I went to the Private Viewing of the latest exhibition at the Loop Gallery on Friday night. Its called ‘(Un)titled’ and runs from March 1st to April 2nd. As you can see from the photo there was a good crowd there to see the works of five painters: Craig Atkinson, Derek Cully, Jason Jones, Terry Sullivan and Christine O’Reilly Wilson and the sculptor Stephen Hitchin.
All the artists fulfil Loop’s remit of contemporary abstract art with a selection of works by each painter on the walls and several of Hitchin’s sculptures around the perimeter of the room. Pictured here is one of Craig Atkinson’s paintings.
Thanks to Craig Atkinson for the photographs www.craigatkinson.co.uk
Monthly Archive for February, 2005
art05 is the second annual NW Arts Council event. The first was in Manchester last year.
Information overload
From 10.30-16.30 there was the art05 x.change in the Coach Shed in Greenland St. Over 70 organisations and individuals were involved all with their own table full of stuff. Lots of familiar faces from the local galleries, theatres etc. and some not so familiar from Manchester, Cumbria, Preston, Cheshire etc.
Surprisingly (or perhaps not) no sign of anyone from the Capital of Culture dept.! Will I ever get to meet these guys? Have to go and bang on the door of their ivory tower I suppose.
I returned with a large pile of literature and intend to read every word. Also pictured here are people from Catalyst Media and GoldFishGallery
Party Time
There were debates in the afternoon at FACT in association with the BBC about Arts Council work in the NW and ‘Can you buy Culture?’. I missed these, I didn’t have a ticket.
The awards party was in the evening at the Blade Factory (Jump Ship Rat). We were presented with lots of food and drink and these ribbons which were part of the installation commissioned from artists Maddi Nicholson and Stuart Bastik.
Eddie Berg snogs Tracey Emin and gets a big gong
Arts Council NW Chair, Tom Bloxham, presented John Fox with the award for a Lifetime’s Contribution to the Arts. John Fox, amongst many things, founded Welfare State International in 1968.
Then Tracey Emin presented the two £10,000 awards. The organisation one went to ‘Quarantine’ from Manchester, creators of new theatre. The individual award went to Eddie Berg, founder and executive director of FACT Eddie couldn’t make much of a speech because he said he was dying to go to the loo, should have left the heavy drinking till after the awards.
Tracey says she is a big fan of Liverpool and its Culture and had one of her best orgasms here. I’d like to take the credit but modesty forbids.
Oh How We Danced
The excellent music and dancing went on till midnight. These are dancers (not wrestlers) ‘Dansarota Barred’ and outside was Walk the Plank’s ‘Garden of Fiery Fabulousity’ which was indeed fabulousitous.
I’ll post more about the whole art05 day later but for now here’s a pic of Tracey Emin unveiling her first public sculpture outside the Oratory next to Liverpool Cathedral today. Called ‘Roman Standard’, I think its a really nice work but I’ll need to dig out my birdspotting binoculars to get a close look.
It was freezing cold so I just popped back to Jackson Towers to warm up and upload my pics before returning to the Coach Shed.
See BBC report and video here
Excellent article by Stuart Jeffries in today’s Guardian about the problem of popular exhibitions. In the major cities especially, its becoming impossible to just stand or sit in quiet contemplation in front of a painting for more than a few seconds. When I went to Tate Britain at the weekend I didn’t for one moment entertain the idea of pre-booking, queuing and being shepherded round the Turner/Whistler/Monet, much as I’d like to see the paintings. Instead we had a relaxing wander round the Caro sculptures – then used up our queuing quota at the overcrowded cafe!
Here’s my ticket for the Arts Council art05 awards party tomorrow night. Its printed on pretty pink felt! But the problem is it says ‘Smart Dress for Party’ and I don’t have a smart dress and if I did I wouldn’t wear it to go to Jump Ship Rat which is, lets be honest, a bit of a dump. Unless they’ve been refurbishing the place over the last couple of months I think some of these Arts Council nobs are in for a bit of a shock when they find themselves at this prestigious event in an unheated old shed on the coldest night of the year in Liverpool’s red light area. HeHe.
This is turning into a bit of a travelog. After my recent trips to Manchester and London, today I visited Newton-le-Willows. Not exactly a cultural hotbed but its a nice little Merseyside town (or village even) with a nice little station and nice little park and heritage trail and now a nice little Art Gallery called Moo D’art which is actually about half of the Global Living shop on the High Street. It was established and opened only a few of weeks ago by Clair Greenall and Anne Christian (pictured here). They display and sell a nice mix of original contemporary art, relief paintings, iconography and prints. The Global Living shop also sells hand-crafted furniture, ornaments, gifts and cards. If all goes well Clair and Anne hope to open their own dedicated gallery space soon.
I enjoyed my trip to woolyback land, there’s some nice liitle pubs too.
David Rees, International Artist: An Interview
I first met David when he was submitting his marine paintings at the Mall Galleries in London, where I worked at the time. With a fascinating international lifestyle and a successful painting career, I decided to find out how painting has led Liverpool artist David Rees around the world and back again.
David spent his childhood years in the Wirral, and as an art student in Liverpool. He then emigrated to Australia, in his 20’s where he started and owned his own Advertising Agency, writing and producing TV and radio commercials, and later, consulting to international clients in Dubai. Becoming a painter was always David’s childhood dream, so after starting his first series of works on the theme of ‘Reflections’, David decided to paint full time, and return home to concentrate on his artistic career.
Kaye: So what first inspired you to ‘give it all up’ and become an artist?
David: ‘I’ve always been the artist, from the time a pencil was first put in my hand. Looking out of my apartment in Dubai one day, my attention was caught by a reflection in a window. There were lots of buildings and skyscrapers around with reflective glass, and I became fascinated by the abstract distortions and patterns that you can so easily walk past without noticing. Translating my observations onto canvas led to a whole series of paintings on this theme, and over the next two years, my second bathroom was converted into a studio – my easel was set up in the shower cubicle, and my paint palette lived on the toilet. But the light was good in there!’
Kaye: So how did returning to Liverpool develop your painting career?
David: ‘Well I was born in Liverpool and grew up with the Beatle generation, and after spending many years living abroad, it was really a sense of nostalgia which brought me back. Childhood memories of the Mersey and the ‘hay days’ of Liverpool have always stayed with me, and spending time observing the boats and docks where I grew up provided the perfect subject matter for a new series of work. I have always regarded myself as a Photo-Realist painter, and going back to the basics of observational study also provided an opportunity to develop my painting technique’.
Kaye: Most recently, you have started painting portraits, with one or two very famous subjects. How did this come about?
David: ‘It all started when I was invited to exhibit in the Virgin Islands. While I was there, I spent some time getting to know some of the local characters, who asked me to paint their portraits. This led to a series of studies and commissions, and a new outlet through which I could further challenge my painting skills. When I returned home, Cherie Booth QC agreed to my painting her portrait – (which I gave to her, and which now hangs at No. 10) and I have subsequently completed 2 further portraits of her.
Kaye: You have enjoyed great success with your paintings on a fairly international scale – so what’s your secret?
David: ‘I have always wanted to become the pure artist I felt destined to be, and being successful takes a lot of dedication and commitment – you have to be completely focused on the dream to make it a reality. Having a good agent always helps, and my sister Diane has been a great supporter and promoter of my work in this capacity’.
Kaye: So now you’ve acquired three strings to your bow, do you have any plans to get involved with any local projects in the run up to Capital of Culture 2008?
David: ‘Of course, I’d like to be involved and be apart of the Capital of Culture year – In my marine art – stirring the nostalgic days when the Port of Liverpool was host to the world’s finest liners and the busy river bustled with every kind of ship imaginable. Liverpool’s skyline is altering and changing and I’d like to spend time ‘casting my reflective dimension eye’ over this famous skyline to perhaps discover and project new images – from newly created angles. Liverpool has always had at its heart its many ‘old wags’ – I’d like to try to capture and reflect the unique ingredient of ‘Liverpudlian character and humour’ within the faces of its people.’
David’s ‘Reflection Series’ have been exhibited in the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and London. He has also exhibited with the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Australian High Commission in London, and his work features in several private collections – including the PM’s!
Kaye Kent MA
david-k-rees.com
Of course, I intended to continue blogging from my daughter’s place in London but you know how it is.
Friday – London is this strange place where they sell mangos at 49p each or 2 for £1 ! And they ruin landmark architectural sites by adding grotesque inflatible athletes (I think its Kelly Holmes). I’m not against a bit of street art/theatre and am happy for them to host the 2012 Olympic games but tasteful it ain’t.
I was in Trafalgar Sq because thats where the National Gallery is. I didn’t spend a lot of time in there actually. It was very busy and its all old stuff. Of course, its great old stuff, I saw Titians , Botticellis and Bellinis but I always think, well it’ll still be there next time. I’ll have a proper look then. I did my usual trick of studying the Visitor Guide after I’d left and realised I was very close to seeing Van Eyck’s ‘Arnolfini Portrait’. I really should have looked out for that. Its also a shame I’m just a few days too early for the starts of the big Caravaggio exhib which starts on 23rd.
Just round the corner is the National Portrait Gallery. I spent more time here, especially in the Contemporary area where there are several recognisable celebrites, Dame Judi Dench, Germaine Greer and Sam-Taylor Wood’s video of the Sleeping Beckham. Also had a look at the Schweppes Photo Portrait Prize.
In the evening I went to the ICA to watch the film about Bob Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer. An interesting film and the director Hans Fjellestad was there to answer questions. The only problem was I was there with my daughter, son-in-law and their young friends who all thought the old footage of the likes of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman was hilarious! Laughing at the rock heroes of my generation, tut!
Saturday – Tate Britian to see the Anthony Caro sculptures, excellent. Plenty of other stuff there too of course, like Antony Gormley and Tracey Emin but didn’t bother with the Turner/Whistler/Monet extravaganza – too many queues, too crowded.
Then onto the Barbican for the Christian Marclay and Tina Barney exhibs. Highlight is Marclay’s Video Quartet (2002). Spread across 4 large screens, there’s nearly 700 short musical clips from films such as Psycho, Sound of Music, Barbarella, Back to the Future etc. There’s different clips on each screen and it runs for 15 minutes and somehow all fits together. All his work here is music related. This drum kit is 4 metres high and there’s a 7 metre long accordian. Go see, if you can – finishes May 2nd.
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