I watched Tony Hancock’s “The Rebel” on Sunday afternoon. I hadn’t seen it for a few years but it’s still an excellent take on the contemporary art scene. There’s one scene where he’s at an “artsy” party and the host is submerged as a diver in a 12 foot long tank of water and I’m convinced that that scene played a part in Damian Hirst’s animals in glass tanks series.
July 6th, 2010
We went to the dinner and ceremony for this years BP Portrait Award , about 2 weeks ago now. It was a bit more of a subdued affair this year with all the goings on in the Gulf of Mexico. It is, undoubtedly terrible what is happening to the wild life and environment out there but BP have also been excellent sponsors of art at the Tate, British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, and in my experience at the NPG they have nurtured, encouraged and inspired a generation of figurative painters over the past 20+ years.
I was sorry that Mike Gaskell came 2nd for the 3rd time. Another excellent piece. The intimacy in his small portraits almost hint at a new level of realism, they are quite astonishing when you see them in the flesh. I have attached some of my favourites from this years show including Mike Gaskell’s, Mary Jane Ansell, Alan Coulson, Nathan Ford, Thea Penna and Carlos Muro’s beautiful 4 way portrait which strangely has the feel of a Marcus Harvey painting when you seen the mark making up close.
July 6th, 2010
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |