You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? - First Thursdays

Friday's post about the First Thursdays raised a point in it's first line surrounding the nature of the  event in the east end. It is designed to be a cultural event where by all can enjoy art and socialise with others in the circle, which is a great idea seeing as many find it hard to find the time in the week to see such things. Time out describes it as, 

"On the first Thursday of every month the galleries and museums of east London open their doors late for a chance to see amazing art, culture and events after hours. With over 100 galleries and museums open until 9pm on First Thursdays there will always be something free and exciting to see"

;however, it could be called, Thirst Thursdays as it is merely a drinky affair with loads of people turning up for the free booze and not really taking in the art on show, which is a shame as there really is a lot to see and the galleries have to offer the public on such events. 

Although i complain, i'm sure that i will invariably end up there again next month as i do enjoy being able to see so much art in one night which is more social; however, it would be great to see less alcohol driven incentives to visit the galleries and more visitors from the art lovers side of things.

Little White Lies- Aubin Gallery

"First Thursdays" which should possibly be renamed "Thirst Thursdays", was as usual a terribly drinky affair, where artwork is one of the lowest priorities on most lists; however, possibly the best gallery on the Redchurch Street stretch was, as it usually is, the Aubin Gallery. Not only because it isn't filled with drunks, but also because it is far more measured and considerate in its curating. Little White Lies is a show which aims to recognize artists that twist and turn reality, re appropriating media to some kind of whimsical magical reality. These white lies subverse the viewer into something a little less comfortable as their mind is opened up to the possibilities of these changes. 

Angus Sanders-Dunnachie's work was in my opinion the highlight of a very good show in the galleries sometimes overlooked location above the Aubin shop and cinema. 

I think that there is a real intentional confusion with this work, that creates a doubt around what is going on, what we are seeing, and about the reality that we face here. There is a comforting knowledge that we know these images are not possible in terms of their physicality in our world; however, their is doubt and mystery even if it is at first glance and only for a moment. 

In there was some promising work at the exhibition and it is definitely a show worth seeing, it is on until September 11th 64-66 Redchurch Street, E2 7DP. 

Cyprien Gaillard

Gaillard's work The Recovery of Discovery at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin in march this year looked at the moving of architectural form from its original location, in this case it was boxes of the beer Efes from Turkey (who uses Greek mythology as the theme of the beer), and then by drinking it, looks at the destruction of a monument  This is a lot wrapped up in one piece, but there is something to the ideas surrounding the touristic transport of culture and history from one place to another. Perhaps one could bring in here some of the debates and theories that surround the world expos from the 20th century. 

With the initial picture we see the monument, removed from its surroundings, created in perhaps some sort of capitalist materialistic colonialism.

Then with the second image it is slowly drunk, or destroyed, this shows some sort of tarnishing of the origins, maybe the colonialistic power, the consumer driven market tainting the original, using it up until it is done.

And finally in the last image the monument is wrecked, it's destroyed and left behind as the imperial power over it has taken what it needs.

The Only Full Portrait of Van Gogh goes on View in Grimsby

A local couple bought the portrait which they believe to be the only known full picture of Vincent Van Gogh in existance, in an auction in France for €1,700. They took the chance because they believed that Van Gogh was in fact the character in the painting. They have since spent much time researching thie with various facial reconstructive experts and forensic scientists, in order to ascertain whether it was in fact whom they thought it was. 

The artist who is beleived to have created this portrait is a female artist of the name Jeanne Donnadieu. Little is known about her, but it is understood that she lived four doors along from Van Gogh so it is perfectly plauseable that she made the said painting. 

The painting is on show at the Abbey Walk Gallery in Grimsby, which has seen the number of visitors rise from 200 a week to around 1000 a week. And the couple have recieved several valuations for the painting from around £10,000 to around £3m, which raises an interesting point around the valuation of art, if the piece is created by a little known artist, but the subject matter is of who is considered one of the greatest ever artists, is it really worth so much more, but then again it comes down to supply and demand, if this is considered to be the only one of its kind in existance (the only full portrait of Van Gogh) then a higher valuation should be feesable; however, it is usually the artist who produces the work that adds the value to it. For exmple a painting of the english countryside by Constable would be worth more than an the same scene painted by my dad. All the same this is an amazing find, especially if it is prooved to be the real Van Gogh.

Tube Crush, are you some strangers crush?

tubecrush.net is a website of great fascination to myself and others curious interested in the cctv nature of the western world. The website where people post pictures of strangers on the tube of interest, or of whom they take a liking too is becoming increasingly popular, in fact it has even come up in an article on the bbc news site. 

Despite the light natured theme of the website, there are serious legal and moral qualms surrounding the use of strangers pictures without their permission. The tfl suggests that the underground is a public space and that it is infact legal to photograp people in this nature. the producers of the site say "We hope people take the site in the spirit it was intended - it is not to cause offence.". It can be said that this site is more of a celebration to the spirit of the underground and the growing popularity of social networking.  

You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? - The BBC's attempt to connect the people with Art

Programmes such as Show Me the Monet are the BBC's attempt to connect the everyman with contemporary art. The programme made not only the artists, attempting to sell thier work to the pannel, the judges, influencial people in the art world look pretencious and snobby, but also the art world in general. Now i am not saying that thier isn't alot of snobbery and nepotism envolved within the art world; however, it wasn't a fair representation of us, the art community. 

However depite this feeble attempt there is something admirable in this effort to make art accessable to all. Some of the BBC's other shows about the old masters have helped, especially one about Andy Warhol, which gave a hugely balanced and fancinating incite into his work. In general though the production of such shows needs to focus on making the art world seem more accessable, rather than the work itself, which I believe, given the right situation can be viewed by all constructively. 

Modern Empire

In our previous post regarding emerging artist Alec Finlay, we spoke about a company called Modern Empire. Modern Empire works with up coming artists, by producing prints, i.e. cheaper versions of thier work, to help distribute their work and allow them an income. Not only is there the sales of the prints, but also Modern Empire works as semi agents for the artists, helping them put on shows for example the recent Modern Empire show at La Scatola Gallery.

Inken Reinert-

Untitled (1), 2009, Collage

Modern Empire describes itself as "Modern Empire works with emerging and established artists to create and sell limited edition prints. Our aim is to create high quality prints by artists whose work we feel should be widely disseminated and enjoyed by many people."

Viki Bennett-

n Retrospect, 2011, C-Type Print

With artists such as Inken Reinert and Viki Bennett, there is a lot of potential with this company, and we will be looking forward to more shows with their artists in the future.