Was just having a stroll through central London and unexpectedly a bike rally/protest appeared in the centre of Oxford Circus blocking traffic on all 4 sides. A rather wonderful moment, as I am a great supporter of the possibility of pedestrianising central London.
As much as I respected their boycott of the streets, I thought it was a little defeatist as the amount of traffic that then became congested was probably creating an unnecessary amount of pollution just sitting there waiting for the protest to move on.
I suppose its the one of the ways to make people realise the prevailing pollution issue that this country has - considering the recent news that we will be fined by the European Commission if we don't reduce our NO2 emissions. Its pathetic that we even appealed for a delay on our pollution improvement, its clearly a pressing matter. London continues to grow, but no one really thinks about the consequences and also the fact that London is the most polluted city in Europe is cause for concern, not to mention that it also has been estimated to reduce life expectancy by 8 months and I'm sure that will continue to rise.
London politicians need to open their eyes and ears, and make some crucial decisions about the future of our city - the streets are disgusting, we have terrible recycling facilities and not to mention the fact that people don't seem to care about recycling is another matter. We are a city of excess; more retail outlets than necessary, goodness knows how many chain food outlets which are so big on individual packaging for everything. I am livid about the fact that Macdonald's is the official food sponsor for the Olympics. Absolutely disgusting if you ask me and the complete antithesis to the whole point of the Olympics; which is apparently promoting sport and healthy living - obviously its a money making campaign, far beyond the true reality of it classical counterpart.
For the first time since I went to the New Art from the Middle East exhibition back in 2009, I decided to go and visit the Saatchi gallery. Not really knowing what to expect, I boarded the Victoria line and strolled my way there from Pimlico Station. Oh rejoice! the free entry! How can you complain about nothing to do in this city - there are so many free attractions!
Currently showing is the Out of Focus: Photography exhibition, which is a collection of works by fairly contemporary photographers. Theres is no particular theme running throughout the exhibition other than to showcase the cream of the crop - which Saatchi is best known for. He is especially praised for bringing to light, cutting edge talent within the art scene. Hirst perhaps being his prime example.
Here are a few of my favourite works;
Meredyth Sparks - Gudrun Constructed series (2008)
This series of photo collage is an intriguing play on Constructivism and the abstract form. The artist reworks found imagery by collaging over the top, drawing into or painting. The images themselves are not too far removed from the well known painting by Marcel Duchamp Nude Descending a Staircase. Within the works the geometric shapes rationalise the movement of the photographs subject, displacing the emphasis and therefore guiding the viewers eye to certain aspects of the arrangement; face, legs, hands and feet. The artist is particularly interested in the representation of musical sub-cultures and the historical avant-garde and is seeking to explore "ever-evolving legacies of labour and gender based issues".
David Noonan - all Untitled (2008)
These images have an absolutely haunting presence within the gallery space. Multiple exposure and layering of apparently found imagery creates an illusion of ghostly memories, haunting thoughts and almost dream-like visions. The image topics have a ritualistic subject matter, strange costumes, masks, woodlands all seem to give the impression of some sort of witchcraft or pagan gathering.
John Stezaker
Old Mask V (2006)
Old Mask IV (2006)
Marriage IV (2006)
Untitled XXVI (2007)
Through the use of found photography and imagery, John Stezaker explores our preconceived notion of gender and age. He creates unexpected twists through image juxtaposition, offering multiple view points on which to analyse his finished results. Familiarity is often a key to his work, through use of photography of famous faces; we instantly feel a connection but then upon looking twice we get a sense of unsurety as we seek to determine the connection between the imagery chosen.
I particularly enjoy his Old Mask collage works; I feel they are a clever play upon the idea of age, structure, stature and strength. The identity of the faces are pretty much wiped out and replaced with sometimes grand examples of historic architecture, bridges over rivers or a solitary country lane. All are seemingly a humorous poke at our reactions to age and how we don't necessarily judge the age of a building in the way that we judge the appearance of an elderly person.
The exhibition is a fairly compact collection of works stemming from the 16th Century, right through to the present.
Upon entering the exhibition, the first room we call upon is 'Portraiture and New Genres'. We are presented with a group of famous artists who moved from the continent (particularly the Netherlands) to make a living in the British Isles or at least spend some time here working. They brought with them a new style of painting not seen in the country before and also presented an incredible articulation to detail which gained them huge popularity within British courts.
Two absolutely beautiful works instantly caught my eye; firstly Hans Eworth's Portrait of an unknown lady (left) and Marcus Gheeraerts portrait of Mary Rogers (right). Both works present the viewer with a smorgasbord of visual feast; the detailing in the garments is stupendous. Articulation in capturing the finery is only intensified by the black background, highlighting the sheer skill of the craftsmanship within dressmaking at the time.
There was also another painting within this section which instantly struck my attention. In one of my previous posts, I was discussing how Camberwell had once been a village surrounded by countryside - a surprise to my eyes came about, when I saw Jan Siberechts - View of a House and its Estate in Belsize, Middlesex. Presuming this is the now modern day Belsize Park, my mind cannot help but wonder at the complete and utter change that has taken place over 400 years, it seems so sad almost, that we have lost this beautiful land to car filled streets and ugly monotonous housing estates. The image isn't particularly clear, but on viewing it in person, you can see London and its then newly built architecture in the far distance. Particularly distinguishable is Westminster Abbey.
Rooms to follow; 'Italy, Neoclassicism and the Royal Academy' and 'Dialogues between Britain, France and America'. The first of the two explores the newly becoming fashionable neoclassicism; as foreign travel became ever more popular, so did the rise of the artist training abroad which brought with it an undeniable shift in style, in particular we see how the Italien schools influenced artists in this section. More drama, lofty illusions of light and bolder statements of portraiture, plus fascinating landscapes such as those of Canaletto who came to work in Britain for a period and painted some fantastic scenes. The next room is a selection of works by American and British artists who studied in Paris and also selected works by James Tissot, which present the most beautiful costume studies.
The Gallery of HMS Calcutta (Portsmouth) apparently had negative reactions when it was first exhibited in Britain, mainly because it presented very clearly and acutely bare human emotion and desire - as we see within the work, the Naval officer is somewhat infatuated by the girl in the foreground. Scenes like this were less common in the then contemporary British art, where as the French artists were more able to engage and portray emotions within their work. The costumes in this painting are absolutely fascinating too, he paints in detail the frothing ruffles and excess of bow embellishment; plus the attention to detail in the fabric - the girl in the middle has a sheer organza dress, which he has beautifully conveyed with the translucency of paint, baring the flesh tones beneath. An absolute delight to behold.
Rooms to follow these have a sense of displacement. Starting with Jewish art and Refugees from Nazi Europe; here we are presented with works which really explore the identity of a very much disparate group of people in Europe, a group of people who have a sense of expression steeped in longing and desperation, but yet seemingly, the art presented is one which seeks to clarify and really drive home to the viewer the true meaning of what it is to be a Jew. One of my personal favourite works by David Bomberg The Mud Bath, which without understanding the context presents the viewer with an image that evokes bodily movement, broken down to the aboslute minimal form - strikingly bold and perfectly balanced.
Further on into the gallery, we see the wider perspective of art and displacement on an intentional scale. Works from Indian, Chinese and Afro-Carribean artists but to name a few, who have been born in Britain or at some point found exile here. Here we see more challenging and thought provoking works. Particularly in the 'New Diasporic Voices' room, one incredibly touching video installation from Mona Hatoum Measures of Distance is a recollection of the upheaval and devastation that the conflict in the Middle East has had on Hatoums mother and her family. Its a heart breaking recount of how they basically lost everything and therefore became completely displaced within the world - no real home, identity or material worth, utter isolation in a country (Britain) which you feel like a total stranger. Her art work in general is a very strong and emotional portrayal of anguish and frustration that has taken place within her and her families life.
Part 1
Part 2
Mona Hatoum - Measures of Distance 1988
Race tensions which has seemingly become a bubbling pot once again within Britain since last summers riots which took place in London (and all over Britain) and only sought to highlight the still unresolved issues that prevail within our society. Some of the works presented within this exhibition were a stark reminder of the past and how the present still has unhealed wounds. I was amazed to watch part of one video within the exhibition by the Black Audio Film Collective Handsworth Songs which is a recount of the race riots which took place in London in 1985, its not all too dissimilar to what took place a mere 12 months ago. Sadly, I cannot find a video of this on Youtube, so you'll just have to go and see it for yourself - bear in mind the video last 58 minutes.
Last but not least, one of my favourite videos was Francis Alÿs Railings, which struck a chord with the flâneur in me. The essence of the navigation one takes throughout the city is confounded by our exploration of the architectural surrounding us. The sounds that these buildings make never becomes a question one asks upon viewing, or an action one generally soughts to take. Alÿs playful approach is reminiscent of that of a child with a stick they have picked up off the floor and feel the need to 'create' something of the surroundings rather than simply experience as is, just as they might bang on the pots and pans in a kitchen; the artist, who I believe wasn't born here, feels the need to confront his alienation in a new city by creating poetry from his surroundings.
Francis Alÿs - Railings 2004
I am definitely tempted to do this next time I'm wandering through the streets.
I found myself on Baldwin Street, just beside Old street last week as I was walking towards Shoreditch and I came across a rather wonderful building, a prime example of how modern architecture is pushing the boundaries of interesting facades. It was a shame that it was tucked down a backstreet.
Walking further down the street, I was surprised to find another building - much older, 1960's perhaps, with a rather intriguingly designed facade. I began to think that possibly, this would have been considered a fashionable and modern design. Compare and contrast, they are startlingly different but essentially had the same purpose.
If you look closely, each panel has a mural design
The Writing Britain exhibition at The British Library, is a fantastic collection of literary memorabilia of authors old and new. Private letters, drawings, photos and a plethora of other artefacts really build up a rich collection of insight into the inspiration behind many key works of British literary circles.
I was particularly impressed by the curation - it took the viewer on a sort of journey through the history of the British Isles, starting with 'Rural Dreams' - we find ourselves transported to a land pre-industrialisation, a land where woodlands covered the hill sides and fields upon fields of wildflower blossom, as far as the eye can see. It felt like the perfect starting point, after all so much of the British literature we know and love today was pre-industrialisation. It sort of tied in perfectly with the latest offering on BBC 4 - The Secret History of Our Streets. Which is a documentary on the Booths mapping system, in which he colour coded the streets of London in relation to different categories i.e. - class. The Camberwell episode was particularly interesting as it was showing how the area in South London (before the first bridge was built) used to be a village surrounded by countryside, until that is they built the first Bridge and then Camberwell became a fashionable commuter village for the wealthy upperclass of London.
I not long ago read Virginia Wolfs Orlando and the accounts of changing London are absolutely wonderful, she really takes the reader on a Journey through the history of London's changing appearance; on the early 18th century - "Now the streets that lie between Mayfair and Blackfriars were at the time very imperfectly lit. True, the lighting was a great improvement upon that of the Elizabethan age. Then the benighted traveller had to trust to the stars or the red flame of some night watchman to save him from the gravel pits at Park Lane or the oak woods where swine rootled in the Tottenham Court Road. But even so it wanted much of our modern efficiency. Lamp-posts lit with oil-lamps occurred every two hundred yards or so, but between lay a considerable stretch of pitch darkness"
Onto 'Dark Satanic Mills' which presented a selection of literature which was inspired by the now apparent Industrial revolution slowly engulfing the landscape of the once placid British Isles. Steam trains were ripping through valleys, roads were cutting across fields and factory chimneys were now becoming the cathedral of the modern day worship of manufacturing. This section interested me because it presented a letter which George Orwell wrote from his lodgings in my hometown of Wigan, while he was writing his famous 'The Road to Wigan Pier'. I was asking my grandma whilst reading, whether or not his seemingly generalised description of the living standards of pitmen and factory workers was correct or has he merely sensationalised the biased viewpoint he had been subjected to? Maybe the house he was living in was in fact a dirty lodging, but I think it creates stigma which Wigan has possibly found hard to shake off - anyway its history! My Grandma seemed to think living standards were not as bad as he made out; I remember she told me that while my granddad was working down the pits, he was the cleanest he had ever been because they had in-house showers and baths where the workers could wash themselves after a days work, something which for many working class wasn't even in their own home let alone hot running water to fill them.
Other sections of the exhibition included; 'Wild Places', 'Beyond the City', 'Cockney Visions' and 'Waterlands'.
I was particularly drawn to Cockney Visions which has a little section on Psychogeography and how the term Flâneur came into existence, and how within certain aspects of literature it became a sort of doctrine which defined the city dweller or idler who wanders the city streets. A little bit like me really.
Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere' was also presented within the exhibition, which I was thrilled to see, it is but one of the most imaginative fictitious rethinking of the London geography - definitely a must read for London Residents, it will almost make you think twice about your tube journey or your shortcut down a back alley.
I want to go back and revisit the exhibition but my ticket only allows for on visit which is rather unfair as it was quite an expensive price of £9.
Overall the exhibition was rather fantastic and I now have a reading list to contend with - will I ever find the time. Sometimes I wish that I could just lock myself in a room with a thousand books and read, fill my brain with wonderful knowledge. Much to my delight there are so many free classic titles to download from Amazon kindle. Its an absolute treasure trove at the press of a button. Go and buy!
Fucked-up and Incredible is the only way to describe it.
Its like Francis Bacon in a film. Stunning, intense, disturbing and incredible imagery. This performance really makes The Exorcist look like child's play.
