeating it because it's so important) about 'the 1000 journals project' book, is that compared to the V&A show which featured predominately artists, the 1000 journals project works because in it, everyone is an artist. Exactly.

Here's that link I promised, check it out!

http://www.1000journals.com/index.php?view=Journals%2FIndex

Three exhibitions in one day: Take two and three, Blackmore Farm and Recessionists on East Street

2011-02-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

Right, so I get off the train from my first exhibition in Bristol (see previous blog) and now I'm heading home for re-fueling then out again on my three exhibitions in one day splurge. I was, as someone later called me that evening, an 'Art tart' having gone to three private views in the course of five hours. Hey! What did I care, I was in good company and after being malnourished of art during the past month an artistic binge was on the cards!

Second stop of the evening (once my mysterious and glamorous chauffeur, Boz had managed to get us to our destination via the dark country lanes) Blackmore farm (equally dark and glamorous). Featuring a cornucopia work from local artists: Fiona Campbell, Melanie Deegan, Jim Munnion, Diane Burnell, Lucy Brown, Alison Jacobs and many more (apologies for not mentioning you all). I have to say that in terms of location this place was fab! Normally the building is a bed and breakfast/farm shop but it really was built for showing art (or murder mystery evenings? Its that sort of place). Due to its really grand stone interior, Gothic windows, big wooden doors, creepy alcoves, huge fireplaces, suits of armour and cobwebs I think I could be forgiven for being entranced as much by the character of the building as the art. It was a similar case with the Cotley Tithe barn show I was in, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I thought the building itself was the greatest art on show and to some extent does both enhance the work whilst eclipsing it at the same time. Blackmore is a similar example, great artists, in a building that really stole the show. This isn't to say you should only exhibit in white walled galleries so the work has a chance to show through, but there is a double edged sword to showing work in buildings so drenched in their own mystery and beauty without the art. On saying that though, work like Fiona Campbell's spider fitted great into the dark and equally cobwebbed space. Similarly, Melanie Deegan's sculptures of rooks looked very at home inside what I assume was the window of an old chapel. Still exciting to see all the work in a different context and I really enjoyed looking around and discovering it all.

Myself and Boz had made it back to Taunton unscathed via the dark country lanes to our third and final stop of the day which was home to the Recessionists, this time exhibiting in a new gallery on East Street called the Pear Tree and featuring the work of Sam Jeffs and Beatrice Hammond. Despite the size of the gallery (it is quite small, but perfectly formed!) the place was packed and all the usual suspects were there making it a fun and great end to what had been a brilliant day. The Recessionists, whenever they have a show, certainly do it with style and HOORAY! how happy I am to see contemporary work by young artists in this exhibition. We had Bea's drawings and Sam Jeffs' sculptures (see images below) in this show. Dark, edgy and original, I thought to myself, but I really did enjoy studying the work which, for me had two of my favourite interests, in the way of drawing (from Bea) and the use of tools/metal/machinery (from Sam) so there was a lot I could get excited about.

Thus, as I headed home that Friday night I concluded my art binge for the month. On the way reflecting what a weird and diverse set of things I'd been to see, from a performance in a sandwich shop in Bristol, to a majestic exhibition in an old farm house and then to conclude a party on East Street with a gallery that exhibits art in the window under the glow of a UV light. Just another 'average' day in the art world and just the kind of way I'd like it to stay.

(above) Sam Jeff's -Sculptor whose work was in The Recessionists show on East Street

http://www.therecessionists.co.uk/sculpture/sam-jeffs-sculptor

(below) Beatrice Hammond - whose work was also in the Recessionists show on East Street

http://www.therecessionists.co.uk/painting/beatrice-hammond-artist-illustrator

(above) Lucy Brown -Ceramic artist whose work was on show at Blackmore Farm

http://www.somersetartworks.org.uk/openstudios/lucy-brown-ceramics
(below) Melanie Deegan -Sculptor whose work was also on show at Blackmore Farm

http://www.melaniedeegan.com/