Category Archives: CONTEMPORARY ART

Thalassa – a Swoon installation

Tthe New Orleans Museum of Art currently has the chance to host the large scale installation from the artist Swoon and that is called “Thalassa”.

The artwork reigns in the museum’s great hall and feels very powerful. Swoon here wants to voice her reaction  to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and she only used found objects.

The display runs until the 25/09/2011.

EAGLE by Dave White – print release

One launch night not to miss, one print to get.

The artist, Dave White is on the rise and have been selected for the Northern Graduates show at the Royal College of Art, Liverpool-based. He is regarded by many as one of the most talented of the UK’s new generation of painters and when you see what he is done, you have to agree or at least positively nod.

The event is about the release of an exclusive limited edition print, hand finished in gold leaf, of his iconic Eagle work from his critically acclaimed Americana series.

I should have said enough for you to be gagging to come down to Artrepublic Soho on the 28th and fight for a copy of the print you can see below.

When – 6PM, Thursday 28th July 2011
Where – Artrepublic soho | 42 new compton street | London WC2H 8DA

Rene Magritte at Tate Liverpool

Last time a major show about Rene Magritte happened was in 1992 at the Hayward gallery, London. This time, Tate Liverpool is having a go at presenting us a character known to be a sexual obsessive with a twisted mind – the perfect definition of a surrealist painter, some would say, which Rene Magritte was.

Reading about his biography and it does not take long to get to the bottom of his deviance. Rene Magritte saw his mum getting pulled out of the river she threw herself in, she only had her nightdress wrapped around her head, the rest was naked. Rene Magritte was 14.

A direct link to this traumatic event can definitely be seen in The Lovers, painting he made in 1928 and on display at the Tate Liverpool for this show.

Commercial works have also taken a large place in Rene Magritte’s life and this show dedicates a large section to them – Rene Magritte did not get rich until late in his career and resorted some freelance graphic design work. One of his main clients was the Belgian couture house Norine.

What – René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle
Where – Tate (Liverpool)
When – 24 June – 16 October 2011

Related links
René Magritte: The artist who turned the world on its head (The Telegraph)
René Magritte: The Pleasure Principle – exhibition (The Guardian)

The House of Detention at the Clerkenwell design week

I got myself to the Clerkenwell design week, well, I work in the area so it was easy for me to walk to Clerkenwell close where the remains of the House of Detention are – a series of underground tunnels and rooms.

The place has been a museum since 1993 but for the last three days it showcases exciting contemporary talent. The nature of the space  and its spookiness (some say it is haunted) make the whole experience a success and very much enjoyable for the visitor.

You will find below pictures of what excited me at the show.

Clerkenwell design week – Sarah Wiestner's installation

The Clerkenwell design week is back again from tomorrow, the 24th May, and will result in an exciting buzz where art meets design and vice versa. Not less than 60 showrooms and a pile of events (over 150 events) such pop up exhibitions, installations, talks, performances, music and workshops, the area is where to be for the next couple of days.

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Sarah Wiestner

One of the exhibitions that got me excited at this year’s Clerkenwell design week, is Sarah Wiestner’s axcrylics mirrors, MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) and LEDs lights installation or make over of the infamous House of Detention known to be haunted. The prison was demolished in 1890, but an entire underground section survived and lay undisturbed until the bombs of the Blitz saw it reopened as an air-raid shelter. After World War II it was again largely forgotten until, in 1993, it became a museum.

How Sarah plays with mirrors and make the space transparent is often deceived or shaken by the encounter of a dead end paths. Many openings were sealed off last century. The LEDs lights give back the light to this place once in a the complete dark. I have not been yet but can already sense a very interesting and exciting mix of elements and feelings.

Read more
> The website and blog of Sarah Wiestner (some awesome stuff) – http://maisdsarahwiestner.blogspot.com
> Cklerkenwell design week – http://www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com
> The House of Detention – http://www.london-ghost-tour.com/houseofdetention.htm