Wednesday, February 05, 2025

Tracy Emin became a Dame yesterday

Yesterday, Tracy Emin went to Buckingham Palace and came out with a nice award in smart box which signified she has become a Dame.

She actually received the honour - for services to the arts - in The King's Birthday Honours List in June 2024 - and yesterday was her investiture when she received her honour. 

Back in 2013, she had previously received the honour of being made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her contributions to the visual arts. Her career as an artist and latterly as a supporter of artists has lasted for over four decades.

Dame Tracy Emin - after receiving her

Did you know that anyone can nominate anyone for an honour - see Nominate someone for an honour or award

Following her close call with bowel cancer in 2020, she has revisited her purpose in life and has focused more on creating opportunities for others via her Tracy Emin Foundation, the Tracy Emin Art Residency and new studios she has created in Margate in Kent.

In addition to her artistic achievements, Tracey has made it her mission to support the next generation of artists. Through the Tracey Emin Foundation in Margate, she has created a hub for creativity and opportunity, providing resources, mentorship, and space for emerging talent to thrive.

Her work extends beyond art, demonstrating a deep commitment to fostering community and ensuring that art remains accessible and inclusive. Tracey’s foundation stands as a testament to her belief in the transformative power of creativity and the importance of nurturing new voices in the art world
This is a BBC World Service video made about her recently. It includes a tour of the Tracy Emin Studio.

From a rebellious star in contemporary art in the 1990s to receiving the title of Dame by King Charles for her service to the visual arts in 2024, Tracey Emin is an icon.


Below you can find links to recent activities.

Tracy Emin REFERENCE

Tracy Emin websites

Biography

Articles

Interestingly Emin gets relatively little press these days. In relation to the investiture, the BBC prioritised Anna Wintour being made a Companion of Honour for her services to fashion.


Monday, February 03, 2025

Woke art in London is going broke


This isn't as much a blog post by me, as me alerting you to an interesting article in The Evening Standard on 30th January. It's a very interesting article which I think will resonate with a lot of people - and it's a RECOMMENDED READ from me.

How the capital's art world went broke on woke alerted me to a few things I didn't know before

The author JJ Charlesworth is an art critic, art magazine editor and writer with twenty-five years of experience in contemporary art, publishing and education. Since 2006 he has worked on the editorial staff of the London-based international art magazine ArtReview, where he is one of the editors. He says he has also lectured and taught extensively, tutoring at London’s Royal College of Art, the Royal Academy Schools and Central St Martins College

Below I summarise

  • key points from what he has to say
  • commentary from me - marked up as "ME"

So what does he have to say?

Here's some key points:

Major financial challenges 

  • major art institutions in London face major financial challenges
  • the Tate and the Royal Academy of Arts have announced serious deficits (£11million and £2 million respectively)

Changing agendas do not bring in punters

Over the past few years art galleries have been pursuing programming agendas that don’t always resonate with audiences.
  • culture wars (decolonisation / identity politics / Just Stop Oil etc etc) are not attractive to many exhibition visitors
  • whereas major art galleries can host sell-out exhibitions for major "old favourite" artists from the past (e.g. Monet at the Courtauld; Van Gogh at the National Gallery in 2024)
ME: I think he's got a very important point.

He quotes numbers of visitors for institutions compared to pre-pandemic levels and suggests which ones are struggling 

Saturday, February 01, 2025

Review: Episode 2 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 10 (2025)

Snowdon in the background and the pods left of centre (next to bright green grass)

At last! A real landscape everywhere you looked. This week's episode came from the foothills of Snowdon - the highest mountain in the UK outside Scotland.

Very many of the people commenting on my Facebook page said they had been all set to stop watching Landscape Artist of the Year 2025 based on the ridiculous subject for last week's episode. 

A lot of people are really fed up with the programme's complete obsession with buildings - which are NOT LANDSCAPES

But this episode may have saved the day..... More of which below!

Episode 2: Mount Snowdon


This review follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.
  • the location and weather
  • the artists' profiles
  • themes arising during the episode
  • who was shortlisted and who won

Location and Weather


The subject of this week's episode was Yr Wyddfa, otherwise known as Mount Snowdon. 

They were very lucky with the weather which was dry and sometimes warm!

The Pods and wildcards were together on a flat piece of land inbetween Llanberis Station and the lake called Llyn Padam and just north of the National Slate Museum and across the lake from the village of Llanberis in the Snowdonia National Park.

The Pods with the Artists and The Wildcards with their Easels
on the one bit of fairly flat land overlooking both Snowdon and the Lake!

They had great views of the end of Llyn Padam, the roofs of the National Slate Museum, the ruined 13th century Dolbadarn Castle - which was painted by a Young JMW Turner! (see his painting here) - and across to Snowdon

The map co-ordinates for anybody wanting to pay a visit and have a go at Snowdon

This is the view they were looking at

The view

The Slate Museum (and slate quarries are off to the left, the 13th century castle is straight in front. Snowdon is also top left and Llanberis is across the lake.
I loved how all the artists tackled a proper larger than life, possibly overfacing in its sublimity, landscape.

They each were able to tackle it in largely the same way they’d approached their submission and we got a better sense of what they could all do in a “real life” situation rather than one of the stately home views that can force an artist to make bad choices due to the pressures of the day. comment on my Facebook Page

The Artists in the Pods


Episode 2 pod artists are listed BELOW in the alphabetical order of their surnames;

including
  • a synopsis of their background
  • Links to their websites (if they have one) are embedded in their names.
  • Social media platforms are also referenced

Episode 2 artists: Clare, Kayla, Anna, Charlotte and Marcio, Mike, Mark and Simon

Monday, January 27, 2025

Review: The Pastel Society 126th Annual Exhibition (2025)

I recommend you go and see the 126th Annual Exhibition of The Pastel Society. It opened at the Mall Galleries last week and is on for another two weeks.  This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members and it contains 382 artworks in.....

All types of pastel including: soft pastel, hard pastel, oil pastel, ink pastel, water-based pastel, conté crayons or sticks, sanguine, and other dry mediums that are similar in their application including charcoal, chalk, and pencil.

In addition this is what The Pastel Society is about

“Membership of The Society will be granted through a strict assessment of technical skill, originality, innovation, enthusiasm and a willingness to promote the objectives and activities of The Society.”

I've visited three times so far

  • at the PV last Tuesday when the Mall galleries were packed with people; 
  • again on Thursday morning - with the aim of photographing the exhibition for all those who cannot get to see it in person and 
  • again yesterday morning. Can I recommend viewings on Sunday mornings - they're nice and quiet!
The Private View - and this was after some people had gone home!

This post provides you with:
  • facts about the exhibition - and how to see it
  • events
  • prizes
  • what's different about the 2025 exhibition
  • when is a pastel not a pastel

Facts about the exhibition

You can see the exhibition at the Mall Galleries until 8th February 2025. 
  • Open every day (10am-5pm)
  • Admission £6, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries and under 25s. Concessions available. No booking required.
  • Catalogue is available at the Gallery - or you can view it online
You can also see the artworks in the exhibition ONLINE via
The artwork I liked typically gets a photo of just that work....

The West Gallery

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Review: Episode 1 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 10 (2025)

This is the first of my reviews of the tenth series of Landscape Artist of the Year in 2025. I've reviewed  every series of Landscape Artist of the Year since 2018.

Pods and wildcards in the Privy Garden
next to the baroque extension to Hampton Court Palace

This review follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.
  • the location and weather
  • the artists' profiles
  • themes arising during the episode
  • who was shortlisted and who won

Preamble - about my reviews


At the beginning of this new series, for those unfamiliar with the way I review, first a little bit about me. I retired early and have been writing this top 10 art blog in the UK for the last 19 years - and I'm now 70!
  • I like to provide a comprehensive perspective on what I review. 
  • Hence, my posts tend to be VERY LONG and packed full of CONTENT - and there's a few winners of Artist of the Year series who have thanked me profusely for what they read before they participated!!
  • I also like to say what I think
    • I often won't say exactly what I think about artwork in the heats as I have absolutely no beef with any of the artists.
    • If I make critical comments they tend to be generic, oblique and anonymous 
    • ....until we get to the shortlists and near to the final. That's because there's a £10,000 prize at stake and I have always adopted the philosophy on this blog of saying exactly what I think about artwork winning prizes of that magnitude.
  • I also say exactly what I think about the way the programme is made and how the judges judge. That's because they're also paid a lot of money to do their job by Sky Arts and they need to be professional and do it well - for the viewing public - and there's been a LOT OF CRITICISM by the viewing public in recent years. Notably about some of the  extremely silly locations and views!
Some of what I say is often a repeat of what I have said in previous years. 
  • I do recommend people read my previous reviews before they participate in the programme! 
  • You can access my previous reviews of ALL the episodes of Landscape Artist of the Year since 2018 on my Art on Television page.
I welcome contributions on both the programme and my comments from the viewing public and you can find me posting links to my reviews on my Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/makingamark2/ where the reviews tend to get lots of comments.
(I apologise for no comments facility on the blog. It ranks very highly in Google and became a big target for spammers and it just got very tedious so I had to close comments down!)

Preamble - about Landscape Artist of the Year


The episodes are broadcast at 8pm every Wednesday evening on Sky Arts (on Freeview Channel 36 and Sky and Now TV).
  • 48 artists are selected - from c.2,000 applications. 
  • Eight of these artists compete in each heat on location in a pod by creating an artwork within 4 hours about a selected landscape 
  • Six Heats are held at each of the six locations which were filmed last summer in North Wales, Bristol and London.
  • 50 wildcard artists also attend each heat - although we see very little of them
  • Three pod artists are shortlisted and their submission artwork and heat painting are considered together
  • the winner of each heat moves forward to the semi-finals 
  • where all the heat winners and one or more wildcard winners will compete for the three places in the final
  • the three finalists produce two paintings - a commission (prior to the final) and a painting 
  • The Judges remain the same as they have been for all previous nine series
  • one artist is chosen as Landscape Artist of the Year
  • he or she receives a £10,000 commission to produce an artwork. 

New for 2024 - and continuing in 2025

There is no "wall of submissions". The the Submission Painting is now located in the pod with the artist. That makes it very difficult to assess them together as a group. However I guess the relocation means the Judges tend to look at both together for longer.

New for 2025

  • I'll be including extracts from public comments by different individuals from my various LAOTY posts on Facebook in my blog posts
  • This year the commission is to create a landscape in a very special location in the South of France
  • The painting commissioned (by Sky Arts) will be on view in the LVMH Great Room at The Courtauld Gallery in the Spring - after the end of the series.

Episode 1: Hampton Court


Location and Weather

The Pods at Hampton Court
"The geometry is quite overwhelming"