I've already posted this song before but not the official video, which I'm loving very much...
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The National Campaign for the Arts...
"We believe in a society that values creativity, imagination and expression. We believe the arts generate growth and tourism. We believe the arts enhance our reputation. We believe the arts enrich our lives. We believe in the value of the arts.
The National Campaign for the Arts ensures that the arts are on local and national government agendas and are recognized as a vital part of contemporary Irish life."
Read more on the NCFA website and there's more information on the campaign in this article from The Irish Times.
The National Campaign for the Arts ensures that the arts are on local and national government agendas and are recognized as a vital part of contemporary Irish life."
Read more on the NCFA website and there's more information on the campaign in this article from The Irish Times.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Trip The Light Fantastic...
artdaily.org is fast turning into one of my favourite websites. I’ve subscribed to its daily newsletter and its always full of interesting articles about exhibitions and general art news from all over the world. While this is all very lovely, it makes me sad that I can’t see most of these exhibitions without taking myself off on some sort of mad tour around the globe. If I were to do such a thing, here are some of the exhibitions I would go see….
First off, I’d go to Paris and check out this 'The Art of Paper' exhibition at the Musée du Louvre. It’s basically a tribute to paper and the role it plays in the creation of art. It’s a collection of works on paper spanning from the 15th century to present day and it’s organized into 5 distinct sections, emphasising the differences between classic and modern day approaches and show the variety of ways in which the paper can be used:
- Papers and colours
- Assembled paper, multiplied paper
- Found paper, selected paper
- Transfers and transparencies
- Tortured paper, glorified paper
artdaily.org describes each distinct section in its article. I would especially be interested in the ‘assembled paper, multiplied paper’ section having dabbled in the past in the practice of collage, or layering different drawings or fragments of drawings on each other and also the ‘found paper, selected paper’ section as it looks at the idea of the choice of paper itself playing a role in the overall intention of the piece. Plus, both sections look at the work of Picasso so that would be a big draw for me.
From Paris, I would jet over to London to check out the Miró retrospective in the Tate Modern. I'm a big Miró fan - I just find his work so engaging and exciting to look at, especially when you've the opportunity to see several of his paintings in one location - it's intriguing to see how his work develops. The Fundació Joan Miró in Barcelona is one of my favourite galleries – the building itself is exciting to experience, but it’s just brilliant to get to see so many of Miró’s works in one location. I have fond memories of visiting it with my sister, and enjoying a drink in the café after hours of poring over his work...
The Tate Modern is showing 150 of his paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints spanning 60 years of his career. Many of his iconic pieces will be on show, adding to an exhibition that will display Miró's strong personal and national identity, the energy of his paintings, the innocence that belies a strong sense of humanity and his ability to capture the mood of a nation beleaguered by a civil war.
The Tate Modern is showing 150 of his paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints spanning 60 years of his career. Many of his iconic pieces will be on show, adding to an exhibition that will display Miró's strong personal and national identity, the energy of his paintings, the innocence that belies a strong sense of humanity and his ability to capture the mood of a nation beleaguered by a civil war.
Perhaps while I’m in London, I would pay a visit to Bonhams Impressionist & Modern Art sale and buy a couple of Miró pieces for myself….wishful thinking.
While I was in that part of the world, I’d nip over to the Tate Britain (which I’ve never been to sadly), I would check out this exhibition ‘The Vorticists: Manifesto for a Modern World’ which explores the world of the Vorticists (no kidding), the artists behind a brief but important modernist movement in the years 1914-1918. The Vorticist style is characterised by being thoroughly modern for the time, embracing machine-age forms and energetic geometric imagery. The painter Wyndham Lewis was the guiding light for the movement, and his work is shown as well pieces by others including Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, William Roberts, Frederick Etchells and Edward Wadsworth. The exhibition explores the relationship and exchange of ideas between this British avant-garde movement and the American avant-garde in New York.
I would end my journey in Chicago, Illinois where I would check out the ‘Avant-Garde Art in Everyday Life’ exhibition in the Art Institute of Chicago which showcases the work of 6 European artists - John Heartfield, Gustav Klutsis, El Lissitzky, Ladislav Sutnar, Karel Teige, and Piet Zwart – who believed that they could help restructure society by redesigning common or utilitarian items, from postage stamps to buildings, from about 1910 onwards. This vast exhibition (there’s over 300 pieces) explores the long-lasting influence of this movement as explained in the artdaily.org article:
“Working in the 1920s and 1930s, specifically in central and eastern Europe, they were fully informed about the history of art and the state of the world around them, and they formed networks to circulate ideas for changing that world through creative interventions of all kinds in everyday life. Books, prints, posters, table settings, postage stamps, illustrated magazines, clothing, exhibition installations, building proposals–these artists energetically and zealously reached into every conceivable creative domain. They traded ideas through the mail, sharing published journal essays and original works in photography and graphic design. Across the boundaries of media, disciplines, and nationalities, these avant-garde artists presciently set the stage for today’s modern communications and advertising industries.”
Now if only I had the funds for such a trip....
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Cet Été Sera Plein De L'art Et La Vie...
Had a quiet morning/afternoon/day in work so just started reading newsletters and looking at various art and culture type things that are coming up over the next while, and it appears that there’s lots and lots of exciting things coming up!
There are some new shows opening in the Galway Arts Centre, launching tomorrow at 6pm. The first show is the intriguingly titled ‘Post-Fordlandia’ by Megs Morley and Tom Flanagan which is described as a "filmic exploration of the mythologies surrounding Fordlandia, Henry Ford’s empty ghost town in the Brazilian rainforest.” Intriguing! I did a little research (i.e. looked it up on Wikipedia) and found that Fordlândia or "Ford-land" is a patch of land of about 10,000 km² in the Amazon Rainforest, that Henry Ford came upon in 1928 and used as a source of cultivated rubber to be used for the Ford Motor Company, creating an industrial town, which is now abandoned.
The second show is called ‘The Peoples’ History of Galway’ and the Galway Arts Centre is showing an exhibition featuring new work by Ceara Conway, Roisin Coyle and Simon Fleming, as part of month of events in various venues in Galway. I certainly think Ceara Conway’s work is worth a look - I have yet to check out Coyle and Fleming’s work but living on the same street as the Arts Centre, I have no excuse for not dropping in for a gawk!
Further afield, the 2011 PhotoIreland festival has been announced. Lots of interesting exhibitions and talks, and the workshops teaching wet collodion photography and other fancy 19th century techniques certainly caught my eye. Unfortunately, they’re a bit on the expensive side at about €500 each so sadly, attending out of mere curiosity will not be happening. There is an intimidating number of exhibitions being shown - some that stand out are 'The Shadow of James Joyce' by Motoko Fujita - an homage to Finnegan's Wake, and 'The Arc of Realism 1911-1997' - a collection of work by Zofia Rydet, documenting her creative journey from realism to surrealism and back to realism by the end of her career. I always find it interesting to see how an artist's output changes over the years, and adapts to different movements, and the choices they make when developing their work. Rydet had to make a choice between documenting the world around her in an accurate way or creating her own poetic vision, and I'd certainly be interested to see the contrast and battle between the two.
The exhibition 'The Art Books of Henri Matisse' has opened at the Chester Beatty Library and runs until September 25. I’ve never been to an exhibition in the Chester Beatty before but it looks like this exhibition might be worth a look. The Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibition runs in IMMA until June 26th so might be an idea to try and catch both, if you feel so inclined. The exhibition sounds amazing, and Kahlo’s work is outstanding when you see it in person, a must see Apparently there’s been massive queues to go see it so maybe pick a time when it’s not likely to be so busy.
Still in Dublin, there will be a public reading and interview with the author Edmund de Waal at City Hall, Dublin next Wednesday 8 June 2011, at 6:30pm. De Waal is the author of the book ‘The Hare With Amber Eyes.’ His reading from the book will be followed by an interview chaired by Eileen Battersby, literary correspondent for The Irish Times. The event begins with a wine reception at 6.30pm and forms part of the celebrations for Year of Craft 2011. Tickets are €10.
As a crafts fan, I checked out the Year of Craft 2011 website and found all sorts of interesting things, some really original little events like this "Breakfast At Tiffany’s - Special Screening & Craft Maker Talk" event - a private tour of the exhibition Ornament followed by 'Elevenses' and a special screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's, and then a discussion with two of Ireland's finest jewellers about their style icons and inspiration, and what makes a piece timeless, in their opinion. All for the bargain price of €10! Amazing. I love the originality of the event - it seems a little frivolous and vacant, but fun nevertheless!
I’m seriously considering taking part in this Beginners Creative Textile Course - a workshop in which participants experiment in making sample textiles that can then be used for brooch and card making, and the like. It takes place out in Spiddal and costs €50 or €40 if you’re unemployed. It takes place on June 19, and again on July 17.
The Cork Midsummer Festival (11-26 June) has a really interesting and diverse programme. Ukuleles, tea dances, acrobatics, porn addiction, pop up homes…it has it all! The 'electro-opera' Tomorrow, In A Year in particular sounds interesting for fans of The Knife and might just be worth a wander down to Cork.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, tickets go on sale tomorrow for the Galway Arts Festival…the highlight of which is pretty darn fantastic – Cillian Murphy starring in the world premiere of Enda Walsh’s ‘Misterman’. This promises to be very exciting (if it equals Walsh’s awesome play ‘Penelope’ from last year’s GAF, it’ll be doing well) and is a must see. As someone who is gutted they never got to see Murphy in ‘Disco Pigs’ (the play version, I mean – I’ve devoured the film many, many times), I’m very excited to finally witness a Walsh-Murphy collaboration!
It's going to be a busy summer!!
There are some new shows opening in the Galway Arts Centre, launching tomorrow at 6pm. The first show is the intriguingly titled ‘Post-Fordlandia’ by Megs Morley and Tom Flanagan which is described as a "filmic exploration of the mythologies surrounding Fordlandia, Henry Ford’s empty ghost town in the Brazilian rainforest.” Intriguing! I did a little research (i.e. looked it up on Wikipedia) and found that Fordlândia or "Ford-land" is a patch of land of about 10,000 km² in the Amazon Rainforest, that Henry Ford came upon in 1928 and used as a source of cultivated rubber to be used for the Ford Motor Company, creating an industrial town, which is now abandoned.
The second show is called ‘The Peoples’ History of Galway’ and the Galway Arts Centre is showing an exhibition featuring new work by Ceara Conway, Roisin Coyle and Simon Fleming, as part of month of events in various venues in Galway. I certainly think Ceara Conway’s work is worth a look - I have yet to check out Coyle and Fleming’s work but living on the same street as the Arts Centre, I have no excuse for not dropping in for a gawk!
Further afield, the 2011 PhotoIreland festival has been announced. Lots of interesting exhibitions and talks, and the workshops teaching wet collodion photography and other fancy 19th century techniques certainly caught my eye. Unfortunately, they’re a bit on the expensive side at about €500 each so sadly, attending out of mere curiosity will not be happening. There is an intimidating number of exhibitions being shown - some that stand out are 'The Shadow of James Joyce' by Motoko Fujita - an homage to Finnegan's Wake, and 'The Arc of Realism 1911-1997' - a collection of work by Zofia Rydet, documenting her creative journey from realism to surrealism and back to realism by the end of her career. I always find it interesting to see how an artist's output changes over the years, and adapts to different movements, and the choices they make when developing their work. Rydet had to make a choice between documenting the world around her in an accurate way or creating her own poetic vision, and I'd certainly be interested to see the contrast and battle between the two.
The exhibition 'The Art Books of Henri Matisse' has opened at the Chester Beatty Library and runs until September 25. I’ve never been to an exhibition in the Chester Beatty before but it looks like this exhibition might be worth a look. The Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibition runs in IMMA until June 26th so might be an idea to try and catch both, if you feel so inclined. The exhibition sounds amazing, and Kahlo’s work is outstanding when you see it in person, a must see Apparently there’s been massive queues to go see it so maybe pick a time when it’s not likely to be so busy.
Still in Dublin, there will be a public reading and interview with the author Edmund de Waal at City Hall, Dublin next Wednesday 8 June 2011, at 6:30pm. De Waal is the author of the book ‘The Hare With Amber Eyes.’ His reading from the book will be followed by an interview chaired by Eileen Battersby, literary correspondent for The Irish Times. The event begins with a wine reception at 6.30pm and forms part of the celebrations for Year of Craft 2011. Tickets are €10.
As a crafts fan, I checked out the Year of Craft 2011 website and found all sorts of interesting things, some really original little events like this "Breakfast At Tiffany’s - Special Screening & Craft Maker Talk" event - a private tour of the exhibition Ornament followed by 'Elevenses' and a special screening of Breakfast at Tiffany's, and then a discussion with two of Ireland's finest jewellers about their style icons and inspiration, and what makes a piece timeless, in their opinion. All for the bargain price of €10! Amazing. I love the originality of the event - it seems a little frivolous and vacant, but fun nevertheless!
I’m seriously considering taking part in this Beginners Creative Textile Course - a workshop in which participants experiment in making sample textiles that can then be used for brooch and card making, and the like. It takes place out in Spiddal and costs €50 or €40 if you’re unemployed. It takes place on June 19, and again on July 17.
The Cork Midsummer Festival (11-26 June) has a really interesting and diverse programme. Ukuleles, tea dances, acrobatics, porn addiction, pop up homes…it has it all! The 'electro-opera' Tomorrow, In A Year in particular sounds interesting for fans of The Knife and might just be worth a wander down to Cork.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, tickets go on sale tomorrow for the Galway Arts Festival…the highlight of which is pretty darn fantastic – Cillian Murphy starring in the world premiere of Enda Walsh’s ‘Misterman’. This promises to be very exciting (if it equals Walsh’s awesome play ‘Penelope’ from last year’s GAF, it’ll be doing well) and is a must see. As someone who is gutted they never got to see Murphy in ‘Disco Pigs’ (the play version, I mean – I’ve devoured the film many, many times), I’m very excited to finally witness a Walsh-Murphy collaboration!
It's going to be a busy summer!!
Friday, May 14, 2010
A Little Inspiration Please...
Currently trying and struggling to get back into sketching. I find it hard to find the time to do it and then when I do sit down to sketch a little, I can’t think of anything to draw! I need some inspiration, so I’ve been looking back at my old work and hoping that’ll trigger something in me and help me find a way back to it.
These are some details from an old artwork (the colours came out fainter in the photos than they are in reality).
These are some details from an old artwork (the colours came out fainter in the photos than they are in reality).
Join The Parade...
One of my favourite bands at the moment is the sublime Efterklang, who hail from Denmark. I fell in love with their 2007 album Parades and my adoration for them was sealed by an amazing set at last year’s Electric Picnic. They’re incredible live, the sound and the beauty and the emotion they create is hard to describe and I’ll always remember it as one of the happiest, most enjoyable moments of my life.
As well as creating beautiful music, they also work with some amazing creative people – for example, this video for ‘Caravan’ directed by the Danish artist, writer and film director Anders Morgenthaler…
I’ve been particularly impressed by the work of Nan Na Hvass from Hvass&Hannibal, the mastermind behind the critically-acclaimed artwork for Efterklang's One-Sided LP, Under Giant Trees, Parades, Magic Chairs and perhaps, most notably, the music video for ‘Mirador’…
It’s one of the most beautiful music videos I’ve ever seen – it’s Dali-esque in its landscapes and totally captivating. I love the use of colour and shape, and how imaginative it is.
I also love the puzzle cards created for Efterklang’s mini album Under Giant Trees…
More of Nan Na Hvass’ work can be found on her website and on the Hvass&Hannibal website.
As well as creating beautiful music, they also work with some amazing creative people – for example, this video for ‘Caravan’ directed by the Danish artist, writer and film director Anders Morgenthaler…
I’ve been particularly impressed by the work of Nan Na Hvass from Hvass&Hannibal, the mastermind behind the critically-acclaimed artwork for Efterklang's One-Sided LP, Under Giant Trees, Parades, Magic Chairs and perhaps, most notably, the music video for ‘Mirador’…
It’s one of the most beautiful music videos I’ve ever seen – it’s Dali-esque in its landscapes and totally captivating. I love the use of colour and shape, and how imaginative it is.
I also love the puzzle cards created for Efterklang’s mini album Under Giant Trees…
More of Nan Na Hvass’ work can be found on her website and on the Hvass&Hannibal website.
Hope I'm Ready, Able...
Amazing video for Grizzly Bear’s standout track from their album ‘Veckatimest’, ‘Ready, Able.’ This album is the frontrunner at the moment for my 'album of the year' – it’s just incredible.
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