Monday, July 12, 2021

Making A Mark on Facebook (12 July 2021)

This highlights items I've featured on my Making A Mark Facebook Page during the period 1st - 12th July 2021 - with a bit more detail. For those who "don't do Facebook" and those who may have missed some of the items.  

Latest banner image is Gillie & Marc: Tandem Lovers
- seen last week on a trip to Canary Wharf

Articles


How an Art Museum Betrays Its Social Class Bias | Hyperallegic

When I worked as a security guard at the Toledo Museum of Art there was no mechanism by which the frontline staff could help shape the museum's content.

A really interesting article about class bias within the museum system.

I've often thought some curators were guilty of not knowing a lot about how artists work (i.e too steeped in art history and academic art - and never ever got their hands dirty!). It would seem some curators are often not very sensitive to how "the other half" live either. 
 
Plus you get to find out more than you possibly knew about Wayne Thiebaud.  

An awkward, lifeless shrine – the Diana statue is a spiritless hunk of nonsense | The Guardian

It's not often I agree with Jonathan Jones - but I do on this one. That's just not her face - and it feels very stiff. It certainly doesn't resonate with me. I think I'd have rather seen her with her landmine kit on - that's an image once seen never forgotten.

Plus I also commented on the Best comment yet - from old Waldy.
 
There were some astute comments on my last post (re Jonathan Jones's article re the unrealistic proportions of the kids bodies. My observation would be that bare feet also tend to go with clothing which looks a lot less like middle England middle class on their way to church on a Sunday. There is something very incongruous about this sculpture and such decision-making by committee tends to suggest the wrong people were on the committee.

Leonardo Da Vinci project finds 14 living descendants | The Guardian

Researchers hope to understand genius of artist by reconstructing his genealogical profile 
My view?  This project to identify da Vinci' 'talent' gene seems to be:
  • EITHER: deeply sexist (i.e. talent for art only runs through the Y chromosome)
  • OR: deeply ignorant (i.e. I thought everybody knew that if you want to find genuine reliable descendents, you have to go through the FEMALE line!!)
  • OR: both??
What do you think?

As the Art Industry Has Ballooned, So Has the Number of People Claiming to Be Expert Advisors. Here’s How to Tell If They Actually Are

Beware the individual touting the title "Art Adviser" UNLESS they have significant credentials to their name and can demonstrate an understanding of professional standards.

Artist Activities

Open Studios

Cambridge Open Studios is open every weekend in July and is raising the game for Open Studios! 

Plein Air Painting

British Plein Air Painters are having their summer outings again

  • with lots of photos of artists painting plein 
  • Nice to see the plein air painters meeting up to paint again.
    They're having an exhibition at the Mall Galleries in early September called "Colour and Light".

Art Exhibitions

UK

On Happiness (15 July 2021—27 February 2022) 

An exhibition about Happiness, Joy and Tranquility - at the Wellcome Collection in London.

Venue: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Rd, London NW1 2BE - and online

a season of free events, activities and two exhibitions – Joy and Tranquillity – which celebrate the complexity of positive emotions and invite you to explore the big questions. 

  • Joy 15 July 2021—27 February 2022
  • Tranquillity


WalesOnline highlighted a stunning portrait was painted by 14-year-old Makenzy Beard, a year 9 pupil at Bishopston Comprehensive, who only started painting a year ago. Her painting has beaten 33,000 submissions to be selected for a prestigious Royal Academy show for her beautiful portrait work.

Van Gogh Self-Portraits | Courtauld Exhibition (3 February - 8th May 2022)

What a way to reopen an art gallery after an extended closure!!
The Courtauld Gallery is reopening in November 2021.
[Expletive deleted!! I'm probably going to be in a cast and on one leg and unable to get out to see it!!
PS I'm still very unclear about the dates as I've now seen contradictory stories about when it's on.

A review of an exhibition I won't be seeing in person
“The sweep of Italian history and art history in dazzling portraits from the [Medici] dynasty’s final hurrah, on view in a sumptuous exhibition at the Met.” —The New York Times

I'm inviting people to highlight where we can currently see art with some sort of explicit link to lockdowns in current exhibitions - anywhere in the world.

Lockdown Art

Lockdown Art #1: 1000 Cranes by Liz Hanan at the Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester

This is the first - and has an amazing backstory.  

Lockdown art #2: Lowry and VE Day

Art UK this week posted a review of The ten most popular artworks on Art UK during lockdown on its website - during the period between 24th March and 14th May. The top ten paintings are NOT what you might have expected. 

Saturday Sketch Club at the Royal Academy of Arts


Review: Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club 2021

This includes links to my photo albums on Facebook of the artwork hung in the three separate galleries.

 

"Figurative Art Now" opens online - and transport responsibility has changed!!

I'm really very pleased to see that artists who have had work selected for "Figurative Art Now" (on the Mall Galleries website) no longer have to pay for the transport of artwork to a buyer. Everything has reverted to the normal arrangements, i.e. buyer pays.
THANKS to all those who listened and acted on my concerns....
 

 

Not so much an exhibition - more a public sculpture

What is it with statues / sculptures of women?

After the scathing criticism of the recently unveiled portrayal of Princess Diana, I was left wondering why it is that statues / sculptures of women cause such intense reaction? Plus which is it? A statue or a sculpture? This post has two sections:
1) what is a sculpture and what is a statue?
2) criticism - critical and otherwise of the Diana Sculpture.
 

Call for Entries: Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition 2021

My brain hurts! I'm still trying to find the best, most cost-effective way to continue with my blogs' (three of them) RSS feeds to email subscribers (post Feedburner). I'm much less enamoured with follow.it having seen the really YUCKY pics on the emails they send to subscribers (Nail fungus anyone?)
 
RECOMMENDED: This is the best summary of alternatives I've found to date
PS Feedburner is still working BTW!
 
Earlier I wrote.....
 
QUESTION FOR MAKING A MARK SUBSCRIBERS
On Friday 1st July I swopped my Feedburner Subscription form (effectively now dead) on Making A Mark (in the side column) for a NEW FORM from follow.it one - which is a tad more obvious to see! 
I'm liking the clean look of their messages and the fact I get told when I've got new followers!
I've not yet uploaded existing subscribers - and since I've opted for the Cool Account option which means I get charged for the number of subscribers, I'm half inclined to ask people to subscribe again. 


 

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