Sunday, April 09, 2017

Damien Hirst back from the deep - with an awfully expensive wreck

This is by way of a round-up of all the reviews of the latest Damien Hirst extravaganza with a summary of ratings and comments.

I've tried to sort out who has seen the exhibition as opposed to scanned the press release.

There aren't any images of the exhibition in this blog post because he's licenced all the images to Getty Images (click the link to have a look!) who have a fairly hefty charge for using them.

Synopsis of key points


Exhibition details


Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable
9 April 2017 – 3 December 2017
Solo Exhibition
Venues:

Punta della Dogana, Venice

Key Points


The Exhibition

  • Themes of Reality vs Unreality; Fake News; False Facts etc. 
  • based on the notion that these are artefacts recovered from the bottom of the sea - from the wreck of an old treasure ship discovered off the coast of East Africa
  • uses the methodology of museums to present the exhibits
  • a 60ft high headless demon can be found in the courtyard of Palazzo Grassi
  • some exhibits are clear spoofs e.g. they include the faces of people such as Pharrell, Kate Moss, Rihanna et al
  • the exhibition is on display in two museums in Venice - one is an ex-Palazzo and the other is Venice's old customs building, the Dogana da Mar - which is now an art museum
As always, I've always thought that the theme underpinning much of what Hirst does involves him thumbing his nose at the art establishment.

The Metrics

  • the project took 10 years
  • comprises a collection of 189 statues 
  • created by hundreds of craftspeople employed by Hirst
  • cost c.£50 million - according to Hirst

The Art Media

  • not everything is bronze or marble - there's also quite a lot is aluminium, polyester and fibreglass 

The Partner

  • Hirst's project partner - the man who owns the art galleries - is Francois Pinault
    • the fashion billionaire who owns luxury brands (e.g. Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen) and well-known everyday brands (e.g.) Samsonite - and Christies, the Auction House
    • the owner of one of the largest collections of contemporary art

Is it for Sale?

“Treasures” cost Mr. Hirst millions of dollars to produce and Mr. Pinault millions to present (exact figures were not disclosed by either man). Collectors who have been offered the works report that prices start around $500,000 apiece rising to upward of $5 million. With Damien Hirst’s market untested on such a grand scale, the question the art world is asking is, will he sink or swim in Venice?

In 2008, Hirst cut out the gallery and went straight to the Sotheby's auction house to sell a complete show Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, - the day before the crash - and made £111m. ($198 million) and created a new record for the sum raised by one artist at auction (unbelievable but true!)

This time around he seems to have created another project but this time a major contemporary art collector who owns the auction house - can collaborate on how it is marketed, presented and presumably sold.

In other words, this is what rich people do for fun....

...and to maintain the value of the art owned by art collectors and previously created by Hirst whose reputation has slipped in previous years.

Think of it as the second coming - or as one wag put it "Elvis returns to Vegas"!

The Reviews


Below are reviews I've read and are worth a read to get a perspective on this art market/museum/exhibition phenomenon.

Five star


The problem with this one is Jonathan is a fan. He wants to believe in the resurrection of Damien. Read it while tossing salt liberally over your shoulder.
The show is in fact a fiction about value and meaning, and the role of art as truth.

A blogger who has actually seen it

  • Cat Bauer Venice Blog | Unbelievable! Damien Hirst in Venice: Best Seen Through the Eyes of a Child What is most interesting about Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable is that Damien Hirst has hit upon on a creative principle innate to novelists: you can create a fictional story; you can create characters -- you can create an entire world -- and bring that world to life.
This one's interesting because this individual has actually seen it and photographed it - and asked some children what they thought of it!

Trying to remain detached

The only review I read which had tested the water re prices and sales (see quote above)
Worth a read - I think Hettie Judah gets it about right.
Probably the best actual description of the show - with some acute comments.
You begin to realise that the fictional narrative in which we’re engaged — or not — is much like a video game, with pathways endlessly dividing into other story strands.

Not the usual exhibition review


Metro | Freaky, mind-bending photos from Damien Hirst’s ‘Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable’ post-truth exhibition in Venice

This one has some great photos and some snappy comments!
Hirst’s latest exhibition makes you question the fakeness and reality of what you’re seeing, and why we go to museums at all.
Here’s the avant-garde artist’s take on cultcha.
The sculptures are spoofs of the kinds of artifacts people will queue for hours to see, from Medusa’s severed stone head…
Daily Mail | Could his £50million fake shipwreck be the downfall of Damien? LIZ JONES gets a sinking feeling at Hirst's 'sea treasures' spectacular

I rather liked this one. It has a strong sense of "the Emperor's New Clothes" about it
It's all very colourful, glitzy and embellished, and everyone is mwah-mwahing and clapping, but would you actually want to wear it?
and
There is an 18m tall statue in one courtyard, a Buddha made from one enormous piece of jade and a silver room, which is when, for me, it all became a bit 'ground-floor of Harrods'.

Previous posts about Damien Hirst 

Damien Hirst's paintings are really awful. I've seen better painting and better artwork in a primary school. It really is not worth spending any time on them.
Posted by Making A Mark on Sunday, April 09, 2017 0 comments
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Friday, April 07, 2017

RI Annual Exhibition 2017 - Candidates and Awards

How to become a member of a national art society and then how to be recognised via an award are two of the questions which perplex artists who want to progress their careers. 

Both are of course welcome additions to any artist's CV whether aspiring or already established!

They're also the sort of indicators that art galleries take very seriously. They like to have extra independent accreditation for you and your work when selling it - and what better than an art society which starts with the word 'Royal'!

Which is how this blog post comes to focus on those who aspire and those who have achieved.

Candidates for membership of the RI


"Candidates for membership" are people who have asked for their work to be considered for membership.
Election to membership of the RI is by democratic vote of the full membership, which happens at the Annual General Meeting following the Annual Exhibition.
The only criterion for applying to join the RI is to have exhibited at the RI Annual Exhibition on at least two previous occasions.
This is the page on the RI website which tells you How to Join. Once accepted as a Candidate, the Candidate then has three years to persuade the Council of the value of electing the Candidate to Full Membership of the RI. In effect, it's a bit like what other art societies call Associate Membership.

I was particularly pleased to see meet three women artists who each had four paintings being exhibited with the strapline "candidate for membership". The group of three included people who have been painting for a long time, like Varshia Bhatia, and younger artists like Elizabeth Nast.

I don't have a note of the names of all the candidates for membership as I forgot to make a note (which was very silly!). However, you can see their work on the wall on the right as you go down the stairs into the Threadneedle Space.

Varshia Bhatia - Candidate for membership of the RI
She specialises in detailed architectural paintings. 
In the exhibition are her paintings of (top left clockwise) 
Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral,
the Natural History Museum and Peers Entrance to the Houses of Parliament
I've seen Varsha Bhatia in very many open exhibitions and art competitions. She won the St Cuthberts Mill Award at the RWS Contemporary Watercolour Competition 2016 and the Schmincke Award at the RI Exhibition 2015. Interestingly she's chosen to apply to the RI rather than RWS for membership which I think is a wise move given the nature of her paintings.
Since 2001, she has exhibited in London with major art societies, namely the RI, RWS, RBA and SWA in their open exhibitions. She has had her work selected for the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition for twelve years. (website)
She has no real competition because, although there are others who produce extremely good paintings of buildings (I'm thinking of people like Deniz Roxby Bott RWS), nobody works the same size as Varshia does on a routine basis.  Do take a look at her website.  I'm amazed that Varshia has not got membership of an art society before now. She certainly deserves to be a member.

She told me that she paints on 300lb NOT watercolour paper by Saunders Waterford - because it's the only paper that suits her way of working and it doesn't cockle. (This only comes in the High White colour). She's recently been filming at St Cuthbert's Mill (along with David Parfitt and in connection with another watercolour exhibition and I'm guessing we're going to see Varsha on video very shortly.

Elizabeth Nast - Candidate for membership of the RI
Elizabeth (Liz) Nast was very pleased to meet me. Apparently, she's been following Making A Mark forever and I've previously highlighted her on my blog four times!

Elizabeth is a past winner of the RI's Young Artist Award for painters under 30 (now known as the Leathersellers Award) in 2008. She has also been selected for the ING Discerning Eye in 2015 and the Lynn Painter Stainer in 2017.  She's been selected from the Open Entry for the RI Annual Exhibition of a number of occasions (2008-2011; 2013-2017) and the Pastel Society (2013; 2015-2017) and the Society of Women Artists (2013-2015).

This is what's known as building a track record!

Kate Morgan - Candidate for membership of the RI
AND
Awarded The Leathersellers Prize
for her group of paintings
Kate Morgan's website is as colourful as her exhibit which was very impressive - and her dress! Her work is
inspired by natural history, global wildlife and imagined worlds.
It reminded me somewhat of a brighter, fun version of the French Post- Impressionist painter Henri Rousseau who painted in a naive manner. She says on her website
For me, jungles give so much scope for my imagination with its abundance of life and natural richness. Although a lot of research into animals and specific places takes place before I even put brush to paper, once I feel I have an understanding of the subject, I enjoy where my imagination can take me.
What I liked about it is that she demonstrates the skill of being able to handle both intense and saturated colour but also to take a watercolour brush loaded/saturated with watercolour paint and put down a mark precisely in the right place in the right way, while at the same time producing complex paintings which are in no way muddled or murky.

She was awarded the Leathersellers' Prize for a young artist under the age of 30 at the RI Annual Exhibition 2017.  Previously her Solo Show at the Mall Galleries clearly demonstrated her capacity to produce a body of work in a consistent style which people like - and enough for an exhibition!

In terms of art education, Kate has a first degree in fine art, and then studied at postgraduate level at both  Glasgow School of Art and Falmouth University where she was awarded her Masters degree.

I think there's a big clue in the fact that two of the candidates have previously impressed the RI with the quality of their work before the age of 30. So if you want to impress, make sure you get those submissions in sooner rather than later!

Nigel Priddy is also a Candidate for Membership and also won a prize although I didn't get to meet him.
Doubtless somebody can tell me who else is a candidate for membership.

Awards

These are the awards which were presented at the Private View on Wednesday.
READ MORE......>>
Posted by Making A Mark on Friday, April 07, 2017 0 comments
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Thursday, April 06, 2017

205th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour

Yesterday was the Private View of the 205th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours.  You can view it
The exhibition is especially notable for being:
  • the first exhibition under the new President Rosa Sepple. Rosa is the first ever female President of the RI in the history of the organisation
  • absolutely packed with supporters at the Private View yesterday. The Gallery was filled from end to end for the speeches and the awards.
Rosa Sepple - the first ever WOMAN President of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours



There area number of events during the course of the exhibition.
Also at the end are details of two more exhibitions by the RI in West Sussex and Cardiff if you're unable to get to this one.

Below you'll find my review of the exhibition in general.

Tomorrow I'll

  • post a list of the award winners - with images and 
  • show you the work of some of the candidates for membership - with images of the excellent candidates' wall and some of the candidates.

But first here are the exhibition metrics for all those artists considering entering this competition.

Exhibition metrics - and the Open Entry


There are 389 paintings on the walls of all three galleries. 142 of the works (36%) are by 98 non-member artists (1.45 paintings each)

No. of artworks and artists

There are 389 artworks in the exhibition across the three galleries. There are 
  • 247 artworks (63%) by 86 members; and 
  • 142 artworks (36%) by 98 non-members. This is a MAJOR improvement on the 25% of works from the open selected for exhibition in 2015.
  • The ratio of members' to open artworks hung is 64:36. This is an acceptable ratio for an open exhibition - with scope to improve still further. 
In terms of people hanging work in the exhibition, there are more open artists than members participating in the exhibition. The ratio of members to 'open' artists is 1:1.13 

Open Entry Success Rates

The open entry brought 1,090 entries from 489 artists. 142 artworks by 98 members were selected and hung in the exhibition.

In terms of artwork submitted via the Open Entry and exhibition success:
  • the average number of artworks submitted per artist was 2.23 
  • the average number of artworks hung per artist is 1.44 - even successful artists don't get all their artwork selected for hanging! 
  • 13% of the artwork was selected for the exhibition. This is a figure that artists need to bear in mind when submitting in future 
  • 20% of artists were successful in getting their art hung. This is a good percentage compared to many major art competitions. It also means that a number of those who were successful probably only submitted one "best work". 

Artworks per artist

  • Members: averaged 2.87 works hung. Full members can hang up to the six works (but not all do so) while more senior members tend to hang just one or a small number 
  • 'Open' artists: averaged 1.45 works hung each. 

No. of sales per class of artist

  • It's too early to say anything yet about sales but I may well be back and if I am I will do a count!

Review


The exhibition is back in three galleries for the first time in a long time - and looks and feels all the better for it.

The West Gallery is mixed with predominantly members work on display.

"The Mall" side of the West Gallery
- with the watercolours by the Prince of Wales hanging at the entrance
The end wall of the West Gallery later in the PV
Two of the North Galleries are mixed with predominantly the artwork selected via the open submission alongside some displays by RI members.
North Gallery #1
North Gallery #2

The far North Gallery contains small works by RI members. This has become a popular room in recent times.
More North Galleries

The Threadneedle Space has a Candidates Wall - for those seeking full membership of the RI. Plus artworks by artists under the age of 30 who are eligible for The Leathersellers' Prize - of which more tomorrow. The artwork in the room is predominantly by artists selected via the open.

Young Artists and Candidates


Things I liked


  • I was very impressed by the standard of the open work. The exhibition had a very fresh feel about it - bringing some new perspectives on how watercolour can be used. The President emphasised that the selection panel had deliberated at length over the digital images submitted when making the selection.
  • I liked the very much better balance between members and those selected via the open both in terms of numbers and the mix re. the hang.
  • I looked around the gallery as the PV wound its way to the end - and realised that this was an exhibition which has responded well to my various injunctions over the years on how to frame for London - and sell a painting! (eg. see Do frames help to sell art?) The frames on the artwork are almost universally simple in terms of moulding and colour - they're either white, black, neutral or pale wood. There are just a very few metallic looking frames which I confess now tend to look rather old-fashioned to my eyes.
One wall in Small Works by members Gallery
  • There's also been a change in the Small Works Gallery, it's very clear that a number of members have realised the wisdom of submitting a good small work and make it available for a reasonable price.  (In marketing terms, this might euphemistically be called "the sprat to catch a mackerel". If you can get a collector to buy a small painting, the chances are they may well return at some point in the future for a larger painting at a higher price and/or recommend you to all their friends)
  • it was good to see some plants and flowers creeping into the exhibition. I have not a clue why some of the best watercolour painters I know - the botanical artists working in watercolour - do not typically submit their work to the open exhibitions of the two watercolour societies. 
A mix of works by artists selected via the Open Entry
  • It was really great to see lots of paintings look like they were painted with water! Ones where you could actually see the use of "proper watercolour techniques"! This is no small achievement in an era when acrylic seems to have taken over!
More collections of 'the same but different' objects by Lilias August
- I'm always intrigued as to what she'll come up with next
Four paintings by Colin Allbrook (top centre and bottom row)
  • Lots of individual paintings! It's difficult to single out however, artists whose work appealed this year (who I'm not discussing elsewhere!) are the 'same but different' collections of Lilias August, the unassuming paintings of the countryside by Colin Allbrook which has amazing control over colour and luminescent light, and how can you not like the work of John Yardley - who to my mind is the consummate "one hit and that's it" watercolour painter!  His painting of Venice in the snow was superb!

  • PLUS Meeting new artists, old friends and artists whose work I've previously commented on - plus readers of this blog! There were a couple of hours where all I did was meet people! I also don't think I've ever had an exhibition before where quite so many people came up to me and thanked me for this blog! I'm very happy to know that you like its content and the fact I'm honest about how I see things.
There were three Past Presidents exhibiting paintings on the wall. Sadly one of them, Andy Wood - died in November last year in his third year of Presidency (see R.I.P Andy Wood PRI, RBA (1947 - 2016) ) and we won't be seeing his work again after this exhibition - except on his website. I'll miss my chats with him about what changes he's introducing in the next year.  On the other hand, I'll be very interested to see how Rosa plans to move the RI on to greater things

I do know that her initial objectives as President are to:
  • raise the profile of the Society
  • find strong new members
  • promote the new fRIends of the RI
  • find a permanent home fo the archives; and 
  • publish a hardback book on the history of the RI with profiles of its current members
I suggested that maybe the RI might also like to become interested in what watercolour looks like on vellum!  Just a thought - it's very traditional and contemporary at the same time!

Watercolour RI: Now (new original watercolours)

Two more exhibitions by the members of the RI will be held in 2017 as follows:
  • May 13th - July 15th 2017 at Horsham Museum and Art Gallery in West Sussex (This is part of Horsham’s Festival of the Watercolour, a 2 month long celebration of the medium 
  • 12th October - 4th November 2017 at the Albany Gallery in Cardiff 

Tomorrow - more about the Award Winners and Candidates.

My reviews of RI exhibitions in the last 10 years


The purpose of this video isn't to give you an in-depth view of all the paintings so much as to give you:
  • an idea of the overall size of the exhibition
  • a notion of how big the paintings are that get selected via the open entry
  • a view of the paintings that were selected this year
This exhibition has always been very popular with the provincial art societies whose members arrive in droves - on coaches!
Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, April 06, 2017 0 comments
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Tuesday, April 04, 2017

Review: Bird Art by Alan Woollett

a new book about drawing birds
If you want to learn how to draw birds - in graphite or coloured pencils - then 'Bird Art' a new book by renowned bird artist Alan Woollett, was designed for you!

One of the well known 'secrets' of wildlife art is that birds sell fast! Twitchers not only like to 'collect' birds via their binoculars, they also like to have birds on the walls in their homes.

This may well be the reason why more than a few artists have dedicated themselves to drawing and painting birds - and all the ones I know are also fabulous artists too! Most paint and a few draw.

One such bird artist - who draws in graphite and coloured pencil - is Alan Woollett. Alan wins awards for his bird art; has his drawings selected for international exhibitions of bird art; teaches internationally, and even manages to sell his drawings before he's even finished them. In other words, he knows a few things about how to draw birds!

(Follow him on Facebook at Alan Woollett Art - he doesn't have a website and on Twitter @awoollett)

Wildlife Artist of the Year - Earth's Beautiful Creatures Category Winner
Maribou Portrait by Alan Woollett ( Maidstone , Kent)
(coloured pencil on Fabriano Artistico)
Not the prettiest bird in the room - but very striking and caught my eye from the other side of the room. Wildlife Artist of the Year 2016 - The Awards

Alan has an amazing talent for making a very striking image. I suspect this talent has been hard won. He lives near Maidstone and trained at the Kent Institute of Art and Design and has been a professional artist for a long time. He's always focused on wildlife art and for the last few years has been drawing in his studio at the bottom of his garden.

Latterly he's also been writing his new book about how to draw birds. This is as much about Composition and Colour as it is about the overall approach from beginning to end that he uses and the stages of his drawing process.
"In essence I want to show you how my pictures are conceived" AW
UKCPS 2015 Annual Exhibition - R.K. Burt Paper Award for Best Still Life
Birds Nest Study by Alan Woollett
coloured pencil, 36cm x 27cm

What I like about the book

READ MORE......>>
Posted by Making A Mark on Tuesday, April 04, 2017 1 comments
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Monday, April 03, 2017

Sue Scullard - Wood Engraver

It was lovely to see the wood engraving work of Sue Scullard celebrated in BBC1's Countryfile's programme about Forests last night.

I've purchased Sue's work (see below) as we are fellow exhibitors at Florum. I immediately recognised her style of work and knew who John Craven was going to be meeting and talking to before he said her name or the film revealed her face!

So - for those of you who missed it, here's some more about Sue Scullard and wood engraving:
I started wood engraving on endgrain boxwood in 1980, whilst studying at the Royal College of Art, and since then have been making prints for illustration, commissions and for exhibition.
  • This is a YouTube Video of Sue producing a wood engraving. It's an expanded and more detailed version of topics covered in the BBC film (for those who can't get BBC - and everybody else!)

    • This is her website's section on wood engraving
    Most of the engravings are worked on small endgrain boxwood blocks, which have a dense and close-grained surface, so the medium encourages a cautious and detailed approach
    • You can also see more wood engravings in works she's developed as illustrations for books. (The one I'm showing you is one such work). This is the section of her website where/how you can buy her work - you can buy unframed prints direct from Sue via email (typically for c.£75).
    • I think I'm right in saying that Sue participates in the exhibitions and open studios associated with South East Open Studios (which are still finalising their lists for the 2017 season) so bookmark for later! (Felicity will correct me if I'm wrong!)
    • This is the Society of Wood Engravers - whose website displays the variety of work and styles used by those who engrave wood
    Lark Rise To Candleford - Vegetable Garden at Lark Rise
    100x150mm, edition 250
    White Garden, Sissinghurst - 100x200mm, edition 300
    • Finally, you can see one of Sue's work which hangs in my home. I'm a huge fan of drawings, paintings and prints of veggie gardens and above is the engraving she did of the Vegetable Garden at Lark Rise for Lark Rise To Candleford.  I just love the great big fat marrows, cabbages and leeks in this one.
    I've also got a print of her wood engraving of the White Garden at Sissinghurst (see right).

    My plan is to continue to develop a collection of her engravings of great gardens of the South East next. More gardens at Sissinghurst and Great Dixter are next on the list!

    Prices are very reasonable. Unframed prints vary but £75 is not untypical.

    I can certainly recommend collecting wood engravings as a way of developing a collection of artwork by an expert which isn't going to break the piggie bank!


    Posted by Making A Mark on Monday, April 03, 2017 4 comments
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