David Hockney on a personal virtual journey through 60 years

David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) opens at The Lightroom on 25th January 2023.

About David Hockney: Bigger & Closer

The difference about this new exhibition is it contains no drawings or paintings and yet it is all about drawing and painting and the processes Hockney uses and has used to create his art.

Using large-scale projection in a remarkable new space, David Hockney takes us on a personal journey through sixty years of his art.
Lightroom’s vast walls and revolutionary sound system enable us to experience the world through Hockney’s eyes.
His life-long fascination with the possibilities of new media is given vibrant expression in a show that invites us to look more closely, more truly and more joyously.

It features:

• the creation of a virtual reality using immersive audio and visual techniques to guide visitors into Hockney’s world
• a commentary by Hockney
• a specially composed score by American composer Nico Muhly
• six themed chapters

“I’m usually drawing or painting, it’s all I want to do now"

There are six main topics which are examined in this exhibition / experience which reflect his many and various interests and projects over the last 60 years or more.

• how he experiments with perspective
• how he uses photography as a way of ‘drawing with a camera’
• how he records the passing of time using:
• polaroid collages of spending time with people and 
• the joy of spring (on his iPad) in the Yorkshire Wolds
• why paint is the only medium to properly convey the hugeness of the Grand Canyon
• driving up his audio-visual Wagner Drive into the San Gabriel Mountains
• an opera which includes animated re-creations of his stage designs

VIEW an interview with David Hockney about this exhibition on the BBC website.

The BBC's Katie Razzall spoke with the 85-year-old as he put the finishing touches to his show at its new venue, Lightroom, in London's Kings Cross.

There's a huge team which has been working on this three year project - and you can find the credits on the webpage.

Exhibition details

• Website: https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/david-hockney/
• Dates: 25 January - 23 April 2023
• Venue: The Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, London, N1C 4DY (this is an 8 minute walk from Kings Cross and London St Pancras stations)
• this is their Your Visit Page
• Get Directions in Google Maps
• Get Directions in Apple Maps
• Nearest Station: King’s Cross St. Pancras (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Northern line; National and International rail).
• Tickets: £25 during the day; more expensive in the evening
• discounts for groups
• can be booked in advance - and some dates and times already have low availability (for those who like to have seen the "must see" show before everybody else)
• pre-booked tickets can be exchanged for a different time slot of a different date or a credit note
• ALL TICKETS ARE E-TICKETS AND EMAILED TO YOU

About The Lightroom

Lightroom is located in King’s Cross on Lewis Cubitt Square, adjacent to Coal Drops Yard and Central St Martin’s. It was designed by Haworth Tompkins as a sister space to the award-winning Bridge Theatre. Along with a generous Foyer and gift shop, the space also contains a bar and seating area run by St John.

Lightroom is

• a joint venture between 59 Productions and London Theatre Company.
• backed by a group of investors led by Danny Cohen, President of Access Entertainment, and Mike Sherwood, former CEO of Goldman Sachs International.

Three Virtual Views of the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2021

If you're unable to visit the Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club - which opened last week at the Mall Galleries in London (closes 3rd July) - you can view it online - in three different ways

ONE. You can take the Virtual Tour - which requires navigation. 

NEAC Virtual Exhibition Tour

 

As previously, once you click the arrow (above) the Matterport software for some reason makes the colours seem much lighter and less intense that when artwork is seen in the Gallery. As a result I find it more difficult to recognise artwork by different artists - when normally it's no problem (i.e. colour and tone is part of their signature style). I keep noticing this with Matterport Virtual Exhibitions so can only assume it's the software. Or maybe somebody needs to review the settings?

However you can view the artwork in the galleries in a number of ways

• via the 3D Space - which gives you the sense of being inside the Gallery 
• or via the plan
• both of which are located in the bottom left hand corner
• on the bottom right you can expand the picture to fill your screen which is much the best way to view
• use your cursor to navigate - it takes some getting used to.
  

West Gallery

East Gallery

North Gallery

TWO: You can also view the Artwork selected for the exhibition on the Mall Galleries website - albeit you have to 

• scroll down on the NEAC exhibition page
• then page through (using the arrows at the bottom) the pages of artworks selected for the exhibition - from members and those selected from the open entry
• all artworks are ordered by the surname of the exhibiting artist. I always feel sorry for those whose surname is at the end of the alphabet given I know not everybody who starts looking makes it to the end....
• if you click the artwork you access a larger version with more details
  
• You can also see which artworks have sold. (Bearing in mind the exhibition was online for some time before it opened for real at the Mall Galleries). Initial review would suggest that my perennial advice about pricing is being borne out yet again.
  

However, there's no option to look at artworks grouped by:

• artist
• subject
• media

which is a pity as I like looking at all the landscapes (or whatever) at the same time. 

What's even more odd is that this facility is (partially) available on the website for the Artist Explorer - where you can search via artist name or medium.

I think that now that the buying public is switched on to online buying AND those of who are older are going to continue to be rather cautious re outings for quite some time, it's maybe time for the Mall Galleries to decide whether it's time to upgrade the software for viewing artwork to that employed by other galleries - to make it MUCH easier for people to view what they want to see.  

That's the pathway to more sales - making art more accessible. 

THREE: View it on the NEAC website

I personally find it much easier to view the artwork in the exhibition on the NEAC website - which has got HORIZONTAL arrows which advance groups of artwork automatically. Much, much easier with no scrolling involved!

Virtual Tour and Award Winners: Royal Society of Portrait Painters 130th Annual Exhibition

I wasn't at the opening day of the 130th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - because I was getting my second Pfizer vaccination! (I'm planning to go Monday or Tuesday next week.)

However, you and I can take a look at the exhibition right now via 

• a VIRTUAL TOUR which is accessible via both the RP website or the Mall Galleries website  
• Those with a spot on them have some form of audio-visual media associated with them
  
• The tour by Matterport software is still very light/bright - so much so paintings seem quite pale until you close in on them.
  
• artwork in the exhibition online 

We can also view the portraits by the artists who have been awarded prizes and awards in 2021- and these are listed below - with links to both the portraits and artists' websites. 

It's interesting to note how many portraits are self-portraits or portraits of members of the family - a situation which I guess has confronted a lot of portrait painters this year.

Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition2021: Award winners 

William Lock Portrait Prize: Frances Bell RP - for Self Portrait 

£20,000 for the most timeless portrait with a real feeling for paint and its aesthetic potential. 

Self Portrait by Frances Bell

I've long been a supporter of Frances Bell whose style works incredibly well for certain sitters - particularly children and women. Besides being a masterful draughtsperson - in terms of accuracy and representation of her subject - I love her very painterly and fluid use of oil and brushwork. (She also paints great landscapes!)

Last year the same self-portrait was also selected as a finalist among another 22 paintings, from 2600 entries for the Portrait Society of America's Annual Exhibition in 2020.

Frances Bell is a full time professional portrait and landscape painter. She has shown her paintings in numerous exhibitions including the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition - where she has shown since 2005; the BP Portrait Award; and annual exhibitions of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters; the Royal Society of British Artists; the Royal Society of Marine Artists; The Society of Wildlife Artists, the Society of Women Artists. 

• Website: https://www.francesbellpaintings.co.uk
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/francesbellpaintings

She makes some very interesting comments about the process of creating a self-portrait in this video (below). I'm sure very many portrait painters will recognise and empathise with what she has to say

 

TIP FOR ARTISTS: Remember to film videos for websites in landscape format - not portrait - which somehow seems very ironic to me! :) 

The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture - Saied Dai RP NEAC for Portrait of the Artist's Wife

£10,000 plus the Society’s Gold Medal awarded for the most distinguished portrait in the Society’s annual exhibition. 

Saied Dai has a unique style and I can always recognise his paintings on the wall before I've looked at the catalogue. He's a figurative Artist who both lives and works in Bath.

His award is for a portrait of his wife, the artist Charlotte Sorapure - whose paintings I also like a lot!

He trained at the Royal Academy of Arts in London and was made a member of The Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2004 and The New English Art Club in 2009. He has exhibited widely. He paints on a gesso panel and describes how he works in the video below.

• Website: https://www.saieddai.co.uk/

 

The RP Award: Phoebe Dickinson for Alethea

£2,000 awarded to the artist whose work best represents the year's chosen theme - which for 2021 is 'Childhood'. The judges looked for the most interesting and engaging interpretation of the idea of 'childhood' within the parameters of portraiture. 

Royal Society of British Artists - Annual Exhibition 2021

The Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists is the first exhibition actually hung on the walls of the Galleries this year.

I'll be going to see this exhibition soon - but in the meantime 

• BELOW you can find out more about it.
• View the artwork online - in various ways (links below) 

Next week I'll write my review of the exhibition - focusing on 

• the overall impression
• artwork which impressed me

The Annual Exhibition on the RBA website

Exhibition Details

The exhibition opened to the public on Thursday and continues until Saturday 24th April

You MUST have a ticket booked in advance to see the exhibition. You can book tickets here

There is no cafe - and there appear to be no seats in the Galleries - which means I'm not going to be staying long given my ankle. I hope they were only moved out for the filming of the Virtual View and have not been removed. There's a lot of older people who visit this exhibition - and many of us need to sit down from time to time.

Here's Mick Davies PRBA Hon RBSA President - the President of the RBA (and a lovely man!) - with a few words about the exhibition

We have all been challenged by the 2020 pandemic and adverse weather conditions, so it makes it all the more exhilarating and joyful to engage in something as uplifting and inspiring as this exhibition.

Our Patron, Sponsors and Prize-givers have reaffirmed their support for this prestigious event and we thank each and every one of them. This year we have had a record-breaking number of works submitted by non-members and I wish to congratulate those whose work is represented in the show. There were many others we would like to have included, had we had the space to do so – it was such a difficult task for our Selection Committee.

 

The Online Exhibition

You can see individual artworks on

• the Mall Galleries exhibition webpage - clicking an image takes you to options to see bigger versions and sales details and how to make an enquiry about an individual work in the show.
• The RBA website 2021 Exhibition webpage - which I actually much prefer as 
• you can keep scrolling down and the images grow and them recede as you pass then
• there's no need to keep clicking through to the next page (very irritating after the first few clicks)
• if you click an image you can see more artwork by that artist - and also enquire about it.  I always think artwork has more appeal when you can see it alongside other works by the same artist. For those with lots of available artwork, you still have to click through pages to see it all.

You can also view a virtual view of the hung exhibition on the Mall Galleries website.

Virtual view of the East Gallery
Still too bright and "flashed out" for my liking - the gallery is NEVER this bright

You need to navigate the galleries using the dolls house or plan view (bottom left of above image) 

Unfortunately the virtual view is deficient in two aspects - compared to other software I've used in the last year:

• if you click on an artwork in the virtual view, it does NOT tell you the basic details i.e. title / artist / media / price.
• if you share a link to a view it only provides a link to the whole exhibition - which takes you back to the predetermined starting point in the West Gallery

Awards and Prizes

The Mall Galleries blog posts (below) show you who won what - which is great because I'll miss this bit out of my review! :)

Congratulations to all those who won an award

Royal Society of British Artists Prize & Award Winners 2021

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

Virtual tour – Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul

Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch - The Loneliness of the Soul was due to run 15 November 2020 — 28 February 2021 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

She’s been a major figure in contemporary art for over 25 years; he pioneered a radical new style known as Expressionism. In this landmark exhibition, Tracey Emin selects masterpieces by Edvard Munch to show alongside her most recent paintings.

Tracy Emin / Edvard Munch at the Royal Academy of Arts

It got caught by the second lockdown, then by the Tier 4 rules and then by the third lockdown. Bookings to see it have now been suspended given there is no obvious prospect of it opening before it is due to close.

It's also apparent that the RA is having to review its programme of exhibitions for 2021.

Following the announcement of a third lockdown, we have made the difficult decision to suspend ticket bookings for Tracey Emin: The Loneliness of the Soul. We are currently reviewing our programme of exhibitions for 2021 and will share more information as soon as we can.

I'm not sure but I think the Royal Academy of Arts may have changed its approach to Virtual Tours of its exhibitions. I've got a vague recollection of an online tour being available - but subject to a charge

Now you can see a video of the hung exhibition - for free - but you are invited to make a donation of £15 to the cost of the exhibition.

I like Munch and I know some people love Tracy Emin - but she's never been one of those artists I'd go out of my way to see. Nevertheless: 

• here is how to see the VIDEO - Virtual tour – Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul
• plus the VIDEO Conversations on Contemporary Art | Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch

• plus the YouTube VIDEO - with narration by Tracy Emin 
• below is more information about the exhibition.

RA Website

• Exhibition website: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/tracey-emin-edvard-munch
• Article: Inside the exhibition: 'Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul'. By Tiffany Greenoak. Published 3 December 2020.
• Press Release

Reviews:

• The Art Newspaper: The Big Review—Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul - The British artist rekindles her love affair with the work of her favourite artist at the Royal Academy—and it is Emin whose voice emerges strongest
• Apollo Magazine: Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul - While some museums are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Apollo’s usual weekly pick of exhibitions will include shows at institutions that are currently open as well as digital projects providing virtual access to art and culture.
  
  
  
  27 Nov 2020
  
  28 Dec 2020

Looking back at what worked in the art world in 2020

This has to have been one of the most stressful years for artists ever - and yet within that we have seen some remarkable achievements by artists.

In this post I'm going to try and highlight some of what I saw and heard about in 2020 which helped artists keep going....

• Artists Support Pledge
• Portraits for NHS Heroes
• The Art Teachers who learned fast how to deliver art lessons online
• Art Marketing and Website Makeovers
• The Virtual Online Art Exhibitions and Tours
• The Virtual / Online Conferences for Artists
• Online Resources
• My Contribution

Let's all remember going forward that we are not at the end - even with approved vaccines - and it's going to be a long time before things get back to normal. 

So we need even more innovation and endeavour and hard work in 2021 - but if what I've seen in 2020 is anything to go by, there's lots of artists who are up for that!

Artist Support Pledge #artistsupportpledge

Artist Support Pledge - the gifted keep giving

Matthew Burrows started the Artist Support Pledge on on the 16th March 2020 in response to the COVID19 pandemic.

I wrote about it in The Artist Support Pledge in May 2020.  Some artists have been regularly selling small works online all through the pandemic. More than a few professional artists have told me they've had more sales and generated more income this year than in some 'normal' years in the past.

Matthew Burrows was awarded with 

• an MBE in the Queen’s 2020 Birthday Honours List - for services to the arts during the Covid-19 response

• Personality of the Year in the Apollo Awards 2020

The online selling platform helping artists make a living now has more than 69,000 followers, has produced 447,000 posts and generated around £70m in sales. Burrows, Apollo’s Personality of the Year, was subsequently made an MBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours – and his no-frills initiative has been hailed as a lifeline for artists struggling in the wake of Covid-19. Personality of the Year | Apollo Magazine (19 November 2020)

In 2021 I'm going to pledge to do one post a week which will highlight the artwork of at least five artists whose work is posted for sale for £200 or less with the #artistsupportpledge.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all used other platforms to highlight the works of art that we liked - and continue to help those whose incomes have been decimated due to the lack of exhibitions.

Portraits for NHS Heroes #portraitsfornhsheroes

A List of Virtual Art Galleries & Museums #1 - in the UK

If you've been clicking your way through Google Trends (I aced it on the quizzes!) you'll have seen this.....

Virtual Museum was the top trending search in relation to virtual activity

"Virtual Museum" hurtled up the search query rankings to become a TOP TREND in 2020 for virtual activities

So I thought I'd make a list of Virtual Museums - for your delectation over the Covid / Christmas Break (take your pick - says woman sat in a 'Deep Purple' zone in Tier 4 London - who's going absolutely nowhere in the foreseeable future).

Here's some of the things I've learned through this process:

• some art galleries and museums are using the word "virtual" to rechristen their existing offering on the website. Doubtless after they realise that "virtual museum" was a search query which was hitting new heights during Covid. 
• I'm looking for either:
• pre-existing and genuine virtual tours (i.e. you get to decide where you go and what you look at)
• new initiatives aimed at making art galleries and museums more accessible via virtual tours.
• The process also told me which art galleries and museum 
• really think hard about "virtual" from the perspective of the viewer i.e. we want to decide where we go and what we do - just as we do when we visit for real
• have an online marketing team which does NOT look at trends in search queries - and 
• which have not used the downtime associated with museums being closed to get virtual tours started properly!

Initially I'm going to divide the listing into three posts covering museums and art galleries in different geographical area i.e. 

1. the United Kingdom
2. Europe
• France
• Italy
• Spain
3. the USA

However if you like these posts, I'll do more!  Plus these are posts I can come back to and add in more art galleries and museums with virtual tours - and I'll do an update post to tell you what's been added when I do.

Finally - this is very much a work in progress - broken off initially today because I need to make dinner - but I will return!

A List of Virtual Museums

This list of art galleries and museums is ordered on the basis of which museums I found had invested and produced the best results. 

• I'm starting today with London - but will add in more museums from elsewhere in the UK later - within a regional context
• Suggestions of Virtual Tours you know about elsewhere in the UK to me on my Facebook Page
  
  

LONDON

British Museum

The British Museum has some unusual ways of viewing its collection online.

Virtual Tour: Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London

We might not be able to go to art galleries but we can view art on screen through Virtual Tours of an Art Gallery.

I'm going to be doing a future blog post listing of those places where you can view the art in the gallery online.

Virtual Tour of National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing

First up is a Virtual Tour of the National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing 

This is where you can find the Gallery's collection of Early Renaissance paintings from 1200 to 1500.

Renaissance is the French word for rebirth and can be associated with the concern in Italy for recreating the achievements of Antiquity whose art was seen as supreme. Historians usually refer to two periods, the Early and the High Renaissance, the earlier period coinciding approximately with the 15th century.

The term also applies generally to the more realistic style that was introduced by Masaccio and Donatello in Florence, and by extension, is sometimes used of works of the same period in Northern Europe, for example those of Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the Netherlands.

Figures became weightier and more three-dimensional, and the space they occupied was more convincingly constructed.

• It's powered by Oculus using Matterport's 3D camera technology - which means you can get a 3D experience
• Navigation is a bit tricky but perservere and you will get used to it. 
• Click the red circles to find out about the painting

See if you can find three of my favourite paintings.....

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan by Eyck

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van EyckOil on oak panel of 3 vertical boards
Dimensions 82.2 cm × 60 cm (32.4 in × 23.6 in);
panel 84.5 cm × 62.5 cm (33.3 in × 24.6 in)

Jan van Eyck is credited with originating a style of painting characterised by minutely realistic depictions of surface effects and natural light. This was made possible by using an oil medium, which allowed the building up of paint in translucent layers, or glazes.

• FIND OUT ABOUT The Arnolfini Portrait by viewing a video (4 minutes below)

The Wilton Diptych

The Wilton Diptych  by unknown artist
egg on oak, painted on both sides of each panel 53cm x 37cm

The Wilton Diptych (c. 1395–1399) is a small portable diptych of two hinged panels - painted on both sides - which fold together to protect the inner paintings.

READ ABOUT The Wilton Diptych on Wikipedia

The Battle of San Romano

The Battle of San Romano by Paulo Uccello
Tempera on panel, 320cm x 180cm

• See the Battle of San Romano up close
• Read 
• about Paulo Uccello (1397–1475), Italian painter and mathematician
• Technical Bulletin about Ucello's Battle of San Romano
• More images of parts of the painting on Wikimedia Commons

You can also explore room by room

To do this, you need to

• view the interactive map of the Sainsbury Wing - and then 
• click a room number and 
• review the paintings in that room.