Just as I'm about to fly off to Cork (this years European Capital of Culture) the Liverpool Echo prints an article saying how the Cork effort has all been a bit of a damp squib so far...

Such has been the concern at the style and substance of Cork's celebrations one grass-roots group felt compelled to spring into action. Its name? "Where's Me Culture?"

"The Cork 2005 logo includes a picture of a firework, but we were worried it was going to turn into a damp squib. So we thought instead of being cynical we'd try and harness various groups in the city."

I must say, the listings I've seen on the website so far this year have not excited me greatly but I'm sure I'll find some interesting stuff. Anyway, one of my favourite bands, Caribou, are playing there on Saturday night so I've that to look forward to.

I shall, of course, relate my Irish art adventures when I return. Meanwhile this blog will be quiet for a few days.

Me and my friend M had a lovely day out on the Wirral yesterday. Starting at...

Wirral Met Degree Show at Williamson Gallery Birkenhead

This finishes on Sunday and I'd missed the Private View. Luckily most of the students were there yesterday morning as the assessors were visiting so we were able to ask questions, which was good as there was very little documentation.
There's only 16 artists, the Williamson gives them 5 rooms to use so there isn't that cramped feeling you get at the degree shows held within the colleges, more like a 'proper' exhibition!
We really enjoyed it and spent a lot of time there. All the works must have taken a lot of time and effort, they were all very well presented.
The students/artists are Stuart Allison, Jan Brown (part of her work pictured here), Marlene Cartwright, Diana Karpova, Kwan May Ling, Jayne Hannay, Rita Harwig, Barbara Lamb, Laura Lawton, Brendan Magee, Amanda Oliphant, Netty O'Rourke, Lisa Pugh, David Sutton, Jo Swift and Jean Wayles.

Next we drove down to....

Beside the Seaside at Lady Lever Gallery

The Lady Lever is a nice gallery in the lovely village of Port Sunlight. They have a good collection of pre-raphaelites, Wedgewoods, Chinese Pottery, Tapestries as well as Period Rooms.
The seaside exhibition is in 2 small rooms, I was expecting a bit more. They are all paintings relating to the seaside by British Impressionists such as Charles Conder, Philip Wilson Steer and Walter Sickert. Mostly evocative images of the leisured classes strolling along the promenade and fully dressed women and girls in big bonnets paddling.
In an adjacent room is Picasso's 'Woman Seated in an Armchair' which is on loan from Berlin. It is shown alongside Rossetti's 'Sibylla Palmifera' (another seated woman) so we can contrast the two different approaches to depicting female beauty. Its a good idea, I prefer the Rossetti.

After a look round the gallery shop we had a picnic on the village green. It was very peaceful and sunny, a pleasant way to spend a summers day.

James Pagella and Pete Dickinson at the Kif

The evening was more lively. It was the opening of this exhibition of new works by James and Pete. The Kif is looking better than it has done for a while and I really like the new stuff. There was a barbecue in the yard (until the storm arrived!) and excellent live music from 'A Hawk and a Hacksaw'. At 10pm we all moved onto the Marlborough pub to see Zukanican play (with the multi-talented James on drums)

It must be all this sunny weather, I'm struggling to find the time to write about all the things I've been to see. Last Thursday was busy...

Adrian Henri Retrospective at Cornerstone (Hope Uni)

There was a big crowd here including many 'celebrity' friends of the late Mr Henri and its a bigger show than normal for this venue. There are several small tems in the glass cabinets near the entrance containing sketch books, poetry books, Liverpool Scene album covers etc.
Personally I preferred his poetry and music to his painting but I do like some of them. I used to see Liverpool Scene regularly at O'Connors Tavern in Hardman St in the late 60's and I have a lot of Adrian's poetry, excellent. There's a proper review of the exhibition on the way so be patient or, better still, go and see it for yourself. Runs until July 15th.
Couldn't stop long as we had to dash over to FACT....

The Agony & The Ecstasy at FACT

In Gallery 1 is Chen Chieh-jen's work 'Lingchi - Echoes of a Historical Photograph'. The printed guide begins 'I cannot stop gazing at these photographic images of anonymous people being tortured, executed...'
Well maybe you cannot Chen, but I certainly can! Its a filmed re-enactment of a Lingchi execution or 'death of a thousand cuts'. Its in Bill Viola style slow-motion in black & white on three large screens. I didn't stop long. Why would I want to?

In Gallery 2 is Sigalit Landau's 'Barbed Hula'
'A naked dancer (Landau herself) performs on the beach with a symbolic barbed wire hula hoop - a provocative act which, despite the barbs pointing outwards, places the onlooker in the uncomfortable position of witness to a self-inflicted pleasure/pain experience'
'Pleasure'? I'm obviously missing something. The barbs may be pointing outwards but you can still see a lot of marks on her skin. Lets move on quickly.

Also in Gallery 2 is 'Pitfall' by Marzia Migliora & Elisa Sighicelli. This is better. Its a 3D animation in black & white inspired by pictures from the Encyclopedia of Diderot et D'Alembert [1745] of plans for hunting and trapping animals. The viewer finds herself walking inside a wood, the trees look like they're cardboard cutouts. You're looking for a way out but, in fact, all the paths lead to the pitfall. I actually watched this for quite a while.

Rebecca Key at Arena

On Friday I went to an office party. Or so it seemed. The Arena gallery has been turned into a big office by Rebecca Key for this installation entitled 'Administration'. It really does look like a real rather dated, untidy office.

A few desks, computers, filing cabinets even a scruffy carpet and all the typical clutter of an admin office. A lot of the material has been donated by local companies and some has been rescued from skips (with permission).
I quite enjoyed the experience, safe in the knowledge that I don't have to work in such an environment any more. I did long to tidy the place up though, I can't abide untidy workspaces.
Runs until July 23rd and Rebecca is discussing the work on July 16th at 14.30.

Nothing to do with Liverpool but I think these images are fascinating.

"This spring we asked the Princeton University community to submit imagery produced in the course of research or incorporating tools and concepts from science. The response was overwhelming: more than 200 entries from nearly 100 individuals in 15 departments. We selected 55 of these works to appear in the 2005 Art of Science Exhibition."

Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2004) at the Conservation Centre until September 18th 2005.
The international competition, organised by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine aims to reward the best wildlife photographers from across the world. Their photographs convey the wonder, drama and beauty of life on Earth.

There are, indeed, some excellent shots of wildlife but my own favourites are the few that don't actually have any animals in them. Like this picture of Giant Amazonian Waterlillies and there's one of ice bubbles in a pond with golden sunlight shining on the grass.
More details at www.nhm.ac.uk/wildphoto

Nicholas Horsfield died just 2 weeks after his retrospective opened at Liverpool University Art Gallery. Which reminds me that although I went to the private viewing I haven't reviewed it yet. I must go back and have a proper look and write about it. The exhibition runs until July 29th.

Painter and teacher, he was one of the most influential members of the Merseyside art world

'A member of the Liverpool Academy of Art from 1954, and its president from 1960 to 1965, Horsfield was also a member of the Merseyside Contemporary Artists. He had many solo shows and his work is in many public and private collections, including the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.'

'He delighted in independent spirit and demonstrated an extraordinary ability to spot the moment at which a student had seen the light.'
Obituary in todays Guardian

Summer of Love Review by Jo Raven

Tate Liverpool’s Summer of Love exhibition explores an entire era of exceptional political and cultural change, spanning over a decade from the 1960’s to the early seventies. Focusing on one particular aspect, the ‘psychedelic’ and its diverse creative potential, the Tate offers an assortment of work from posters, record covers, books and magazines, films and installations, spread over two floors. The exhibition covers all aspects of visual culture, produced and strongly influenced by experimentation with the mind-altering effect of drugs, notably marijuana and the hallucinogenic LSD.

Entering the exhibition through a black and white tunnel, you are led into a room teeming with original advertising posters featuring bold, fluorescent colours, intensely detailed and written in barely legible typefaces. The next section is divided into geographical areas: San Francisco and West Coast, New York and the East Cost and London and Liverpool, with each individual area accompanied by a timeline placing the display in its cultural and historical context.

These rooms are filled with memorabilia of the time: press cuttings, photographs, posters, and album covers of every conceivable popular music icon of the time from the Rolling Stones and the Beatles to Pink Floyd. There is an abundance of original literature including work produced by the emerging ‘underground’ magazines, all of which is interspersed with original film footage.

Film, video and multimedia installations feature widely in this exhibition. Light shows, psychedelic films and interactive installations such as Peter Sedgley’s ultraviolet discs, Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room Lover Forever and Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable and The Velvet Underground, combine a frenzy of vibrant colours, abstract shapes and interchanging images, created to challenge and stretch the human perceptual capacity.

Impacting on all aspects of popular culture at the time, the psychedelic is clearly evident in the fields of art, film, fashion, design and music. For me, Janis Joplin’s hand painted Porsche epitomises the excessively creative and over-the-top style, which has become indicative of this art and this period, making Summer of Love a must see.

FACT.FM has started in the Media Lounge at FACT...

For a limited time only, FACT will be hosting an internet radio station by and for the people of Liverpool. Budding DJs and presenters of all ages are invited to use the open access Media Lounge Recording Studio to record their copyright-free stories, rhymes and grimes, poems and songs for an archive of home-made sounds. All audio will then be available on the world wide web; to the delight (no doubt), of ex-pats, family and friends across the globe.

There's already an amazing rendition of Jumping Jack Flash by Lily Kehoe who is only 3.5 years old! You have to listen to it and pass on the link, its going to be a hit!.

The latest issue of the excellent Nerve magazine from Catalyst Media is out today. Look out for it in all the usual outlets over the next few days. This issue focuses on the G8 summit but as usual has several features and interviews on art and local artists.

Nice to see local jewellery maker Alice Hughes (Alice in Wonderland) featured in the Daily Post the other day.

The 26-year-old, from Aigburth, has started selling a range of silver jewellery, with designs inspired by the plants and shells of New Zealand, from her base in Liverpool city centre.

While travelling in New Zealand Alice decided she wanted to learn a craft and enrolled on a jewellery making course run by a man called Ray Mitchell. Mr Mitchell made the "One Ring" used in the blockbuster film trilogy, Lord of the Rings.

I saw some of her work in the Bluecoat Display Centre recently and you can see more on her website: www.aliceinwonderlandjewellery.com

Adam Nankervis of Museum MAN Liverpool somehow gets people to do the weirdest things or rather gets the weirdest people to do things.
Here he is with Gilbert and George making the MAN sign at the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

You can't see it very clearly in this picture but this is one of a series of 54 large-scale photographic, 360 degree, time lapsed panoramas depicting day trippers at all of England's remaining seaside pleasure piers.
They are the work of Liverpool-born photographic artist Lawrence George Giles and the overall exhibition is calld 'Time and Tide'. Starting in the north east and going clockwise around the country finishing at Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast, it took four years for Lawrence to photograph and complete his work.
Its interesting but half way round I was just thinking how similar all these scenes look, especially the piers. I started at the wrong end outside the Ha-Ha bistro so I finished at the Tate in time for a welcome tea-break.
The photographs will be there until July 15th. Full details at www.timeandtide.info

The three pieces up for auction at Bonhams in London were painted by Congo in 1957 and were estimated to fetch between £600 and £800 in a sale which included works by Renoir and Andy Warhol. But they fetched £14,400, including buyer's premium.
I actually remember seeing Congo the Chimp pretending to be human on the Zoo Time TV program when I was young.
So, if asked who my early artistic influences were, do I say Turner, Picasso, Dali or, more truthfully, Congo, Tony Hart, Rolf Harris and Superman comics?
Link

I went to the Metropolitan Cathedral yesterday. As part of Architecture Week, one of the local events is a display of Susanna Heron's artwork which is to be completed by the Autumn, the Cathedral is hosting an exhibition which uses photographs and text to show the development of the artist's ideas. There's also information about the original building plans and the history of the cathedral site.

Its Liverpool Community College Arts Centre's End of Year Show this week. There's plenty to see with works by first and second year students at every level from beginner to HND and every course from Art & Design, Multimedia, Technology, Fashion to photography and TV Video production. Most of the work is on the top floor, thats where I started. Again it was crowded and hot but well worth it, some amazingly creative work. Slowly worked my way down the floors and ended with an excellent music and dance show in the Multi-arts hall.
Its open to the public until 12.30 on Friday 24th June.

George Stubbs (1724 - 1806) was born in Liverpool. His pictures are not to my taste especially those bloody horses and dogs but if I'm in the National Gallery this summer I'll probably take a look. Starts June 29th.
Or maybe not, I've just seen the prices!
Robin Blake's Guardian Review.

..on the Liverpool Art scene this weekend. I spent most of yesterday at Africa Oye in Sefton Park. I enjoyed the music and the atmosphere, its like a mini WOMAD and I got well and truly toasted in the sun. Then a late night party and have been recovering and sheltering from the storms today.

'Do Not Remove' - Craig Atkinson's solo show at the Atkinson Gallery in Southport until July 3rd.
I've seen quite a few of Craig's 'White Paintings' over the past year and there are a few of them here but he's now moved on to something quite different. There's a lot of text involved, sometimes just written in pen complete with crossings-out on a small sheet of paper and framed. Others are painted on quite thick and some are doodles. Some are quite amusing others are obviously the artist's moans. Overall I enjoyed seeing this though I've never been keen on text on/as paintings. I find it too distracting, all I see is the text and I only want to read it once or twice not be forced to read it every time I look at the wall. If you want to communicate with words write a book or print a poster.
Also in the Atkinson until June 25th is a collection of Japanes woodblock prints on loan from Blackburn Museum.
What else is in Southport?
There's an Art Incorporated in Wayfarers Arcade off Lord St which is like a lot of High St art shop/galleries, lots of Doug Hyde's, Charlotte Atkinsons etc but quite nice. There's a Gallery 1 further up Lord St, full of chocolate box pictures poorly displayed.

Then it gets worse, the new Marine Way bridge is quite cool and the Pier is OK but oh, the 'Fun' Fairs [sic] and 'Amusement' Arcades [sic] and souvenir shops and 20,000 teashops and who's on the Floral Hall... Jim Davidson then Bernard Manning and the train home which takes an incredible 45 minutes is packed with chip eating, coke drinking/snorting chavs and shell-suits from Boot Hill (God, I'm a snob!). Good old Hope St has never looked more pleasant!
Don't let me put you off though, the Atkinson's permanent collection is quite good too.
Review in Crosby Herald

Absolutely nothing to do with Liverpool Art but I really enjoyed Andy Kershaw's piece in today's Independent where he has a go at Geldof for not including any African musicians in the Live8 concerts. Nice one.

I am reliably informed that the group of musicians that stormed Ye Cracke the other night and played some excellent bluegrass music are called the Merseybillies. They're good, look out for them.

Curator June Lornie has really gone overboard (pun intended) on this show. There's over 100 paintings on the maritime theme as well as costumes, flags, maps and cabinets full of nautical memorabilia. As much a museum as a gallery for this exhibition which runs until July 15th. The artwork, as usual for these open shows, is varied and is by no means just pictures of ships. There's some amusing cartoons, photographs, sculptures, even a parrot! Well worth a visit.
Philip Key's review in Daily Post

Grants available for artists.
Are you an Artist about to go into self employment?

Then the ACID FUND is back.
The ACID Fund are offering artists with the potential of becoming self sufficient in their art the opportunity of a one off grant support of up to £1000.

For Guidelines and application form

Contact Sara

Sara.Kearney@liverpool-plus.co.uk
Or call 0151 242 5566.

If you would like advice and help to establish your businesses

contact ELECT
info@elect.org.uk
0151 230 5194

So there I was having a quiet pint in Ye Cracke last night after a hard days blogging when the place was sort of flash-mobbed by a load of musicians! They promptly started singing and playing bluegrass music, there were 4 banjo players, no less, 3 guitars, 2 mandolins, a fiddle and double bass. I had to move out and stand by the bar to make room for them, they were pretty good though, I wonder who they were.

There's pictures like this in most of the press today. Antony Gormley's 'Another Place' which consists of 100 iron male figures is being installed on Crosby Beach. It opens on July 1st and will be there till November when its due to go to New York.
Link

Took my coffee at the Green Fish Cafe in Upper Newington this morning. Its a nice little vegetarian / vegan place thats only open during the day. Its also the home of the Domino gallery where a new exhibition has just opened.
There are still some of Laura Poole's ceramics from the previous exhibition in the display cabinets. On the walls are abstracts by Deborah Butler mostly redish hues. I like John Sutherst's figurative pastels (I'm a sucker for pastels), he also has a couple of large bright blue/orange canvases. Also in the blue corner are Jason Jones atmospheric blue/grey pieces which are also nicely framed. Different again are Clare Chinnery's colourful works. Very pleasant and just as I was leaving Stan the Harper started playing, I think he's there every Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes. Lovely.

at Open Eye until July 30th.
Now, you will know that I'm not a big fan of documentary photography, "oh no, not more pictures of exotic marketplaces and urban squalor". But I try and approach every exhibition with an open mind and although these are, sure enough, pictures of Lagos marketplaces, streets and people, I found that I really enjoyed most of it. The first 3 artists are my favourites, 2 large pictures by Uchechukwa James-Iroha which are rich in colour. Then several more intimate images by Toyosi Odunsi and the monochrome pictures by Emeka Okereke like the one seen here and one of 3 men seemingly arguing animatedly I thought outstanding, can't explain why. The other photographers are Kelechi Amadi-Obi, Toyin Sokefun and Amaize Ojeikere.

Just in case you think I've been taking it easy lately, here's 5 quick reviews of shows I've been to recently...

Community College HNC/D Fine Art Degree Show

The small group of students completing this course have called themselves 'Decimus' and are exhibiting their work at St Brides Church in Catherine St until June 24th. Its worth going just to look around this impressive old building which perhaps is a bit big for a show this size, the artwork's not bad either. Just wish there was more of it.

'Aesthesis and Persona'

At Blackburne House until June 29th a good show of works by Liverpool based women artists curated by Nicole Bartos.
Jo Raven has already written an excellent review for Catalyst Media, I recommend you read it.

Arena Art Fair

A group of artists based at Arena and other local studios are now holding regular Art Fairs. The latest was last Saturday/Sunday. There's a good mix of works including Roy Munday's oils and prints, photography by Liam Crawley and Gareth Jones, sculptures and lots more. I'll take proper notes next time (July 30/31st).

River Festival Photographic Exhibition

After calling at Arena then touring the River Festival in the Saturday heat I managed to sneak into The Liver Buildings Atrium to take a look at the exhibition which always coincides with the River Festival. Some excellent images here, mostly of Liverpool, amazing how people come up with fresh views of such familiar places.
Runs until July 2nd (weekdays only)

Liverpool University Members Exhibition

In Senate House until July 8th. The annual exhibition of works by staff members (and some students and associate members). The usual mix of styles and standards. Some nice watercolours and drawings.

Here's Philip Key's review of the Walker's Art Deco exhibition for the Daily Post.

Adam from MAN Museum is at the Venice Biennale at the moment. How is it all these artists are travelling to lovely places while I'm stuck here reporting on the same old places all the time?
He's sent this message in his own inimitable writing style...

DEARLY beloved
we are gathered here today to.........
blind ourselves again with notes from a beyond!
mine is on the grand canal of Venice, bopping on a barge with Moma radios gossip hour-performance artists, two men having sex in the Bed+breakfast Gallery last night(wish you were here!), a man crawling on hands and knees offerring to suck womens toes,and my sight-not of gossip-in this mornings early morning mist, was a yellow trickle of pee that took the shape of the Italian boot flowing from the wall of my hotel. Now is that a fair assessment of whats going on here?No........but hey-its early.
Foreign Investment did a stunning intervention during the bienniale symposium yesterday,and a weary duo-the globe trotting girls retired for a well deserved apparetif at a caff outside the Arsenale.
Man flyers selectively given by Miss Rock. A bow!
Bjork dj-ed last night at the Iceladic Pavillion-party!
tonight i have my own room!SOLO!Jill has found a bed with Robbie K so no more splitting a single!
This morning a proper tour of the Arsenale-allot of retro-80s-Guerilla Girlz NY,Leigh Bowery,another bore of a Jimmy Durham-warum?and a few triggers of hope and delight.
Meeting some wonderful folks-Ricky De Marko,Christina Moceri,Frua Lienz at Freize-and tomorrow night(Dave dont GULP!-drinks at the pied a terre of Jane England).
Fabio-a Carravagio Bacchus (i kid you not)is helping install MAN and coming to do an exhibition in Liverpool,my aide de camp!
Mille Bacci á Venezia!

The Mersey River Festival 2005 got under way yesterday. I went along to see the launch of these 'Glitter Ships'. They're made by schoolchildren from old CDs. Designed by artist Liam Curtin, the project is brought into reality by Creative Education Manager Gaynor Wright from the Liverpool Culture Company and hundreds of children, young people and adults who have joined forces to construct the sailboats.
Pictured here are just the baby ones, the mother ship was launched eventually but was delayed and I got fed up waiting.

'The Age of Jazz: British Art Deco Ceramics' at the Walker until Oct 30th.
The viewing last night was opened with an interesting and amusing speech by Eric Knowles (of Antiques Roadshow amongst other things), the place was packed and very hot so not ideal viewing conditions. There's a lot of humour in the works here, 'uplifting' is the word Curator, Sue Lunt, used, she's spent the last 15 months getting the collection together from far and wide. They're arranged in themes rather than by designers or ceramicists. So there's a cabinet of figures, another of masks, plates etc. and this room setting of typical art deco furnishings.
Of course, there's Clarice Cliffs, Suzie Cooper, Crown Devon and Shelley and the bizarre cubist-inspired cats of Louis Wain (my favourites). A jazz band were playing throughout the evening just to add to the 1930's flavour.

Last night I missed the private viewing at Open Eye because I was on a tour of Cains Brewery in Stanhope St. Its been there since 1850 and was owned by Higsons for many years. We learned a lot, not just about the beer and lager making process but also the sociopolitical role of the brewery since the mid 19th century. Followed by a couple of pints in the Brewery Tap, most 'Estimable'.

So Open Eye had closed but the artists studios at 50 Parr St. were still open to the public so I ended up there. I'd never seen the place before, its quite small so there's not much room for each of the 12 artists. Some splendid work on show, its open 10-6 each day until Sunday 12th June. The artists are: Anna Benson, Peter Cameron, Catherine Chart, Tim Ellis, Gareth Jones, Anna Ketskemety, Chek-Huo Leung, Sue Massey, Frank Moore, Marianne, Steve Strode and Nick Sykes.

Call for submissions for Artists working with Mobile Phones

Arena Gallery, Liverpool is looking for artists making work with, about or for mobile phones for an exhibition due to open on the 5th August 2005. We are interested in phone photography and videography; games with or on mobile phones; ringtones; conversation; interactivity; the difference that these little machines have made to our culture and the way we operate socially.
We would like proposals for wall and floor-mounted work but also for time-based works, events and workshops. Submissions can be small initial investigations or more developed projects, playful or thought-provoking.

Please send proposals by Monday June 27th to:
Sean and Eleanor Hawkridge,
Arena Gallery,
Arena House,
82-84 Duke Street,
Liverpool L1 5AA

We will also accept proposals by email, these should be sent to arena_gallery@yahoo.co.uk and should arrive before 10am on the above date.

Proposals should include:
-A statement relating to your artistic practice and CV
of exhibition history
-A description outlining what you would like to
do/exhibit at Arena
-Examples of past work (these can be in most formats
including on CD or DVD)

Submissions cannot be returned.

Looking forward to it...

'Liverpudlians are being sent an information guide explaining what the city's year as European Capital of Culture could mean to them.