|
|
« September 2004 | Main
| November 2008 »
 Michelle has been busy making a lovely hat & sash (amongst other things). I wouldn't dare call her a tit-head though! I've seen quite a few good displays made from yoko's 'merchandise' recently.
--------
I don't get angry but I was a bit p'd off yesterday afternoon to find the Novas building closed. It was scheduled to be the final day but it seems the organisers decided to finish a day early without bothering to tell the public or even the artists!
My daughter and son-in-law had travelled up from London so I could show them round. We'd already walked to FACT, the Pier Head, the Tate and then along Jamaica St so we were tiring but looking forward to what I'd promised was the most interesting gallery. Shame. Not even a note on the door to explain. Can't imagine this happening at the Tate or Walker, shoddy treatment for the poor independent artists.
At least Jump Ship Rat and the Garage with the Dave White Cars exhibition were open so the journey wasn't entirely wasted.  
--------
I couldn't face a trip to Madchester after all, I went to the Novas building (yet again) to watch some of the transVoyeur filmed interviews with the American artists who never actually exhibited here due to funding problems. Its the last day at Novas tomorrow (Sat. 30th) but Ben Youdan was there today taking down his pictures made from sequins, so if you haven't seen them its too late now.
I'll really miss them and all the other stuff here, the International strand is good but I found the Independents & New Contemporaries more interesting/exciting.
The 'Streets of Desire' exhibition at Jump Ship Rat runs for another week though, it finishes on Nov 8th.Hurrah for MothmanMoth Man (artist Tony Knox) tells me that he won his wrestling match last Saturday despite impaired vision due to his mask slipping over his eyes. This was a return match against GPW wrestler Adam Fate who gave our hero such a beating in the video on show here. 
--------
An American Stuckist's Perspective on the Liverpool BiennialHe seems to think St Luke's is the Catholic Cathedral. A common mistake.
--------
A few things finish this Saturday, including 'Graduates 04' at Arena and the Independents stuff in the Novas building. TransVoyeur are showing the culmination of filmed performances and interviews for the rest of this week, detailsI've been sat at home all day waiting for the parcel DHL promised to deliver today, still waiting! I may be a traitor tomorrow and visit the Manchester Art Show
--------
I braved the windy weather this afternoon to take a look at the art on display at Babycream in the Albert Dock. This is part of the BART strand which finishes on Saturday! Get round those bars quick before all the artwork disappears to be replaced by boring lager posters. Here they have a couple of display cases containing Gillian Davis's 'Luxury Cocktail Accessories' - very nice, they'd make a good gift if you're into that sort of thing. There's also John Gerrard's 'Planar Portrait' in another display case, pictured here.  Of course, I had to try out the funky big red seats, now my back's complaining!
--------
I called here yesterday afternoon. The Museum MAN director, Adam Nankervis, actually lives here and the walls of his rooms, even the bathroom, are covered in artworks by artists from all over the world. Currently every centimetre of the kitchen walls and cupboard doors are covered with pages from medical books showing pictures of diseased parts of the human body. This is the work of Frank Shaepel and he was there to explain that if you can manage to ignore what they really are the images can look quite beautiful, the eyes can look like planets or universes.
There's also works in the basement which you enter through a very small doorway under the stairs, its all very gloomy and spooky. There's a bed of nails, peep-holes in the walls and an area where Jill Rock does performance art involving readings from favourite books and other stuff. I recommend it, there's a good mix of art and is worth visiting just for the quirky fun of it all. Press the bell for Flat 1 at 30 Falkner St, Tues-Sun 2-7 pm. Phone 0789 1695577 afoundation Link
--------
Seen & Heard 2 at the Bluecoat this evening. I love dance but don't often get to see it for one reason or another. I really enjoyed this, there were more people there than the organisers were expecting so I didn't get a copy of the programme, I think they were mostly dance students from LIPA. We started in the courtyard with 3 girls dancing among the ice sculptures, it was lovely but lucky it wasn't raining. Then up to the concert hall for lots more dancing to Abba and techno music and a dvd screening. Great stuff, and it finished in time for me to watch the second half of the football in the pub.
--------
I've been quiet for a couple of days. I do have things to report but I'm going out again soon so they will have to wait. Meanwhile, apologies for being off-topic but I'm really sad about the death of John Peel He was so much more than just a 'Radio 1 DJ'. Before the world of mp3, internet downloading etc. he was just about the only source of alternative music for old hippies like me. Don't think he was into fine art but the only times I saw him live was supporting and presenting gigs by Liverpool poets & musicians at places like the Everyman in the early 70s. How will the BBC ever replace him?
--------
--------
 There's lots of them around now but I'm not saying where.
--------
I spent yesterday afternoon in Jump Ship Rat gallery but whilst waiting for the wrestling to start I had another look in the Novas building and spotted the remains of Rebecca Backhouse's 'Trace' figures looking quite battered after being dragged round the streets.   This was the second live webcast from SPLICE but the live webstreaming wasn't working so the only way to see it was to be there. This featured the 'Graduates 04' artists and others including afoundation people discussing things like the support independent artists have had, the current art scene in Liverpool and what happens next. Perhaps they should have also debated the merits of holding a live debate in the same room as a live wrestling tournament! Maybe they did but it was drowned out by the sickening thuds of huge wrestlers being thrown onto the canvas. Moth Man meets his Match This picture isn't actually MothMan, he buzzed around so fast my pictures are just a blur. The long-awaited event was quite a success, several GPW wrestlers put on a good show in front of a lively audience many of whom would not normally venture into an art gallery. I'm afraid I couldn't watch more than a few seconds at a time, my already nervous state was greatly increased when I noticed the huge ceiling beams were only a few centimetres above the fighters heads! But apparently not too much blood was spilled. I don't even know if MothMan won his bout or who his opponent was but I recorded a short mpeg vid of the start of the fight which you can download (its 6mb so might take a while) mothman.mpg
--------
Daisy Delaney's back in town installing more windmills so let me know if you spot any, I want pictures of them.
And Dorrie Halliday's Angel balloons have brought a bit of pleasure to several people, see some of the responses here
--------
1 Stop Wrestling News Free GPW Exhibition This Saturday Looks like the wrestling world is descending on Jump Ship Rat this afternoon.
--------
11 paragraphsBased at the Static gallery is the official press corps of the Biennial and this is "A brief exploration of the Liverpool Biennial Press Release"
--------
At the gallery above St Petersburg Russian restaurant in York St. I was here a couple of weeks ago for the exhibition by the Georgian artist Mikhail Makharadze now I'm back for this solo show 'Rhythms' by Nicole Bartos, originally from Romania. She's been very busy promoting eastern European art with the
Under Blue Sky exhibition at Blackburne House and the Art Seminar there next Thurs/Fri.
 This picture is just a detail from a larger piece, you should be able to see its wet-on-wet work which requires the artist to work quite quickly and rhythmically and also suggests rhythms of light and water, hence the title of the exhibition. There are a few pieces in a similar style and others with much larger splashes of colour. Also some 3D works involving wood, nails and other mixed media. Curator Kate Dadiani kept me amused with her efforts to get the hi-fi to play the right blend of eastern-euro music. Good old Tchaikovsky - very quiet, very loud, very quiet, very loud! (only kidding Kate)
--------
There's extra perfomances by the transVoyeur group of artists in the Independents area tomorrow night and I suppose I'll have to go and watch the live wrestling on Saturday afternoon with Moth Man and GPW Wrestling at Jump Ship Rat.. Hope its not too violent! Details.
--------
 Well, Hoody, to be more accurate. Thanks Emma! No more sneaking round galleries anonymously. I'll be going as 'bloggerman'
--------
I've now blogged over 10,000 words in 94 posts over 5 weeks. Just thought I'd mention that.
--------
I've always liked Hemingways Coffee House in Duke St. Opens at 8 am, reasonable menu, newspapers, magazines, board games and now they have sculptures by Faith Bebbington. They're all figures (couples even) made from fibre glass resin and are coloured silver or gold. Faith has been running workshops here, the next is Thurs 28th. Details and pics on her website
--------
Its a wonder the city centre streets and shops aren't completely deserted. With, already, quite literally more than 3 people boycotting the city centre because of Yoko's banners, the council have started erecting huge Christmas decorations across the main thoroughfares. I don't recall anyone asking the people of Liverpool if they wanted this stuff forced upon them. They haven't even got the excuse that its the work of an internationally renowned artist. It is tasteless, offensive, degrading, ironic and any other inappropriate adjectives you can think of. No doubt, there will be many members of the public complaining to the Council and the press already. As a devout anti-christmasitarian myself I will have to avert my eyes but this could make my gallery visits a bit difficult. I suppose they'll plonk a fir tree in the Walker soon. I'm not sure what my punishment will be if my eyes should happen to fall on a Santa Claus or, heaven forbid, a whole nativity scene complete with David Bowie singing Little Drummer Boy! Perhaps, I'll be forced to spend the rest of my days in a room full of Stuckists, Religious zealots and everyone who's ever appeared on Big Brother.
--------
I'm not biennialing today. Most galleries are closed on Mondays and I need to catch up on a few chores like buying food, washing clothes etc. Then I'll watch the new onedotzero dvd 3 which arrived in the post this morning, yeah!
--------
'Cabin Pressure' at the Cabin Club. thePooch.com I said this might be fun and it was. Shame there weren't more passengers on board this flight but they were a very friendly gang. I nearly wasn't allowed on board as the xray machine detected an offensive weapon in my coat! There was good in-flight entertainment including a virtual avatar , 'Bronwen' the ethereal apparition and I got this cute purple pooch pen from the duty-free trolley
There's a return flight scheduled for 7th November
--------
Another epic art trek today. Beans on Toast with black coffee for late breakfast at Tabac. Nothing arty about that (unless you count the huge fish tank), just wanted to recommend it. Then down to 32 Seel St. but they hadn't opened. Artists lose all sense of time, they live in their own creative world where timepieces are used only as objects in surrealist landscapes. It was open later though so I'll come back to that.
twoeightone presents: TransientExcept they didn't! Or, not to me anyway. They were only here for this weekend in a small room in the Marriott Hotel. The receptionist kindly got a member of staff to let me in for a quick look but there was nothing much to report. They're a collective based in Madchester so enough said.
At the Museum of Liverpool Life. I was actually heading for the Independents area but went via the waterfront and spotted this new exhibition by students from 6 local schools. Its not Biennial, its 'Year of Faith' and I don't have a single religious cell in my body (thank God) but its a lovely little exhibition and I learned that there's a Baha'i Centre in Langdale Rd., I never knew that before.
Novas Building - New StuffSo I eventually reached Greenland St., I was looking for a thing called FIT IN which was scheduled to start last week. But I couldn't find it and no-one I asked knew anything about it s I'll have to investigate that one another time
  Happily though, there's some new works in the Novas building. I don't have their names, I couldn't find any printed notes but its all very interesting. Watch out for giant spiders and barefooted loft monsters.
Another good bit of fortune as I was walking back along Jamaica St I noticed this exhibition which was supposed to finish yesterday was actually open. Of course, it hadn't been open when I'd tried to see it previously at a time when it should have been open.
 This is the theatre producer, Michael White's collection of 40 years worth of every invitation, badge and guest pass he's ever been sent. It was interesting to see how the styles had changed over the years.
Back to 32 Seel St., another new exhibition. This is also part of the Homotopia festival and is an exhibition of Gay Art or rather an exhibition by gay/lesbian artists including Holly Johnson, Sadie Lee, Trademark and Gary Sollars who is also exhibiting in the transVoyeur section at the Novas building. Its a 'carnivalesque cornucopia of Queer' and is also rather good. There are also a pair of steam irons singing to each other! You have to get quite close to hear them. They're singing 'Somewhere' from West Side Story - naturally.
--------
'Cabin Pressure' thePooch at the Cabin Club, 8pm tonight £3. Think I'll have look if I've still got the energy, went to the Cabin a few times when I was a teenager many, many years ago.
--------
'Ritual Bodies' at the WalkerNormally when I go to the Walker now I just head straight for the Special Exhibitions rooms, I've seen all the other stuff so many times. But these 'artists interventions' are spread around so I ventured into rooms I hadn't seen for quite a while which I suppose is a good thing. There's just 4 artists involved, I liked Margaret Cahill's thin plaster dresses lit up from inside.
Here's a picture of some of Phil Davenport's poetry on apples   One of them is stuck on the blade of this statue in the cafe area. The 'Gallery Guard' (Mike Chavez-Dawson) sings a song about it.  A pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
--------
The previews at Arena in Duke St. are usually very popular and this was no exception. Perhaps its the cheap drink or its proximity to bars and clubs or I suppose it could be the artwork. Anyway the small gallery was very crowded and it was a good atmosphere as the 5 recent art graduates attempted to explain their work to annoying inquisitors like me. I can't really describe it, you have to go and see it for yourself. I was going to go on to the Independents area to see the transVoyeur performances but the rain was so heavy the nearby bars proved irresistible.
--------
 There was still quite a trail of sand (from last nights crawl) round the streets this morning.
--------
The Art Crawl last night was great fun, I didn't do the whole thing though as I went to the Northern Lights relaunch party at the Masque which was also great fun.   Dorrie Halliday's Urban Angels were released into the night sky from outside The Quarter Cafe. Yes, they're actually red balloons but they have postcard prints of Dorrie's angel pictures tied to them. I've just looked at her website and a couple of people in the Manchester area have already reported finding some.  Also starting from here was Rebecca Backhouse's live performance 'Trace'. She filled a couple of people-shaped canvas sacks with sand and dragged them along the ground so that the sand starts to slowly pour out leaving a trail. Here they are enjoying a drink before starting off. By the time they got to the second venue, Puschka, they were already looking a bit worn!  We congregated in the small wine cellar at Puschka where there are some great ceramics. I then left the 'crawl' but joined up with them well after midnight at the Bumper club where David Knopov was singing Sinatra songs in his Perfectly Frank guise. I'm not a Sinatra fan but this guy is good, I vaguely remember joining in the dancing at one point before literally crawling up the hill to bed at 2am.
--------
 Thanks to Greg for sending these from Toronto! No jokes about enormous zoom lenses please, Greg came over to help Daisy Delaney install the windmills.  This was on the windiest day of the year, you see the lengths our heroic artists go to to brighten up our daily lives. And the effort some scallies must have gone to to steal some of them! There's more pictures here and there's more windmills on the way later this month.
--------
Arena - Graduates 04 Oct 16th to 30th. Private viewing tomorrow 15th 7-9pm. Six new graduates in need of appreciation and support. Wonder if I can buy one, lock them in a garret somewhere and force to them to turn out ten paintings a day in return for one bowl of gruel. Nah, not worth the hassle, the paintings wouldn't sell and where can you find a garret these days. Starving artist in a luxury penthouse studio apartment just doesn't sound right.
--------
Didn't realise it was an open day at the University today, the campus was even more crowded than usual but this gallery in Abercromby Sq is always a quiet haven. There's 3 floors full of all kinds of stuff including some Turners, Augustus Johns and Epstein. Special exhibitions are always on the top floor and, as in this case, if there's too many pieces to fit in the room they spread out on to the stairwell. All the paintings are abstract - very abstract - which is fine but these just didn't do it for me, apart from a couple. There are several watercolours and small canvases which show the artists preparatory work. Quite a few of these sketches and one of the oils is an interpretation of Abercronmby Sq as viewed from the gallery.
--------
I've received confirmation (thanks Sarah) that the Art Crawl tomorrow finishes at the Bumper in Hardman St (formerly Plummers). Scheduled to be there near 12pm and carry on till 2am with performances from Gaynor Evelyn Sweeney and Perfectly Frank.
--------
The Bar Art Crawl happens tomorrow. Starting at The Quarter at 6pm (rumour is that Angels will be taking flight from here) and finishing at..oh hang on. Web site and original booklet say Modo but flyer says The Bumper, the flyer is quite recent so I guess its the Bumper, anyway thats at 11pm so everyone will be too pished to notice where they are. Wonder if there'll be free drinks, doubtful but we can hope Link
--------
LETS Create at ArtSpeq Quiggins - I took a second look at this as it finishes this Saturday and there's some new additions. I like the various fabric things hanging around the place, makes a nice change from staring at walls and Mick Green's painted computer screens are fun - Read more about him here Nerve Magazine
--------
This is a new exhibition, opened yesterday, of works by Stephen Boyd on the theme of the historical perception of paintings. Pictures of conservation artists studios feature quite a lot. Its quite different from anything else and the techniques seem well executed. I like one called 'Aura' which has blue & red LEDs shining onto it.
Philip Key reviews it in today's Daily Post. I do agree with him that the artists statements are extremely pretentious and not at all helpful. ic Liverpool - Liverpool Biennial - Vanishing Point, Conservation Centre
Note: Its on two floors, if you're not used to the Conservation Centre its easy to miss either the Mezzanine or the First floor, depending on where you start from.
--------
 Not strictly biennial this but as I was approaching the Albert Dock yesterday I thought my old friend the superlambbanana had been vandalised. When I got close up I saw that I was correct! Maybe I'm taking this too seriously, the sculpture was meant to be funny after all, but bananas should be yellow (though mine are often black). In the past this has been painted pink then black & white. Now its being used like an advertising hoarding for a not very inspiring logo. Will all these 08 signs be sticking around for the next four years I wonder.
--------
ic Liverpool - Liverpool Biennial 2004I actually remembered to vote this week. This is the Liverpoll thing by Sanja Ivekovic, there's a different poll each week and the results are displayed on the large pie-charts in Church Alley outside the Bluecoat.
--------
 I looked on as four Tate visitors played the SuperCurator game this afternoon. This was created by Navin Rawanchaikul and takes up most of one of the rooms. I like the whole thing even without the game-playing
To quote..."This game is devised on the basis of Rawanchaikul’s own experiences. Situations set up for the player include cultural misunderstandings and attempts to influence an artist’s work. The player’s decisions determine whether he or she can ‘make it’ and become a successful international curator. The game is also a competition and a league table will be displayed throughout the exhibition."
The game itself looks similar to monopoly, a member of staff acts as banker and helper. The winner gets a smart trophy and their picture is painted into the large mural on one of the walls. all good fun, there are 6 games a week scheduled so if you're interested call 707 6719 to book.
--------
 I'm happy to report that the large banner that was taken down from St Lukes church to replace a damaged one at the Bluecoat is now in place. Its looking a bit wrinkly though.
Respect to the Biennial people!
--------
'In Shop-Shop' Torolab. I saw this cart a lot at various places in the city centre in the first couple of weeks but not recently. Its a rubbish cart which has been transformed into a mobile shop and it sells items that some have rejected as rubbish but that others consider well worth buying. Mostly CDs and T/sweat shirts. When I took this picture they were selling CDs by the Mexican version of The Cheeky Girls, it had been rejected, quite rightly, by all the broadcasters but nevertheless became very popular amongst people with no taste. I'm not saying whether I bought one or not.
--------
'Bread & Games, Plant & Play' Azra Aksamija This takes place in Gt. Georges Square (off Nelson St) each Saturday. The plastic boxes each contain an item, you can leave things in them or swap or borrow, I think. Bit complicated for me. I saw books, toys, clothes etc. There were some of these in the Tate as well only filled with soil and small plants or seeds which you could take away to grow the plants then you bring them back at the end of the Biennial to make a huge pan of scouse.
Its all about 'enabling the exchange of objects and ideas.'
--------
which translates as Small Landscape is in the Gostin Building in Hanover St. Don't be put off by having to use the intercom to get in and the scarey old lift up to the 6th floor. This is all part of the experience. There's about 20 pictures on the corridor walls as you come out of the lift. The clue is in the title, there are no large works, some are very small and they're all landscapes or the landscape is used as a theme. Various medias, of course, nothing outrageous, all very nice.
--------
Spotted a couple more of Daisy Delaney's windmills today, looking a bit tired but still alive.
My sources tell me that there should be more appearing later this month so watch out for them.
--------
Pollination - Artist: Peter ChanJust got back from an art crawl across the city centre. Thats another couple of miles done and I need new shoes. Peter Chan's large canvases (oils or gloss paint) are abstractish mostly with a floral/blossom theme. They're at 7 different venues and I set myself the challenge of getting round them all in a morning.
I started at the SAS Radisson Hotel at the far end of Hall st. There's an interesting little courtyard there with round glass etched pictures in the walls and floor which is worth looking at (see pic). Chan's pictures are in the foyer which is also an interesting space, there about 6 pictures here. Next was Bang & Olufsen in Castle St., 2 pictures here, one's in the demo room. then Vivienne Westwood in Cavern Walks, 2 by the Mathew St entrance and one high up at the other end. Wade Smith in Mathew St. just had the one on the top floor (Mens Boardroom) - this has fish (Koi I think) rather than flowers. Next its up to Bold St, Waterstones Costa Coffee have a couple (one black & white) and a couple more in Giancarlo Ricci. Finally the Tea Factory has 2 pictures near the Fleet St entrance which look quite similar to ones that I saw at the first place (wonder if thats deliberate?).
That was fun but I felt obliged to buy things everywhere I went! Anyone want to buy these from me? A Vivienne Westwood shirt (£150); Gucci Denim Jeans (£220) and you thought art was expensive!; Versace T shirt (£84); B&O Plasma TV (££££). Only joking of course, there's no way I'd sell my lovely Westwood shirt darling.
--------
I'm sure there's been some reduction in the number of experiments on animals for such things as cosmetics but looking at the New Contemporaries I'm worried that young artists are taking up the slack. 'Swarm' is a wonderful piece but I wanted to know if all those flying insects died of natural causes, there's a triptych of pictures of foxes standing on hind legs (they may have been stuffed, I don't know), Thomas Needham's Untitled has whats left of a dead pheasant stuck to the canvas, there's a video called Swan Upping - don't know whats happening but it involves a load of swans. Also some photos of monkeys, again, I don't know whats going on but they look like they're inside horrible wooden crates. Is this representative of this years college output or are the selectors especially keen on exploitation of animals.
There's also the horse in the Trigger video (at the Bluecoat) which was very much alive and I'm sure was just as shit-scared as the staff and guests it bumped into as it was led round the Adelphi with cameras strapped to its body. Especially when it was taken out onto the balcony above the noisy city centre.
--------
Too busy with domestic issues today to visit a gallery and I'm suffering. I think this is the first day I've missed since the start and I feel cold and empty. I need the buzz, the adrenalin rush. the mind-bending experience that only contemporary art can provide. I need more pictures of snowmen with candles on their heads, videos of women in swimsuits being splashed by passing cars, little red houses blasting Abba music, huge inflatable flowers and whisky fountains. Instead, I spent most of the day in the cultural wasteland known as 'The Wirral'. I'm a Citydweller Get Me out of Here!
--------
 I must have seen a few films here in my yoof but its been derelict for a long long time as you can tell by the picture. Now they've replaced the doors with a solid glass panel so you can see the dilapidated gloomy foyer while some shots from various surveillance cameras around the building are screened onto the glass. There are also occasional short performances shown on the screen, the final one scheduled for Friday 15th Oct. after which it will close down again.
The artist Peter McCaughey says he's interested in sites that are ,to quote Kerry Brougher, "not empty but filled with absence" - nice one. Link
--------
I was hoping to post this message from the Independents district but was unable to get online. I reported a while ago that Nublu have provided a wireless hotspot for the area in Jamaica St. so I went to check it out today and just my luck the link was down. The Techies (well, Billy, anyway) were working on restoring it. You can spend a good half day viewing all the things in this area so its comforting to know that (if you dare) you can take your laptop along (they can feel really heavy after a while) and never be far from your emails.
--------
|
