Michael Landy
Saint Apollonia, 2013
Mixed media
282 x 76 x 86 cm
Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London
© Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London / Photo: The National Gallery, London

If you’d ever considered the National Gallery to be a staid old building, filled with musty old paintings demanding reverence and silence, think again. With wild contemporary art shows currently popping up all over London – each one madder than the last – people can become despondent to the old masters which are great, well, simply because they are. People do like to say they’ve been to see this controversial show at this brand new gallery, and this shocking piece at that upcoming venue, because it’s trendy. But, if different and new is trendy then perhaps soon we’ll all be coming full circle – returning to the gilded walls of the National Gallery to rediscover the history of our current art scene.

Installation of Saints Alive at the National Gallery, 2013 © Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London / Photo: The National Gallery, London

Michael Landy
Penitence Machine (Saint Jerome), 2012
Photographic paper and watercolour pencil on paper
185.9 x 153 cm
Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London
© Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London

If there’s any exhibition that’s likely to bring in even the edgiest of art-lovers, it’s Michael Landy’s Saints Alive. When approached by the National Gallery to act as associate artist, he was at first shocked and slightly bewildered, however he soon found his own way of rediscovering and appropriating its vast collection.

Landy is best known for Break Down (2001), which saw him throw thousands of his worldly possessions into what an ‘art bin’, soon joined by artists such as Hirst throwing in their wares. It is daring for the National Gallery, an institute of preservation, to allow such a destructive artist into the collection – but as Landy explains, we understand history by taking it apart, and this is exactly what Saints Alive does.

Forming a relationship with the symbols in paintings of the most iconic of Christian saints, Landy developed enormous kinetic sculptures which interrupt the quiet of the galleries: fibreglass fingers beat the painted chest of Christ, Saint Apollonia’s elbows snap sharply as she pulls a tooth from her mouth, and the whirring Multi-Saint – a piece combining the tragic tales of several Saints. They could seem offensive – and people are all too prone to taking offence anyway – but really they’re just bringing art history to life.

In fact the show is perfect for an 11 year old art student I have; like any little boy, he loves machinery and action, and this is an ideal way of introducing him to paintings which otherwise might not enliven him.

Nationalised Saints, 2013
Photographic paper, catalogue pages and paint on paper
152.8 x 121.5 cm
Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London
© Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London

As soon as I entered the room of enormous fibreglasses (and especially because one wasn’t quite working properly), I was sure that this show had to be the work of MDM Props – an art fabrication company based in Herne Hill who I’d worked for throughout 2011. Sure enough, a film in an adjoining room shows the works being crafted in MDM’s workshop; not many artists are modest enough to admit that they don’t make their own work (very few actually do…) and so, this film gives the show a unique level of honesty which certainly dismisses any notion of the National Gallery as inaccessible ‘high art’.

Although Landy’s bombastic sculptures are exciting, shocking and darkly humorous, the prints on show are equally fascinating. Beautifully crafted collages and ink details offer an insight into the artist’s thought process, into his response to paintings which previously seemed to bear no parallels to his own practice.

Michael Landy
Multi-Saint, 2013
Mixed media
458 x 165 x 157 cm
Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London
© Michael Landy, courtesy of the Thomas Dane Gallery, London / Photo: The National Gallery, London

This show seems to be a turning point of sorts; artists often refer back to the old masters in an indirect way, however Landy brings art history into the present. Taking a “pick and mix” approach to the National Gallery’s archive, Landy’s work is wholeheartedly postmodern; and with his combination of non-traditional materials and traditional Christian icons, and utter honesty surrounding both his thought processes and working methods, it is open, inclusive and refreshingly down to earth.

I’m looking forward to my second visit, and hopefully this time the eight-foot-tall St Francis of Assisi is behaving himself so that my pupil can go home with a free Tshirt bearing the words “Poverty, Chastity and Obedience”, although I’m not quite sure what his parents will think…

Michael Landy Saints Alive is on show at The National Gallery until November 24.

Currently on show is a collection of Jonathan Wateridge’s work, having moved back to All Visual Arts – the artist’s representing gallery – from L&M Arts in LA. The collection is only viewable by appointment for a short period, and like the artist this show is modest – but absolutely worth visiting. Wateridge’s style has developed from his slightly brash, artificially-lit scenes into a softer style – almost like a photographer whose camera has lost focus, or discovered a new medium in switching from the clean shapes of digital to the evocative tactility of analogue film.

Wateridge’s new works are mesmerizing in their simplicity: a triptych of a man’s suited shoulders so rich that you can almost feel the fine threads of the jacket; the wire mesh of a tennis court scored in sharp white dashes, pulled tight and hot in the blazing sunlight.

The show is comprised of cropped, almost abstract pieces, as well as the portraits and larger pieces which characterize Wateridge’s career. A young artist, this show evidences the way that his style is developing – his most recent work displaying a more sombre tone and velveteen finish. 

Although Wateridge only began exhibiting nine years ago, having rejected painting for almost fifteen years, his work shows no sign of being underdeveloped or amateur. Instead it is self-assured, unapologetic and sublimely crafted. A true modern master.

Jonathan Wateridge is at AVA until the 15th June. 

Images courtesy of L&M Arts

Film-maker turned fashion designer Miles Aldridge has delivered seductive sirens silk-screened in an electrifying palette to the forefront of the fashion world for 15 years. In a whirlwind three-day show, Mayfair gallery Brancolini Grimaldi presents 32 lithographic and silkscreen prints. Entitled Carousel, this show utterly submerges its audience into the compellingly false and alluringly flawless, dreamlike world of Miles Aldridge. His works are uncanny cinematic fabrications saturated in grotesque decadence, ever masked by a deceptive curtain of kitsch femininity.

   See the full review here…

So, after months of endlessly complaining that I still don’t have a job… I do! I’ve been working for The River Magazine for a couple of moths now, and I can honestly say that this slim book of glossy A4 pages  has grown rather close to my heart.

The magazine is a complimentary quarterly publication which promotes the most interesting people, events and businesses in SE1, but we’re soon to be expanding to include much more of London.

With sections on Culture, Food & Drink, Property, Business, Style and one just For The Soul, there’s always plenty to do!

The April – June issue is currently available in cafes, hotels, bars, salons and a range of businesses in SE1 and articles include afternoon tea London Bridge Hotel, an interview with the Shard’s choice florist Igloo Flowers, the BFI British film season, the fascinating life of Royal Academician Norman Ackroyd and a chat with Globe actor, James Garnon – oh and not forgetting our token celebrity David Cameron, joining Brigade bar on Tooley Street.

Working with The River has allowed me to meet all sorts of people I wouldn’t have otherwise, and I think that after a dismal spell of monotonous job hunting had slightly destroyed me, it’s given my confidence levels a bit of a kick. It’s just nice to feel useful, isn’t it?

Norman Ackroyd and James Garnon were two of the people I interviewed for this issue, and both showed such boundless passion for their work it really was contagious. Norman may live in central London but is preoccupied with the most extreme edges of Britain – always seeking the highest, furthest, oldest point…

James, or Jimmy, is a well seasoned Globe actor and for his ninth season at the Globe is taking on The Tempest’s Caliban. He is enthralled by the role, and I can’t wait for the play to open on the 2nd May. He’s a powerful actor famed for bold performances, interspersed with quirky subtleties to create truly captivating characters.

Our Cover image is from photographer Rebecca Parker, who uses locations in the West Midlands for touching wedding fashion photography. Her works bears more similarity to fine art photography than fashion – filled with emotion and utterly evocative.

If you’d like a copy, then take a stroll around London Bridge and you should be able to find yourself a copy to skim over with a coffee. We’ll be putting the most recent edition online very soon, but for now you can see our previous two editions here: http://www.therivermagazine.co.uk/

If you’d like to advertise with us then contact us via the website; or if you’re an artist looking for publicity then we do have a page titled The Gallery on which we feature artists, drop us an email if you’d like to know more.

For me, it was Lichtenstein’s monochromes and vast interiors which were most interesting; however having studied Pop Art through the “oh, Brad!” and “WHAM!”s of Lichtenstein’s romance and war period, it was thrilling to also see these huge polkadot canvases in person.

Lichtenstein’s work never appears particularly profound but perhaps this is where its success lies: the artist explores emotive situations in a flat, comic-bookish way to mirror our own de-sensitivity to sex, violence, power.

Meaningful or not, Lichtenstein’s work can simply be enjoyed for his bold use of garish primary colours and blatant commercialism. His interiors even include previous works of his hung on the walls –  twenty years after his career kicked off, already viewing his own work as an essential asset for the home. Slightly egotistical, but humorous all the same.

One huge influence which I hadn’t previously been aware of was Picasso, and in this show Lichtenstein’s reinterpretations of his work are not numerous but are extremely successful: a Pop Artist’s simple linear style combined with the complex acute angles of a Spanish master.

This exhibition certainly recognises an afore unappreciated depth to Lichtenstein’s work – it’s by no means moving, but it remains the product of a great deal of thought, research and careful drawing. Lichtenstein’s draughtsmanship reveals itself to be both accomplished and stylised, and his painting style punchy and unapologetic.

We’ve all seen a Lichtenstein reproduced in book or poster form – or currently pasted all over every London tube line – but these vast paintings must be seen in person for the full comic-book to canvas concept to take effect: postage-stamp sized cells blown up to  shout in electric colours and the dizzying pinpricks the man became famous for.

I’ve been writing for Aesthetica for a while and have to come up with entries on a twice-monthly basis, so when the manfriend told me about Reid Peppard (one of his CSM contemporaries) I just had to get in touch!

Reid makes ethically sound taxidermy artworks and jewellery: producing uncanny pieces featuring real creatures under her own name, and intricate metal castings for her jewellery label, RP/Encore.

I was most interested in her work as she is not just a sheep, one of the fashionistas who cottoned onto this sort of morbid movement, but has actually been reworking little lifeless bodies for six years – with stuffed animals at university before learning the craft under a master taxidermist in Yorkshire.

Her work includes crow clutches, squirrel jaw bracelets, rabbit heart pendants and double rat headdresses (one of which you can see atop the head of Lady Gaga in her Bad Romance video, couldn’t resist the name-drop).

Reid has recently moved to LA, and moved on to a whole new menagerie of animals; my interview with the artist explores the motivation for her practice and plans for the future.

Yesterday morning I attended the early breakfast press view (the first ‘breakfast’ view I’ve ever attended where there was no breakfast! hmph) of The Design Museum’s Designs Of The Year. Luckily, the show was so fantastic that I didn’t even notice my grumbling tum: 99 designs chosen by a panel of artists, architects, curators, designers, journalists and other experts, tidily packed into the first floor of The Design Museum.

This year the majority of pieces were either heavily technically or ethically focused, with a  strong emphasis on 3D printing and aid in third world countries. The winners will be announced in due course, the jury hoping to pick category winners by the end of this week, but top of my list are The Sea Chair, Little Sun and Kit Yamoyo; three stunning examples of intelligent, and potentially life changing, design.

My review of the entire show is on One Stop Arts, but I’d like to to also tell you all about The Sea Chair, which the very lovely Kieren Jones also took a minute to tell me about.

I had no idea about the effect that the dumping of plastic had on our world environment before 10am on Tuesday morning, but it turns out, it’s pretty huge. Simply put, there are gyres in our sea which act as whirlpools which collect debris; this has now resulted in three enormous plastic islands sitting just below the surface – all ‘out of sight and out of mind’ until now. These islands, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Indian Ocean Garbage Patch and North Atlantic Garbage Patch are breaking up and the light plastics they contain are beginning to wash up on British beaches.

The project begun when Kieren and a few friends heard a radio piece about an enormous bundle of debris which had arrived on a beach in the Southwest, and decided on a whim (in hindsight a pretty profitable whim) to drive down and have a look for themselves.

Arriving on the white sands of a postcard-perfect beach, the group thought it had been a wasted trip, but after a closer look begun to notice fine grains which floated where others did not: ground down plastic, the waves a ‘plastic soup.’

Chatting to the local fishermen who, like many tradesmen are suffering due to supermarket exploitation, the group came up with an idea: why not trawl for plastic instead?

The collaboration between Kieren Jones, Studio Swine and the seamen of Hastings has now resulted in a line of unique three-legged stools, all made entirely from discarded plastic, melted and formed at sea, upon the boat. The stools are crude and heavy and the process messy and smelly, but they have an identifiable charm as clunky symbols of a small plight to help save our seas, our jobs and our livelihood as a whole.

The finishing touch to these stools acts as a nod to the fishermen who brought this project to life, and for me completes the story: tied by a ragged rope to each stool is a small tag noting the coordinates of where its plastic body was harvested, melted down and reinvented.

The Sea Chair Project is in its infancy, but I hope that it continues to be nurtured and to grow into something which really makes a substantial difference to our great British seaside.

Here’s an amazing film featuring stunning shots detailing The Sea Chair process – a must-see, and I hope you also enjoyed the full review of Designs of the Year.

Open Source Sea Chair by Studio Swine from Dezeen on Vimeo.

All Visual Arts, King’s Cross is a gallery with a unique taste: their shows heavy with the dark, the bizarre and the mysterious, the works always fresh, unique and sublimely crafted.

This spring AVA is saturated with surrealist sketches, uncanny inks and impossibly detailed drawings. Not just limited to the eight AVA represents, over 21 artists feature in this vast show – ranging from the sublimely grotesque erasure of contemporary German artist Dennis Scholl, to the carefully contoured illustrations of the infamous Salvador Dali. For a show entirely based upon a single medium, the variety is astonishing; as we see here, drawing does not only refer to graphite doodles but instead stands for anything put on a page by expert craftsmanship and the cultivated imagination. AVA’s shows often display a penchant for the bizarre and Between the Lines is no different, with artists from across the globe and centuries brought together by a common theme….

See the full review on Aesthetica, here:

http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/blog/between-the-lines-all-visual-arts-london/

I’m currently still recovering from last Friday, a day of food, clapping, wine, gin, wine, gin and more wine – or graduation as it’s commonly known!

It was an odd experience and I sort of felt like we were all taking part in some extravagant charade, pretending that our degrees are pivotal pieces of paper set to change our lives. To most of us, that doesn’t seem the case, and although a lot of us are employed (which the Uni will be chuffed about as it ups their statistics) it’s not really in our chosen field, or full time, or even paid.

Still, the enormous event that was graduation actually made me see my degree in a whole new light. I felt more proud than I had at the degree show or even on results day as it made it official, and a man stood up on stage and simply told us that we were great.

Praise is a rarity whilst studying, so it was a very welcome surprise  - one which I’m pretty sure gave us all a warm fuzzy feeling.

I’m really proud and impressed with us all for coping even when we were completely freaking out, and felt like dropping out might be the kind and easy option we needed (I’ve no doubt we all considered it at least once), and for sticking together and supporting each other when things got tough. University was a long and insanely stressful stretch, but we had some serious fun and I love my housemates of one, two and three years like sisters: my lovely, mental sisters from other misters.

Shout outs to my Fine Art basement buddies, I miss wine Thursdays and awkward gay bars; my textiles ladies who could always be found knitting in front of the tele, red wine and/or takeaway in hand; and our little lady whose still at Uni and happily puts us all up in her house when we turn up in Birmingham in need of non-fine wines and perfume-gin, and who lets us old ladies pretend we’re students again.

It’s her fault my face has a yellow liver-disease-like tinge to it STILL.

I miss uni, but my God I could not do it again.

I’ve just started teaching a couple of little’uns art in Kensington, so for material I took a quick perusal through  my old school sketchbooks and (although it didn’t help much with the old tutoring) rediscovered a whole load of artists I was obsessed with back at the age of 15.

This is Valero Doval, graduate of Valencia, Spain, working as a commercial designer for magazines such as Elephant and the NY Times, and also doing a little personal practice too.

Enjoy!