Jacob Epstein: Portrait Sculpture @ NPG

A couple of weekends ago we went to the National Portrait Gallery to see the recently opened exhibition of Jacob Epstein sculptures. Regular visitors to these pages will know that I’m a bit of a fan of Mr. Epstein and his amazing ability to create wondrous shapes from stone, and this small but perfectly formed display of sculptured heads does not disappoint.

It took me a while to get past the large photo of Epstein near the entrance to be honest. Depicting a man who doesn’t look like he’s enjoying the photography experience in the slightest, what caught my attention (apart from being strangely reminiscent of Picasso) was his left hand.. A huge and slightly misshapen thing, presumably the result of thousands and thousands of hours of holding chisels and stone cutting tools..

The heads here however were all made firstly by being modeled in clay and then cast in bronze. Rather than produce a faithfully realistic image, Epstein aimed to capture the psychological and physical presence of the subject, which when you see the works collected together here, is undoubtedly what he did, as despite all of the subjects being long dead, the heads seem very much alive…

There are maybe 12 or 15 sculptures on show, each of a contemporary of Epstein including George Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, Vaughan Williams and Epstein himself, and each is accompanied by a photo and in some cases a short story about the sitter and the sitting..

My favorite quote is actually about someone I wasn’t aware of. As Epstein wrote later in his autobiography… “Imagine Don Quixote walking about your studio and sitting for his portrait! This was R.B. Cunninghame Graham. In the head I modeled he seems to sniff the air blowing in from the Sierras, and his hair is swept by a breeze from afar”.  Look at the photo to the right and tell me you can’t see what he means….

As an aside, C-Graham was on the commissioning panel for the so called “Atrocity in Hyde Park” that was Rima, a monument to W.H. Hudson that Epstein completed in 1924 (a year after this portrait sculpture) and which C-Graham expended much energy defending against a largely hostile press, due in no small part I would like to think, to his appreciation for this portrait. And as a further aside, looking at Rima now (below) it’s difficult to see what the all fuss was about…

I’ll leave you with a selection of some of the other portrait sculptures on show.. all of them magical, and all well worth going to see…

Chuck Close at The White Cube Gallery, Bermondsey.

Last weekend we met Wong at the rather fine and spacious White Cube Gallery in Bermondsey to see the Chuck Close exhibition of Prints & Portraits.

To say it’s the best art exhibition I’ve seen in ages would be an understatement. I’ve written about Chuck before here, about how he started out as a hyper realist portrait painter in the 1960′s, until a collapsed spinal artery in the late 1980′s severely restricted his movement and left him wheelchair bound, after which he had to reassess how he could continue and modified his techniques to suit his new condition.

The man is without doubt an inspiration and his work is truly stunning. Large in scale and varied in media, it focuses solely on the human face, how it’s made up, how it can be divided up and yet still retain its identity. Close is a master of colour, understanding how different, and often surprising combinations can create tones that we can easily recognise and organise in our minds as a face.

That this whole exhibition of over 150 works is comprised of maybe less than 10 different faces, is I would suggest to miss the point of what Chuck Close does. The image of Close himself in a rather fetching yellow anorak above, is offered as a photograph, a tapestry, and two or three other different styles of painting, and they all offer a unique visual experience, as in this close up of the dot version of the painting…

The tapestries especially are unbelievably lovely. There is a black and white image of crazy haired and bearded man (Lucas) that once transformed into a tapestry, becomes a riotous celebration of colour, as can seen on the images below, the second of which is a close up of his beard believe it or not…

The things that Chuck does with paper mulch are also very impressive, creating layers of tone and depth that defy description. And as for the carved timber panels created to get the colour separation for the screen prints of the baby’s face, mesmerising (apparently it took a Japanese woodblock carving master the best part of three years to complete)..

As a big fan of the craft in art, I really enjoyed seeing all these constituent parts to the works, such as wire frames, square grids and hand drawn divided sheets marked up to show tones of grey. It’s always good to see a bit of process, as personally I think this gives the work more weight.

And whilst it could never be argued that Close makes all his own stuff (he’s wheelchair bound for a start don’t forget) it certainly comes across that his involvement at all stages of the work is intrinsic to its finished state. Unlike say the Hirst’s, Koon’s and Quinn’s of this world, who you get the impression just think of something sitting at their desk, commission someone else to make it and then sign it when it’s delivered to their studio.

Sadly the exhibition finishes this weekend, but if you can make it along, I would urge you in the strongest terms to do so, it’s a revelation and you will not be disappointed…

Possessed…

A number of my friends seem to be doing cool art stuff at the moment.

Take Sarah Faraday for example. A photographer by trade, Sarah is working on a project based up in Liverpool called Possessed, in which she is considering issues around the value and status of a photograph of a thing, compared to the actual thing itself, and asks the question, which of your own possessions could you give up in exchange for a photograph of it…

Good question eh?

There are obviously different levels on which this can be considered. At one end is the ridiculous. Giving up a body part (although I see someone has offered their wisdom teeth.. ouch) or a million dollars or your flat/ house in exchange for a photo of it, would I suggest be a step too far.

At the other end of the spectrum is the very easy thing to swap. Sarah can have as many of my old Weekend Guardians, Kit Kat wrappers or as much household dust as she likes in exchange for one of her lovely photos…

In between these two extremes however, are some real conundrums… A love letter for example. As long as you could still read it, do you really need the actual paper with the words on? Or a present from someone who is no longer around. If it’s just sitting on a shelf, or even worse, shut away in a box in the spare room, wouldn’t it be better (or at least as good) to have a picture of it in a little frame on the wall?

I’ve thought about this for a while now and have decided to send in some of my favorite stamps…

They were issued in 1957 and celebrate the World Scout Jubilee Jamboree. Whilst they may not look much to you, I’ve had these for many years as they were given to me by my parents when I was an, erm,  Boy Scout.

There seem to be a number of  levels at which this issue operates, and the image below is an attempt to represent some of them. Firstly there’s me holding the actual, real set of stamps I’m proposing to send in, then a (not very good) photo I’ve just taken as a record of my stamps before I send them off. Then there is a stolen digital internet picture of the high value stamp which is far better than my effort, and shows the finer details of the design. And finally another internet picture this time of a first day cover, which in terms of value alone, could be argued would be a far nicer thing to own…

So four versions of the same thing. The ones I’m holding I’ve owned for at least 35 years and although it will be a wrench to give them up, I know I can easily get some more, and to all intents and purposes no one (except me) would ever know the difference, certainly not my parents (unless they read this of course) and anyway, whose to say that’s not what I’ve done already…

In the end, it all comes down to the attachment generated by sentiment, how much emotion we have committed to the object in the first place before we are asked to give it up, although monetary value I suspect will usually have a part to play.

All in all I think it’s an excellent idea, one with huge scope for argument and discussion about the value we put on things.  This post for example is now record of this process, and having spent a couple of hours putting it together, it has already accrued some value that may help soften the blow of losing my stamps….

One final thing, I’m a big fan of the ambigramic project logo, very clever…

William Mitchell’s Autobiography – availaible very soon…

My friends Bill and Joy Mitchell have just emailed to let me know that the autobiography they have been working on for the last few years, has finally been given a publication date at the end of July and is now available for pre-order on Amazon…

This is most excellent news indeed. I’ve played a very small part in helping them in the final stages of the project and Bill has done me the HUGE honor of using one of my photographs for the front cover… (it’s a detail from the doors of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral)

Bill has produced a whole series of beautiful new drawings to illustrate the various chapters of his life… from childhood illness to service in the Navy, from Art School to his pioneering sculptural work for the GLC, from regular appearances on TV and hobnobbing with royalty, to his work abroad and long time Directorship at Harrods…

Without doubt, the man has had a pretty eventful life and produced some truly stunning and timeless art along the way. I’ve written about William Mitchell in these pages a number of times before (here and here for starters) and what’s more I shan’t stop until more people are aware of his name and the huge contribution he has made to our artistic, social and cultural heritage.

I’m happy to report that there is evidence that this is indeed starting to happen, as over the last year or so, several Flickr pages (here and here) and numerous write ups on personal blogs have started to appear and this autobiography is another exciting step towards the recognition that I believe Bill so rightly deserves.

If you are interested in his work, Bill’s own website is here, but keep your eye on these pages, as we are currently looking into the possibility of organising a number of supporting events later on in the year…

Some Very Special Portraits…

  

These most excellent portraits were a present from my 4 year old niece who drew them from memory over Easter…

Those of you that know us, will no doubt agree that she’s managed to get our likenesses pretty much spot on, especially my bodyshape.. its uncanny..

Truly a remarkable talent…

The Art of Seeing (a Friend’s work…)

A friend of ours has been doing an art foundation course at the City Lit over the last year or so, and we all popped along to her end of year show at the weekend.

I’ve been to many of these kinds of events over the years, mostly architecture shows admittedly, but there’s been a fair spattering (and I use the word advisedly) of fine art ones.

They are on the whole, an odd thing. There’s usually such a huge and disparate range of work, style and ability crammed into every available space, that it’s hard to take it all in. Some of the offerings can be dismissed with a single look, with others being far more deserving of your time..

I thought my friends work looked good. It was thoughtful and considered, with all the elements working together well. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to talk to her much about it on the night, so I didn’t really get her explanation of the work she had put on show.

To me though it seemed to be about eyes, vision and the act of seeing. I liked the way she had created it from such a wide range of materials, echoing possibly, the huge variety of visual inputs we receive constantly and have to make unending decisions on as a consequence.

I was also impressed with how she had put the pieces together. Craft to me is such an important and intrinsic part of any art offering, that it’s usually the first thing I look at in detail after the initial impression has sunk in…

So good luck to Michelle, and I look forward to next years show to see where she can develop these strong these ideas to.

Spot the Diggers Fans…

At the beginning of October last year, me & A went on one of our several annual trips to see John Digweed play repetitive dance  music very loud for long periods of time…

Undoubtedly (in our book anyway) the finest DJ in the world, Diggers has an enviable ability to choose and sequence wonderfully uplifting deep electro house music that in the 20 years or so that I’ve been going to see him play and the 13 years we’ve been going together, I can’t ever remember coming away disappointed… although often these days, we can’t really remember coming away at all…

I digress. And got the Live in London CD for Christmas, and unusually for me I didn’t really take any time to look at the art work, a symptom I suspect of Spotify and downloading, as the music and the artwork become more and more divorced, something that I find rather sad and that I’ve commented on before…

Anyway, we had the CD on quite a lot over the weekend, and finally getting around to picking up the  booklet, I was most surprised to see a largish figure in the centerfold photo, that can only be me… And is a bit more difficult to make out, but is just about visible if you know where to look…

Our first Digweed excursion of the year is coming up shortly (the annual Bedrock Easter bash) with support from two other favorites of ours Jimpster and Tom Middleton, and we fully expect yet another great night out…

Frank Dobson in The Shrieking Violet…

The Manchester based webzine The Shrieking Violet has just reached an impressive 20th edition, so a huge congratulations to its founder, curator and editor, Natalie for such an achievement. Long may she continue to self publish…

Natalie has been kind enough once again to include a piece I wrote about a largely forgotten and overlooked artist Frank Dobson, a man who in the 1920′s was considered by many critics as amongst the first and best of British Modern sculptors, ranking alongside the likes of his fellow Englishman Eric Gill as well as the American Jacob Epstein and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska who was French.

Dobson’s is a sad story to some extent. Despite being at the very cutting edge of early Twentieth Century modern art, time and changing tastes were not kind to him, and through a refusal to move away from a romantic, figurative style generally (and the female nude specifically) his work was eclipsed by the likes of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, as their radical reinterpretation of abstract forms made him look old fashioned and out of touch, so that today his name is barely a footnote to most art histories…

A screen grab of my article is below, but I would urge you to visit The Shrieking Violet site on the link above and have a look through some of the previous editions.

Divine Retribution or Science in action…

When I saw this rather excellent photo in yesterday’s papers, I wondered if I should rethink my position on organised religion…

The bolt of lightning that hit the Dome of St Peters Basilica in Rome not long after the Pope announced he was stepping down, was interpreted by many of the faithful as a sign from their God, quoting Psalm 29 which reminds them that “The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning”…

Indeed…

Meanwhile in the real world, science reminds me that lighting is caused when positively and negatively charged particles within a cloud separate to the top and bottom respectively, thereby creating a build up of charge that is best neutralised via contact with, amongst other things, the nearest bit of the earth it can find.

In this instance, St Peters was the tallest building in the area when the storm passed over Rome. Unusual and coincidental perhaps, but nothing more than that…

So actually no, I don’t need to rethink my position. I know exactly where I stand…

I’m now a Wikipedian…

I’ve just had my very first Wikipedia article created, which I’m rather chuffed about. Apparently that means I can now call myself a Wikipedian (should I ever wish to…)

I Initially found writing and editing in Wikipedia rather daunting I have to admit. The entry obviously all has to be done to conform with the familiar house style, which means formatting everything into an unfamiliar code that determines such things as text size, headings, sub-headings, web links and references etc. Printing out a copy of the style and layout manual undoubtedly helped, so that after some perseverance and lots of coffee, it finally began to make some sort of sense.

Perhaps unsurprisingly (for those that have visited my blog before) my first article is about my favourite artist and sculptor William Mitchell, a man who I believe is very deserving of finally having his own entry…

It actually took two goes to get the artcile approved. My first attempt was considered to be too subjective and that it “read like an advertisement.” But after removing some of the more gushing adjectives and the reference to his forthcoming autobiography (hmm) hey presto, a new Wikipedia page has come into being…

Now that it’s been created, the plan is to improve it by adding photos and images of Bill’s work and elaborating on some of his phenomenal achievements over the last 50 years or so…

You can get to the page by clicking the screen grab below… and as it’s Wikipedia, you can of course add to it yourself…