A top art blog for artists and art lovers: news about major art competitions and exhibitions, interviews with artists, techniques and tips for art and business
How do you comment on contemporary art? In my view, if you are direct and honest, you comment from your own individual perspective - and say what you see.
Those submerged in the marketplace for contemporary art or the academic world of art and/or who pursue endless degrees in art you may say something completely different. Some of which may sound quite a lot like International Art English a.k.a. "artspeak" and suggest it is "authoritative". It's not.
As an artist, if you put your work out there you have to be prepared for the fact that not everybody will think your art is as good (or as bad) as you think it is - and that people may say precisely what they think about it.
My personal philosophy on this blog has always been to never ever say anything negative about an artwork (i.e. say nothing at all if you don't like/rate it) UNLESS the artist is in contention for a major art prize.
Commentary on a comment
I recently came across a comment left some two years ago on my Facebook Page in relation to my posting my photo of a young chap - an emerging artist - who'd got his painting in to an exhibition at the Mall Galleries and won a prize. I'd liked the painting and the artist.
An individual commented - and he was ungracious enough to spoil the young chap's moment in the sun - and took the opportunity to call me out on my writing about art. He was initially referring to my review blog post which was a completely different post from the one he commented on.
I was very irritated by his ineptitude and rudeness and decided to respond in a robust manner. You can read what happened below - minus the references to specific individual painters and the name of the individual who commented.
Each week a different theme – portraits, animals, fantasy, view from my
window, home, Britain – was explored.
Each week an enormous number of people around the country submitted their
artwork for the theme that week.
He received nearly 10,000 entries, an overwhelming response to his call
out. The variety of entries – using canvas, paper, photography, sculpture
and mixed media – showed the imagination, skill and creativity of the
nation. These works, alongside those of Grayson Perry, Philippa Perry and
the invited artists and celebrities, will be on show in the exhibition. (Manchester Art Gallery)
The good news is that a second series will return to Channel 1 in 2021.
Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Grayson's Art Club: The Exhibition
the exhibition will track the journey the series took as it unleashed
the nation’s collective creativity under the constraints of lockdown.
(Channel 4 Briefing)
Grayson's Art Club: The Exhibition
- of the works by the public selected by Grayson from those submitted during
the television series - and those made by guest celebrities - has been hung
at Manchester Art Gallery.
All the works on display are very personal visual representations of
lockdown, made by the public, well-known artists and celebrities for
Grayson’s Art Club. This celebration of creativity in people’s homes chronicled the
changing moods of Britain in isolation, providing a unique record of this
globally experienced extraordinary time.
The FREE exhibition should have opened on Wednesday 25 November 2020 and run
until Sunday 18 April 2021.
Then the second lockdown struck - and the Gallery had to postpone the opening.
When it finished Manchester was still under ervere Tier 3 restrictions - so
Manchester Art Gallery still cannot open.
However the current restriction allow the making of television programmes
inside art galleries - and Channel 4 got permission to make the end of the
programme which was broadcast last night on Channel 4.
The Exhibition will open when it can. Tickets will be required.
Alongside the public’s artworks, the exhibition will feature pieces by celebrities Jenny Eclair, Noel Fielding, Harry Hill, Jessica Hynes, Joe Lycett, Kevin McLeod, Jim Moir (aka Vic Reeves), Liza Tarbuck, and artists Jeremy Deller, Antony Gormley, Maggi Hambling, Chantal Joffe, Martin Parr, Raqib Shaw, David Shrigley and the Singh Twins.
I hope it comes to London too - and maybe tour the country if they can some
sponsorship?
Grayson's Art Club: The Exhibition (on television)
Grayson Perry with his wife Philippa
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED VIEWING
I watched
Grayson's Art Club: The Exhibition
- the last episode of the first series of Grayson's Art Club on Channel 4 this
morning over breakfast.
Here's a video trailer....
What's very special is that he visited a number of the artists - from a safe
distance - and saw where they made their artwork and met the artists and heard
what about what the programme meant to them.
This was prior to moving on to the plans for exhibition at Manchester Art
Gallery. As he explained exhibitions normally take two years to organised -
whereas this one was organised in about six month. Plus more artists have
contributed art than any other exhibition they'd had at the gallery in a very
long while....
I spent the last part of the programme with a smile on my face and with with
very wet eyes as the works were hung at Manchester Art Gallery and looked - as
renowned RA Summer Exhibitor Harry Hill said "It looks just like a real art exhibition".
I find it absolutely amazing that ordinary people - responding in a way that seemed best to them - should have an opportunity to record the pandemic - such a very unique time in our social history - through some exceptionally creative artwork.
My favourite piece by "proper artists" was the illuminated (in more ways than one) artwork - done in the manner of an illuminated book - by the Singh Twins - who I am an enormous fan of. The artwork NHS V Covid-19:Fighting on Two Fronts, 2020 (Slaves of Fashion Series) is also available as a print from their website - as a not inexpensive fine art giclee print and an expensive signed limited edition.
In essence it pays tribute to NHS and other frontline healthcare workers whilst presenting a satirical look at the UK Government's handling of the crisis and also challenging notions of Britishness. Special emphasis is given to the contribution of and additional risk to BAME carers working within the health sector. The main focus of the composition is an Asian nurse depicted as a modern day St George, riding a horse, with lance in hand and battling the Covid-19 virus dragon on the edge of the white cliffs of Dover. Boris Johnson is shown straddling the horse just behind the nurse, thrusting a knife into her back, whilst pulling on the horse's reins. This imagery, together, with another detail (depicting Theresa May brandishing a 'Brexit Sale', 'NHS Workers' Rights' placard and a parliamentary bill voting down a pay rise for nurses), point to the hypocrisy of a government which claps for the NHS in public but whose policy and attitude towards public sector emergency services over the years (and across different governments) has hindered and caused injury to the NHS.
it's not published until 17th December so I'm ordering in advance
It's already made #1 on the Museums and Art Collections (exhibitions and collection catalogues) listing on Amazon UK! I guarantee it will go even higher......
It's an excellent record of a very odd and very challenging time.
Sky Arts - and the Artist of the Year / Week programmes can be accessed
live and on demand on your desktop
via the Sky Go app
(if you have a Sky account)
live and on demand
on five devices on Now TV
using the
Now TV app (with an Entertainment Pass) - including your TV (via the
Now TV Stick) - I've got it on my television, iMac, iPad and iPhone. My stick was free
when I got mine but now it costs £24.00
the programme on Now TV
Sky Arts can also be accessed via Channel 11 on various satellite TV services
- but you don't get the "on demand" service - and you don't get Portrait
Artist of the Week.
Find Sky Arts now on Freeview channel 11, Freesat channel 147 alongside
Sky channel 122, Virgin Media Channel 123 and BT channel 348
Home Page of the Online Exhibition of "First Ladies of the United States"
The options are to:
View the Exhibition - which is split into time periods as follows (do click the "read more" off to the right of each era - as it provides some fascinating details about both the times and the women. You can either scroll down or navigate by individual portraits using the arrows at the bottom of the page
This strikes me as what every national portrait gallery should do - combine the art of portraiture with the history associated with the sitters!
The one thing which struck me about the exhibition is how amazing the portrait of FLOTUS 51 Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is in the context of portraits of recent First Ladies. Amy Sherald's portrait of her is just stunning when placed next to the portraits of other First Ladies in the
When Amy Sherald’s portrait of Obama was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018, many viewers were pleased while others were shocked by the artist’s distinctive approach, which uses gray for skin color as a way to look beyond the superficial differences of race.
This time looking at the portraits from across the centuries, it provides a history lesson in the art of portraiture - as well as an education in the personal tastes of all the different FLOTUSs.
the ratio of paintings to photographs is interesting, It rather seems that having a photograph of a Presidents wife in the latter half of the 19th Century was the done thing - which includes a rather impressive photo of Mrs Lincoln. (Although alternative / additional portrait of the First Ladies are also included in the "Read More" section.)
Her focus on class position is seen in the many carte-de-visite photographs of her in fashionable costumes.
the narrative about the women reflects on their position in relation to slavery
it's interesting to see how they choose to have themselves portrayed - in finery or in normal day costume - there again I didn't know what I only found out as I got to Hillary Rodham Clinton
I loved the portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt - with the small studies included at the bottom - and was even more impressed by the narrative about her
Arguing that dignity came from within, she is credited with the saying “Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” After her husband’s death in 1945, which came just months after his re-election to an unprecedented fourth term, she became the chairperson of the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission. Her work on the articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights led many to hail her as the “First Lady of the World.”
I was intrigued by the fact that Jackie Kennedy's portrait by Boris Chaliapin (1904–1979) was created in "Gouache, watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard" until I realised it was a gift from Time Magazine and had obviously been created for the cover of the magazine
Apparently all portraits prior to Hillary Rodham Clinton were gifts to the National Portrait Gallery who had only commissioned portraits of the POTUS. Thereafter a portrait was also commissioned of the FLOTUS - however
Barbara Bush's portrait was also a gift
it seems as if sponsors are required to make sure a decent portrait artist is engaged to create the portrait - note the very many sponsors of the Michelle Obama portrait!
Note: As a public health precaution due to COVID-19, all Smithsonian museums are temporarily closed.
View of Episode 7 at Battersea Arts centre - minus the public ue to covid-19
Episode 7: The Artists, Self-portraits and Sitters
This is the About the Artists page (click episode 7 under Series 7) - where you can see their individual
self portraits and speeded up videos of their paintings.
One thing - you get edited highlights about artists in the programme - whereas
I dig deeper and bring added value...... Some of the information below was not
mentioned in the programme.
The artists in Episode 7 - waiting to hear the judgement
Professional artists
Six professional artists participated in this heat
Vincent Michael Brown (
Website |
Facebook
|
Instagram ) - professional artist since 2002 and began first selling
my art and taking commissions at the age of eleven. Now a 48-year-old
fine-artist and co-founder of Artime (a gallery, studio, art school and
shop) with a good track record in art competitions.
Deborah Pearce (
Website |
Facebook
|
Instagram
| Commissions ) - BA in Fine Arts, Painting. from Central St Martins.
Has worked as a worked as an Actor and Hypnotherapist, Coach and Tutor -
as well as an artist.
Last night I appeared on @skyarts Portrait Artist of the Year
@artistoftheyear. Due to
#boatlife, my lack of a TV and lockdown preventing going to someone’s house I
haven’t actually been able to watch it
Leanne Rutter finishing her background to her portrait of
David Haig
Si Sapsford ( Website |
Instagram ) Based in London. An
artist and Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at the University of East London.
Has a very long and extensive CV of exhibitions, awards and
publications. Was selected for BP Portrait Award Exhibition in 2000 and
won the BP Travel Award in 2000. Joint winner of Innovative Teaching
Award UEL in 2020. Predominantly sculpts (she currently makes
mechanical sculptures) and has
only recently taken up painting again. She's also been painting the
sitters from Portrait Artist of the Week - which you can see on her
website.
Alastair Farley (
Instagram ) - a Fine Art Graduate currently doing an MA at the Royal
Drawing School.
Liorah Tchiprout (
Website |
Instagram ) based in London. Studied Fine Art Printmaking at University of
Brighton, graduating 2016. In 2020 she graduated with an MA in
Printmaking from Camberwell College of Art, London. Her work is
concerned with belonging, girlhood and the theatrical. She builds
physical puppet characters to construct her own pantheon from which to
draw images.
Amateur Artists
Caron Clarke (
Website |
Instagram ) - Very sensibly got a new website up and running after
appearing in this heat! Born in London, Caron Clarke is a watercolour
artist. who teaches art and design to children with autism. 1995 - BA
(Hons) Illustration, University of Westminster. 1998 - Postgraduate
Certificate in Art and Design Education, Middlesex University.
Jack Dickson (
Website |
Facebook
|
Instagram
) - Based in Dorset. BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting at Winchester School
of Art (1997). 2002 - PGCE Art and Design: University of Brighton.
He works as a House Master and school master who teaches art to 14-18
year olds at an independent school in Dorset. Participated in portraits
for NHS Heroes this summer.
Licia Santos - Based in London. Studying fine art at Goldsmiths
College of Art.
Self Portraits
Self portrait wall in Episode 7
This is a summary of the size, format and content of the self portraits in this heat.
There was a distinct preference for smaller than average "head and not very much shoulder" self portraits in this heat.
SIZE
Large x 1
Medium x 3
Small x 4
Very small x 1
FORMAT
Landscape format x 0
Portrait format x 8
Square format x 1
CONTENT OF SELF-PORTRAIT
full size x 0
torso + head + hands with another person x 0
torso including head and hand(s) x 2
Head and shoulders + hand(s) x 1
head and shoulder(s) x 4
head x 2
The Sitters
The Sitters for Episode 7 were:
Jane Horrocks - an English actress, comedian, voice artist, musician and singer, who
played the roles of Bubble in the BBC sitcom
Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012) and received Golden Globe and
BAFTA nominations for the role in the 1998 film adaptation
Little Voice.
David Haig MBE
- an English actor and playwright with a career over four decades and
ha appeared in a number of very popular television programmes and
films as well as a number of West End plays.
Artists use various ways to draw the sitter, then block in and refine the portrait and include the detail. This series offers an enormous amount of information for those wanting to think some more about how they choose to paint - and whether it is effective.
If you have a talent demonstrate it! It gets you noticed and the Judges paying attention.
Although she used two brushes for drawing, Si Sapsford's main talent was being able to produce a convincing drawing with a brush.
is going on my Christmas list as one of my stocking fillers! 
