art blog since 2009
Exhibition: Cage Mix – Sound and Sculpture, BALTIC, Gateshead, until September 19 2010 If ever a course sounded challenging, it was this one: Experimental Composition at the New School for Social Research; tutor: John Cage. Cage taught the classes towards the end of the 1950s and his students were by and not musicians, but artists. …
June 11, 2010
With surrealism and sound, fauna and flesh, there is much to tempt you indoors this June. Here’s some monthly highlights for contemporary art written for Culture24. Cage Mix: Sculpture and Sound, BALTIC, Gateshead Eight artists who work with the ideas and writings of John Cage are brought together by design rather than chance. Their schemes …
June 9, 2010
Exhibition: A Horse Walks Into A Bar, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, June 18 – August 8 2010 That a non-domestic animal in a pub should occasion hilarity tells us something about our relationship with nature. The proverbial horse in a bar is an old joke. Perhaps the nine artists in this group show at Castlefield Gallery …
June 2, 2010
Here’s a selection of half a dozen of the most exciting contemporary art shows from around Britain this month. Written for Culture24. Agnes Martin, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge Martin’s minimal paintings, characterised by airy colours and hand-drawn grids, map out a fragile, yet peaceful, interior world. It makes sense that the Canadian-born artist took to painting …
May 15, 2010
Most people would find the prospect of entertaining several thousand people in their own home somewhat daunting. But throughout May in Brighton, such are the visitor numbers for a typical address in the Artists’ Open House festival. Citywide that adds up to around 230,000 guests. It is no wonder that home-loving artists from Hanover to …
May 10, 2010
Cities without an established home for contemporary art might well look with interest at a solution found by artists in Brighton and Hove this May. House Festival 2010 is a temporary gallery with nine rooms spread around the twin coastal resorts, in venues as diverse as a Regency townhouse, a day centre and a garden …
April 30, 2010
Exhibition: Underwater, Towner, Eastbourne, until June 20 2010 In the landscapes paintings of Eric Ravilious, the South Downs look like green waves in a rough sea, at least they do so after a visit to Underwater at Towner. The Eastbourne gallery has a reputation for landscape art and the local painter is one of many …
April 28, 2010
Exhibition: A Certain Distance, Endless Light – A Project by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and William McKeown, MIMA, Middlesbrough, until July 4 2010 Energy is the theme of the North-East’s 10th AV Festival and the inclusion of Felix-Gonzalez-Torres looks like a no-brainer. Some of the Cuban-born artist’s best known works feature lightbulbs on string and six of …
April 8, 2010
Painting merges with sculpture, sculpture merges with sound, and sound merges with light this month – in a UK-wide guide to the best of contemporary art written for Culture24. Brian Eno – 77 Million Paintings, Fabrica, Brighton Religion was never so chilled out. Brian Eno offers a slow-changing digital stained glass window and soporific ambient music …
April 7, 2010
Exhibition: Susan Collis – Since I Fell For You, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, until May 16 2010 There are 25 pieces in this show by Susan Collis, but if it wasn’t for a gallery handout and some helpful attendants, you could easily miss the lot of them. The walls do not look ready for art. Nails …
April 1, 2010