Archive for February, 2012
Anne and myself went to the private view of the new Freud exhibition last Tuesday evening at the NPG. I’d been looking forward to it for months and it was even better than I had hoped for. We got there early so that we cou;ld have a quiet look around and for the first 15 minutes it was a very “private” view which was lovely. It’s got basically everything , form his very early work in the 40’s to the last, poignantly unfinished painting that he made in 2011. It’s the best exhibition I’ve been to in the past 10 years I’d say. It made me realise just how powerful and emotive an exhibition created from the human hand and touch can be. So often I go to public art gallery shows which are full of piss boring video loops and “witty” / ironic installations which just leave me cold, as emotionally engaging as a visit to DFS or B&Q. Freud’s show felt real, important, serious, ambitious, demanding, energetic, physical. From this show I think the work he did in the 50’s and 90’s are the most triumphant, his large eyed paintings of Kitty and his huge paintings of Leigh Bowery in the 90’s. Quite incredible. Other artists that I know were at the show including Tai-Shan Schierenberg, Ishbel Myerscough, Stuart Pearson Wright, Mike Gaskell and myself and I think it’s fair to say that Freuds influence has touched us all in our work as he has hundreds of other artists, he is truely a giant of Britishfigurative art and this show really points that out. There’s a great catalogue to accompany the show too , beautifully illustrated. well woth a visit if you’re in London. runs until the end of May
February 22nd, 2012
I mentioned in an earlier post that I visited Eric Sykes at his London office in Bayswater at the tail end of last summer and spent a wonderful day with him. Here is the first drawing that I have done of him. It’s on a beautiful qulity and quite expensive A1 size paper with a nice deckel edge on all sides and a water mark which I love. It has a certain texture to t too whch I have used to my advantage in the drawing. I enjoyed the scale of this drawing, I usually like to work at 3/4 of life size when I’m painting but drawing materials are more clumsey I find so it’s nice to work a bit bigger and there was so much detail to pack in.
I thought I’d draw him smiling because he is a comedian and comedy writer , an expression I rarely use but felt was relevant in this instance and I haveto say I’m really pleased with it.
February 13th, 2012
A friend of min from Walsall has been chipping away at songwriting for years with varying success but has remained dogged to the belief in his work which is entirely admirable. Here’s his new single which I think is great and has an incredibly ear worm hook. Me and my brother in law Mike are in the video in a pub in Walsall. click on the link.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDtIaKo4YIw
February 13th, 2012
Since we had Scarlett we’ve been playing some chilled out sounds to keep everything nice and calm and I got this beautiful album by The Civil Wars which is the perfect backdrop for a baby if you want to relax, we’ve played it to death. I saw them on Jools Holland and got the album straight after. I know it’s a bit late but a friend of ours brought another beautifully chilled out Christmas album by Sufjan Stevens, it’s a 5 disc set that he worked on annually for 5 years and is a very low fi bedroom studio but is a must for next Christmas.
February 13th, 2012
Here is a recent drawing that I completed just before Christmas. It was commissioned by their father David and these are his two sons and the drawing in the background to the right was a self portrait of their grandfather and the painting to the left was a painting of the interior of the family business. It’s a very large drawing , bigger than A0 and I think is the largest I’ve done to date. I was with the atmosphere of the drawing and the boy’s depiction, Anthony being very relaxed and Nicholas more rigid which created a nice tension in the piece I think. I particularly enjoyed the shape rhythms in the shadows on Nicholas’s hands, they seem to flow very nicely. Most importantly perhaps they both had interesting faces reflecting their Jewish herritage.
February 13th, 2012
Sorry it’s been so long since the last post, Anne and myself had a lovely little girl back in late November and I’ve taken a little time out but am back at the easel now. Many of you already know, but her name is Scarlett and she’s 12 weeks old now and is a little beauty. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts and came to visit, much appreciated.
February 13th, 2012