Art hors d’oeuvres: Tiny Bites of London

Oh, I have been SO busy latey that although I have seen a great deal of great art I have not written a word about any of it!.

So, in the interest of keeping this blog fresh as a daisy :-), I’m serving up bite sized nibbles of my recent bout of Art Travelling until I have time for a more reflective approach. Here we go:

Samhain

Last night was Hallowe’en and I attended a Samhain ritual in the dark mysterious woods of Highgate, north London. yes, the Highgate where the famous cemetery is located. Fortunately (?) the rite was not held in the graveyard but in the nearby Queen’s Woods. Although it’s a bit of a stretch to name the altar and the other elements of the ritual as ‘art’ I will still do so as I found the installation very compelling and provoking the way all art should be.

Cathy Ward

I attended a show curated by Billy Chainsaw, a graphic artist whose work I like and collect. He showed many great things but I particularly loved these paintings by Cathy Ward, white gesso on black:

Turkish Art Week

Curated by Renko London TAW brought together 21 acclaimed Turkish contemporary artists from across the globe. The show ranged from pop art to lyric abstraction, in a variety of contemporary art movements, techniques and disciplines. I particularly loved the work of Ece Clarke, Sumer Erek, Basak Cansu Guvenkaya, Mine Zabci and Sina Mirel.

Featured Artists: Bahri Genc, Baris Sarıbaş, Basak Cansu Guvenkaya, Cengiz Yatagan, Cigdem Erbil, Devrim Erbil, Ece Clarke, Emin Çizenel, Esra Meral, Eva Sonaike, Joanna Gilbert, Mehmet Günyeli, Mine Zabci, Nuri Battal, Renk Erbil, Rina Bakis, Sakit Mammadov, Sina Mirel, Sumer Erek, Yam Karkai, Yigit Yazici

Frieze Week

I didn’t go to Frieze, being too busy and I wasn’t commissioned to write anything about it. However, I did get to various shows around Frieze including a day spent roaming Cork St and I saw this:

Marina Abramović: Seven Deaths

https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/marina-abramovic-seven-deaths

Abramović exhibited seven alabaster sculptures – self-portraits of the artist inhabiting different personae – herself, Callas, the jilted bride or the sacrificial paramour, among others – each facing their own emotional, operatic endings.

“Every dramatic killing is transmitted through the imagery encapsulated in an ethereal alabaster portrait, the photo-realistic features of which seem to dissolve into abstract peaks and troughs upon closer inspection. “The results are amazing because you have this feeling that you can touch it, you can feel the skin of the snake, you have this tactile sense. And then everything disappears in nothingness when you have a close view of the pieces.” They are in fact intricately milled from single, natural blocks of stone, the light suffusing the translucent interiors with distinct, internal, performative lives of their own. ” Marina Abramović, Lisson Gallery

Brick Lane Gallery

My friend Tunde Valiszka has been in London showing her photography in a group show at Brick Lane Gallery and I went to the opening. See more of her work here. I also loved the bold pop punky image in Julia McClurg’s paintings and the glorious strangeness of Mia Lana’s drawings.

Leake Street

Once again I moseyed down to Leake Street to see the new graffiti and also to check out the fantastic VR/VFX event that was held for the London Film Festival.