FREE PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS

Love Is Enough? An exhibition inspired by William Morris's poem

2011-12-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

The Friends of the William Morris Gallery together
with The Mill, the new community centre at
7-11 Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow, E17 7HA
( the old James Street library) present:

Love Is Enough? An exhibition inspired by
Morris's poem of the same name,
and open to artists to submit work

Morris wrote Love is Enough in 1872, a play that

draws inspiration from an ancient Welsh saga,

The Mabinogion. It tells of a king who gives up

his kingdom for the love of a commoner and was

described at the time as a "fantastic little book,

chiefly lyrical". Love is enough is better known

as a poem from the book

Love is enough

LOVE is enough: though the World be a-waning,

And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,

Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover

The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,

Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,

And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass'd over,

Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;

The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter

These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

Without wishing you read the whole book,
but bearing its theme in mind, we are using
the poem Love is enough to base an exhibition
around. The book and poem should give
sufficient scope to anyone concerned about love,
society and the environment to submit an entry,
so it does not have to be all hearts and flowers,
please note the question mark in the exhibition title.

Events during the exhibition

There will be a grand meet the artists night on
14 February, 6-9pm,
a printmaking workshop on Saturday 18 February,
12-4.30pm,
and a discussion with speakers Wednesday
23 February,
"Is Love Enough?" William Morris and the struggle
for a better world",
6.30-8pm. All are free to attend.

How to enter

Entries will be accepted for members of
The Friends of the William Morris Gallery
and people living in the area around The Mill.
The exhibition will run from Tuesday
7 February to Saturday 3 March.
The Mill is open 10am-8pm, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday; 10am-6pm Friday
and Saturday, and 11am-2pm Sunday.

Any media is acceptable, a painting a print
a sculpture or a poem, but there is a size limit
of 1m in any dimension and a submission fee
of £2.50 per entry. Any work sold during the
exhibition will attract a 20% commission in
favour of The Mill. We will attempt to exhibit
all the entries, space permitting, but some
selection may take place.

All work must be delivered to The Mill,
7-11 Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow,
E17 7HA. Thursday 2 February, 10am-7pm,
Friday 3 and Saturday 4 February, 10am-6pm.
And picked up from The Mill after the exhibition on
Sunday 4 March 11am-2pm.

Please contact Martin Adams for an entry form.

'ART IS FOR LIFE, NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS...'

2011-12-19T16:35:00.001-08:00

'ART IS FOR LIFE, NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS...'

Cultivate Vyner Street

21 December 2011 - 3 January 2012

Opening Christmas party private view: Tuesday 20th December 2011, 6-9pm

Our famous Art Is For Life slogan was created by Clarissa Baldwin, Chief Executive, in 1978 but is still as relevant today.

The longstanding campaign aims to raise awareness of the consequences of treating art as gifts or toys. Every year hundreds of thousands of children plead for the latest fad or top toy on the market, only to discard them a few weeks after Christmas when the novelty wears off. Unfortunately, the same perception is also apparent with art. We are continually seeking to change this.
While everyone else is busy flogging art for Christmas, we're carrying straight on through to the new year with a group show, with the Cultivate Christmas party and lots more.

Featuring artists: COS AHMET, CARL CASHMAN, ELLIE GREEN, ELLA GURU ARTIST, CARNE GRIFFITHS, TIM GOFF, INTERNATIONAL NOBODY, ANGELA BUFFONI, BEX MASSEY, MARIA SLOVAKOVA, GAYE BLACK, MADELEINE STRINDBERG, ROXANE GRANT, MIKE MACKENNEY, JONI BELARUSKI, SHARON REEVES....

Remember now, "Art is for life, not just for Christmas".

Cultivate, Vyner Street

Corner of Vyner Street & Mowlem Street

London E2 9HE

Tel: 020 3222 5042
Email: info@cultivatevynerstreet.com
Web: www.cultivatevynerstreet.com

Open: Thursday - Sunday: 11.30am - 6.00pm, or by appointment

Harlesden Gallery Artist Group Exhibition @ The Tricycle - Kilburn

2011-12-19T07:31:00.000-08:00

Harlesden Gallery Artist Group Exhibition @ The Tricycle - Kilburn

January 9th – February 4th 2012 | Private View – 12th January 2012 - 6.30 - 9pm

Harlesden Gallery presents: A Graphically Illustrative Concept…

The Harlesden Gallery artists are back at the Tricycle with an exhibition of digital, illustrative and graphic art.
This exciting exhibition will feature works ranging from the conceptual and iconic to the ironic and bizarre.
The show combines the dreamlike illustrations of Alex Stewart, Cos Ahmet and Stuart Alexander with the
iconic imagery of Ben Oakley and the digital composites of urban artist ‘PIKY’. Meanwhile the humorous
subtlety of Gabriel Parfitt and Will Parker’s pieces are a non-confrontational poke at the ordinary and
everyday.

Harlesden gallery was borne out of a project called the Harlesden Town Charter, compiled by local residents
as a means to deliver regeneration of the area with funding from various sources. The charter identifies the
absence of cultural space. So, as there is no actual gallery, we've created a virtual one instead, resulting in
the recruitment of a group of talented artists that wish to promote Harlesden and the NW10 area.
Harlesden Gallery represents a talented mix of artists, both from NW10 and elsewhere, creating a fascinating
network of talented individuals, and providing a comprehensive artist resource, using the combined
knowledge, links and contacts of those featured to promote the group under the 'Harlesden Gallery' banner.
Our aim is to exhibit all over the London area and beyond, creating a commercially successful art group while
also being a great benefit for the Harlesden locality and community. Harlesden Gallery serves the purpose of
creating an interest and awareness of the area, and our aim is to secure the funding for a cultural space that
Harlesden so desperately needs and deserves.

Gabriel Parfitt: Gallery creator and coordinator

Featured Harlesden Gallery Artists:

Cos Ahmet: www.cos-ahmet.co.uk | Stuart Alexander: www.stuartalexander.net |
Alex Stewart: web.mac.com/alexanderjs | Will Parker: www.worldofparker.com | Piky: www.piky.co.uk |
Ben Oakley: www.benoakley.com | Gabriel Parfitt (Curator): www.gabrielparfitt.co.uk

Contacts and Links:
Website: www.harlesdengallery.co.uk
Curator: Gabriel Parfitt | gabrielparfitt@hotmail.com | 077 8686 5356
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harlesdengallery/
Venue: The Tricycle Theatre | 269 Kilburn High Road | London NW6 7JR | 020 7372 6611 | www.tricycle.co.uk

Cos Ahmet:One-Man exhibition 'Self Seeing' on at the moment at The Stone Space in East London,

2011-12-09T17:45:00.001-08:00

My name is Cos Ahmet, I'm one of the new FPS members. I have my One-Man exhibition 'Self Seeing' on at the moment at The Stone Space in East London, and although it comes to an end on Sunday 11 December, I wondered whether it is not too late to add it to the blog???

Please let me know and I can send further details, such as jpegs etc. I will be at the gallery this afternoon, so if you do happen to get this email, I can assist before I have to leave at around 1pm.

In the meantime, here are some links to my exhibition:

http://www.cos-ahmet.co.uk/section561743.html

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.310912425603030.87362.100000528246440&type=1&l=1b06795bdb

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Self-Seeing/2627403

Hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,

Cos

FPS committee and BBC2 Art Series Call Out

2011-12-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

Dear FPS members

2011 was a successful year for FPS. We explored taking a smaller group of members to the Untitled Chelsea Art fair in June and then ran a larger exhibition in a prestigious gallery 'La Galleria' on Pall Mall in November. Next year we will be focusing on our 60th anniversary which promises to be a really exciting year so watch this space!

Please find the committee members as voted in at the AGM on the 27th November:

Chair: Loretta Windsor- MacKenzie

Secretary & Blog : Pete Murry

Treasurer: Grace Kimble

Membership: Secretary Gabriel Parfitt ( Exhibitions tbc)

Creative Design: Mike Garland

Special Events: Flora Helmke

Marketing: Press Bruni Schilling (Newsletter and Press)

Sculpture Trustee: Malcolm Franklin

Below is a brilliant opportunity which is open to all FPS members please let me know if you enter.

Thank you Loretta Windsor-MacKenzie

Director Chair FPS Free Painters- Printmakers and Sculptors

Creative Skills

Creative Skills would like to make everyone aware of this exciting opportunity...

We are making a brand new series of 'Show Me the Monet' for BBC Two, the first series transmitted earlier this year in May.

As before, our Hanging Committee of three art experts is looking for great art - painting, drawing, photography, prints, sculpture, textile art (as hangings not textile design or fashion) - to put into their prestigious exhibition in London where members of the public together with the great and the good of the art world can view and buy the work that is on display.

We are looking for both amateur and professional artists from across the nation to apply.

Applications are to be made on line at our website and will open during the week of Monday 12^th December 2011 and will close when we have received 3,000 applications or on Sunday 8^th January 2012at midnight (whichever is sooner).

To apply:Visit our website: www.showmethemonet.tv Please keep checking back to the website for further details.

Please note that we are only accepting the first 3,000 applications for the series and any applications received after this cut off point cannot be considered.

You can follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ShowMetheMonetor on Twitter @MonetTV

To view a clipfrom the last series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00h3x3w

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me and many thanks for your time.

Many Thanks

Kay Green
t. 0203 189 3313

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AGM 2011 Agenda and Venue

2011-11-21T09:32:00.001-08:00

Dear FPS members

Please see below the Agenda below for the 2011 FPS AGM in london this Sunday the 27th.

If there is anything vital that you feel is missing from the agenda please contact me.

The venue for the meeting is: 2 Audley Square London W1K 1DB

All are very welcome but please confirm your attendance by replying to this email. All the Best Loretta

AGM 27th November 2011 FPS Free Painters-Printmakers and Sculptors

Held at The Womans University Club Mayfair

2 Audley square London W1K 1DB

The Library 2-4pm

Tube Green Park

Welcome and apologies (Chair)

1/ Minutes of AGM 2010 accuracy and arising minutes signed by Chair if agreed.

2/ Accounts signed by Treasurer if agreed.

3/ Review of year by Chair

4 / Election/Re-election of officers

Sculpture Trustee

Printmaking Trustee

Painting Trustee

Financial Trustee

President ( long standing FPS member)

Chair

Secretary

Treasurer

Marketing

-Newsletter

-Blog

-Press

-Creative

Membership

Development

Fundraising

5/ Preparations for 60th Anniversary 2012

- Date

- Duration

- Location

- Curator

- Selection criteria

- Open submission

- Showcase important past members eg Henry Moore

- Sponsorship

- Publication (Book)

- Exhibition sub committee

6/ FPS Vision

7/ Committee voting rights

8/ Membership selection and Associate and Full members

9/ Dates of next meeting and location ( arts club)

10/AOB

painted pentagon by Owen Legg

2011-11-19T13:26:00.000-08:00

ARTISTS' GENERAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTE; by Owen Legg August 2011

2011-08-23T00:47:00.001-07:00

This organisation has been in existence for 160 years, having been founded by members of the Royal Academy, still with trustees from the Academy. It provides much needed help to artists who fall on hard times, paying grocery bills, utilities and rates. When illness strikes it can hit hard in the middle of one's career.

Over the past five years I have raised money for the AGBI, on behalf of the FPS by going on sponsored walks. I have done the Pilgrims' Way, Owain Glyndwr Trail, Hadrian and Antonine Walls and last year I tackled Offa's Dyke. This year I was all set to do the Pennine Way - 100 miles of it. But, a fortnight before setting out I suddenly developed hip pain and could hardly put one foot in front of the other. So I had to cancel all idea of doing the sponsored walk.

But, having booked up my accomodation at the beginning and end of the trip and paid for my rail fare, my wife took the decision to do the whole distance by bus. My hip had improved a bit and I did manage the first 100 yards of the Way. After that though, we used our OAP bus passes to visit Buxton, Holmfirth and Skipton. it was an enjoyable holiday, not at all adventurous as on my previous trips.

Illness and the economic crisis can hit artists hard and the AGBI is still needed to provide help when needed.

So althugh I haven't done a sponsored walk, can you give generously to this charity which the FPS has always supported,by making out cheques to the AGBI and if you pay tax to sign a paper with your address stating that you are a British Tax payer, address Burlington House,
Piccadilly, London WC1.

PS my leg is alot better now and hope to restart my walking. Owen Legg

Winter show in November 2011 entitled 'Conflict and Resolution'

2011-08-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, here is all the information for our Winter show in November entitled 'Conflict and Resolution' which I hope you will agree is a very open ended working title. The exhibition will be held at La Galleria, an established contemporary venue in Pall Mall.

The space is much larger than our recent exhibition venues so it will be great opportunity to showcase some of your larger work or groups of small work, this is why we have adjusted our hanging costs.

You will also notice in the information below that this exhibition will need to be invigilated by ourselves so any volunteers will be gratefully received, we have also been encouraged by the gallery owner to stay open as late as we can due to the central location, so we will need evening invigilators as well.

I would like to give each artist an A5 plaque with a brief Biog/Statement next to their work, which I will design, but can we make sure that all of us provide our own business cards/postcards etc

I know November is a while off but I thought this would give everyone a chance to create work that is applicable to the exhibition title, I am also conscious that this is our penultimate show before FPS's 60th Birthday! so I consider this a great build up to perhaps an even bigger show next year!

Don't forget to visit our website, blog and facebook sites for more information and also please do add to our Facebook page or send Peter Murry or myself any information on your upcoming exhibitions external of FPS and any other information that you think will interest the FPS members. We can no longer do a postal version of a newsletter as I think Pete's Blog and Facebook are very affective tools.
www.freepaintersandsculptors.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Painters-and-Sculptors/90026588525
http://freepands.blogspot.com/
Please give me shout if you have any questions, and don't forget your membership fee's.

Cheers

Gabriel fps_submissions@rocketmail.com

Mariusz Kaldowski exhibition 17 May-12 June

2011-05-22T03:40:00.000-07:00

'Artists of the Resistance'

2010-12-28T07:49:00.000-08:00

10/12/2010
Dear Guardian letters

Len McCluskey calls for a "broad strike movement" to stop the coalition's "explicitly ideological" programme of cuts. ('Unions Warn of Massive Wave of Strikes', Guardian 19 December 2010) This will happen. Government cuts are decimating education, welfare, health, sports and the arts. We are told t; that they are as inevitable as the rain; that the only choice we have is between music classes for our kids or care for our elderly.

We need both and do not accept that jobs, services and the quality of life have to be jettisoned for the greed of those who are asked to sacrifice nothing. Cutbacks in the arts mean that access will be limited to those who have the money to pay while many who work in the arts will lose their jobs.

The closing of public libraries is the most obvious example. They are where literature, art and culture are available to everyone without charge. Some authorities are already selling them off, others are offering them to the 'consumer' on the principle of 'if you want them buy them'.

Massive increases in education fees and the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance are part of the same philosophy. Everything that is not immediately of use to the corporate agenda is to be placed on a 'pay as you go' principle. Meanwhile funding for theatre, film, music, dance and other arts projects is to return to the Victorian notion of finding patrons, drawn from the people and corporations who have their own agendas of how to define the arts.

In the face of those who choose to exercise their power to destroy, we need to create. We urge all those who work in the arts to join us at 'Artists of the Resistance' in opposing the cuts.

>

> Iain Banks, writer

>

> Andy de la Tour, actor

>

> AL Kennedy, writer

>

> Roger Lloyd Pack, actor

>

> Miriam Margolyes, actor

>

> Susie Meszaros, musician

>

> Michael Rosen, author and poet

>

> Martin Rowson, cartoonist

>

> Janet Suzman, actor

>

> Timberlake Wertenbaker, playwright

>

> Shaun Askew, animator

>

> Shabina Aslam, theatre director

>

> Anne Aylor, writer & ballet teacher

>

> Jordan Baseman, video artist

>

> Elizabeth Beech, artistic director,The Phoenix Project

>

> Maria Birmingham, animator

>

> Cecily Bomberg, writer

>

> Sean Bonney, poet

>

> Phil Branston

>

> Stephen Carley, AV artist

>

> Florence Curtis

>

> Karl Benjamin Frankson, artist

>

> Jill Gibbon, artist

>

> Marilyn Halpin

>

> Joseph Hely, disability worker

>

> Simone Hodgson

>

> Camilla Howalt, artist

>

> Angela Jane Kennedy, artist

>

> Fin Kennedy, playwright

>

> Ol'ga Kretz, film-maker

>

> Lucy Lepchani, writer & poet

>

> Fiona MacDonald, opera singer

>

> Mel McCree

>

> Carol Mottershead, dancer

>

> Jane Park

>

> Romayne Phoenix, visual artist

>

> Konstantina Ritsou-Zavolia, author & director

>

> Dee Shaw

>

> Patricia Shrigley, video artist

>

> Patrick Simons, artist

>

> Patrick Snape

>

> Ron Stagg, Museum Association

>

> Rebecca Thorn, musician

>

> Geoff Tibbs

>

> Charlotte Turton, artist

>

> Elizia Volkmann, writer and artist

>

> Michael Walling, artistic director, Border Crossings

>

> Joanne Walker, CoR Tyne & Wear

>

> Debra Watson

>

> David Wilson, publisher

>

> Tom Wood

>

> Jan Woolf, writer

>

>

> Artists of the Resistance

> c/o Coalition of Resistance

> Housmans Bookshop

> 5 Caledonian Road

> City of London N1 9DX

>

> T: 07951 579 064

http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/

FPS Winter Exhibition 2010: Review by Philip Worth

2010-12-05T02:59:00.000-08:00

FPS Winter Exhibition 2010

‘Place’, South Kensington

The selection by FPS of Campbells of London as the venue for their winter exhibition was an inspiration. To begin with, its location is a plus. The whole area within a substantial radius of South Kensington station has a terrific buzz. It contains many of the world’s outstanding museums, there is the Royal Albert Hall with its summer music fest a bit further up the road, there are broad, elegant boulevards but also the unexpected, narrow side streets and alley ways in which central London specialises which seem to jump out at you and tempt you to explore and where you can discover the only shop in the UK which specialises in the sale of bagpipes (well, maybe I made that one up, but you get the gist!) – and, finally, mention could be made of some of the most mouth-watering eating places in the entire metropolis.

At the hub of this exhilarating locale is Campbells Of London, an artist’s dream of an establishment. Its basic business is framing, but it offers a whole range of ancillary services, all characterized by the top quality of which the firm boasts and which is visibly evident the moment you set foot on their premises. But there is nothing precious about Campbells – it welcomes visitors in a delightfully informal, laid back way both in its publicity and in the warm greeting you get when you enter the shop (it even offers to come and collect you if you are having difficulty finding it – catch Harrods doing that!)

One of its many services to artists is, of course, its gallery space, and this our group made full use of between 12^th and 22^nd November. The space is not huge, consisting of a ground floor area at the rear, a basement area and a passageway connecting these. But it is viewer friendly in a way that some West End galleries are not, with their subtle suggestion that unless you are a big spender your presence is merely tolerated.

So now to the FPS exhibition. Reviewing a group show is always difficult as there are, frequently, so many artists whose work is represented that comment on each and every one is impossible. So selection is unavoidable – but how to select? In the present case a random selection of half a dozen works has been made which together, hopefully, will convey a flavour of the exhibition as a whole.

Caught in the Palm of your Hand, a large canvas by Amy Lister, winner of the student art competition, rests on an easel in the front part of the shop and is the first thing you see as you enter. It depicts the open palm of a hand on a massive scale and, appropriately, seems about to grab you and draw you in forcibly to the rest of the show. To portray a relatively small object on a large scale is a daring approach reminiscent, perhaps, of Georgia O’Keefe’s treatment of flowers. Of course, size in itself does not equate with artistic merit – we expect to see our mountains mountainous, our monuments monumental, and our elephants elephantine. But hands? Certainly we can speak of ‘large hands’ but we would hesitate to shake one measuring thirty inches across! Amy’s purpose, presumably, is to present reality in a different way, and her technique is surprise; in this she has succeeded.

Another work which seeks to avoid the obvious is Underground by Bruni Schling. Bruni’s reference to her style as ‘reminiscent of German Expressionism’ is apt in terms of this painting. This is no photographic representation of a train arriving at a tube station. For me it conveys the tension induced by the thunder of its arrival, by the press of its passengers to board, by the hot, stuffy atmosphere and, in general, by the relentless, chaotic bustle of modern urban living, all emotions feelingly transferred by the artist to her canvas.

Dade’s Valley by Grace Kimble gives us a spacious landscape with mountain peaks in both the middle and far distance. The influence of the Canadian ‘Group of Seven’ is clear, both in its concern with nature in its grander manifestation, but also with its hint of stylisation, not as decoration but as a process of stripping away superfluous, distracting detail. Of course, Grace does not need to go to the Rockies for inspiration – she need travel no further than our Lake District!

Rosina Flower has been a regular contributor to FPS shows for many years now, and her vibrant art has always enriched the group’s displays. Her speciality has tended to be still life with the emphasis on flowers and her work in this genre has unfailingly shown a beguiling freshness and vitality. It is therefore with considerable interest that we can see, in this show, an example of a more recent change of focus towards landscape. Field Tracks has been painted with the same freedom of brushwork as her still life, but also with the same concern for colour composition.

I loved Loretta Windsor’s angle on Big Ben from street level looking up. This is the best vantage point from which to view this awesome structure, towering above Westminster and, during the heyday of the British Empire, seeming to embody its might and boundless reach. The artist has done full justice to Pugin’s masterpiece. Beautifully drawn, the colour key is red, heightening the turbulence of the backdrop sky and echoed on the tower’s frontage.

John MacKenzie’s sculpted head St Amarand is intriguing, both historically and aesthetically. Historically it has been difficult to identify the subject, and a discussion I had with the artist revealed that he was as much in the dark as I was! It seems that the name in itself attracted him and somehow guided his hands as he brought her features to life. When I suggested that she might have been a martyr to the guillotine during the French Revolution, John readily fell in with the idea. The features have a tranquil beauty often to be found, I understand, on the decapitated heads of some of the victims of the terror.

A work of great interest in our show was Poule Rouge, Giant Skink, a carefully executed oil showing two animals long since extinct (Poule Rouge being more familiarly know as the Dodo). This work was by guest artist Julian Hume, who combines two skills to intriguing effect: as a palaeontologist he has been working in Mauritius, collecting and analysing the fossil remains of extinct life forms such as the Dodo; and as an accomplished professional artist he has been able to bring these strange creatures to vivid life, and Poule Rouge, Giant Skink is an example.

It is with some diffidence that I offer comment on only seven works out of over forty items but limited space, as usual, is the enemy. Suffice it to say that this has been an exhibition in the best FPS tradition, distinguished by fascinating variety in both technique and subject matter, and of consistently high standard.

Passion for Freedom art Exhibition to be held in November 2010

2010-11-13T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

This promises to be a controversial show by activists against violating women's rights in the name of Islam- 2 of my pieces in it, quite radical stuff-do come if you can, (the way I go is to travel to St Paul's tube and then walk towards the Tate Modern and the gallery is close to that) -anyway this is the invite:

'You are cordially invited to a Group Show presenting 'One Law for All' art competition’s winners

20 November - 27 November 2010

UNIT24 GALLERY

24 Great Guildford Street

SE1 OFD London

Private View: Saturday 20 November 6.30-9.30pm

RSVP: onelawforall@googlemail.com

www.onelawforall.org.uk

‘Little Bride’ by L. Dobrucki screening: 7pm.'

Press Release

Passion for Freedom art Exhibition to be held in November 2010

Private View: Saturday 20 November, 18.30 – 21.30 hours

Exhibition: 20 – 27 November 2010

Open: Monday – Wednesday 8.00 – 17.00 hours; Thursday – Friday 8.00 – 18.30 hours

Gallery: UNIT 24 Gallery, 24 Great Guildford Street, London SE1 0FD

One Law for All is holding an art exhibition in London during 20-27 November 2010 in which a group of international artists address the controversial subject of religion and human rights. The exhibition includes pieces on the veil, female genital mutilation, child ‘marriage’ and women’s oppression.

A panel of judges author Polly Toynbee, singer Deeyah and secularist Terry Sanderson will select their favourite pieces for special mention at the private viewing.

The body of work varies in approach to the subject and mediums used.

The show’s highlights are:

Maja Wolna, an award winning graphic designer who is presenting three works from the series ‘Behind the Veil’ which won the Gold Medal in the Ideological Poster category at the 22nd Poster Biennale 2010 in Warsaw, Poland. In the striking simplicity of her designs she manages to encapsulate the difficulties that women face living under Islamic rule.

Sarah Rumi’s text-based work ‘Revelations’ focuses on themes of religious hysteria and the authority of literature. Using small sections from numerous sources of printed text she constructs new pieces from collected words.

Fiona Dent’s paintings confront us with the cruelty of female genital mutilation. In Britain alone, more than 21,000 girls a year are at risk of FGM.

Leszek Dobrucki’s film ‘Little Bride’ nominated at Cannes Film Festival tells a story of a Turkish girl sent to Germany and forced to marry at the age of 13.

Artists exhibiting are: Svitlana Grebenyuk, Lee-Anne Raymond, Oslo & Murch, Anna Sundt, Penelope MacEwen, Anna Adamkiewicz, Roberta Coni, Hynek Martinec, Carolina Khouri, Lorella Paleni, Leszek Dobrucki, Fiona Dent, Sarah Rumis, and Maja Wolna.

To RSVP for opening night, or for more information, contact onelawforall@gmail.com.

Janet Scott: SUMMER in CYPRUS Exhibition 1-25 February 2011

2010-11-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

Lemba Valley

Lemba Sheep

Janet Scott is a longstanding FPS member. In September she exhibited successfully, ("Albert Bridge Under Repair"), in the Westminster Open Exhibition.

All FPS members are invited to the "Summer in Cyprus" Exhibition of her Cyprus works. The Private view is on 1st February 2011 6-9pm at the Friends Room of the Hellenic Institute, 16-18 Paddington St, London W1U 5AS (Baker St tube).

The exhibition runs from 1st until 25 th February 2011. Contact 0207 487 5060 for opening times.

Contact Janet Scott 0207 834 4541

2010-10-13T03:59:00.001-07:00

]

FPS Winter 2010 exhibition 'Place' Student Art Competition

2010-10-13T03:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome.

The Free Painters and Sculptors were established in 1952, a break away group from the ICA.
Believing in freedom of expression, exhibitions have a theme but a range of styles is encouraged.

We are inviting submissions from art students who are not members of FPS.
The winner will get their work shown in the exhibition and will win £200.
Art students must be over 17 and studying on a formal art course.

The exhibition will be at Campbells of London in South Kensington: http://www.campbellsoflondon.co.uk/
Drop off Wednesday 10th November, 10-5pm
Private View: Friday 12th November 6-8pm
Exhibition close: Monday 22nd November 10-5pm

If you wish Campbells to frame your work, you will get a 15% discount on pale or black wood frames as an FPS member. You need to get work to them by 4th November. Contact Beth at the gallery on 020 7584 9268 to arrange if you wish.

Please fill in all the details for each work you are submitting. Please also send a JPG of each work labelled with your name and the work's name to freepaintersandsculptors@Rocketmail.com

Please submit work by Nov 1st. You will hear on Nov 2nd whether your work is successful or not.

Many thanks

UNPRECEDENTED COALITION FROM THE ARTS CONDEMNS BP SPONSORSHIP OF THE TATE

2010-07-02T01:28:00.001-07:00

171 FIGURES FROM THE ARTS SIGN LETTER ON THE DAY TATE CELEBRATES 20
YEARS OF BP FUNDING

A letter was published today signed by 171 figures from the art world condemning BP's sponsorship of cultural institutions in the UK. The letter has been published on the day that Tate Britain is hosting a party to celebrate 20 years of BP's sponsorship. [1] A group of artists under the banner of 'The Good Crude Britannia' are planning on protesting outside the event, and will be handing out the "Licence to Spill' briefing to people attending the party. [2]

Arts/activist organisation Platform [3] has gathered 171 signatories from the international arts community, for a letter that says:

"As crude oil continues to devastate coastlines and communities in the Gulf of Mexico, BP executives will be enjoying a cocktail reception with curators and artists in the Tate Britain. These relationships enable big oil companies to mask the environmentally destructive nature of their activities with the social legitimacy
that is associated with such high profile cultural associations." [4]

Some of the signatories include:
*Hans Haacke, German-American conceptual artist whose work has featured on numerous occasions in Tate exhibitions
*John Keane, who was the official British war artist during the first Gulf War and who was a judge on the 2004 BP-sponsored portrait award at the National Portrait Gallery
*Sonia Boyce, MBE, whose works are held in the collection of the Tate Modern

Hans Haacke, one of the signatories said: "Since taxpayers (through their elected representatives) do not adequately fund cultural institutions, it has become routine for corporate sponsors with PR needs to fill the gap. This arrangement often creates conflicts between the public good and a sponsor's agenda. It is rare, however, that these conflicts are recognized and publicly debated, as it is now with BP and the Tate Gallery."

Electronic artist Matthew Herbert, also a signatory said: "The oily tentacles of both BP and Shell have wrapped themselves around our most prestigious cultural institutions and at a time when urgent action is required to slow consumption of fossil fuels. In trading our cultural legacies so nakedly for such tainted cash, some of Britain's most powerful stages for creative expression have knowingly undermined the very integrity of that expression."

Kevin Smith from Platform said: "This letter is testament to the extent of the discomfort felt in the arts by the Tate's ongoing relationship with BP. The ongoing ecological catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico should be the game changer that finally ends the ability of the oil industry to legitimise itself through arts and cultural sponsorship."

ENDS

For interviews and more information:

On Sunday 27 June, call 0207 700 7971
On Monday call Platform: 0207 403 3738 or 07790 430 620 /
info@platformlondon.org

Some of the signatories are available for comment
www.platformlondon.org

NOTES FOR EDITORS
[1] News of the party was first leaked on Thursday. See the PR; 'Leaked invite reveals Tate's ill-timed plans to celebrate BP; sponsorship' at http://blog.platformlondon.org/content/leaked-invite; reveals-tate's-ill-timed-plans-celebrate-bp-sponsorship
[2] The Good Crude Britannia is a national artists' campaign against BP sponsorship of Tate. We are calling all concerned artists to; either sign the petition and/or support the 'campaign' which is to be: launched on Monday 28th June 2010 at Tate Britain's Summer Party, 7-9pm. http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=126083700763469; 'Licence to Spill' is available at: http://www.carbonweb.org/showitem.asp?article=381&parent=39
[3] Platform works across disciplines for social and ecological; justice. It combines the transformatory power of art with the; tangible goals of campaigning, the rigour of in-depth research with; the vision to promote alternative futures.
[4] The letter and full list of signatories:

Tonight, the Tate is holding a summer party in which it is also celebrating 20 years of BP sponsorship. As crude oil continues to devastate coastlines and communities in the Gulf of Mexico, BP executives will be enjoying a cocktail reception with curators and artists in the Tate Britain. These relationships enable big oil
> companies to mask the environmentally destructive nature of their activities with the social legitimacy that is associated with such high profile cultural associations.

We represent a cross section of people from the arts community that believe that the BP logo represents a stain on Tate's international reputation. Many artists are angry that Tate and other national cultural institutions continue to side step the issue of oil sponsorship. Little more than a decade ago, tobacco companies were seen as respectable partners for public institutions to gain support from - that is no longer the case. It is our hope that oil and gas will soon be seen in the same light. The public is rapidly coming to recognise that the sponsorship programmes of BP and Shell are means by which attention can be distracted from their impacts on human rights, the environment and the global climate.

1.Hans Haacke, artist
2. John Keane, artist
3. Caryl Churchill, playwright
4. Matthew Herbert, electronic artist and composer
5. Suzi Gablik, art critic and writer
6. Gordon Roddick, art philanthopist
7. Rebecca Solnit, writer and art critic
8. Lucy R. Lippard, writer and curator
9. Davey Anderson, playwright
10. Adam Chodzko, artist
11. Beverly Naidus, artist and professor
12. Suzanne Lacy, artist
13. Chris Jordan, artist
14. Cat Phillipps, artist
15. Martin Rowson, cartoonist
16. Robert Newman, comedian and writer
17. Sonia Boyce, artist, MBE
18. Barbara Steveni, artist & initiator of Artist Placement Group
19. Peter Fend, artist
20. SaiMuRai (Simon Murray), writer, poet, artist
21. Ackroyd & Harvey, artists
22. Aidan Jolly, musician, community artist
23. Jon Sack, artist
24. Matthew Lee Knowles, composer
25. Theodore Price, artist
26. Scott Massey, artist
27. Ben Mellor, writer, performer, educator
28. The Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home, artist collective
29. David Haley FRSA, ecological artist and Senior Research Fellow
30. Alana Jelinek, artist & curator
31. Rachel Anderson, creative producer
32. John Volynchook, photographer
33. Jackie Brookner, artist
34. Suzanne Lacy, artist
35. Neil Callaghan, artist
36. Jonathan Baxter, artist and arts organizer
37. Mark McGowan, artist
38. Catrin Evans, artistic director and theatre practitioner
39. James Stenhouse, artist
40. Charlie Fox, artist and producer
41. Roxanne Permar, artist
42. Jane Lawson, artist
43. John Jordan, artist and writer
44. Hemant Anant Jain, illustrator
45. The Space Hijackers, art interventionists
46. Clare Patey artist/curator
47. Matthias von Hartz, Director Hamburg International Festival
48. Lois Keidan, Live art Development Agency
49. Lucy Neal, artist and producer
50. Lise Autogena, artist
51. Marcelo Expósito, artist and critic
52. Steve Duncombe, cultural theorist/writer
53. Cameron Davis, artist and professor of art at Vermont University
54. Kim Stringfellow, artist/associate professor, SDSU
55. Ros Martin, poet and playwright
56. Amy Balkin, artist
57. John Hartley, artist
58. Amber Hickey, artist
59. Christian Nold, artist
60. Isabeau Doucet, painter
61. Jean Grant, creative director
62. Hayley Newman, artist
63. Christian de Sousa, artist and photographer
64. Immo Klink, artist
65. Susan Kelly, artist and art lecturer
66. Aviv Kruglanski, artist
67. Steve Stuffit, artist
68. Helen Spackman, artistic director and senior lecturer in performing arts
69. Lorena Rivero de Beer, artist
70. Janey Hunt, artist
71. Gregory Sholette, artist and writer
72. Mem Morrison, artistic director
73. Lars Kwakkenbos, artist and writer
74. Tom Besley, producer
75. PLATFORM, arts/activist organization
76. Fran Crowe, artist
77. Sharon Salazar, filmmaker/director
78. Leah Gordon, photographer, filmmaker and curator
79. Alke Schmidt, artist
80. Monika Vykoukal, curator
81. CJ Mitchell, deputy director of Live Art Development Agency
82. Julian Maynard Smith, director of Station House Opera
83. Sue Palmer, artist
84. Brett Bloom, artist
85. Kerry Burton, artist
86. The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, art/activist collective
87. Anna Francis, artist
88. Ana Betancour, artist and architect
89. Simone Paterson, new media artist and academic
90. Ian Teh, photographer
91. Alejandro Meitin, artist
92. Simone Kenyon, artist and producer
93. Milena Placentile, curator
94. Nick Turner, artist and designer
95. Fabio Sassi, artist
96. Ruth Ewan, artist
97. Raoul Martinez, artist
98. Robert McAdam, painter
99. Katy Fattuhi, arts marketer
100. John Holt, artist and writer
101. Katy Hallett, Director, Art Programme
102. Judy Price, artist
103. Stephanie Thieullent, photographer, artist
104. Felix Gonzales, filmmaker, artist
105. Rafael Santos, artist
106. Adrian Arbib, photographer
107. Ian Hunter, Director, Littoral
108. Ele Carpenter, curator
109. Helene Aylon, activist artist
110. Pamela Graham, artist
111. Louise Jones, director, Lemon Street Gallery
112. Ciel Bergman, artist/environmental activist
113. Glauco Bermudez, Cinematographer
114. Marianne Soisalo, artist
115. Mariana Bassani, photographer
116. Michele Petillo, artist
117. Siobhan Mckeown, artist
118. ZEV, tex/sound artist
119. Mira Schor, artist and writer
120. Judith Knight, Director, Artsadmin
121. Gill Lloyd, Director, Artsadmin
123. Danielle Frank, artist
124. Stuart Bracewell, artist.
125. Beverley Dale, Digital Artist
126. Vahida Ramujkic, Artist
127. Mark Vallen - painter, printmaker, writer
128. Toni Martinez-Solera, artist
129. Lucy Fairley, Artist
130. Noel Douglas artist, designer, activist
131. Gareth Evans, writer and curator
132. Stevphen Shukaitis, arts /media/cultural publisher
133. Kuljit Chuhan, Creative producer and digital media artist
134. Calum F. Kerr, artist
135. Lisa Wesley, artist
136. Jody Boehnert, designer, artist and writer
137. Heide Fasnacht, visual artist
138. Michelle Jaffé, artist
139. Jan Brooks, artist
140. Peter Harrison, propeller arts collective
141. Deanne Belinoff, artist
142. Michelle Waters, artist
143. Fern Shaffer, artist
144. Harmony Hammond, artist and art writer
145. Simon Whetham, sound artist
146. Mimi Poskitt, director
147. Micheala Crimmin, curator and critic
148. Wallace Heim, writer and academic
149. Ciel Bergman, painter
150. Ali Sparror - artist
151. Lucy Reeves - Film designer
152. The Vacuum Cleaner, art/activist,
153. Robby Herbst, artist
154. Anja Steidinger, visual artist
155. Claire Hildreth, photographer
156. Loraine Leeson, artist
157. Kayle Brandon, artist
158. Peter Offord, artist
159. Julie Green, painter
160. Murray Wason, artist
161. Christina Moore, production designer
162. Emma Byron, artist and performer
163. Miche Fabre Lewin, artist-cuisiuniere
164. Kate Rich, artist
165. Madeleine Hodge, artist and curator
166. Kirstin Forkert, artist
167. Martin Nakell, poet, fictionalist
168. Liam Hurley, writer, theatre director, story teller
169. Mike Perry, artist
170. Phil Maxwell & Hazuan Hashim, artists
171. Greg Pact, artist

NEW REPORT: 'Cashing in on Tar Sands' reveals RBS is UK bank most involved in financing loans to tar sands companies. http://bit.ly/aqi9pQ;
SHAPING THE FUTURE: PLATFORM and The Stephen Lawrence Centre have teamed up to launch an exciting new programme of events and courses. http://bit.ly/29uzrA
NOT SUCH A ROSY DEAL AFTER ALL: PLATFORM Leaks Uganda's Oil Contracts. http://bit.ly/5AFMFa
PLATFORM London ; 7 Horselydown Lane ; London SE1 2LN

> Tel: +44 (0)20 7403 3738
> Email: info@platformlondon.org
> Web: http://platformlondon.org
> Blog: http://blog.platformlondon.org
>
> PLATFORM is a company limited by guarantee no. 2658515 and a
> registered charity no 1044485.
> --
> Art Not Oil: for creativity, climate justice and an end to fossil fuel
> industry sponsorship of the arts.
> c/o 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES; 07709 545116
> www.artnotoil.org.uk - send us your art!
> www.risingtide.org.uk
> See also www.climatecamp.org.uk
> as well as Climate Indymedia: climateimc.org
>

Pictures from the Framers Gallery show: June 2010

2010-06-30T01:16:00.000-07:00

Pictures by Penelope MacEwen

Framers' Gallery opening June 2010

2010-06-26T02:06:00.000-07:00

Review of ‘Life’ FPS Show, Framers Gallery, June 2010 by Penelope MacEwen

2010-06-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

The bright emerald green frontage of ‘The Framer’s Gallery’ invites the curious eye; even more so on a private View night! A buzz of people holding wine glasses drew my eye, before it settled on the work in the window by John McKenzie: ‘Head’. This sculpture, in timeless white alabaster, with its regal air, reminiscent of some ancient patriarch, struck me immediately. And to its right was hanging a drawing by an artist I was already familiar with: a former FPS prize winner; Mariusz Kaldowski. Mariusz’s unmistakeable fervent, almost abstract use of line, passionately describes the figure. Inside, another drawing by him ‘In Her Garden’ also drew the viewer into the dynamic, romantic and sensual world of the artist’s imagination.

But back to the window; next to Mariusz’s work hung two works by the sculptor Malcolm Franklin, also a previous FPS competition prize winner. These two mixed media pieces, with their Zen simplicity, contrasted circular black lines with sand. The colours worked perfectly, enhancing the strength and balance achieved by all three of these consummately talented artists.

On entering the gallery I was distracted from reaching towards the inevitable glass of wine by the feast of work on the walls. Each image had its own unique style of course, the hallmark of the society’s ethos of allowing freedom of expression. For instance Sylvana Desira’s classic style of ballet dancers, using a limited palette, with over layers of line and flesh tingling with light, as the figures engaged in Shiva-like movement, was in fact a highly traditional piece in the sense that it followed the figure tradition of Degas and Lautrec who both worked with pastel. Near her work were the mixed media pieces of Gerry Brookes and also of Sally Lywood, who gave a fascinating glimpse of fantasy worlds through layers of colour and collage. Further to the right along the wall on the left of the gallery were the expressive lines, full of movement of Bruni Schling’s watercolours, evoking the passionate, intense eyes of a cat! Cats also featured elsewhere in the gallery: Elizaabeth Sinclair’s image caught the effervescent movement and pliability of the feline species and made me smile....

Also bringing amusement were the quirky lino prints of Owen Legg, no less amusing in their depiction of cricketers on a cricket field with the catcher, standing impassively next to his flailing colleagues, on the village green outside their church. But prints of a different type, collagraphs in fact, by the artist Loretta Wilson, led the viewer to consider the miniature natural forms that lie mostly under our feet. Her layers of ink and embossed paper held a certain sensual fascination; you felt like reaching out to touch what you knew was actually paper behind glass.

An artist new to the society, Anna Coccia di Ferro, is also well worth a mention. Her inventive, surreal, Daliesque mixed media sculptural forms used some extraordinary materials: an ostrich shell; butterfly wing; a sea urchin; silk...truly a journey into dream land. Near her work, in a similar but two dimensional vein, was the mixed media work of Demeter Haralabaki, whose wonderful excursion into layers of colour, fabric, copper and thread was somehow nostalgic.

But in a much more traditional vein the classic oil paintings of a nude and a picture of lemons in black frames with dark grounds by Keith Stanfield were reminiscent of the artist Cranach, and led the viewer to catch an insight into an intimate domestic scene. I was relieved to see that FPS artists were not afraid of black, a colour I was prohibited from using when at art school, because when used properly, it can really create significant dramatic effect. Gabriel Parfit’s portrait of ‘Eddie’ for instance captured the drama of the figure using the palette knife; thick layers of ebony black and then contrasting flecks of orange, red and white captured the sitter’s profile. So too in a different way, Grace Kimble, Chair of FPS, worked with a dark ground to very effectively, with quick brush strokes, layer the stripes and landscape of a zebra in the African bush.

I had by this time finally got to the room where the wine was being served but was still too enthralled by the work on the walls to grab a glass! Philip Worth, President of FPS had submitted one abstract work in acrylic that held my attention. It was hung in the corner and made me feel very calm, with its formal lines and combination of sienna, coffee colour, orange, black and white. In a more critical vein it could be argued that people visiting the gallery might have felt a little overwhelmed by the choice of genres and subject matters, but then again there are no societies I know of that encourage such refreshing plurality.

And to sum up the exhibition? How about the work of Andy Insh? His large work in oil called ‘The Book of Life’ with its complementary palette of purples and yellows depicted pointillist figures fleetingly captured in a street, somehow mirroring the situation we found ourselves in that evening, looking out at London’s night life, there in the gallery. The picture showed the people we pass by every day, anonymous, mysterious, hovering; those precious moments captured in a picture that gave dignity to the everyday miracle of life itself.

By Penelope MacEwen (-review of FPS private view 16.6.10-exhibtion ends 26th June.)

LIBERATE TATE COMMUNIQUE #1 MAY 2010

2010-05-16T04:34:00.000-07:00

Dear Tate
Happy Birthday. We wish we could celebrate with you. But we can’t.

As we write, your corporate sponsor BP is creating the largest oil painting in the world, inspired by profit margins and a culture that puts money in front of life, its shadowy stain shimmers across the Gulf of Mexico. A toxic tide that turns thriving ecosystems into deserts and deprives cultures of their way of life, it is one of the world’s greatest works of corporate art, a work that reeks of death and speaks of our society’s failure of imagination.

Every day Tate scrubs clean BP’s public image with the detergent of cool progressive culture. But there is nothing innovative or cutting edge about a company that knowingly feeds our addiction to fossil fuels despite a climate crisis, a company whose greed has killed twenty-one employees in just over a year, a company that continues to invest in the cancer-causing climate crimes of tar sands in Alberta, Canada.

By placing the words BP and Art together, the destructive and obsolete nature of the fossil fuel industry is masked, and crimes against the future are given a slick and stainless sheen.

Every time we step inside the museum Tate makes us complicit with these acts, acts that will one day seem as archaic as the slave trade, as anachronistic as public executions Every time Nicholas Serota is asked how a museum that prides itself on dealing with climate change can be funded by an oil company he responds that there are no plans to abandon BP sponsorship (anything to do with having an ex-CEO of BP chair Tate’s board of trustees?).

When art activist group The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination (Labofii) were invited to run a workshop on art and civil disobedience, they were told by curators that they could not take any action against Tate and its sponsors and the workshop was policed by the curators to make sure the artists produced work “commensurate with the Tate’s mission". In March 2010, Tate Modern ran an eco symposium, “Rising to the Climate Change Challenge: Artists and Scientists Imagine Tomorrow’s World”, on the same day that Tate Britain was celebrating twenty years of BP sponsorship with one of its ‘BP Saturdays’ Incensed by this censorship and hypocrisy, participants in the symposium called for a vote: 80% of the audience agreed that BP sponsorship should be dropped by 2012.

So today we offer you a birthday present, a gift to liberate Tate from its old-fashioned fossil fuel addiction – a gift for the future. Beginning during your 10th anniversary party and continuing until you drop the sponsorship deal, we will be commissioning a series of art interventions in Tate buildings across the country. Already commissioned are Art Action collective, with a birthday surprise at this weekend’s No Soul For Sale event, and The Invisible Committee, who will infiltrate every corner of Tate across the country in the coming months.

We invite artists to join us and act to liberate Tate. Free art from oil.

www.twitter.com/liberatetate

FPS show The Framer's Gallery 12th- 26th June submission details

2010-04-03T01:56:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

Here are the details of our forthcoming exhibition.

Date: 12th- 26th June

Theme: Life

Venue: The Framer's Gallery

26 Windmill Street

London

W1T 2JT

This gallery has space for approx 40 2D works.

Submission Process:

1. Fill in the online form for each work:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/579XCTS

It will ask you to state your name, the title, medium, length, width of work and price including 15% commission. We suggest prices ranging from £200-£1000 for this gallery.

2. Send an image, named with your name and the works title, to freepaintersandsculptors@rocketmail.com by MAY 9TH for the committee to select work

3. You will hear by May 16th if you have been accepted.

4. If you have been accepted you will be asked to pay £20 per work by May 30th, in order to secure your place in the exhibition.

5. If you do not pay by May 30th, unfortunately we will have to offer your place to someone else.

We hope you will be able to submit work for this and look forward to receiving images. There are limited spaces for sculptors- if you wish to show 3D work please get in touch.

If you have any comments and questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Grace Kimble

On behalf of FPS committee

Drawings by Mariusz Kaldowski: Fridays and Saturdays at POSK

2010-02-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

Drawings by Mariusz Kaldowski on show Fridays and Saturdays at POSK, 238-246 King Street, Hammersmith, London W6 0RF until after Easter.
Contact:

mkaldowski@hotmail.com
http://www.blogger.com/www.kaldowskigallery.co.uk

Mariusz Kałdowski

Tel: 01959 562 501
Mob: 07940 972 351

Blind Witness

Face of wisdom

Light_is_manifestation_of_life,_

Now_the_world_no_longer_belongs_to_me.

Now_I_belong_to_the_world

SPIRITUAL_MOVEMENT

What Next

Heart Transplant

“Wild Thing” (Jacob Epstein et al.) Sackler Wing, Royal Academy

2010-01-29T07:03:00.000-08:00

REVIEW BY CORAL BOWER

Ezra Pound in 1913 likened the young French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska to “a well made young wolf or some soft moving, bright eyed wild thing.” At the Academie Julian, Paris, Jacob Epstein was referred to by his teacher as “ce sauvage Americain”. Eric Gill’s clergyman father introduced him to the cultures of non European civilization at an early age ( the Calvinist Methodist had been a Missionary in the South Seas). But the image of the Eye of God, in the breakfast room for the thirteen children had the inscription “Thou God seest me” and had a strong influence on the eldect son, Eric. Both Epstein and Gill had to come to terms with sexual drives in conflict with orthodox Judaism. This would be a fertile pre-condition for artistic expression. Sophie Brzeska agreed to live with her friend on the condition that their relationship was platonic, which might also produce those fertile conditions. The men met in London bringing ideas and influences from Paris. Paris was at this time concerned about Cubism and several artists, sculptors and painters, were working towards “Structurism”, producing a manifesto which was rather similar to that written by Gaudier-Brzeska in “Blast”, Middleton-Murry’s magazine, the Vorticist Manifesto. The economic and political conditions also favoured change. The first machine age and the accompanying labour problems, the armaments production leading up to the Great War and the philosophy prevalent among the London intelligentsia gave impetus to new directions in sculpture in Britain.

Jacob Epstein

He was born in 1880 to Polish Jewish immigrants in New York. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris in 1902 later forming friendships with contemporary sculptors including Brancusi, Modigliani and painters involved in Cubism. In 1905 he went to live with his Scottish wife in London. He was interested in Greek and Cycladic, Egyptian and Spanish sculpture and influenced by Rodin particularly and Donatello. He collected African, Archaic and Polynesian work. In 1902 his sketch “We Two Boys Clinging” revealed what may have been homo-erotic yearnings as a result of a monumental carving exercise in New Jersey with an artist friend Bernard Gussow.

This exhibition explores the symbiotic relationships and sculptural exploration of Epstein and hid two sculptor friends Gaudier and Gill in the decade before the turning point in the Great War.

Henri Gaudier Brzeska

He was born near Orleans to a French cabinet maker. After training at Orleans School he won scholarships to London in 1906 and 1908. He lived and worked in Paris but came to London in 1911 with his Polish companion Sophie Brzeska. Visiting Epstein’s studio in 1912 he asked if he also carved directly. Epstein replied affirmatively and two weeks later, when Jacob Epstein came to Putney he found many newly carved sculptures. The method of building up by modelling softer materials such as clay then passing the work to a workman copying by carving in Carrara marble or bronze casting was declared to be lacking control over the finished work – quite unlike the guild craftsmen.

Gaudier’s friendships with Epstein, Ezra Pound, Roger Fry and others in Bloomsbury gave him a springboard to bring abstract sculpture into the British Sculpture movement which influenced sculpture and painting through Vorticist ideas.

Eric Gill

He was born in Brighton in 1882. After some time at Chichester School he enrolled as an evening student at the new Central School in London studying with Edward Johnstone, the Arts and Crafts Calligrapher, and spending less time as a trainee in an architect’s Office, though he remained very much influenced by sculptural aspects of architecture.

In London the bass-reliefs of Epstein had been destroyed on the BMA façade in the Strand, but Gill was not only influenced by them but was commissioned to carve reliefs on the façade of the British Broadcasting Corporation building. His Stations of the Cross respected the architecture of the new Westminster Cathedral. Unlike Gaudier he was unable to swiftly change his style.

“Mother and Child” (Half length) 1913

This was commissioned by Geoffrey Keynes and has a poignancy since Eric Gill’s wife Ethel (daughter of the sacristan of Chichester Cathedral) was unable to have more children after the birth of their first child (as a result of a miscarriage in 1911). The work in Bath stone was carved in his Ditchling studio. The inscription “He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away: (IMPLEVIT = “filled” DIMISIT = “sent”) echoes his defiant sense of solidarity with the poor. There is a truth in his naturalistic carving only the sensitive sculptor could achieve, evident in the mother’s pose as the child is sucking.
He went on to carve the Stations of the Cross for Westminster Cathedral, making his sculpture accessible in his natural style.

Jacob Epstein “Rock Drill” (1913-15)

Gaudier turned on Ezra Pound when he made critical remarks about this sculpture at his Lamb’s Conduit Street Studio in 1913: “shut up, you understand nothing!” The plaster (cast) of this robot man contrasted with the ready made black metal of the drill (American). At the show of the London Group in 1915 there was a shocked reaction to the controversial work. It was much later that David Bomberg realized that it was “a prophetic symbol of impending war”. This was when it made attitudes to the machine age change as the Great War revealed the indomitable machine was destroying life and the battle was lost.

Henri Gaudier Brzeska “Birds Erect” (1914)

This is a tall limestone carving like a group of birds thrusting out of the nest, striving to receive food. It has an uneven sloping surface at its base – an instability which seems to force the abstract bird forms to cling to each other for support. The work has deep undercuts into the central vertical and Vorticist diagonals exposing triangular planes to light. The rhythm of the structure on moving round it and following the eye through spiralling planes seems to produce the sensation of growth upwards.

The abstraction from the human figure and primitive sources is original and this may be the most defiant and extreme European sculpture before 1914.

OWEN LEGG'S ADDRESS TO FPS AGM 2009

2009-12-06T09:25:00.000-08:00

Owen is retiring as FPS secretary, this is his address to the FPS agm which took place on 30/11/2009.

“ I have been a member of FPS since 1968 and had my early exhibitions with them at the Loggia Gallery, Buckingham gate. I used to help with the annual open show Trends at the Mall Gallery.

But, going back to full time General Practice in 1979 there was much less time available for involvement with the group. Prior to retirement in 1998, I volunteered to go onto the committee and was given the job of Publicity Officer. To this I brought no aptitude and was transferred to the Secretaryship within a year. After a decade I feel that it is time for someone else to replace me.

We have had much heartache over these years. Dwindling and aging membership is the biggest problem. Then our host organisation SPANA needed to expand their premises. The only way for them was to move to John St. So we lost our gallery, but they kindly continued to provide a meeting room and storage facilities. We have the privilege of having John St as our business address.

Our latest problem has been the fall in value of our reserve funds. The accounts reveal this loss which has been common for many during this financial crisis. Nevertheless we have continued to exhibit. With a tiny committee we haven’t the impetus to mount large shows.

FPS has always supported the work of SGBI, but recently contributions have dwindled to nothing. So, over the past three years, I have done a sponsored walk and raised £1,200 in total. Raffles at Foyles have also raised some money. So I feel FPS is still useful.

I have enjoyed paying back to the group something of what I have received from it over the past forty years.”

Owen Legg Honorary Secretary FPS.

Pallent House Gallery, Chichester

2009-10-06T04:09:00.000-07:00

Review by Phillip Worth

In the UK one tends to associate significant modern art collections with our major cities. Indeed an additional attraction of these centres is that, as well as their fine permanent collections, they all run periodic one person exhibitions of leading artists, both past and present, as well as other temporary shows. Examples abound: in London alone Tate Modern has featured Wassily Kandinsky, the Royal Academy The Scottish Colourists, the National Gallery Picasso (‘Challenging the Past’), to mention but a very few. These special exhibitions are hugely expensive to put on – way beyond, one imagines, the means even of substantial provincial galleries. How exciting, therefore, to come across an exception to that rule. The Pallent House Art Gallery in Chichester is home to one of the finest and most important collections of modern British art in the country. Housed in a listed Queen Anne building in the centre of this lovely cathedral city, the nucleus of its collection derived, in the first place, from donations by prosperous art loving local residents, such as Walter Hussey, a past Dean of Chichester, Charles Kearley, property developer, racehorse owner and hotelier, and a steady stream of gifts, bequests and loans from donors too numerous to mention.

From an early date, as the collection grew, the managers and curators detected a definite trend towards modern British art, and acknowledged that the main stimulus for this originated on the continent, especially France. Before the Great War of 1914-18 a powerful figure emerged in this country – Roger Fry, entrepreneur and himself an artist – who mounted an exhibition in London entitled “Manet and the Post-Impressionists” and featured works by Cezanne, Gauguin, van Gogh, Derain, Matisse, Picasso, Rouault, Seurat, de Vlamink and other contemporary French artists.

The impact on British painters was huge, and is evident in the work of, for example, Roger Fry himself, Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, David Bomberg, Mark Gertler, Matthew Smith, Ivon Hitchens and Wyndham Lewis, the latter giving things a vigorous forward drive with his founding of avant-garde Vorticism. Typical of the influence France had over the British painting manner is Ivon Hitchen’s /Pallent/“Curved Barn”. Britain has long had a fine tradition of landscape painting, but no-one during most of the nineteenth century would have dreamed of “bending” a scene as Hitchens does in this case. A quote of Clive Bell will give us a clue to Hitchen’s purpose: “who has not, at least once in his life, had a sudden vision of a landscape as pure form? For once, instead of seeing it as fields and cottages, he has felt it as lines and colours.”

The pace of modernisation in the UK slowed up somewhat in the early WWI period partly, of course, due to the ravages of the conflict on our young (inc. creative) manhood, and partly as a reaction to the extreme stance of Vorticism and other modern movements, such as Cubism, Futurism, Fauvism, and Surrealism (and possibly to the whole concept of “-ism”!). The art establishment cast a somewhat nervous backward glance at what was feared to be the weakening grip of our own, more conservative tradition of painting and sculpture (the attitude of Alfred Munnings, a future President of the RA, and a hugely popular figurative painter in the post-war period, was typical). This diffidence was largely (but not wholly) ,dispelled in the ‘30s by artists such as Paul Nash, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and John Piper. Paul Nash impatiently wrote “we are invaded by very strong foreign influences. Once more we find ourselves conscious of a renaissance abroad and are curious and rather embarrassed by the event, at once anxious to participate and afraid to commit ourselves; wishing to be modern, but uncertain whether that can be consistent with being British.” As the decade wore on such reservations evaporated, and pure abstraction became firmly embedded in the artistic zeitgeist. Henry Moore’s sculpture became a dominant feature, but see also Ben Nicholson’s “Still Life –/Pallent 01/ Cerulean” and Barbara Hepworth’s/Pallent 02/ “Simple Form (Nocturne)”

In the post-WWII period the focus of ground-breaking activity in the visual arts had moved from Paris to New York. There, a whole new breed of artists became dominant, noted for their fearless and bold invention. American expansiveness, a restless urge to “reach for the stars” drove their work so that, on a purely practical level, they favoured large, even huge canvases and other picture grounds. In sculpture they were pioneers of the “installation”, often working with “found” materials and by no means locked into figuration. Exploration was their watchword, a determination to embrace new ideas, and an almost pathological dread of being bound by conventional rules which had for centuries dictated form in Europe. “Why be slaves to the brush and palette?” would be typical of their attitude; “if we can achieve the desired effect by dripping paint on to the surface through a hole in the bottom of a can, let’s go for it. Indeed it may be that the act of creating images is as important as the finished product, if not more so.” And the process of taking the abstraction of art further than ever before was a feature of the New York school. Abstract Expressionism had as total and permanent an impact on visual art world wide as jazz had on music. This modern American school is represented in the Pallent collection by Sam Francis and Norman Bluhm, and Alan Davies’ /Pallent 03/“OM no.10” is a work by a contemporary British artist which displays its direct influence.

The Pallent collection is by no means confined to modern art. Works from earlier periods are included, such as /Pallent 04/‘the Rawson Conversation Piece’ painted by Gawen Hamilton in about 1730. One might also mention /Pallent 05/the portrait bust of King Charles I made by Hubert le Sueur in about 1637 and attached to the Market Cross where it remained until recently when it was removed to the Pallent House Gallery to protect it from the elements (especially the gold crown and chain).

Pallent House Gallery is well worth a visit, as is the city itself with its fine cathedral and period architecture. As already mentioned the venue’s main feature is a Queen Anne building, but the extensions necessitated by the ever burgeoning collection have been imaginatively designed and constructed so as to be a congenial backdrop to the works on display.

Review of Boxfield Gallery exhibition ‘The Four Elements’and Big Draw workshop

2009-10-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

By Penelope MacEwen
Boxfield gallery is situated quite near the train station in the Leisure Centre. A lovely red carpet makes it a welcoming place, contrasting with the colours of the work on the walls.

When walking in Andy Fullalove’s ‘Approaching the Future’ sang out immediately. The use of red in the picture seemed like a bird spreading its wings over an open landscape and with the contrast of red and orange over layers of green and blue, the texture of the palette and brush revealed the process of making. It made striking viewing and I felt uplifted, optimistic. The cleanness of the vermillion complimented with ochre and orange while flecks of cadmium yellow lead the eye upwards.

Another artist whose works really dominated was Philip Worth’s powerful series on the theme of Mussorgsky’s music: ‘Pictures in an exhibition’. Four of these works were included in the present show although seven exist in all. Worth’s ‘The Market Place at Limoges’ possessed an evident zest for life with the people milling about: playing; dancing; buying things. The Russian flavour was unmistakable while the colours gave the feeling of fire and air, as abstraction interacted with figurative elements. The sense of Russia rediscovering herself as a nation seemed to be particularly celebrated in ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ where decorative constructivist and pointillist elements contrasted with the oriental archway. You felt as if entering Boxfield Gallery you had somehow stumbled into a magical world, far removed from the grey walls outside.

The pointillist element was a theme repeated in this exhibition by another artist familiar in FPS exhibitions: Andrew Insh. His splendid rendition called ‘Figures Looking at an Island’ gazed calmly back from the other side of the space and gave a distinctly solemn air to the show. The water of his still lake seemed even to glisten! Juxtaposed with his works were those of Gerry Brooks. Her multilayered ‘City on the Move’ and her impasto ‘Cross Currents’ elicited the most enthusiastic remarks from visitors who wrote their comments about how much they admired her work in the book at the entrance. Colour and movement seemed to literally evoke the presence of air and water in her unique textured style of painting.

Meanwhile Demeter Haralbaki’s mixed media ‘Meetings’ also seemed to continue the theme of water. With string emerging from the canvas, infused with brilliant pinks and gold thread, the sensitive under-layer of paint seemed reminiscent of an underwater coral reef. Bruni Schling’s watercolours worked well beside these works. Both versions of ‘The Church in Town’ had an airy, watery feel, thanks to use of blues and the aerial view used.

One particular large abstract piece by Pete Murry entitled ‘L.Sprague de Normal’ used arches like the calligraphy of an Arabian night with decorative yellow markings to give the sense of evening, suffused in a cerulean blue ground. Next to his works Owen Legg’s jocular transcriptions in lino print such as his: ‘Botticelli’s Venus before the Temple of Venus’ and ‘Stowe: Cranach’s Adam and Eve’ provided a heartening humorous contrast.

Of the much smaller pieces Pete Murry’s work entitled ‘AM’ lead the eye on an intricate journey where lines seemed to interfuse like basketry upon the surface. An interplay of reds and oranges and dark greens made this an intriguingly firey favourite of mine. A fascinating digital print by Vivien Lodge called ‘Dark Earth’ on the opposite side of the space also arrested the eye: the texture of the ink was reminiscent of a pebbly beach; an under-layer of colours...pale mauve, blue and ochre made this a sensitive contrast to the bolder works in the exhibition. Of note too were the minimalist works by Apu Samadder, whose vibrant sense of colour gave a sense of life existing within the emotions of music and pure elements beyond form.

During the show on the 3rd October a workshop was held at the gallery as part of the national initiative ‘The Big Draw’ given by artist and educator, Sally Ward. It centred upon taking inspiration from Max Ernst’s frottage and ideas on automatic drawing. Needless to say the artwork also provided an excellent stimulus for the workshop. I only hope that in future the workshop side of things within the society will thrive alongside the exhibitions.

A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to put up a show. In particular ‘Free Painters and Sculptors’ wishes to thank Lisa Hemmings and Ria Burgess, the gallery co-ordinators and George Spencer and Vivien Lodge who put up the show. All work is on sale at reasonable prices and the display is still up until mid October. It is well worth a visit....

Penelope MacEwen 4/10/09

2009-09-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Boxfield Photos by Vivien Lodge

2009-09-21T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sculpture Exhibition St. Pancras Church Crypt Gallery 7-25 July 2009

2009-07-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

A review by Phillip Worth with Carol Calver's own note on her work.

Life can be hard for sculptors. The materials they work with are challenging and often physically demanding, and much hard work and special skill are required before they can begin to realize their vision. And that is not the end of the story; once work is completed outlets for display have to be found, no easy matter considering the space required – and that’s not to mention difficulties of transportation. Together these are reasons enough why Owen Legg’s initiative in negotiating this particular venue is warmly welcome. It provides an opportunity for some of our most skilled artists to display their work in the mystical atmosphere of an ancient church crypt. And a splendid and imaginative show it is – all credit to our committee under the leadership of its dynamic young chairperson.

Now a brief word about each exhibiting artist:

CORAL BOWER: Passionate about the human form in all its miraculous beauty, whether still or in motion, Coral has produced seven vibrant figures, variously reclining, seated and moving. There is nothing ‘statuesque’ about these sculptures. The emphasis in all cases is on the human body as a living, functional organism inter-acting with its environment. Two heads, besides, show great individuality and sensitive handling.

OWEN LEGG: This versatile artist has his inexhaustible invention and gift for the unexpected well on show. Never taking himself too seriously Owen can turn his attention with ease from ‘Fishy Tables’ and ‘Fishy Chairs’ to ‘Sand Castles’, the latter constructed, one gathers, on the Britanny coast, preserved (somehow) and brought back to the UK – presumably in the back of his car (awkward hand luggage on a flight!). Children would love these things – and you can pay no greater compliment to any art work.

LORETTA WINDSOR: I’m sure that Loretta must be a fan of Andy Goldsworthy in that, like him, she works in partnership with Nature’s own products and does not simply copy them. Her botanical studies have an artless charm, and she crowns her display with a boldly patterned landscape which seems to preside over and symbolize everything else. Her attention-grabbing poster to the East of the church indicates another direction in which her skills may be developed.

HEATHER BURNLEY: Heather has contributed much to the active life of FPS over the years, enriching our shows with her sensitive portrait studies. Apart from her matured craftsmanship she has the vision to empathize with her sitters so that there emerge living personalities. The studies of a distinguished academic and a fresh-faced, tousle-headed boy are in delightful contrast.

KATIE MORITZ: Katie presents the fascinating spectacle of a gifted young artist at an early stage of her development, attempting all kinds of themes and media of expression. The feeling that one gets with her work, varied as it is, is the sheer enjoyment she derives from the act of creation. And this enthusiasm is apparent when she readily talks you through the pieces she has on display. I was particularly impressed by ‘Aslan’, the all-powerful lion which dominates C. S. Lewis’ ‘Narnia’ series for children (and grown-ups!) Most artfully contrived in different materials it gazes magisterially at you from the wall of the crypt, back-lit by myriad light bulbs.

GRACE KIMBLE: It is characteristic of the ebullient energy of our new chairman that not only can she combine an important job at the Natural History Museum with the demands of her leadership of FPS but also manages to sustain a regular flow of art and craft work for our exhibitions. Her series of figures in clay are intriguing, while her study in acrylic of the owl is, simply, beautiful. Rendered in subdued colours against a dark background this bird is truly a denizen of the night - one can hear it as well as see it!

JOHN MCKENZIE: John is one of those who would not label himself ‘painter’ or ‘sculptor’; if a descriptive were needed ‘artist’, only, would be appropriate. This would cover the many exciting modes of expression which he has explored, whether in oil, clay, alabaster, or bronze, examples of which are on rich display here. Having acquired the fine skills you would expect anyone to collect from the Edinburgh College of Art, his artistic spirit is free to roam far and wide – a man for all seasons! It would be difficult to select for comment one piece from his impressive display, but the study ‘Loretta’ in alabaster has, for me, an unusual quality of serene, feminine beauty. As a Festival wonk I shall certainly be searching out John’s work in Edinburgh in August.

ROY RASMUSSEN: Considering the fecundity and brilliance of his output there can have been few more self effacing people in the history of art than Roy Rasmussen. The truth is that, throughout his long association with FPS as its director, Roy laboured tirelessly and selflessly to support other artists and promote their work – I for one was a beneficiary of that. What is, perhaps, not well known is that he spent most of his life as an employee working on hand-crafted car bodies, panel beating them into shapes guaranteed to satisfy the exacting demands of wealthy purchasers. And what a lucky day for us that he carried his rare skills over into metal sculpture of unusual and distinctive beauty. ‘Technocrat’ in this show is an example, but his London home and studio are full of a lifetime’s production. A one-man retrospective overdue?

KAORU BLACKSTONE: The Italian sculptor Alberto Giacometti once remarked that, during a period in his career when he was producing only small scale works, he could accommodate the entire output of three years in his trouser pockets! Be that as it may, posterity has established that output as being among his finest productions. Moral – small is as beautiful as any other size. Kaoru’s tiny sculptures have an appeal which might have been lost had they been wrought on a much larger scale. This appeal can be attributed as much to their delicacy of craftsmanship as to their conception.

DON WELLS: A regular contributor to FPS shows for many years Don has always maintained the highest standards of workmanship in his beautifully executed sculptures. Using wood shaped and honed to the finest of finishes he produces magical figures of arresting simplicity and design in the tradition, one suggests, of Brancusi, Naum Gabo, Barbara Hepworth. This is the kind of art one turns to to rest the soul, dazzled and often troubled by the restless kaleidoscope of human life.

PETE MURRY: As a link with Don Wells’ work, Pete Murray is also an artist who favours abstraction to express his inner life forces. Although his titles imply figuration one suggests that this is secondary to the initial creative drive. The impression conveyed is that of restless energy born of twisting, interlocking shapes and vibrant, juxtaposed colours that more than meet the viewer half way. But don’t be nervous, subscribers to the blog – Pete will handle your submissions with expertise and care!

CATHY PREST: Like Coral Bower, this artist responds to the human body as a living, moving organism but more, as a miracle of nature, its myriad parts in perfect balance. Two of her pieces on display, ‘Curve of Inspiration’ and ‘Touched’ are in real life proportion while two – ‘Liberty’ and ‘Reaching Out’ are stylised, their lines simplified and exaggerated to suggest physique and motion. But all have a sensuous, even erotic quality. And the main attribute of these pieces and of the best sculpture generally is that, although static and timeless, they are in perpetual motion. Life enhancing for their owners!

MALCOLM FRANKLIN: Like Don Wells and (to an extent) Owen Legg this sculptor favours abstraction, that is, he does not rely on representation of things in the perceived world to give his work impact. Lines and masses in their infinite variety justify themselves to the world. Yet this is but a first impression. Malcolm delivers a much more subtle message than this because, on further study of his images, a strongly organic feel is manifest, rendered in decidedly mechanistic forms. This is an artist whose work needs much more than a passing glance. As you study it the line between man made and organic structures seems to fade – both have a common origin in the scheme of things.

CAROL CALVER: Carol has five works on show – a pity, because they are striking pieces well up to the standard of the rest of the exhibition. Nude studies, partly painted, they have a quirky, provocative quality which is all their own.

CAROL CALVER writes:
"My passion is sculpture, using my main source of raw material, grogged stoneware, sometimes using glazes and stains.

My work is mainly figurative, some with a hint of of humour. my ideas are from everyday thoughts and staements, sometimes overgeard, so the title often comes first and the work begins from there."

And this will be an appropriate note on which to end this review. We have here a show notable for the individuality of its exhibitors. All artists of impeccable technical skill, they each have a distinctive language so that collectively they give visitors a rich visual and intellectual experience. This exhibition has been an excellent initiative by FPS, set up with imagination and vigour. May it become a regular feature of our future programmes.

Can anyone contact Nenne van Dijk?

2009-06-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

From: Ann Carton
Email: ascart@comcast.net
------------- Message ------------
I have two bronze statues by Nenne van Dijk in my garden in Lake Forest, IL USA purchased in 1991. My garden is being included in the Smithsonian Museum ( Washington DC National museum of AmercanHistory and sciences and the arts) as a great garden of America. . I need permission from the living artist to submit photographs of her sculptures in my garden--please help me contact her. Thank you Ann S. Carton

Review of “Picasso Challenging The Past” at the National Gallery till 7th June by Phillip Worth

2009-05-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

What more can be said or written about Pablo Picasso, easily the dominant figure of 20th century art? Apart from specialist galleries devoted to his art in, for example, Paris and Barcelona, a comprehensive retrospective of his huge output would be unthinkable unless, as a phantasy, you contemplated using all the space of the main London Galleries at the same time – and probably the Parisian as well. And so, historically, Picasso exhibitions have tended to focus on particular aspects of his work, e.g. the nude, Cubism, Sur-realism, figuration, ceramics, still life, or phases of his artistic development, such as the “Blue” or “Rose” periods, war-time, post-war and so on. Thus the exhibition currently showing at the National Gallery until June 7th this year turns the spotlight on the artist’s debt to the great masters of the past, especially in the European tradition. In this context it would be doing him a grave injustice to suggest that Picasso was a mere copyist (although he assiduously worked along these lines when, as a young man, he studied the techniques of those masters at the Prado in Madrid, at his adopted home town of Barcelona, and at the Louvre in Paris. What he was attempting to do was to tease out of past masterpieces their essential meaning, their eternal verities, and to express these in the different manners he developed from time to time. The “challenge” was not confrontational, rather it was an invitation to his subjects to prove themselves by, e.g., representation in the Cubist manner. In fact his choice of themes remained very much in the classical European tradition and included self portraits, figures – especially the female nude, portraits, still lifes, historical events etc. It used to be commonly suggested that Picasso was one of the earliest painters of pure abstracts. Nothing could be further from the truth and he himself was always at pains to refute the idea. His world was the perceived, the familiar; his purpose was to reveal the inner meaning, the essence of the familiar, as though objects and figures had a reality in some parallel universe. It also meant that, apart from his own highly idiosyncratic style, he could and frequently did, part from any exact configuration of whatever subject had inspired him. His “variations” reflected his purpose which was to make the original – his starting point – relevant to the present day and its social climate. Frequently, indeed, his configuration would be materially different from the original so that, e.g., a seated pose might transmute into a standing pose.

Six illustrated examples, based on the National Gallery Exhibition, follow – space does not allow for more. They follow, approximately, the chronology of three different phases of the artist’s career:

Pierre Auguste Renoir "Seated Bather in a landscape, Called Euridice"

An early member of the Impressionist Fraternity, like them Renoir was pre-occupied with the play of light on perceived objects. He took part in many Impressionist exhibitions, but his focus shifted from landscape to the human figure. A many-sided artist, he became a fashionable portraitist, but his real love was to portray the nude female figure, where he displayed an incomparable ability to achieve the glowing and delicate flesh tones of young womanhood. However, his graphic gifts also served him well in his vital portrayal of female anatomy, this in turn being a powerful influence on Picasso, his ardent admirer.

Picasso:"Seated Nude"

Although not immediately influenced by the Renoir painting the subject matter is sufficiently alike to make Picasso’s work a fascinating matter for comparison. A product of the phase of “Analytical Cubism” the figure is a mass of interconnecting planes, their solidity expressed by the way they interlock not only within the subject but with the space it occupies. The temptation for the first-time viewer of this kind of painting may be to turn away in confusion – a mistake, as this and other examples of the genre repay extended scrutiny. In this case the figure of a seated woman clearly emerges and she is not merely recognizable as such, but the demure turn of her head and the graceful positioning of her arms and hands also emerge. This, and other works of his earlier Cubist period (e.g. portraits) show Picasso’s extraordinary ability to capture and express the essence of his subject matter. In this phase the influence of Cezanne should be noted – a main concern with solidity and mass rather than with light and colour.

Paul Cezanne:"Still Life With Apples And Oranges"

Picking up on the last point we see here the master of still life at the peak of his powers. Without going in for the conventional Trompe L’Oeil effects of perspective Cezanne’s painterly brush gives inanimate objects a kind of living vitality. This is not merely the accuracy we expect from photography; it is a kind of pantheism, in which apples, oranges, jugs and fabric seem truly alive, possessed of a spirit of their own.

Picasso:"Fruit, Dish, Bottle and Violin"

Here one could say that Picasso was challenging Cezanne, not in a critical or hostile sense, but more by way of an assertion that, great as was the work of the French master, his was not the only way in which still life could be presented. By the time he produced this work Picasso was entering on his second Cubist phase – that of “Synthetic Cubism” – in which the flat picture plane was no longer regarded as something to be avoided, but rather as an asset. This meant a much greater focus on composition and, incidentally, on colour. At this stage, also, Picasso was making use of collage, i.e. using cut-out pieces of fabric and newspaper as part of his image.

Diego Velasquez;"Las Meninas"

This large canvas, painted towards the end of he artist’s life, and when he had spent most of his career as a respected member of the court of King Philip IV of Spain, shows the Infanta surrounded by her maids of honour and a few other peripheral members of the royal household. The King and Queen can be glimpsed reflected in a mirror at the back of the room, while through an open door the receding figure of a court official can be observed, looking back rather nervously, perhaps to make sure that everything is in order. The commanding figure of Velasquez himself stands before his enormous canvas, brush and palette in hand. The room is unlit, although the figures are bathed in what is presumably daylight streaming in from the right.
This great work can be admired on many levels: as a composition, busy but with complete artistic integrity; as an example of Velasquez’ superb draftsmanship; as an intriguing historical document; and (the trappings of royal splendour apart) as a rather appealing domestic scene.

Picasso:"‘Las Meninas’(after Velasquez)"

This work by Picasso many would find puzzling, in that it is a bizarre representation, perhaps even a skit, on a celebrated old master. The Velasquez is an extraordinary work, in that it achieves perfect compositional balance of a number of elements which both singly and as a group are really rather mundane. Undoubtedly the figure which dominates and exudes confidence is that of the artist himself. About the rest of the group there is a curiously vulnerable air, almost as they had been caught unawares by a camera. This would be compounded by their awareness that the artist was not in the habit of “gilding lilies”! So what is Picasso trying to achieve? It should be pointed out that at the time this was painted he was well into (perhaps coming out of?) his “sur-real” phase, when his configuration was becoming increasingly eccentric, verging on the cartoon and caricature in manner, and yet uncannily expressive of his subjects. Here we see the figure of Velasquez as even more dominant, towering above everybody and everything, leaving them very sketchily rendered, in the case of the dog and one of the maids-in-waiting, merely blank within rough outlines. Enough said: however one reacts to Picasso’s work, particularly in its later phase, its capacity to command attention, to fascinate, and to stimulate emulation (and also controversy) cannot be denied.

“Picasso Challenging The Past” runs at the National Gallery till 7th June, with opening up to 9 p.m. on Thursdays. It’s a must.

RODCHENKO AND POPOVA – DEFINING CONSTRUCTIVISM by Phillip Worth

2009-03-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

Tatlin - Monument to the Third International Constructivism

We can derive stimulus and pleasure from visual art in a multitude of forms and styles, although personal subjective taste will of course determine what is the strongest “turn on” for any individual. Landscape, still life, city scenes, portraiture, life studies, to mention but a very few approaches, all have their addicts, but I would, for the purpose of this review, like to make a special plea for hard edged, geometric abstraction. There is something profoundly satisfying about the purity of geometric forms – straight lines, curves, circles, ovals, squares, triangles and whatnot strike a chord in many, if not all of us, and this satisfaction is intensified if the forms are the context for vibrant, dynamically juxtaposed pure colour. Many movements in modern art have sought expression in this way, e.g. de Stijl, Cubism, Futurism, Orphism – one could multiply the “-isms”. But not least among these schools of expression were the Russian “Constructivists” who flourished in the early twenties of last century, although their influence continued far beyond that time and, indeed, has made an ongoing impact on modern art right up to the present day.

The exhibition “Defining Constructivism” showing at Tate Modern until 17th May focuses on the output of two artists – Alexander Rodchenko and Liubov Popova. Their work displayed is dazzling and exciting in its own right, but the social and political context within which they were active is worth comment. As is well known the October Revolution of 1917 heralded a seismic change in Russian society, a change which had a global effect still apparent at the present day. From 1917 till the middle twenties, and before the oppressive rule of the Stalinist regime and after became dominant, it was felt that a “Bright New Dawn” had broken, that the ordinary people – workers and land labourers – having thrown off the shackles of Tsarist rule were at last free, free above all to build a new society in which all men and women were equal, where the wealth of the nation was equally shared, and where opportunities for self improvement were open to all. This created an atmosphere in which the arts flourished. Visual artists were encouraged in their work – no attempt was made to force it into a propagandist mould, but painters, sculptors and craftspersons of all kinds were encouraged to slant their work towards the physical and social environment in order to enrich the lives of the mass of the people. This triggered two main trends in Russian art: towards new approaches to architecture and urban planning; and likewise to industrial design.

The seeds of these developments were sown before 1917, particularly by Vladimir Tatlin. His visits to Berlin and Paris, and especially his contact with Picasso, inspired him to produce “constructed” sculptures, using a variety of functional materials, including wire, sheet metal, wood, string, and other stuff. Here, Tatlin’s emphasis was as much on “sculpting” the space his artefacts occupied as the materials he used. After 1917 it was natural for him to embrace the Constructivist approach, and Rodchenko quickly followed in his footsteps, producing constructs with materials used in manufacturing processes, thus strengthening the link between art and industry. His painting, and Popova’s “architectonic” images also reflected the growing obsession with urban and industrial design. Psychologically their hard edged geometric abstracts could also be seen as an expression of this preoccupation. Subsequently Rodchenko abandoned easel painting, concentrating on 3-D constructs and photo montage. Popova, meanwhile, varied her prolific output, moving into textile design, costumes, theatre and film sets,and allied art forms. She died prematurely at the age of thirty-five when at the height of her powers.

So much for the socio-political background which may, or may not, be of concern to us as artists. But this much can be said, that the Constructivist movement has bequeathed a body of abstract artwork which is unsurpassed in the boldness of its graphic design and its thrilling and dramatic use of colour.

“Rodchenko and Popova: Defining Constructivism” is an exhibition not to be missed – Tate Modern till 17th May 2009.

Rodchenko - Non-Objective Painting

Popova - Space Force Construction

Rodchenko - Linear Construction

Popova - Painterly Architectonic /p>

Rodchenko - Spacial Construction No.15

Popova - Fabric Designs

DANCE MACABRE 2009 by Owen Legg

2009-03-30T06:17:00.000-07:00

DANCE MACABRE 2009

At last, after ten months of printing I have finished my book about the Danse Macabre. There were of course twelve months before that of preparation, getting the linocuts prepared and proofed. But the printing of hose linocuts and the text took considerable effort.

Today, a week later, the first four copies have gone to the binder, Mike Fitzgerald, of Cox Heath.

The book consists of a 15th Century French poem with a modern English translation by Giles de la Bedoyere. At the top of each page is a copy of the 16TH century mural which adorns a church in Brittany while at the bottom of the page footballers dance with skeletons. There are two full page illustrations of a player competing with a skeleton.

The whole poem is a reminder of the shortness of life and the vanity of riches. This is why I have contrasted the ethos of commercial football with the certainty of death. Giles is a poet who comes from Tunbridge Wells and by coincidence has an ancestral connection with the church of Kermaria where this mural exists.

The price will be £300 cloth edition and £450 embossed calf leather binding.

Foyle’s Gallery February 9 – 22 2009 by Phillip Worth

2009-03-02T02:18:00.000-08:00

Penelope Mac Ewan has already given a lively account of the Private View and the exciting impression created by our varied and colourful exhibition, as witness the good attendance in spite of bleak weather conditions! She has also commented on some of the outstanding pieces on show, so it may not be inappropriate to extend her review and consider a few of the other exhibits. The selection must of course be random, as space will not allow us to include everything.

“Lion” by Grace Kimble A delicate little watercolour which could persuade us that “small is beautiful”. The appeal of this picture lies in its subtle blending of the dormant power of the lioness and the calm dignity with which she gazes into the distance (or at a herd of wildebeest?) She seems almost unaware of the little cub sporting itself on her back, but this study also breathes an air of relaxed motherhood. Nicely conceived and nicely drawn.

“Scorched” by Andy Fullalove Mention was made, in the Lauderdale review, of Andy’s bonding with nature, of how he feels that it has a life of its own, and so how it inspires his painting. This picture could represent anything, e.g. a bush fire, or the shimmering heat arising from a desert, or (who knows?) the kind of angry outburst that belches forth from an angry soul – whatever. Anyone at the PV feeling wet and cold would have done well to stand in front of “Scorched” and enjoy a good dry out!

“Eagle Over The Mountain” by Penelope Macewen In this simple but effective study Penelope must surely have convinced us that mountains are the natural context for this splendid creature. The fact that the picture shows only one bird intensifies the impression of the eagle’s lordship of its domain. Looking at this work the writer went back in memory to a visit to the Isle of Skye some years ago when he stood on a mountain top and saw these majestic birds wheeling and gliding through the rarified air. Thanks for the memory, Penelope!

“Fruit and Flowers” by Rosina Flower Rosina is a very old friend of FPS and over many years has enriched countless group shows with her beautiful and superbly executed still lifes. This piece is but the latest in a long and splendid pedigree. Her handling of still life, especially flowers, verges on the sensuous. She achieves what is so often beyond the reach of painters – to produce colours that compete with Mother Nature’s. Add wonderful fluid brushwork to that and the result nears perfection.

“14th July at St. Felix” by Janet Scott this small oil, so deceptively simple in its execution, is a little masterpiece of composition and plain but vital figuration. The scene is and open-air café somewhere in the Midi-Pyrenees and we see patrons, both locals and expats, relaxing with their friends over drinks, enjoying a day-off on Bastille Day. Janet clearly has a keen sense of places and people and also a gift for conveying an atmosphere with a few quick brush strokes – where else could we be but in France?

“St. Ulrich” by Sally Ward Another small study and one inspired as much by the mystical ambience of the subject as by any purely “picturesque” qualities it may possess, because I am sure the artist would agree that what she saw from a distance somewhere in the remote countryside of Alsace was not picturesque in the conventional sense. She has depicted a bald, conical mountain peak surmounted by a ruined chapel, seen through the branches of trees and bushes when she was nearing the summit. It’s anyone’s guess as to how the chapel was reached in time past, or indeed how it was built in the first place, but it is precisely this curiosity on the artist’s part, this sense of the unusual, this impulse to capture and record unaccountably moving places and events, that makes for real creativity.

“Snow I” by Loretta Windsor There are many senses, apart from sight, that artwork can stimulate. For example, when looking at Janet Scott’s “14th July at St. Felix” I could smell freshly ground coffee and Gaulloise cigarette smoke. Likewise who could gaze at Russolo’s “Music” without hearing the peals of a mighty organ, or at Seurat’s “Baignade” without feeling one’s hot skin prickle with sweat? So with “Snow I”. The sense of a bitter chill getting into one’s marrow was strong, the effect heightened, somehow, by the repeated figure of a sprig long since stripped of its vegetation, lying defenceless on a wintry ground. It would be tempting to place “Snow I” and Andy Fullalove’s “Scorched” side by side. The inclination would be to go from the former to the latter, I suspect!

“Night Rider” by William Frith The figure of a horseman silhouetted against a ghostly moon is observed galloping through the night sky. If, for a moment, we wonder at his haste, a closer look will reveal the heavens crowded with demonic figures, all together exuding a kind of collective menace. So the rider’s precipitate onward flight can only be occasioned by panic. Will he escape, or be devoured by the powers of darkness? William Frith’s dramatic painting leaves us guessing – and that is its strength.

Foyles Show by Penelope Mac Ewan

2009-03-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

Free Painters and Sculptors Society Private View:
(9th February, 2008 6.30-8.30 3rd Floor Foyles Gallery, London.)

The cold wind bit into my hands and face. Londoners jumped over puddles and dodged umbrellas. I looked with silent envy at their boots, my own court shoes having long since become drenched and freezing. Why was our private view on such a night I wondered? Surely no one would be there!

The rain lashed hard against the cars that passed, soaking unlucky pedestrians with their wash. With relief I sighted the ‘Foyles’ sign, certain that at least soon I would be out of the cold. With grim resolve I took the lift to the third floor, believing I would meet a silent reception. But nothing could have been more the antithesis of my expectation!

The room positively exploded with life. Colour radiated from the walls. People chatted in groups, women wore pretty dresses, apparently undaunted or unaware of the foul weather outside. Glasses clinked; music played and while no one seemed ready with a cheque book to buy anything it was clear that despite the credit crunch a real ‘feel-good-factor’ prevailed. The atmosphere was pregnant with joie de vivre.

As I glanced around the room my eye was drawn to Keith Stanfield’s warm portrait, another child (besides his musical older son now playing the violin) was silently present within the picture.

Pete Murry’s luxurious designs sang out too from the walls, as did the contrasting cools of the snow theme developed in the far corner. Olive Cross’s magnificent oil paintings of mountains begged a closer look so I went across the room, glass in hand to congratulate her.

We chatted a while and then I retired behind the bar, receiving further compliments from people about Demeter’s Haralabaki’s textile piece, and the rough immediacy of the boxers jousting behind us, by Philip Worth.

So when it became time to select a raffle ticket for one or more of the pictures in
the room, I knew a challenging choice lay ahead of the surprised winner . It did; but she methodically moved around the room, wisely electing three unframed works, two gaily coloured prints by Katie Moritz and one by Owen Legg, part of his beautifully crafted cycle from ‘The Omar Khayyám.’

I looked up at the other prints by Owen on the wall besides William Frith’s work, steeped in the dark romance of the orient. Yes, I thought, ‘Free Painters and Sculptors’ draws the crowds for a reason. The work reflects the freedom of artists to express themselves.

So I would hope we all extend our thanks to those who made the exhibition
possible:
Grace Kimble, (Chair); George Spencer, (who put the pictures up with Vivien
Lodge, newly back on the committee after a well earned rest); Pete Murry, (committee
member in charge of the FPS blog); Keith Stanfield, (Honorary Membership Secretary,
who hopes you have all renewed your membership) and our new publicity man, Cliff
Rhodes.

Let’s lift our glasses and give them all a toast!

(Penelope MacEwen, 2008, Outreach officer)

Brent Artists Resource: Exhibition in Print

2009-02-17T15:43:00.000-08:00

Brent Artists Resource: Exhibition in Print

You are cordially invited to: The Preview party - Thursday 19th February 6-8pm. At 7pm: Life music by Harkishan Parmar: a World Music Musician.Harkishan Parmar is a WORLD MUSIC MUSICIAN, who has studied extensively under a disciple of Ravi Shankar. He has also worked on BBC Television documentary with Imrat and Nishat Khan (family of legendary guitarist Vilayat Khan).

The Show

Is printmaking a cheat’s way of escaping the rigours of painting and drawing, or is it one of the greatest means of artistic expression? Certainly artists from Rembrandt to Picasso were fascinated by the medium (or media) and they had more limited techniques at their disposal than are available today. But you don’t need an expensive press or complicated equipment to produce interesting prints. Black paint, paper, pencil and a rolling pin (or even a potato) can provide hours of enjoyment and experiment, and remarkable results. The next BAR exhibition at the Gallery at Willesden Green will concentrate on prints: monoprints, etchings, screenprints, lithographs, lino and woodcuts – prints combined with other media

Times of opening

Dates: Tuesday 17th February – Thursday 19th March Times: Every day: 2pm-6pm

The Gallery

The Gallery at Willesden Green is a vibrant community space where new ideas are incubated and encouraged, where emerging and talented artists find a place to display and perform, and where art becomes accessible to everyone in the community.

For more information visit website: www.artsnmusica.com
Contact
Gallery Coordinator: Lorenzo Belenguer Tel: 020 8459 1421
Email: info@brentartistsresource.org.uk
Website: www.brentartistsresource.org.uk

The Gallery at Willesden Green
Willesden Green Library Centre
95, High Road, London NW10 2SF
T 0208 459 1421
E info@brentartistsresource.org.uk
W http://www.brentartistsresource.org.uk
(Please note Lorenzo works part-time: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays)Registered Company number 5700942

Visiting Brent Artists’ Resource
Underground Stations: Willesden Green Tube (8 minutes): Dollis Hill Tube (13 minutes)
Buses: 52, 98, 260, 266, 302 and 460
Railway Stations: Kensal Rise Railway Station (21 minutes): Brondesbury Park Railway Station (21 minutes)
Parking: free large car park at rear of Gallery
Gallery opening times: 14:00 - 18:00 Daily. Closed Christmas to New Year

Brent Artists Resource is a Company Limited by Guarantee 5700942 and supported by
Brent Council
Daniel and Harris - Solicitors
The Tricycle
The Harvist Trust
Queens Park Residents Association

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Registered Company number 5700942

Brent Artists Resource is supported by Brent Council

Images from the Foyles show February 2009

2009-02-09T07:09:00.000-08:00

By Keith Stanfield

Painting by Olive Cross (detail)

cactus Flower (detail)

Detail from "The Repeatedly Faltulent Domesticated Cassowary Flock of Sub Lieutenant Lionel "Sponge Bar" Hermington" (aka Fire1)

Painting by Phillip Worth (detail)

Detail from painting by Rosina Flower

Print Image by Lorretta

Lions (detail) by Grace Kimble

Boulevard (detail)

Detail from painting by Keith Stanfield

"Doubting Thomas" (detail) by Keith Stanfield

Hanging the Foyles show February 8th 2009

2009-02-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

MEMBERS’ EXHIBITIONS Review Service

2009-02-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

You will know that we are always eager to hear about our members’ art-related activities, especially one-person exhibitions, and to publicize these in the blog and newsletter. We also now have in place a team of reviewers who have covered FPS Group and other London exhibitions in recent years.

These you will no doubt have read and we hope you will agree that they add an attractive and, indeed, a very useful addition to the blog/newsletter. We are keen to extend this review service to our own members, so that in the course of the year we can present a mix of informed writing both on the current work of FPS artists, and on the art scene generally.

If you are planning a one-person show in the near future, or making a significant contribution to a group, and would be interested in an independent review for our publications, please contact
‘FPS Review Service’
282 St. John’s Road,
Hemel Hempstead,
Herts HP1 1QG

Alternatively e-mail philip@whitehousestudio.fsnet.co.uk or ring 01442 264766.

Please include your contact details.

Practical considerations mean that for the time being the service would have to focus on London and the South-East.

2009-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Review of FPS Lauderdale House Exhibition 10-20 December 2008

2009-01-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

Lauderdale House has established itself as a favourite venue for FPS group exhibitions for a dozen years or so now. It is a 16th century structure, redeveloped and extended in recent times and situated in the elegant acreage of Waterlow Park, laid out at the end of the 19th century for the benefit of local “gardenless residents”. One assumes that the house was, from the beginning, a willing captive of this spacious green environment! The interior has, of course, been modernized and adapted to the many uses to which it is now put, but the development has been tasteful, leaving enough of the original fabric still visible to preserve a period feel overall. As with the best venues the exhibition area in Lauderdale House provides a congenial backdrop for artwork of all styles and themes and, indeed, seems to bring them together in happy harmony – a curator’s dream!

All of this would suggest that this is the ideal context for an FPS group show. Over the past twenty years of the reviewer’s experience the word “free” in its best sense has characterised our society’s group exhibitions. Two main factors have been at work to this end: firstly, the high standards we have always maintained, the result of careful selection; secondly, and at least as important, has been the excellence of the curating. For years Roy Rasmussen, during his time as gallery director, kept the hanging of our shows in his own hands and he worked at this tirelessly and with absolute artistic integrity. For him an exhibition was in itself a work of art – change one bit of it and you threw the whole display out, to the detriment of individual items. It’s great that this tradition is clearly being maintained.

The recent Lauderdale show was a case in point. Abstracts were there, figures, landscapes, townscapes – the lot, and all in a variety of media, and each and every piece with a distinct individuality, free from stereotypical blueprints of how pictures ought to be made. FPS has always allowed artists to breathe creatively. If you wish to be daring, even outrageous, on a mega canvas – fine! But if your scene is a small watercolour of yachts at anchor in Cowes Harbour – fine again, provided your work shows originality and vitality, and irrespective of whether you were college trained or self-taught. The problem for the reviewer of an ambitious group show such as this is, of course, that while there isn’t the space to deal with every exhibit, the few chosen for comment might suggest that those works not getting a mention were somehow not as good. To scotch this idea seven pieces have been selected at random, so the reviewer is confident that they will give a flavour of the show as a whole:

“Meeting” – Sally Ward (mixed media)

Sally is an artist who pursues a restless course of experimentation with mixed media, using whatever of these is appropriate, either singly or in combination, for the realization of her vision. In short, her media are her servants, not her masters. The point is valid because there are artists out there who are obsessed with a particular medium or theme and appear to be in thrall to them. Not so Sally Ward – her free-ranging approach extends to sculpture, where she works in steel, wood and found materials. “Meeting” has a haunting ambience. The figures are suggested rather than clearly defined, like those in a half remembered dream, or seen through a veil. One feels that a reunion is imminent, but fears that it may never happen because the veil, which immobilizes the action, cannot be torn away. A beautiful but also a sad picture.

"Passers by" Penelope MacEwen

Equally beautiful and equally sad is “Passers by” painted in oil by Penelope MacEwen. Undefined in time and place the centre piece is the seated figure of a beggar woman – an older woman, not a young drop-out – her body language suggesting a descent into despair as folk pass by, unseeing and uncaring, pursuing their own busy concerns. This picture is a parable of the isolated and the marginalized – those who seem to have no place in the scheme of things and have given up trying to find it. The woman’s figure is beautifully modelled, almost absorbed by her harsh environment. But the most striking feature of this work. I think, is its red monochrome which sets the emotional tone of the picture – anger transcending pity; anger with an affluent, self-satisfied society that can tolerate such misery within its fabric.

“Figures in a Misty Landscape” – Andrew Insh (oil)

This work could suggest a London “pea-souper” of old although its dark tone also gives it a sinister, almost surreal quality. Three vaguely defined figures, suggesting young girls wearing gymn tunics seem to be wandering aimlessly in a built environment the nature of which is uncertain. The figures exude confusion and fear and desperation to escape the nightmare which engulfs them. To achieve these effects the artist employs the technique of pointillism, first developed by the French artist Seurat (1859-1891). With this technique, also known as divisionism the artist uses his canvas as a palette, applying paint in hundreds of small dots and making the eye of the viewer mix colours and tones. Andrew exploits this technique to perfection in this atmospheric study.

Fragile: Andy Fullalove

Andy Fullalove hung two oils in this exhibition which express his rapport with landscape. The perceived natural environment is, for him, merely the starting point of a creative process which goes deep into his artist’s soul then in time emerges on the canvas as a spiritual response. The point is important because, to understand his work, one must recognize that it is a fusion of what is observed and his emotional reaction to it. His affinity with the natural world (perhaps especially the landscapes of his native Yorkshire?) and also, maybe, his feeling that he is not just in it, but a part of it, must also be stressed. Bearing all this in mind one can then enter into the spirit of “Old Stone to Earth” and “Fragile”

“Surfing” by Derek Turner

“Surfing” by Derek Turner is a riot of colour interchanging with glorious abandon all over the surface of the canvas. It is painted in acrylic, a medium whose bright colour values and fast drying qualities, paradoxically, can inspire an artist to work quickly and expressionistically – almost as though the paint itself is saying “catch me in a fluent mood; delay, and the mood will be gone forever.” Acrylic paint can, admittedly, be used within a more deliberate, design-oriented context, but one suspects that this was no part of Derek’s approach when attacking “Surfing”. Here the turbulence of the breakers, and the fast moving, almost abandoned physical activity obviously combined to trigger rapid expression in paint. How well the atist has succeeded!

“Tower Bridge” by Katie Moritz>

One would suppose, looking at “Tower Bridge” by Katie Moritz, that the artist might wish herself back at the turn of the last century, when much of London, certainly around Thames side, was veiled in a perpetual industrial fog. At that time it was certainly how Monet enjoyed viewing the city (from his suite in the Savoy Hotel!) so we can only conjecture how differently he would have seen things if that veil had been snatched away; London would have lost its mystery, and thus much of its enchantment. The French master was at home in nature’s realm, among his water lilies and his haystacks, but was equally happy with the built environment provided it responded to changes in light and supplied “impressions” – witness “Gare St. Lazare” and “Rouen Cathedral” at different times of day. I feel that this is how Katie Moritz viewed Tower Bridge, through an atmosphere that softened its edges and heightened its romance – an atmosphere generated within her creative soul. This exuberant young artist has much to give – hopefully much of it to FPS!

ArtWords: Foyles Gallery, Monday 9th- Sunday 22nd February 2009

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ArtWords: FPS artists present work inspired by books

Foyles Gallery, 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0EB
Nearest tube: Leicester Square
Monday 9th- Sunday 22nd February 2009

Private View: Monday 9th February 6.30pm-8.30pm (including prize draw for a voucher to spend £200 on art)

Open: Monday-Saturday 9.30am-5.30pm; Sunday 11am -6pm

Submitting Artwork
Cost of submission: £10 per artwork. This is to cover the cost of hiring Foyles..
Please send images of work you would like to submit, to this email address, by Sunday 1st February.
If you prefer, you can send images by post to: Grace Kimble, 1 Mead Villas, Roxeth Hill, Harrow HA2 0JY
Include the following details:
1. Your name
2. The title of your work (s)
3. Medium
4. Dimensions
5. Price
6. Book which inspired the work (if possible)

This is so that we can make the list in good time. In addition, we may be short on space so we may need to limit the number of works hung by each person
Art will be issued with security tags by Foyles
Delivering and Collecting Artwork
Frames need to be professional and have D rings attached.
Art needs to be brought to Foyles Gallery on Sunday 8th February, preferably between 11am and 1pm. We will be there until 6pm so if you need to bring it later this is also acceptable. The earlier it arrives, the sooner it will be hung!
You can also bring prints and postcards etc; we will bring the print browsers.
Art will need to be collected on Sunday 22nd February between 11am and 3pm. It is exceptionally important that you collect your work, as we do not have central storage space.
If your work is sold we will contact you by phone.
Publicity
Cliff Rhodes has kindly offered to assist us with publicity. We also need you to distribute PV cards if you can. Please let us know if you wish to have additional cards to pass on, and we will send 10 by post.
We look forward to seeing your work,

Best wishes

All at FPS

Exhibitions Featuring FPS member Janet Scott in 2009

2008-12-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

Caryl Bradford: Still Lives & Landscapes by Janet Scott

January 26-31st in Chelsea Library, Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Road, SW3,

Caryl Bradford

Janet Scott

Caryl Bradford

Janet Scott

February 3rd-21st at Duncan Campbell Gallery, 15 Thackeray Street, W8 (South of Kensington Court, opposite the Royal Garden Hotel), with Private View Tuesday 3rd February from 5.30-8.30 pm. to which all are invited.

Best wishes from Janet.

ARTWORKS by William Fricker

2008-12-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

CORRECTION These artworks were originally disaplayed as being by Diana Hulme but they are by William Fricker. SPANA want to put a couple or one picture by William Fricker into Foyles. The size is about 50 cm x 120 cm nframed.

ARTWORK 1

ARTWORK 2

ARTWORK 3

ARTWORK 4

Lauderdale House Exhibition Winter 2008

2008-12-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Pictures by Penelope Mac Ewen

A History of Free painters and Sculptors by Roy Rasmussen

2008-12-12T03:52:00.000-08:00

A History of Free painters and Sculptors by Roy Rasmussen is posted at http://fpshistory.blogspot.com/

Last Weekend of the Willeseden Affordable Art Show

2008-12-12T03:43:00.000-08:00

Exhibition ending on Friday the 19th December

The Gallery at Willesden Green
Brent Affordable Art Show 2008
Featuring a selection of emerging artists – Some artworks for less than £100

TheWall@TheGallery
Can you see us? Students from North West College working with Brent Learning Disability Partnership

The Gallery at Willesden Green
Brent Affordable Art Show 2008
Featuring a selection of emerging artists – Some artworks for less than £100
Exhibition kindly supported by The London Borough of Brent and Daniel & Harris Solicitors

Hot on the heels of the nation’s love affair with contemporary art, Brent will be breaking down the barriers to the art world by launching its very own third Brent Affordable Art Show, just in time for the festive season.

Featuring work from emerging talent as well as established local artists, the Affordable Art Show will give visitors the opportunity to enjoy and purchase an eclectic array of artwork, from painting, sculpture to photography, to prints…etc. Many pieces on show will carry a price tag of under £100, making this the perfect hunting ground for the “next big thing”, or a chance to purchase an original and unique piece from a talented artist.

The exhibition will showcase some of Brent’s wealth of artistic talent, and visitors are encouraged to explore and engage with this new art in a creative and relaxed and environment. The Brent Affordable Art Show was conceived in order to inspire new audiences to familiarise themselves with contemporary art in the area, and to encourage the possibility of purchasing and collecting the art itself.

This is a unique opportunity to explore the hidden art of one of London’s most vibrant and culturally diverse communities.

TheWall@TheGallery
Can you see us?
The College of North West London has been working with Brent Learning Disability Partnership with students who have learning disabilities and a wide range of learning difficulties enabling them to learn new skills, increase vocational competences and gain qualifications.

The Creative Crafts Skills Group, based at Stonebridge Day Centre, has worked with College lecturers, Lula Couling-Barreneche, Mary Anne Vaughan and Alison Rose to produce work collectively for the ‘Can you see us?’ exhibition. All the work demonstrates the range of techniques and skills learned, such as: collage, papier-mâché, printing, felt and paper-making and decorative effects.

The students have created work expressing their individuality and imaginative reflections on the theme of identity – Can you see us?

Contact
Gallery Coordinator: Lorenzo Belenguer
Tel: 020 8459 1421
Email: info@brentartistsresource.org.uk
Website:www.brentartistsresource.org.uk

The Venue
The Gallery at Willesden Green
Willesden Green Library Centre
95 High Road, London NW10 2SF

Times of opening
Dates: Tuesday 18th November – Friday 19th December
Times: Every day: 2pm-6pm.

Getting there:
By Tube: Jubilee Line to Willesden Green (zone 2)
By bus: No.s - 52, 98, 260, 266, 302, 460

The Gallery
The Gallery at Willesden Green is a vibrant community space where new ideas are incubated and encouraged, where emerging and talented artists find a place to display and perform, and where art becomes accessible to everyone in the community.

Registered Company number 5700942

Brent Artists Resource is supported by Brent Council

greenwich mural workshop presents an exhibition of artworks 1975 to 2008

2008-12-07T02:05:00.000-08:00

we are moving soon from macbean centre ....so
greenwich mural workshop presents
an exhibition of artworks 1975 to 2008
macbean centre macbean street woolwich
parks
tiles
gardens
posters
playgrounds
mosaics
murals
banners
PRIVATE VIEW
15 DECEMBER 6 -9pm
come by overground to woolwich arsenal - 5 mins walk
come by tube from north greenwich by 272 or 161
come by any number of buses to woolwich to the stop by the station
come by vehicle via the A206 to macbean street - then into centre car park
tel: 020 8854 9266
email: carol@greenwichmuralworkshop.com
now! mon15th to sat 20th december
1 to 6 pm

See Pdf flyer at gmwexhibition3

URGENT - PRESS RELEASE

MAJOR PUBLIC ART EXHIBITION

1 December 2008

After 20 years, Greenwich Mural Workshop is closing down its Woolwich premises in December.

In one last splendid retrospective, an exhibition of its artistic production including posters, banners, mosaics, carnivals, playgrounds, parks and gardens can be seen at its Woolwich studio in the MacBean Centre, Macbean Street, from Monday 15th December to Saturday 20th December, 1 to 6pm each day. The exhibition is free and all are welcome.

The artist’s co-operative, which started in 1975, has worked with community groups all over Greenwich Borough, making murals to brighten estates, posters for events, banners for unions and action groups, playgrounds, gardens and parks for schools and tenants associations.

Carol Kenna and Steve Lobb founded the workshop, but during its 34 year history, dozens of other artists came to design and fabricate pictures, prints, constructions, and environments with them. Many fabulous artists, designers and craftsmen who worked with GMW, have gone on to establish great organisations of their own. But it was not only professional artists, countless apprentices were trained, residents of all ages learnt art skills, many going on to begin new careers. National Community Arts and Murals conferences were also organised by the group, and a national touring exhibition “Printng is Easy” – showed posters from community printshops from all over Britain.

GMW’s first project was designing and painting murals with people of Meridian Estate in Greenwich. Three landmark murals were created; “Peoples River” and the anti-nuclear “Wind of Peace” on Creek Road and “Towards the Good Planet” on Thames Street, opened by Oscar winning actress, Glenda Jackson. A courtyard scheme and a park - converted from a junkyard - was devised with the tenants and carried out by Greater London and Greenwich Councils.

More mural projects followed: Floyd road and Rathmore Youth Centre murals in Charlton; Anti Racist and Kingsman Green murals in Woolwich; Glyndon Estate murals in Plumstead; and Yarnton Way, Binsey and Limestone Walks’ murals in Thamesmead. Many began to be made in tile, and in mosaic; a visually stunning and hard-wearing medium. These materials were used in skills courses for young unemployed and in dozens of Greenwich primary schools, some of which, James Wolfe, Timbercroft, Boxgrove and Cardwell schools, will be on show at the exhibition.

The community printshop began in a flat rented from the GLC on the Meridian Estate. Graphic artists Lulu Ditzel and Rob Finn joined and ran the printshop, which grew quickly, advancing in techniques and skills in new premises at The Albany. When GMW moved to The Macbean Centre, Rob and Lulu left to set up on their own. Rick Walker took over the printshop and with new photographic facilities and satirical flair, brought a different, distinctive style to poster-making in the borough. With Carmen Diaz, Bernadette O’Donoghue, Lyn Medcalf and Howie Jeavons, the printshop produced hundreds of posters calling for social and political action and advertising events and meetings and entertainments. These posters are now highly valued and will soon become part of the national collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Banners made for local community action, protest marches and tenants groups concerned a wide variety of issues and campaigns; anti-poll tax, anti-racist and domestic violence being amongst the most prominent. Also important were banners promoting women’s rights, welfare rights and solidarity with the miners. Banners both traditional and new in style were made also for several major trades unions.

GMW artists were greatly committed to the environment and devised “Vision for Woolwich” and “Where Land Meets Water”, grand scale conferences at the University and the Town Hall leading to specific development and planning proposals for the town. Gardens and playgrounds were designed and realised for several local primary schools, and two run down, neglected parks - Twinkle Park and Charlotte Turner Gardens in West Greenwich, brilliantly resurrected by GMW working with local people.
Recently the Workshop, with David Ireland Landscape Architects, has prepared designs for Plumstead Gardens and St Nicholas Churchyard and Gardens in Plumstead, for which first stage work is due to commence next year.

For more information and pictures
CONTACT: CAROL KENNA OR STEVE LOBB ON 0208 854 9266
email: carol@greenwichmuralworkshop.com

THE POET AND THE PAINTER

2008-12-04T07:40:00.000-08:00

Geoff Pimlott ARWS "RIMG0299"

THE POET AND THE PAINTER, Bankside Gallery SE1, 13th-30th November 2008 review by Phillip Worth

My search for FPS members who are exhibiting in the London area and the South East so that their activities can be publicised and their work reviewed, took me recently to Bankside Gallery where Geoff Pimlott was taking part in a fascinating show entitled ‘The Poet and the Painter.’ But a word first about the Royal Watercolour Society who have mounted this exhibition. RWS faces both ways: back into a distinguished past where it has long nurtured work in a medium not (in its opinion) accorded the status it deserves by an oil-obsessed Royal Academy; and forward to a future teeming with new ideas, such as this show, but always revolving round watercolour’s unique properties as a medium for artistic expression. Bankside Gallery, the RWS ‘home’, is an elegant venue for its many events, in no way fazed by its proximity to Tate Modern. Exhibitions apart the Society mounts a full programme of outreach work, educational events, sketching days (e.g. London, Paris), painting competitions, courses, talks and demonstrations.

The idea behind ‘The Poet and the Painter’ is intriguing but, many would say, self evident, i.e. that these two art forms have a common source of inspiration. To prove the point RWS members were invited to respond in watercolour or water based media to poetry of their own choosing, with the results hanging together in the exhibition. Maybe this was a ‘first’ for RWS (although it can work the other way. Some years ago there was an exhibition of Rouault etchings in Birmingham to which the city’s poet laureate, David Hart, was asked to respond in verse – which he did!)

Before we come to Geoff Pimlott a few examples of the work of some of the other exhibitors will be of interest, with text followed by image:

‘ACTIVITY’ by Martin Tupper

Open the casement and up with the sun!

His gallant journey has now begun

Over the hills his chariot roll’d

Banner’d with glory and burnish’d with gold

Over the hills he comes sublime

Bridegroom of earth, and brother of time!’

‘SUNLIT STUDIO’ BY FRANCIS BOWYER

‘CELEBRATION OF A RAINBOW’ by Alison Musker

There it is, suddenly emerging, the rainbow
Gaze at the celebration of pure colours
Westwards slowly light pierces the dark
Giving out a growing flood of gold
Wisps of smooth turquoise glow across the sky
A pale pink blush spreads
Dwindling as it deepens over the far hills
Remember me with colours
As I love each and every one
With the blues and greys of morning skies
And the radiant setting sun.

‘CELEBRATION OF A RAINBOW’ BY ALISON MUSKER

‘TYGER TYGER’ by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?….

‘THE TYGER’ BY Neil Pittaway RWS

‘CRAZY BASTARD’ by Roger McGough

I have always enjoyed the company of extroverts
Wild-eyed men who would go too far
Up to the edge and beyond. Mad, bad women
Overcautious me. Sensible shoes and scarf
Tucked in. Fresh fruit and plenty of sleep
If the sign said ‘keep off’, then off is where I’d keep
Midsummer’s eve in the sixties
On a moonlit beach in Devon we sit around a fire
Drinking the wine and cider. Someone strumming a guitar
Suddenly a girl strips off and runs into the sea.
Everybody follows suit, a whoop of flickering nakedness
Hot gold into cold silver. Far out.
Not wanting to be last in I unbutton my jeans
Then pause. Someone had better stay behind
And keep an eye on the clothes. Common sense.
I throw another piece of driftwood on the fire
Above the crackle listen to the screams and the laughter
Take a long untroubled swig of scrumpy. Crazy bastard.

'THE COMPANY OF EXTROVERTS’ BY RICHARD SORRELL PRWS

Geoff Pimlott

A common perception of watercolour is that its use is confined to small landscape studies, and that bolder experiments in paint tend to be the exclusive domain of oils and acrylics on canvas. ‘The Poet and the Painter’ gave to lie to this. The variety of themes and handling on display would easily match anything you could find in the RA or on an investigative stroll down Cork Street. Geoff Pimlott had four vibrant abstracts on display, their warm colours, straight lines and sharp angles all evoking the modern urban scene. But for the purposes of ‘The Poet and the Painter’ he cleverly applied two of these pieces as responses to poems by Stephen Adams, entitled ‘Zig – Picture to Viewer’ and ‘Zag’s Reply’. Let them speak for themselves:

‘ZIG – PICTURE TO VIEWER' by Stephen Adams

I am Zig – not Zag.
Don’t see piano keys
or soldiers’ sleeves
or flags and the Highway Code
or tent’s apex and terraced roof rows
or sticks of rock and a patch of sky.
Pictures can lie.
That’s not what I am.
What I am not is what I am.
Abstract me so I can be…
to polish your eyes
and through bright windows slide.

‘URBAN ABSTRACT NO. 24’ BY GEOFFREY PIMLOTT ARWS

'ZAG’S REPLY' by Stephen Adams

Welcome to Zag – or what’s left of me.
I was in the pink
before Zig the prig started trying to open me up
pushing his little grains of sand in.
I told him. I said
I don’t do pomes. I am already one -
one big pearly pome
My silver suit. My sleek hair.
Zag through and through.
known to all as Zag the Jag….’

Geoff Pimlott ARWS "RIMG0296"

Geoff Pimlott has clearly gained much from his concurrent membership of FPS and RWS over the years. As a fellow Free Painters member back in the ‘nineties I could see how his work matured in his many contributions to our exhibitions. His keenness to explore new ideas in paint was always apparent, and the freshness and vitality of his approach impressed us all. I must frankly confess that I was not then aware of his association with RWS, but with hindsight it is clear how that association helped his artistic development. FPS members who would like to find out more about the Royal Watercolour Society can contact them at Bankside Gallery, 48 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH Phone 02079287521 e-mail info@banksidegallery.com website http://www.royalwatercoloursociety.co.uk/

Geoff Pimlott ARWS "Lozenge"

PS Thanks to the staff of the Bankside Gallery for their help with this review.

AIME MAEGHT AND HIS ARTISTS review by Phillip Worth

2008-11-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

AIME MAEGHT AND HIS ARTISTS

Royal Academy of Art, Sackler Wing

Till 2nd January 2009

This exhibition is concerned mainly with the work of four artists: Joan Miro, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti and Georges Braque. All are ‘stars’ of the Aime Maeght Foundation near St. Paul de Vence in the South of France, an extraordinary institution which is part gallery, part museum, part workshops and part printing and publishing house, conceived and driven to completion in 1964 by the art dealer cum art lover cum visionary cum entrepreneur Aime Maeght. Maeght did not simply collect the work of modern artists, he befriended them, gave them gallery and studio space and, above all, expanded their creative outlets by way of introducing them to printing techniques, notably lithography, and book production and publication. He held one man exhibitions at the Foundation (as well as at his gallery in Paris), and for each of these produced a catalogue illustrated by the exhibiting artist. A man for all seasons Maeght rightly belongs to that great company of collectors and supporters of the arts which includes Beyeler, Guggenheim, Saatchi, Morosov, Schukin, Vollard, Kahnweiler and many others who in modern times have taken over where the medieval princely patrons of the arts left off. We in the London area are fortunate indeed that part of this superb collection, arranged in association with the Gallery Maeght in Paris has come to the Royal Academy, thereby making it easily accessible to us – but viewers most certainly come from all over the UK and abroad.

Works by Bonnard and Matisse lead into the show which, however, is soon devoted to the art of the four masters named earlier. Miro is in typically sprightly mood with his childlike figures and bright colours drawing us into his phantasy universe. Examples include ‘Joy Of A Little Girl In Front Of The Sun’ not, as one might suppose, rendered in light tones but with red streaks against a black background, this somehow intensifying the child’s emotion. In ‘Birds’ Flight At The First Spark Of Dawn’ Miro does not attempt figuration of the perceived world but suggests movement via crudely painted, swirling arabesques in black paint against an off-white, twilight ground.

The American Alexander Calder is best known as the sculptor who made his creations move in their own space, encouraged by any passing breeze. In other words, his artefacts were ‘mobile’. So completely did this idea grip the public imagination that the Western world, in the ‘fifties and ‘sixties, was seized with a craze for ‘mobiles’, an example of which you could find suspended in countless drawing rooms and hallways from San Francisco to Berlin – well, West Berlin, anyway. ‘Three Yellow Suns’ is a kind of mega-example of the concept, rendered in painted metal and occupying about twelve feet of floor space – not one to which you could give house room!

Alberto Giacometti is represented by his highly individual sculpture, painting and drawing. Modelled at first in clay then cast in bronze his figures are painfully thin and elongated, conveying a haunting impression of the isolation and vulnerability of the human species. Out of respect for the artist’s vision and to give it the most appropriate context Maeght added a courtyard to the Foundation complex especially to house Giacometti’s figures. The artist’s drawings and painting, while displaying great technical skill, share a dark mood with the sculpture.

Aime Maeght caught up with Georges Braque long after the latter had parted company, artistically, with Picasso and Cubism. ‘The Echo’, of 1953/56, is a large still life which in subject matter recalls his Cubist period, but in manner is far removed from the austere fragmentation of Analytical Cubism. Here, with no suggestion of traditional perspective the composition as a whole and its component parts rest on a two-dimensional plane and achieve a lyrical graphic handling and synchromy. There are many examples of Braque’s flowering post-Cubist versatility both as to media and theme. His illustrations of Hesiod’s Theogony, engraved in plaster with a series of superimposed sinuous lines suggesting god-like figures, are examples of this.

This is an inspirational show, especially for artist members of Free Painters and sculptors, for whom freedom of expression is the bottom line. Perhaps, when all is said and done, the real achievement of these masters is not just what they have produced on canvas, or in metal or plaster or clay, so much as their ability to reach down into the hidden meaning of things in the perceived world – the deeper reality – and their success in giving expression to this through their various artefacts. Aime Maeght must surely be regarded as having made a significant contribution to this process.

Brent Affordable Art Show 2008

2008-11-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

Brent Affordable Art Show 2008

Group show for BAR members. There will be a cabinet for small items. Daniel and Harris Solicitors will give three prizes: £150, £100 and £75

18th November to 19th December 2008

at THE GALLERY AT WILLESDEN GREEN, WILLESDEN GREEN LIBRARY CENTRE, 95 HIGH ROAD, LONDON NW10 2SF Tel: 0208 459 1421 Email: info@brentartistsresource.org.uk

SEND IN DATES: Hand in work on Friday 14th November 3.00-6.00pm or on Saturday 15th November 3.00-6.00pm at The Gallery

PRIVATE VIEW: Thursday 20th November 6.00 – 8.00pm.

ENTRY CONDITIONS:
Open to members: Maximum of 5 works per artist, £6 per work. Membership (if you aren't already) is £20(£13 concessions), payable when entering work.
All work must be ready for hanging, framed and mounted, with D-rings attached to the back of the work. No clip, metal or plastic frames or non-reflecting glass. We use a hanging system with nylon strings. Small 3-D pieces for the cabinet. £4 each for up to 5 pieces per artist. These are submission fees not refundable; we’ll try to show as many works as possible.

Please complete both sections of the form one which BAR will keep, and the other form which will be your receipt. Bring the completed sheet with your remittance. Tie a label to one of the D-rings detailing: artist, title of work, medium, price. We give preference to new work (ie done 2007/8); no correspondence over selection or hanging. Everybody is welcome to help on Sunday 16th November 12 noon onwards.

We’ll notify you of any works not hung, please collect these at the Private View

No commission is taken. We have no storage facilities. Please collect your work on Thursday 18th 6-7pm or Friday 19th December 2-6pm

To make the exhibition as successful as possible, please make sure you invite your friends, family and clients to the show and to the preview party. Also please make sure you forward the email invite to your friends and ask them to do so.

STEWARDING THE GALLERY: unfortunately, it sometimes happens that volunteer stewards are prevented at the last minute from coming to invigilate the space, with the result that the gallery is not open when it should be. To avoid this we need two or three artists who are willing to act as back up, i.e. would be prepared at short notice to come and open up the gallery.

Please let me know if you would be willing to do this occasionally. Of course we hope it will not happen very often, but the alternative is for the gallery to be closed during a show and visitors disappointed.

Finally If you have agreed to invigilate the show on a particular day, please do remember to turn up! Most people are very conscientious, but it is unfair to the other artists if you forget and fail to open the gallery.

------------------------------Form to be retained by BAR--------------------------

Artists Name: ................................................ Tel No:....................E-mail......................................

Address: ......................................................................................................................................
TITLE OF WORK AND MEDIUM PRICE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Other items:

AMOUNT RECEIVED........................... ARTIST’S SIGNATURE........................................................
RECIPIENT’S SIGNATURE:...................................................... DATE...........................

------------------------------Copy to be retained by the artist--------------------------

Artist’s Name: ................................................ Tel No:.................... e-mail .......................................

Address: ......................................................................................................................................

TITLE OF WORK AND MEDIUM PRICE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Other items:

AMOUNT RECEIVED...........................
ARTIST’S SIGNATURE........................................................
RECIPIENT’S SIGNATURE:...................................................... DATE..........................
Please collect your work on Thursday 18th Dec 6-7pm or Friday 19th December 2-6pm. Works not collected will be kept for 3 weeks afterwards they’ll sold, given or destroyed.

ALTHOUGH BAR TAKE GOOD CARE OF WORK SUBMITTED TO THEIR EXHIBITIONS AND THE EXHIBITION IS COVERED BY CURRENT SECURITY MEASURES AT THE WGLC, ALL WORKS ARE SUBMITTED ENTIRELY AT THE ARTIST’S OWN RISK. BAR STRONGLY ADVISES ARTISTS TO INSURE THEIR OWN WORK. COPYRIGHT REMAINS THE PROPERTY OF THE ARTIST.

FOR MORE DETAILS : Lorenzo Belenguer 020 8459 1421 info@brentartistsresource.org.uk

Images from Big Draw exhibition at the Troubadour Gallery:October 2008

2008-11-05T07:52:00.000-08:00

Big Draw exhibition at the Troubadour Gallery: October 2008
http://www.troubadour.co.uk/gallery.html

Summary of the art workshop ‘Journey’ 25.10.08 with Shirley Kelly,

2008-10-31T04:01:00.000-07:00

People arrived gradually and after the formalities we sat down and really introduced
ourselves. Shirley asked us to sit in a circle and to share our names and the journey we had had that morning and what we wanted out of the day.

Some people shared that they believed fervently that everyone was creative and that not having an outcome would free them up to get more in touch with their inner creativity. One person shared how she wanted to access her creative side having felt so far in her life too confined in the logical deductive processes of the mind.

Our morning incorporated working with clay. Shirley made it clear that the objects madewere not important in the sense of their final outcome. In fact as I sat there I felt drawn inside myself, strangely in touch with a vulnerability I had not anticipated feeling. The clay seemed to direct my hands as I found the shapes, rather than seeming to make them.

Continuing on the theme of ‘Journey’, using creative imagination, we visualised an inner wishing well where we each drew out the gifts we needed. Using collage each person then creatively expressed their unique gift. By the end of this activity each of us had developed an iconic image, important not for what it looked like, but for what it symbolised being richly representative of each person’s individual quest. A deep sense of respect for our creative process, free from judgement in a spirit of acceptance, made this workshop a really moving experience.

Mike Oldfield’s ‘Music of the Spheres’ was played before we parted on our respective journeys home. So in conclusion I hope that in future FPS will continue to endorse further workshops with Shirley.

Her status as a ukcp registered integrative arts psychotherapist means she could help FPS provide a valuable service not just to FPS members but also potentially to ordinary members of the public, who from all walks of life could be enabled to explore the creative process, this being something that is encouraged in the statutes of FPS as an arts educational charity and a function the Arts Council would certainly endorse. I know that there is often an uneasy relationship between professional artists and those who use art as a means of personal transformation which is probably why FPS members did not come forward to take part on this occasion.

However I feel that as long as we are aware of the intention behind what we do we run no danger of either diminishing the status of art nor undermining the personal endeavours of those who seek to access their creativity and discover something of themselves in the process. Indeed workshops like these seem to me to provide a future avenue for a society that needs to establish closer links with the general public, funding bodies and also with its own members if it is to survive in the long term.

(Penelope MacEwen, Outreach Officer)

AN EXHIBITION OF HARRY SALES' WORK

2008-09-15T03:37:00.000-07:00

Come and see an exhibition of Harry's 90th of painting done over the years at St Paul Village Hall on Sat & Sun 4th & 5th October from 2-6pm. One third of sale prices to "The Three Village Trust" and one third to "Hospice for Children in Cornwall".

Contact. Harry Sales, Four Winds,Mousehole Lane,Paul,Penzance, Cornwall TR19 6TY
tel 01736 731997

The Paintings of Len Wyatt By Phillip Worth

2008-07-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

Len Wyatt in this studio.

When Len Wyatt passed away earlier this year after a long illness FPS was saddened to lose one of its most brilliantly inventive artists. Len began his training at the Hornsey College of Art when still a teenager, but then war broke out and he spent the next six years of his life in khaki, taking part in the D-Day landings in 1944.

After demob he had no difficulty in deciding his future course and resumed his studies at Hornsey, graduating in the early ‘fifties. He soon linked up with the Free Painters Group in its very early days and remained and active member until poor health forced his retirement at the turn of the century.

Len gave his all to FPS, not only his riveting artwork in countless group and solo exhibitions, but his huge energy and enthusiasm which helped to mould its destinies. And, in a way, his approach to his own work echoed the sacred objects of FPS – to strive for originality with excellence and, above all, to be completely free in style and in the search for themes. Len was truly a free spirit, going wherever his inspiration took him and owing little to hallowed wisdom or blinkered ‘-isms’.

What a joy, then, that Len’s vibrant spirit and art should live on, and public awareness be assured, through the promotional activities and zeal of his son Chris. A teacher and artist like his father, Chris has always been determined that Len’s work will not fade from public scrutiny, but be permanently accessible and available to enrich our lives in countless ways. An energetic character who is involved in many public activities in his home town of Ilford, Chris launched his campaign for his father’s work in typically opportunistic style. He was aware that the long established department store of Harrison Gibson would be vacating their premises in Ilford High Street, so he suggested to the Prudential Insurance Company who took over the building and its site that, pending redevelopment, rather than leave any floor standing empty, he should fill it with artwork, thus enhancing the structure’s attractiveness for those members of the public who still frequented it. The Pru readily agreed, and over two weekends Chris converted the whole of an upper floor into a Len Wyatt retrospective – to quite sumptuous effect, with 150 items decorating the vast wall space as far as the eye can see.
Most of Len Wyatt’s life’s work is on these walls, so every aspect of his art is represented. His restless, questing imagination reached for the stars and beyond, taking us into the realms of mystery and the remote. Undreamed of planets appear, glowing strangely in every kind of colour and decked in surface patterns which cannot exist in our universe – perhaps in a parallel one. To take a very few examples at random ‘Crystal Planet’ shimmers in evanescent blues, darks and lights, like a vast marble hanging in a shifting purple space. ‘Arcturus’ gives us a slice of a distant red giant – except that Len had turned it into a blue giant and covered it with swirling, tortured figures in a space apparently slashed through with criss-crossed sword blades.

This artist is a time traveller as well as a space traveller as the pictures ‘Star Factory’ and ‘Exploding Star’ both bear witness. No doubt he was fascinated as well as influenced by the ‘Big Bang’ theory of the origins of the universe. And in case you think that his sole concern is to wander round the cosmos as a disembodied spirit, ‘Moon Lander’ and ‘Space City’ suggest highly sophisticated man-made conveyances which could carry him (and us) to anywhere, near or far.

Back on earth (although perhaps still with the stars in spirit) there are many examples of the artist’s sensuous handling of the nude female form. Apparently Len never used live models; like Pygmalion he preferred to let his imagination create his own ladies, and his superb draftsmanship enabled him to do this with ease. ‘Water Nymph’ gives us a full-length figure seemingly floating face down on a river of deep, opaque blue. In ‘Moon Bride’ the figure of a naked girl is seen drawn into the embrace of a great blue orb, while ‘Eve’ presents an iconic figure of womanhood, standing proudly upright and facing us, seductive yet mystical as she seems to float through a shifting haze of subtle colours.

Space does not permit more than a passing reference to other ideas developed by this many-sided artist. One of the earliest pieces on show, entitled ‘Despair’, painted soon after the end of WW2, perhaps echoes some of the depression which that conflict and its horrors must have induced in a sensitive young soul. The elements in this study are ones which are constantly repeated throughout Len Wyatt’s oeuvre, but here seen, as it were, through a dark, melancholy veil. A female figure lies face down, as if collapsed under a burden too heavy to bear. Her hair (and the artist is obsessed with women’s hair) flows darkly, like the Styx, all over and around her yielding body, while in the background broken and stunted trees thrust out their tortured limbs in hopeless supplication. Having got that out of his system, however, all of Len’s subsequent work is upbeat and life enhancing.

‘Blue Conflict’ is an abstract in which, (leaving figures behind), he revels in sensuously flowing forms and ravishing colour. And ‘Dragon City’, depicting a monster one would not wish to meet on a dark night, shows the strong influence of fantasy art.

One cannot close this review without a word about Len’s idiosyncratic working methods. He was quite at home with most media and, as one of the first to use acrylic, handled this with great sureness. He also favoured spray paint as a medium, mastering its application and achieving subtle and delicate effects. His speciality, however, was collage, using an astonishing array of bits and bobs, including fabrics, pieces of wood and Perspex, the innards of clapped out radios – you name it. Whatever he could find, natural or man-made, and wherever he found it, was grist to his mill. His family must often have been knee-deep in detritus! But, whatever, he was a wizard in the way he used it. Thus his planets, spacecraft and dragons became vast figures of complex machinery, and even some of his female nudes were mechanistic in this way. But in that case there was serious intent, the aim being to show the human body as a highly sophisticated engine, with all its parts interdependent and interacting. All of this must surely be collage art at its most effective.

But the last word of this review should be accorded to what, at the end of the day, is perhaps Len’s most important contribution to art awareness – his teaching. Unusually by modern standards he worked in the same primary school throughout his career, teaching the full range of subjects, and thus leaving a significant amount of creative energy over for his own artwork. But you can bet his pupils benefited from this, too. He often brought his latest work into class, adding its impact to his infectious enthusiasm. Surely the hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who passed through his hands as pupils over the years have been enriched by their contact with Len Wyatt.

Blue Conflict (detail)

Crystal planet (detail)

Despair

Dragon City

Eve

Exploding Star

Moon Bride

Moon Lander Red (detail)

Space City (detail)

Star Factory(detail)

Water Nymph

More of Len Wyatt's work can be seen on this blog at http://freepands.blogspot.com/2008/04/len-wyatt-exhibition.html

Owen Legg's SPONSORED WALK : Glyndwr's Way 23 June- 2 July 2008

2008-07-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

In aid of the ARTISTS GENERAL BENEVOLENT INSTITUTE with the FREE PAINTERS & SCULPTORS

Well, I made it! Unfortunately My ankle protested on the 6th day and I had to have a day out to give it a rest. The weather had been pretty awful on the 5th day with wind and rain in my face. Next day my ankle was so swollen and painful that I just couldn’t continue. But with the aid of enforced rest, anti inflammatory tablets and cream I was on my way again. Luckily I had arranged to be picked up on the 5th and taken to Lianidloes. The idea being that next day I would be returned to Staylittle for the next section. Instead I had a pleasant idle time in the sun seeing the sights, shops and an exhibition in Lianidloes. So I was able to have two nights in one place and not upset all my prebooked sleeping arrangements on the journey.

Once the sun shines one forgets about the bad weather. Two years ago I had done half the walk from Knighton to Machynileth and had 5 days of rain till 3 in the afternoon. This time the first two days were fine, then rain most of the day for three and a bad morning as I left Llanidloes. Things then got better with farmers everywhere busily cutting hay and my ankle behaving itself. I am not used to my body performing badly. Perhaps I’m getting old.

I did manage some sketches on the way and hopefully they will be on my website. A few people asked me if I was famous. All I could say that I was a little infamous, but not notorious. I must have a bit of the mad professor trait, because I lost a rucksack cover and a shoe from my pack, a screw fell out of my glasses, and I left my wallet behind in one stopover.

My route was in the opposite direction to the official guide, but the 132 miles are well signed and with a map and at times, compass, the path is reasonably easy to follow. The reason for going round the wrong way was my previous experience in 2006. People would say “You’re doing it the wrong way round, I’ve never seen any one doing it backward”, as if I was trying to keep my sight on England. I only missed the path 3 times, adding on a few miles, to make a total of about 120 miles in 9 days.
My route started at Welshpool, went up to Lake Vernwy, across to Machynileth, then back to Knighton via Lianidloes. Officially named after the Welsh Prince who for a few brief years united Wales and defied the English. He disappeared from history in 1412. The trail was started 30 years ago and given national trail status at the Millennium. Apart from Machynileth, where Owciin Glyndwr set up his parliament, there is no real connection with that hero of the Welsh. But it does provide an excuse to see thinly populated country, a lot of sheep and climb some stiff hills. I only met 7 people walking and another 4 at B & B’s who said they were on the trail.

At least I was able to use my poor Welsh and strike up a few conversations. All my Italian disappeared once I had crossed Offa’s Dyke. I tried to send a card to my Adult Education Class, but in that village the only cards available were Christmas snow scenes and Welsh greetings. When I tried to write only Welsh would come and no Italian.

I only saw one red kite, a barn owl, one hare and a whole lot of sheep. Twice my route took me through a field with a burly bull, the cows may have stampeded, but the bull was too lazy to move. I didn’t try to use my Welsh on him, just kept looking straight ahead.

So thank you very much for supporting me. So far I have raised £200 in sponsorship and the cost of my holiday was £406 including costs of maps and occasional teas.

Hon. Secretary to the Free Painters & Sculptors (charity no 246199) and in association with the AGBI (charity no 212667)

Owen Legg, “Woodcraft” 152 Hadlow Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN91PB
woodcraft.tn@virgin.net www.woodcraftpress.co.uk

Max Birne

2008-06-16T03:51:00.000-07:00

By Phillip Worth (FPS President)

The Open Studios movement has been a welcome development in the art world in recent years. Typically based on specific areas, be they counties, cities, districts or whatever, it involves artists inviting members of the public to visit their studios, to meet and talk with them, and to view their output. And it is always an added attraction if they can see artists at work. The area of West Sussex centred on Chichester has a particularly lively tradition, and is rich in creative talent, as the writer discovered on a recent visit. The occasion for this was to renew acquaintance with Max Birne, a former FPS personality, who has recently moved house from Wembley, where he had lived for many years, to Selsey, near Eric Coates’s ‘Sleepy Lagoon’.

After the move Max lost no time in building himself a conservatory/studio at the rear of his bungalow and it was here that he entertained visitors during ‘Open Doors 2008’, a mandatory stop on the Chichester ‘Studio Art Trail.’ For this occasion Max had converted both his studio and much of his house into a gallery hung throughout with paintings executed with bold, uninhibited lines and shimmering colour, echoing his life-long passion for the work of Dufy, Matisse and Picasso. Spontaneity is a key feature of his working method while for subject matter he favours built structures against rural backgrounds. But there is no clash; the landscape and buildings, be they castles, stately homes or simply arches in ancient walls are in perfect harmony and glow with a kind of mutual enhancement.

Nor does Max confine himself to landscape or still life. He can tackle figures and, with a few deceptively simple strokes of his brush, imbue them with a sparkling vitality. A crowd scene on an esplanade in Southern Spain heaves with life, as does a bull fight in full flow, with the crowds cheering each palpable hit by the picadors. To achieve all these effects Max is never without a sketch book and a box of paints on all his many travels, and his quick eye and retentive memory enable him to draw rapidly and execute his canvases with equal speed in his studio.

Max’s association with FPS was of about twenty years duration. For a while, in the 90's, he chaired a subcommittee which was concerned with evolving policy for consideration by full committee – a fruitful exercise which resulted in many valuable initiatives. Later he took over chairmanship of the Group, when his concern was to maintain the high standards which had always been a feature of FPS. He valued the Group because, having been at the cutting edge of the avant garde within the ambit of the ICA back in the 50s, it broke free and developed a catholic approach to themes and styles – ‘free’ for member artists in every sense of the word.

Although he has retired from the Group Max has continued to take a lively interest in its affairs, and would be willing to talk to members on any relevant subject at any time. He will also keep us informed of his future shows.

Max has exhibited widely throughout the UK and his work adorns many private collections.

HIGHGATE SHOW DECEMBER 2008

2008-06-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

REMINDER

Send in date 1 September 2008.

The topic is "Atmosphere". The exhibition will be downstairs at Lauderdale House Highgate Hill from 8-22 December.

To submit work, please send a hard copy A5 or larger or disc to The FPS Committee, 14 John St London WC2 or email Jpeg images to grace.kimble@groundwork.org.uk.

All entries need a £10 Cheque for entry fee made payable to ‘Free Painters & Sculptors’. A tear-off submission slip is available below. NB Work may be refused if it does not correspond to FPS standards of presentation and quality.

SUBMISSION SLIP FOR DECEMBER SHOW
Please cut, paste, print out and send to

The FPS Committee,
14 John St
London WC2

NAME

ADDRESS

Work 1(size framed, price before commission, medium, title)

Work 2(size framed, price before commission, medium, title)

Work 3(size framed, price before commission, medium, title)

St Pancras Sculptors' Show 7-25th July 2009.

2008-06-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

SCULPTORS' SHOW 2009: DATES CONFIRMED

At a recent Committee meeting, it was decided that we would go ahead with the venue of the crypt of St Pancras Church, in the Euston Rd. The dates are 7-25th July 2009. Fees for participants will be £10 per sculpture or £50 for an installation. Work must be delivered to the venue, which does involve a set of about 20 stairs down to the crypt. Participants must be prepared to sit in for two days of the exhibition. We need to ensure that there are two people invigilating each day. If you yourself cannot be there, then arrange for a deputy, this is a requirement for participation. *

FPS will arrange some publicity, but we really rely on you sending out invites. This should be a prestigious show, especially as we haven’t really given sculptors much in the way of exhibition space recently. The health and security rules of galleries have tended to prevent us from showing three-dimensional work.

The space is varied and large, some pieces could be outside. Heavy sculpture can be accommodated, but might require special handling. Emily Young exhibits here regularly, showing large stone carvings.

As the space is slightly damp it is unsuitable for pictures and prints but artefacts could be hung on the walls.

Please contact Owen Legg at Woodcraft.tn@virgin.net or by mail at "Woodcraft", 152 Hadlow Rd, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1PB

*Some FPS members may be willing to act as deputy invigilators.

ILLUSTRATOR'S REFERENCE BOOKS; Offer to FPS members

2008-06-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

Pam Mara has a number of reference books which she used during her career as a illustrator. Rather than throw them away, she would like to make them available to FPS members who might find them useful.

CONTACT: Pam Mara , Flat F, 5 Gloucester St, London SW1 2DB
tel 02078217842

squid in art show

2008-05-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

THE KRAKEN HAS INSOMNIA!

in an

Incredible tentacular spectacular

P.R.Murry’s artwork:

“The Big Squid”

has re-emerged from

the Dollis Hill Abyss

to display itself in the
Brent Artists Register Spring Show 2008
at Willesden Library Gallery
(Willesden Green Library Centre,
95 High Rd, Willesden,
London NW10 2SF
tel:8298 1421,
email info@brentartistsresource.org.uk).
The show will be open to the public
from 13th May until 5th June 2008.
X
Private View 22nd May 6.00-8.30 pm.
http://quadraoptica.blogspot.com/

THE BEYELER COLLECTION, BASLE

2008-05-08T04:07:00.000-07:00

By Phillip Worth (FPS President)

London, Paris, St. Petersburg, New York….these are just some of the major centres which host, in their prestigious galleries and museums, both outstanding permanent collections of art and important temporary exhibitions, while the media and in-house publications (e.g. Royal Academy Magazine) maximise their public profile. In this context the city of Basle in Switzerland seems to have slipped through the publicity net, which is surprising as it is home to one of the world’s most impressive private collections – the Beyeler Collection. Ernst Beyeler, born 1921 and still active at age 87, was, throughout his working life, an art dealer with an unerring and prescient eye for quality art. His shrewd buying and selling enabled him to become a multi-millionaire but also, more importantly from the public’s point of view, his love of art for its own sake led to a collection of modern masterpieces which, from the 1980s onwards, was shown in Madrid, Berlin and other leading venues. The Beyeler Foundation was soon formed and in 1994 the construction of the Gallery Beyeler in Basle was begun and triumphantly opened in 1997. The gallery was an immediate success, attracting visitors in far greater numbers than even the most optimistic forecast might have anticipated. Three elements in this success story can be identified:

1. The building. This was designed by Renzo Piano, the architect responsible for the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Piano knew and admired the collection, and his resolve was to create a gallery which displayed it to the best advantage. One feels that so often galleries both old and new have been designed to be the prime exhibit of any collections they house, and to show off their architects as the leading artists. With Piano his structure would be there to serve and enhance the Beyeler collection, and not vice versa. Typical of the architect’s vision is the allocation of an entire room to one work – Monet’s huge tryptich Le Bassin aux Nympheas which occupies a whole wall, while through the vast window space adjacent to the Tryptich one sees an ornamental fountain designed to harmonize with the Monet.

2. The collection itself, including works by the following masters: Cezanne, Degas,Van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, Braque, Picasso, Rousseau, Rodin, Calder, Leger, Miro, Giacometti, Brancusi, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Ernst, Klee, Derain, Matisse, Francis, Kelly, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Stella, Warhol, Bacon, Rothko, Newman, Pollock, Tobey, Dubuffet, Baselitz, Chillida, Kiefer, Tapies, and, in addition, items of African, Oceanian and Alaskan art placed to show their influence on Western modernism.

3. The hanging, by curator Marcus Bruderlin in close consultation with Beyeler himself. Space is the main feature of the gallery both between the exhibits and in respect of floorspace in all the rooms. One can breathe artistically – and even physically which is not always the case with the dear old RA during important exhibitions! The hanging is not strictly chronological but has an internal logic which presents a coherent view of the way in which modern art has developed to the present day.

The city of Basle is in itself an attraction. Steeped in history it is a fascinating mix of winding side streets lined with ancient buildings, beautifully restored for the most part, spacious squares and boulevards, and a bustling life yet, somehow, with the space to enjoy it. Cars are scarce in the city centre where transport is dominated by fast moving trams of endless length ( a number 6 will speed you to Reihen Dorf where the Beyeler Collection is located). Basle has more museums and galleries per head of population than most other cities of comparable size and, on top of all this, a rich musical life – but certainly a ‘must’ for art lovers!

LEN WYATT EXHIBITION

2008-04-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Leonard Wyatt 1922-2008

Exhibition of paintings by Ilford artist Leonard Wyatt
1922 -2008

On the third floorof the former Harrison Gibson Store
High Road Ilford from April 2008

ARTS, REFLECTION and SELF AWARENESS DAY: 25th OCTOBER 2008

2008-04-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

‘JOURNEY’

ARTS, REFLECTION and SELF AWARENESS DAY
-A TIME TO EXPLORE ONE’S CREATIVITY FOR GROWTH IN RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF AND OTHERS
WITH
SHIRLEY KELLY Ma (INTEGRATIVE ARTS PSYCHOTHERAPIST)

ORGANISED BY: ‘The Free Painters and Sculptors Society’ (an Arts Educational Society, set up in 1965 promoting the Arts in the UK. Charity no: 246199. Please note for this event no previous art experience is necessary.)

VENUE: The Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education, 2, WARWICK AVE, BEAUCHAMP LODGE, LITTLE VENICE, LONDON W2 6NE.

DATE: Saturday 25th OCTOBER 2008

TIME: 10.30am -5.00pm (registration from 10am)

FEE: £20 (includes art materials tea/coffee/biscuits (lunch should be brought, or bought at the canal café)

PLEASE BOOK BY: 15th July 2008 with a non refundable deposit of £10 made out to: ‘The Free Painters and Sculptors Society’. Send a cheque or Postal Order with your name and address on the back to: FPS Outreach Officer , 35 Seaton Gardens, Ruislip, Middlesex, HA4 0BA. Bookings are made on a first come first serve basis. Please state you are booking for this event(email: athens@athens.plus.com for further information if required.)

(*RECOMMENDED : Comfortable, casual clothes)

(Shirley Kelly qualified as a therapist from the London Metropolitan University and is working with children and adults in London using the arts. She also has a lifetime’s experience of Christian ministry. Her approach is to allow people to discover their own therapeutic, spiritual health through creativity. Shirley is a painter and associate member of the ‘Free Painters and Sculptors Society’.)

Helpers and organizers of this event: Penelope MacEwen is outgoing Chair of the ‘Free Painters and Sculptors Society’. She is a painter and teaches art and psychology. Vivien Lodge is a printmaker, and painter. Vivien is also a long standing member of The Free Painter’s and Sculptors’ Society.

REVIEW of EXHIBITION of Ellen Graubart's work at the The Millinery Works Gallery.

2008-04-17T02:24:00.000-07:00

By Phillip Worth (FPS President)

'Loss': Ellen Graubart

Geometry has exerted a powerful influence on many artists and schools of art throughout history. ‘The Golden Section’, although not geometrical in the visual sense, is a mathematical concept and has probably been at work on artists’ compositional awareness since ancient times. In the modern era the visual impact of geometry has been more explicit. With his concern for the inner structures of things in the visible world Cezanne wrote of ‘treating nature in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone, all in perspective’ – Fernand Leger could be said to have been even more ‘up front’ with cylinders, spheres and cones; his were not part of the structure – they were the structure! (his nudes are possibly an acquired taste). The facets into which the Cubists fragmented their pictures were of simple geometric shapes, no matter how complex the finished structures, and, of course, geometric abstraction has taken this approach to its ultimate form of expression, witness Mondrian, Van Doesberg, Albers, Vasarely – and so on.

'Archer in the Sky': Ellen Graubart

This sensitivity to the structure of things shines through the art of Ellen Graubart, a selection of whose work is on show at the Millinery Works Gallery in Islington 9 April-4 May 2008. Graubart makes her impact not so much by teasing essential structures out of objects, as by superimposing them (usually in the form of grid patterns) upon the figures she is painting. This is a bold move, but here it works at different levels. For one thing the hypnotic effect of the grid patterns causes the viewer, in some strange but compelling way, to focus on the images represented and to make him more acutely aware of their essential nature. Thus, in ‘Archer In The Night Sky’ the wonder of gazing at the firmament until we descry the titanic figure of Sagittarius is heightened by the fragmented sky, sparkling darkly at us, drawing us on, ultimately revealing a hidden reality. Similarly, in ‘Loss’, the gently coruscating facets soften the impact of the mother holding her dead child, perhaps making the viewer less invasive of her grief. ‘Blackbirds In The Mulberry Tree’ is a riot of happy movement with the grid, painted in soft tones, blending with the foliage and sharpening the busy fluttering of the birds.

'Blackbirds in the Mulberry Tree': Ellen Graubart

On another level Graubart simplifies and adapts the geometry to make it reinforce the dynamics of her canvas. In ‘Sailing With Garrett’ a subtle interplay of diagonal lines and curves weaves sinuously around the image of two yacht’s sails, seen from below, towering upwards to come close against the blue of the sky. In this picture the sensation of space and clean sea air is tangible. The artist has achieved a unity of the swooping lines of the geometry and the sail figures.

Quite apart from the aspects discussed above mention should be made of Ellen Graubart’s handling of colour. So sure is this that all her canvases positively glow on the walls, and no matter what else the viewer may or may not be looking for he/she cannot fail to be impressed by its visual beauty.

'Sailing with Garrett': Ellen Graubart

VENUE

The Millinery Works Gallery
85/87 Southgate Road
London N1 3JS
Tel: 020 7359 2019
e-mail art@millineryworks.co.uk
http://www.millineryworks.co.uk/

The gallery space is bright and beautifully appointed and is accessed through premises where furniture and artefacts of the British Arts and Crafts Movement are a speciality. The management warmly welcome visitors.

An exhibition of work by Pat Clarke

2008-04-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

ALL THAT GLISTERS

An exhibition of work by

Pat Clarke

'The Green Man'

12 April-17 May 2008
Drinks reception Fri. 18th April 6-8pm

Rope Store Gallery
Quay Arts
Sea Street
Newport Harbour
Isle of Wight PO30 5BD
Tel (01983) 822490
Email info@quayarts.org

Open Mon-Sat 9,30am-5pm & Thu until 8pm
Free Entry

Island artist Pat Clarke combines illumination, illustration, fantasy and abstract imagery to create paintings which are colourful peepholes into other worlds

JOINT SHOW by four FPS Members

2008-03-18T07:36:00.000-07:00

OWEN LEGG, GERALD SHEPARD,

JOAN JAGO & GEORGE BEREDIA

JOINT SHOW
11-26 APRIL 2008

NUCLEUS GALLERY

CHATHAM NEW ART CENTRE

272 High Street, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4BP

01634 812108

PRIVATE VIEW:11th APRIL 6.30pm

Open 10am-5pm Monday- Saturday

SUBMISSIONS FOR FPS SHOW DECEMBER 2008

2008-03-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

The topic is "Atmosphere". Send in date 1 September 2008. The exhibition will be downstairs at Lauderdale House Highgate Hill from 8-22 December.

To submit work, please send a hard copy A5 or larger or disc to The FPS Committee, 14 John St London WC2 or email Jpeg images to grace.kimble@groundwork.org.uk.

All entries need a £10 Cheque for entry fee made payable to ‘Free Painters & Sculptors’. A tear-off submission slip is available below. NB Work may be refused if it does not correspond to FPS standards of presentation and quality.

SUBMISSION SLIP FOR DECEMBER SHOW
Please cut, paste, print out and send to The FPS Committee, 14 John St London WC2
NAME
ADDRESS

Work 1(size framed, price before commission, medium, title)

Work 2(size framed, price before commission, medium, title)

Work 3(size framed, price before commission, medium, title)

SCULPTORS' SHOW June 2009

2008-03-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

At a recent Committee meeting, it was decided that we would go ahead with the venue of the crypt of St Pancras Church, in the Euston Rd. This approximate dates are 13-27th June 2009. Fees for participants will be £10 per sculpture or £50 for an installation. Work must be delivered to the venue, which does involve a set of about 20 stairs down to the crypt. Participants must be prepared to sit in for two days of the exhibition. We need to ensure that there are two people invigilating each day. If you yourself cannot be there, then arrange for a deputy, this is a requirement for participation. *

FPS will arrange some publicity, but we really rely on you sending out invites. This should be a prestigious show, especially as we haven’t really given sculptors much in the way of exhibition space recently. The health and security rules of galleries have tended to prevent us from showing three-dimensional work.

The space is varied and large, some pieces could be outside. Heavy sculpture can be accommodated, but might require special handling. Emily Young exhibits here regularly, showing large stone carvings.

As the space is slightly damp it is unsuitable for pictures and prints but artefacts could be hung on the walls.

Please contact Owen Legg at Woodcraft.tn@virgin.net or by mail at "Woodcraft", 152 Hadlow Rd, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1PB

*Some FPS members may be willing to act as deputy invigilators.

Affordable Art Fair - Can we afford it?

2008-03-17T09:13:00.000-07:00

The committee wishes to hire a space at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea and FPS members need to express an interest. The fee will vary depending on how many members are interested and are willing to pay a fee to exhibit

Please email Grace Kimble at grace.kimble@groundwork.org.uk
Or write to Pete Murry ( 18a Oxgate Gardens , London NW2 6EB
PLEASE RESPOND BY 1st May 2008

LETTER FROM ERIC GREEN FPS MEMBER IN AUSTRALIA (11/1/2008)

2008-03-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your letter (…) I was beginning to think that all my old life and old friends had sadly passed on.

I am happy to Know that the FPS is still in existence and I can tell the older members, that hopefully remember me, that I am still working on my sculpture most days of the week.
Last year I was invited to attend a sculpture symposium here in Oz, I carved into a seven tonne piece of sandstone, not bad for an old pom still in his 70’s. I couldn’t finish the sculpture in the two weeks allocated and paid for, so I went back for another week and finished off the work. It now sits proudly in a small park between Warwick and Stanhope, Queensland, should anyone be around that area.

I have enclosed a photograph of the work together with one (not shown) of a timber sculpture that in entered in the FPS’s members show held that year at the barbican centre. I helped, with other members, to hang the show under the direction of Roy Ramussen, is he still around I wonder?

I am an active member of our local sculpture society here on the Gold Coast, finishing this year a two year stint as the Vice President having held most of the committee positions in the past 19 years that I have been here. Time flys, but I still remember the good times back in London, and our little gallery at Buckingham Gate (….)

Yours sincerely
Eric Green
PS I will get an article with better photos together showing life here on the Gold coast.

Foyle's show March 2008: An Overview

2008-03-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Free Painters & Sculptors*

The 'Free Painters and Sculptors' is a society of artists with a long history of eclecticism. Thanks to the generosity of Nina Hosali the group became an educational arts charity in 1965 and actively promotes the free expression of all its members. This exhibition at Foyles Gallery on 'Movement', between the 3rd and 14th March inclusive, will incorporate a diverse interpretation of the theme. These range from Vivien Lodge's prints with their Surrealist appeal, to those artists who convey more traditional interpretations such as the dancing figures of Andres Insh or Silvana Desira.

The theme of football, expressed through Owen Legg's inventive wooden reliefs or more traditionally in oil by Keith Stanfield, contrasts with those in the group who enjoy the playfulness of childhood games or the movement inherent in Nature itself.

Styles may range from abstract to figurative and the discerning art lover will find artists of considerable talent with work at very affordable prices. This exhibition promises to be one that will inspire the viewer with its originality and creative flair.

(Penelope MacEwen, Chair FPS.)
http://www.freepaintersandsculptors.co.uk/

Olive Cross 'White Sails'
Grace Kimble 'Storming'

Penelope MacEwan 'Skipping'

P.Murry 'AM' [ “The Rotating Phlegm Facilitator of Saffron Walden”]

Keith Stanfield 'Cirque du Soliel'

P.Murry 'Oarfish & Cuttlefish seldom converse'

Owen Legg 'Goal'

Keith Stanfield 'After the Match'
Olive Cross 'Heavy Seas'
Owen Legg 'NorwichTeam'

Demeter Haralabaki 'Moving Reflections'
Demeter Haralabaki 'Underwater Falls'
Janet Scott 'Southbank'
Olive Cross 'White Sails'

Silvana Desira 'Mime Artists II' [detail]
Pat Clarke 'Celestial Movement'

Silvana Desira 'Hellenic Wrestlers' [detail]

Andrew Insh 'Figures with a Winter Tree'

Andrew Insh 'Bird Stealing from a Hat'

Andrew Insh 'Figures in a Landscape with a Tree in Blossom'

Mariusz Kaldowski "Spiritual Movement"

FPS in 2007-8 by Penelope MacEwen

2008-03-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Works by Gerry Brookes [top to bottom] Flood, Bay [detail], Elements Water, Falls.

‘Free Painters and Sculptors’ was set up with a view to educating the British public in the visual arts and allowing artists freedom of expression. Too often have artists been constricted to either following a certain genre that has been done before, without recourse to their own creative inspiration. Equally many have tried to shock for the sake of shocking those who otherwise would seem immune to art altogether, in order to grab the headlines and some big money….How much therefore should we value a society that allows a plurality of styles and approaches!
‘Water’ was the subject matter for two exhibitions in 2007 : one at Lauderdale House, Highgate North London, and one at Foyles Gallery, Central London. This theme succeeded in bringing out multiple interpretations of the theme.

The Lauderdale House exhibition, set in the beautiful grounds of Waterlow Park, was an elegant setting for a private view infused with the wide variety of artists’ submissions and the atmospheric melodies of Ian Brown, a well respected professional pianist who agreed to play for us on the antique grand piano in the upper gallery. There was also a spread of wine and nibbles to celebrate the occasion.

For me some of the work most worth noting came from a newcomer to ‘Free Painters and Sculptors’. Gerry Brookes produced radiantly magical works that literally glowed. Her exquisite semi abstract works, were overlaid with collage and used a range of opaque and transparent colour that provided a feast of tactile elements to entice the viewer into the very private worlds of her interpretation of ‘Water’. They were also immaculately framed and presented and showed off the society’s talent at its best.

These elegant grounds and the architectural beauty of this Highgate venue was quite strikingly contrasted by the December exhibition at Foyles. Here the starkly white walls showed off artists’ work to great advantage. Elizabeth Sinclair Keith Stanfield and Vivien Lodge all sold work here and there were many favourable comments made by staff and viewers alike. Another new comer to the society: Andrew Insh showed off an atmospheric pointillist piece, whose dreamlike quality pervaded the entire space.

Again the private view was made into a memorable occasion by Grace Kimble and Owen Legg who raised money for the AGBI by selling tickets, one of Grace’s own watercolours being kindly donated as the prize. This idea for raising money along with Owen’s sponsored walks, we should definitely pursue again in future. It is important that we retain a vision of how the visual arts can actually positively impact on others lives and also not forget those who have spent all their lives pursuing creativity.
I therefore would like to thank the society for the opportunity of allowing me to be Chairman and wish Grace Kimble future success in this role as she takes over in 2008.

Penelope MacEwen