Art goes figurative at City & Guilds of London Art School. At the show of work by MA students it was heartening to see so many artists being inspired by the need to make figurative and narrative images the abundance of seriously impressive work.
Delighted to be introduced to Milton Avery at the Royal Academy’s new show celebrating the ‘American Colourist’ and to see just how influential the artist was. He was a key player in the shift from a post-impressionist thrall into the new, whizzy world of Abstract Expressionism and found an inspiring new way to use colour to capture the ‘feel’ of a subject.
African Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum offers a really impressive view of the vibrant contemporary design creativity emanating from Africa and African designers. It also charts the history of textiles, weaves, fashion statements and decorative wear and shows how African style has been adapted and adopted by western designers and fashionistas.
I’m on the telly next week as an artist in the 4th week of Drawers Off on Channel 4 at 5.30pm. And I’m delighted to see this full page spread in the Ham&High about my appearance. It talks about being in the studio and ignoring the fact that a camera would be peering over your shoulder while you’re trying to capture the life model on the plinth. I use paper to make my art but the table of art materials was too much of a temptation and I loved trying out different inks, paints and pastels during my week. You’ll have to watch the show from Monday 20th to Friday 24th to see how I got on. I loved getting to know my brilliant fellow artists and Jenny Eclair was a joy as our presenter. She kept the energy going and was sympathetic to the artistic agonies of making sense of the human body. Here’s the piece in print.
The Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy opens next week. I was lucky enough to be at a press preview today and felt delighted that this great show is happening (after Covid hiatus) The show if filled with the usual pick and mix of art from humble artists mingled with the work of Royal Academicians and invited artists. The theme, the environment, is clear to see and there are lots of references to global warming, to the bad behaviour of humans and the way the weather dominates so much of our life. There are also a lot of very witty and clever images. Of course I was on the look out for works on paper, or with collage, but I do love a good painterly painting and there were lots on offer. I’m simply going to add a gallery of the pictures which caught my eye. I particularly enjoyed the galleries curated by Grayson Perry; all the work is arranged over bright lemon yellow walls. You can’t help but smile.
It’s always a joy to get inside artists’ studios and when Cockpit Arts have their Open Days, I’m there like shot. I went to the Bloomsbury site in Northington Street and was blown away by the fabulous creativity going on. I loved chatting to the artists and craftspeople who were there in their spaces ready to greet visitors. Rather than do a lot of chat, I’m just posting the photos I took and have captioned the images where I have the details. Enjoy the tour!
“All artists borrow from each other, great artists steal,” said Picasso, who was clearly so taken by the sumptuous Ingres portrait of Madame Moitessier that he ‘stole’ it by closely referencing it in his affectionate portrait of his lover Marie-Therese Walter who strikes the same thoughtful pose. Both paintings are on show, side by side for the first time, at the National Gallery, London.
Clerkenwell Design Week is back in action after a two-year break and it’s great to wander around the ancient streets and alley-ways of this ancient part of London popping into showrooms and checking out installations.
Paper Places 