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Monday, 16 April 2012

Shadow Land: Photographs by Roger Ballen 1983-2011

Friday 30 March 2012 - Sunday 13 May 2012

Manchester Art Gallery

"Shadow Land is a major exhibition of work by internationally-acclaimed photographer Roger Ballen whose work offers a powerful social critique and an extreme, uncanny beauty. The exhibition explores three decades of Ballen’s career, charting the evolution of his unique photographic style and demonstrating the contribution he has made to contemporary photography.

For over 30 years he has lived and worked in South Africa. In his work from the early 1980s to mid 90s he gained world recognition and critical acclaim with his powerful and controversial images of those living on the margins of South African society.

Although retaining the same distinctive aesthetic, (all his work is in black and white, square format) in the last decade Ballen’s work has evolved into a style he describes as ‘documentary fiction’ where the line between reality and fantasy is deliberately blurred. In doing so, his work enters into a new realm of photography; the images are painterly and sculptural in ways not immediately associated with photography". Extract from the City Art Gallery web site.

Image Twirling Wires, 2001, Roger Ballen
All, Courtesy of the artist and Hamilton’s Gallery, London.

"Fans of Ballen’s work will be interested in his recent collaboration with Die Antwoord, a futuristic rap-rave crew from South Africa who represent a new style called Zef. Ballen’s photography has had a formative influence on the band and led to him directing their latest video I fink u freeky poised to be a viral sensation and introduce Ballen’s work to an entirely new audience".

Still frame from the video of Die Antwood, performing Zef style rap.

This artist has a vision that is so unlike the "norm". On first viewing it is shocking, cruel and voyeuristic. Look again and the images seem more poetic, strong and beautiful. It is a harsh beauty, but so powerful. The video is manic, scary and defiant. A taste of anarchy and very outsider art in feel. There is some interesting creative stuff being done in South Africa at the moment. Nerd alert, The Happy Mondays, "He's Gonna Step On You Again" (aka "Step On") was performed in 1971, by John Kongos in South Africa.

Floating death, rocks and spots "there are only questions" Damian Hirst

For the Love of God’ (2007). Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates

Tate Modern: Exhibition 4 April – 9 September 2012

"This will be the first substantial survey of his work in a British institution and will bring together key works from over twenty years. The exhibition will include iconic sculptures from his Natural History series, including The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991, in which he suspended a shark in formaldehyde. Also included will be vitrines such as A Thousand Years from 1990, medicine cabinets, pill cabinets and instrument cabinets in addition to seminal paintings made throughout his career using butterflies and flies as well as spots and spins. The two-part installation In and Out of Love, not shown in its entirety since its creation in 1991 and Pharmacy 1992 will be among the highlights of the exhibition".Tate Modern web site. Take a virtual guided tour with the artist on the link here.

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991

The words “shark” and “Hirst” will be forever linked in our minds. Abandon all arguments and opinions, just look and see the deadly beauty in this piece. The soft aquamarine liquid. The interrupted form of the shark. The three sterile white grids that enclose it. A shark must keep moving, if it stops swimming, it dies. It is frozen, but forever moving, immortal. This is only my idea, but that is what art should do, make us think out of our comfort zone.

Beautiful Two Paths Painting with Butterflies (2007)

He produces the spin paintings on a brilliant Heath Robinson type contraption, a sort of mad professor painting machine. It’s like drawing with your non dominant hand; you become an observer as you draw, because your brain is confused. This machine is a robot version of the artists’ non dominant hand. Anything could happen. I am sure he was bored with the spin paintings, wanted to move the idea on, so he combined spinning with butterflies. This painting is decorative; he was inspired by stained glass windows and kaleidoscopes when he produced his butterfly works. (Or rather he arranged for his outworkers to produce them).

Ventolin’ (2005). Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates

He spent hours looking through pharmaceutical books to find names for each dot painting. I like sets of stuff, titles and names for groups of objects. He is a collector, curator and showman. He pays attention to detail and displays his work brilliantly. There is a lot to learn from MR. Hirst.

He also has work in the V & A the ‘British Design 1948 - 2012’ exhibition which brings together over 350 important and iconic objects. The exhibition includes an installation of pieces from Hirst’s restaurant venture Pharmacy. Amongst the objects on display, are works of art and furniture taken from Hirst’s 1998 restaurant venture ‘Pharmacy’. Included is the vast, fibreglass sculpture which provided the restaurant’s centrepiece, ‘Molecular Structure.’

"Sweeping it under the carpet" Hirst and Banksy collaborate to produce artwork to raise money for AIDS. Banksy said “give me a painting and I’ll mess around with it”.

Moore, mathematical stringed surfaces and stones with holes

Stringed Figure (1938). Bronze and string© The Henry Moore Foundation. Courtesy Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre, London

Moore at Royal Society and Science Museum

15th March 2012

"The 19th-century mathematical stringed surfaces of Theodore Olivier, and their influence on the work of Henry Moore, is the subject of a forthcoming exhibition to be held at the Royal Society and at the Science Museum's Computer and Mathematics Galleries. The exhibition is a partnership between the the Royal Society, the Science Museum, the Henry Moore Foundation and the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary".

“Undoubtedly the source of my stringed figures was the Science Museum. Whilst a student at the Royal College of Art, I became involved in machine art, which in those days had its place in modern art. [...] I was fascinated by the mathematical models I saw there, which had been made to illustrate the difference of the form that is half-way between a square and a circle. One model had a square stone end with twenty holes along each side making eighty holes in all. Through these holes strings were threaded and led to a circle with the same number of holes at the other end. A plane interposed through the middle shows the form that is halfway between a square and a circle. One end could also be twisted to produce forms that would be terribly difficult to draw on a flat surface. It wasn’t the scientific study of these models but the ability to look through the strings as with a bird cage and to see one form within another which excited me". Henry Moore.

Larger Arch, bronze

It is interesting to see how maths has been an influence on the work of Henry Moore, an artist who never allowed public disdain of his work to stop him from following his vision. Critics described his work as "stones with holes" . I like the carved abstract works best, these were also made after studying solid mathematical forms.

Henry Moore Ideas for Sculpture 1938. Pencil, crayon, watercolour on cream lightweight card

I admire his drawings; they are typical of an artist who works in three dimensions. His use of line and tone show the weight and form beautifully.

Henry Moore Textiles

"Moore began work on his fabric designs when Ascher, a Czech textile manufacturer, commissioned him, together with Henri Matisse and Jean Cocteau, to design a series of fabric scarves or "squares". With the accent on bold patterns and colours, the scarves were intended to brighten up post-war wardrobes, but for Moore it was to prove a liberating adventure into a world of colour. As a sculptor of large-scale reclining figures, Moore had been of the opinion that colour was a distraction from the appreciation of form, until he started dabbling with fabrics". By Richard Moss| 17 November 2009

These designs are simple, linear resists and washes of colour. Just ordinary coloured wax crayon and inks. It is so low tech compared to the digital processes available today. I enjoyed reading his thoughts on colour distracting from the appreciation of form, I have also thought that a few times since September 2011.

John Dalton

I found John Dalton lingering in the entrance of Manchester City Hall last week. Thought he was looking very serious possibly in deep thought about his blindness article and wondering if people are still talking about him. Well I think Dalton will not be forgotten for a long long time. Take a minute to remember this wonderful scientist and his achievements.

Special Collections

After going to Special Collections at the library, I was struck by the book collection, as books were about the only thing which I could photograph and use on the blog, I was quite happy to focus on them.

page folding might be something which you see quite regularly, but I find it fascinating, beautiful patterns emerge.

I spent a while looking through these fabulous old books, I love the embossing and the colours, it made me realise how books in present day are made cheaply in comparison, I guess they are now a dying breed, although I think I would still prefer to snuggle up with a book rather than a Kindle or ipad!

I came across this gorgeous book by Gladys Peto, her illustrations are stunning

As well as being a painter and illustrator of childrens books, she also designed pottery, posters, textiles and costumes.

During her designer years it was quite the thing to wear a Gladys Peto dress

Tamsin Cunningham

Tamsin Cunningham is a textile artist living in Derbyshire, I came across her work at my children's school, where she had been doing workshops.
I found her work striking and a unique way of using textiles.
Tamsin works by repetition, inspired by everyday things: road markings, signs, buildings and landscapes, she manipulates materials with the idea of making textures and surfaces appear different to what they actually are.

This is a piece she did for the school, which is fascinating, it appears she has entrapped fibers in what appears to be cling film, its very striking.