“Please direct me to whatever I won’t find in European museums” was my request to the lady at the welcome desk at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The entry ticket to the Met gives you access over 3 days but I only had a morning available so was keen to absorb as much as […]
One-minute blog of interesting things
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As a working contemporary artist I visit many exhibitions and shows, but sometimes it is the things I see that are part of daily life that capture my interest. My one-minute blog of interesting things reflects the fact that although we are increasingly time-poor, there is creativity all around us.
Innovative materials seen at Surface Design
I’d arranged to meet a friend at Surface Design who was a little delayed so mooched around the new materials stand, always worth stopping at. Here are a few of the products on show which all have an environmental slant to them. Poppy Pippin has designed these terracotta wall tiles which encourage carbon-absorbing moss to […]
Svenja Deininger
What is it about Svenja Deininger’s work that I love so much? I could give you a list of elements but that still wouldn’t explain it. I discovered this Viennese painter at the Marianne Boesky gallery in New York and was smitten. This one looks like patched and stitched leather Look at the little details […]
Bosco Sodi and other Mexican artists at Blain|Southern London
It’s always worth seeing what Blain|Southern’s gallery space is showing at any particular time and these two exhibitions have much to recommend them. Bosco Sodi’s wall and floor pieces deal with elemental material: earth and clay with eloquent simplicity And no, this isn’t a weird camera angle, the stack is not perpendicular to the painting or the […]
Frank Lloyd Wright room at the Metropolitan Museum
Don’t you love it when whole environments are recreated? This Frank Lloyd Wright room, at the Metropolitan Museum in New York was originally designed for Francis and Mary Little and is all but, being pretty huge. Every detail has been considered within the interior right down to the flower arrangements. Can you imagine the parties […]
Line by Atopia at Walmer House, Regent Street, London
I was walking down Regent Street the other day and caught sight of this. Retracing my steps to look more closely the camera just had to come out. Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier (collectively known as Atopia) created this 20m long piece, Line, for the Portland stone entrance to Walmer House. It is derived from the […]
Tom Otterness: art on New York’s subway
I really wasn’t expecting to find this whilst waiting for a train at 14th Street on a recent visit to New York. What a delight to see these narratives by Tom Otterness around my platform. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Transport Agency, Life Underground consists of various scenes, a few of which are shown here. Oh […]
L’oscar, a new hotel in Holborn, London
Looking for a decadent-feeling place for a drink (or more) in Central London? Then L’oscar is the place for you. From the back-lit onyx bar and mirrored ceiling of Café L’oscar to the alabaster birds perched around the place, this hotel exudes a delightful loucheness – in a luxurious way, of course. The hotel’s strapline – […]
Klimt/Schiele at the Royal Academy
I discovered the work of Egon Schiele at the age of 16 and remain staggered by the power of his work. This exhibition of his drawings at the Royal Academy, along with those of Gustav Klimt, is a rare treat. I’ve seen his powerful, sometimes disturbing portraits before but these tender drawings of a mother […]
Oceania at the Royal Academy
A fascinating cross between an ethnographic and art show, Oceania at the Royal Academy let my imagination run free yet was sometimes frustrating with the lack of text for scholarly purposes. Still, I now have the catalogue which should answer many of my questions. This huge stitched tarpaulin of the sea, Kiko Moana, at […]
