Monday 3 October 2011

Interning. My love/hate relationship.

UGGGGGH TIRED.


Currently I’m interning at one of the most diverse, artistically charged and inspiring galleries. The collection of work, people and artists pushed into a space that feels safe and right. Along with the gallery upstairs is a exquisite work environment, even with me not being a print based artist (it’s a print gallery) I am still completely inspires me.  This was my thing. My path. To pack up my belongings and leave my darling Edinburgh and group of friends that overtime have accumulated into my family. I had to put work and my future first. I’ve given up alot to cross the sea into a new place. 

THE POSITIVE is that I do deeply enjoy my work; I’m learning so much every day, given responsibilities outside the boundaries of fetching coffee. I love history and being in charge of archiving is a dream. Literally I could go in everyday and work to the bone and still be smiling. THE NEGATIVE it’s unpaid. I don’t know anyone in this city. Having to work in some bullshit shop to support myself (barely). The 7day weeks are killing me slowly but surely.  To anyone who is deciding to pursue an internship I STRONGLY advise you to be unbelievably passionate about what you’re going to do. So when your there busting your ass it’s worth it. Unless you have daddies trust fund and don’t plan to support yourself. If so do whatever you like. Buy a hot air balloon. Fly to Paris etc. etc. etccccccc You can almost taste my jealousy for the Chanel clad interns I run into. Castration comes to mind. BUT HEY HO. Work supposedly makes you stronger, and I plan to work until I make it. Or die. Death may come quicker.


PS. Have a smoke and listen to this. Instant calm. Like smash. Less lumps.


CH-CH-CHECK IT OUT.

Check out Critical Bastards second edition which I am featured in.  

BLURB FROM IAIN GRIFFIN.


Critical Bastards Magazine is a monthly handwritten A5 magazine. The magazine is dedicated to

reviewing Visual Art exhibitions and public art in cities across the island. It is hoped that 

writers will fund themselves to go to and review international exhibitions. The magazine is 

made by artists who wish to engage with art viewing on an active level.


ENJOY ART CUBS.



Saturday 24 September 2011

BUSY.

Been ridiculously busy. Madness of a week. Freak of a week. Freaking out the freaks. Lots coming this week.

Thursday 15 September 2011

Production, reproduction and archiving

Of de Blacam and Meagher
Ormeau Baths Gallery
8/9/2011 – 29/10/2011

Daunting.  Is the term that came to mind. Indeed the task was daunting.  Reviewing this mammoth sized, rather confusing collected states of ideas AND to top it all off its based on Architecture (not my forte, far from it to be exact). First of all I should point out if you are visiting the Ormeau baths you will notice that there are two exhibitions being displayed at present.  Both architecturally inspired. The one I shall be looking at is ‘Of de Blacam and Meagher’ a collection of two architects built and unbuilt ideas.  33 years of ideas, theories, and models all collected in separate documents.  This exhibition is to communicate the cultural landscape of urban Ireland, the changes and advances throughout the years.

The exhibition itself is truly something wonderful. When you enter the hanger (plane not coat) sized room in the Ormeau baths. In front of you will be placed five blocks, reminiscent of concrete blocks, until closer examination. These are made up of perfectly set, A3 pages of a book, thousands of copies to each ‘block’. Split into five. Consisting of sections labelled: Construction, drawings, writing and two photography sections. These combined create a book. This deconstructed book holds archived material, technically proficient sketches, information and photographs. The sense of production, reproduction and archiving is tangible. I thrive on this kind of work. Simplicity. Creative. Informative.  When there is a combination of 1. Historical information of importance.  2. Creations of a new art form. It’s hard not to feel the weight of its importance.  Pardon the metaphor but today my shoulders were hurting. 

The charming cherry on the top of this exhibition is that you are encouraged to take away each section of the book. Deconstructing the exhibition to another level, allowing the viewer to create the book themselves.  Allowing the exhibition to carry on long after you have left the building.  I found this truly educational, taking something so vitally important in our urban world that we walk past every day, sit in, go to, appreciate and taking this, deconstructing it and making it into a completely new art form. Not rehashed but a fascinatingly new way to bring 33years of concepts back to life.  After the exhibition I sat in a nearby coffee house studying these financial times sized extracts. Not solely for the reason of reviewing purposes, but out of utter appreciation and interest. The architecture itself within these documents are aesthetically beautiful, giving me the understanding on why Architects today dubbed these men as ‘the godfathers of contemporary Irish Architecture’

 Along with the deconstructed book the exhibition is combined with two videos, created by Ruan Magan, full of interviews and a documentary on when the curators took the exhibition to the 12th international architecture exhibition in Venice to represent Ireland.  Usually I’m not a fan of art based video, I feel it forces a viewer to watch every second, taking the viewing pleasure away compared to a still piece of art, making certain viewers uncomfortable and trapped. But on this occasion, for this particular theme I wanted to know more, I found myself hungry for answers about the project, questions like why? How? When? Who? Which these small and beautifully edited documentaries answered in a very human manner compared to the sterile conversations usually found within gallery videos.   I feel strange being so utterly positive and I must apologise if this review seems that I’ve wrote it after thirty cups of espressos, but I needed to get words to paper while the emotions from the exhibition were still bubbling. The feeling of awe and appreciation. I advise and urge you to go visit and appreciate the Godfathers of Irish Architecture. 

ps. take all you can.








Belfast Culture Night

So next Friday is Culture Day/Night.

http://www.culturenightbelfast.com/2011/

Literally hundreds of things going on!!

Next post i shall pinpointing a few highlights along with exact details on what Belfast Printworks ( my gallery) will be putting on for the event!

Wednesday 14 September 2011

only because i love it #2

I tried taking pictures, but they were so mediocre. I guess every girl goes through a photography phase. You know, horses... taking pictures of your feet.

Smoke and Mirrors. Pretentiousness at its worst.

Silent, Empty, Waiting for the Day
Mary McIntyre
Belfast Exposed
Opening Thursday 1st September 2011 7-9pm.
2 September to 14 October

Being a graduate from photography and film I was terribly excited to review my first photography exhibition. ‘Belfast Exposed’ a gallery which specialises within the field of photography. I was enthusiastic to fall back into a field I know about, a form of art I studied, honed and had my own opinions, preferences and hates nailed down. The gallery itself is a marvellous space, the smell, the light, exposed pipes and masses of empty space to play with. What I found today decided to abort this space.

Mary McIntyre is a photographer, fine artist and lecturer specialising in lens based and time based practices. After viewing her website I was motivated, expected to be lost in a world of her over romanticised large format prints. Unfortunately what I found was not the case. The first thing I noticed, after viewing the work online, was how this gallery, the layout, the prints something which I still can’t put my finger on, underwhelmed McIntyre’s work. I was wanted to be able to step into these prints. Get lost in her worlds. Yet not once did I feel myself being punctured by the work. Yes I’m stealing the studium and punctum theory, simply because it makes sense. PRAISE ROLAND BARTHES! I digress.

The work itself was a series of suburban culture, silent areas, looking  at the abandoned spaces. Supposedly luring the viewer in. The weirdest and yes I shall use the word weird was the fact that part of the exhibition was a raised platform, this raised floor which suspiciously at first view seems like Belfast exposed was installing a disabled ramp. Not the desired effect I’m guessing. This ‘raised floor’ in theory supposed to add to the work, and I quote ‘where the act of viewing (the visual works) is performed.’ When I think something is pretentiously pointless, it must be ridiculous. It was pointless. It didn’t add. It didn’t inspire me. To be honest, truly honest, I didn’t understand it; I found it a desperate attempt to add another level to the work. 

The photographs themselves were technically perfect. Not a flaw….technically of course.  Unfortunately coming from a photography degree, I have seen this. Abandoned spaces are first and unfortunately second year material. Reminds me of going to class critiques and always out of a group of 20 at least 8 people pushing the idea of an abandoned building. A lost world! What was it? What it could be? Where is everyone? Silly, uncreative students trying to fabricate and idea out of noting.  If you want to focus on neglected spaces: 1. Make it aesthetically stunning, so the viewer doesn’t realise how boring it is 2. Make the meaning behind it so strong it can hold up the foundations your crumbling photographs. The fact that she teaches Photography and hasn’t picked up on this is baffling to me.

McIntyre’s work consists of six pieces. Two of a quiet watery forest area, noting to grab your attention simple skimming material, 3 of a garden fence broken in a variety of stages, brings on thoughts of a post- apocalyptic world, zombie-esq films shot in high definition. But the last, standing along on the back wall has a beauty, a lost loneliness. A silhouette of a man looking out a window with binoculars, simple, beautifully lit and finally allowed me to get lost in the image which I craved. I find it strange such a talented woman needed to create that ridiculous installation/ disabled floor ramp. Or included the most unappealing images in her collections (I encourage you to look at her beautiful work on her website which is a world away from this tedious collection). I’m unsure what happened here….I still and always will love McIntyre’s work, but now, unfortunately, I respect her a little less for all the smoke and mirrors.




 The one image I adore.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

only because i love it #1

only because i love it

#1

As with my sketchbooks between work i place little things i adore in certain pages. To remind me when its hard to smile. I shall do the same here. No blurb. No review. Just a pic or a song which keeps me... :)

Jesus likes Watersports?.

I read the book of Job last night, I don't think God comes out well in it.
Virginia Woolf 



andres serrano

Andres Serrano has been at the centre of controversy for most of his career, from the history of sex to the media attention that it attracted with his most controversial piece, Piss Christ. The debate behind this piece, much like Mapplethorpe’s Project X, asks questions on acceptance and pluralism. The main outrage was that this work, ‘Piss Christ’, was an offence to Christians and Christian iconology.  ‘Piss Christ’, without the artist’s intentions to do so, attacks the boundaries between the blasphemous and sanctified. Serrano stated in a reading room’s interview 'I have always felt that my work is religious, not sacrilegious. I would say that there are many individuals in the Church who appreciate it and who do not have a problem with it. The best place for Piss Christ is in a church. In fact, I recently had a show in Marseilles in an actual church that also functions as an exhibition space, and the work looked great there. I think if the Vatican is smart, someday they'll collect my work.' It is what can be accepted within the Christian society and the limits a pluralist church can reach, and how far they can be pushed, in this case not an inch. The church and Christians see it as a battle of ownership and vandalism towards their religious symbols and Serrano has no right, nor the authority to use it in this manner. Arguing the fact that regardless of Serrano's intention of ‘Piss Christ’, it has to be looked at as an overwhelmingly strong piece of religious artwork that blurs the boundaries of art and religion. Even twenty-three years on we still must consider the effect it had and the questions it poses.


Piss Christ was not one of Serrano’s most aesthetically stunning pieces, but as with Mapplethorpe's Corcoran gallery scandal, the controversy around it gave the work its sensation. Piss Christ became symbolic as a Tableau vivant (living painting) as the piece itself used fluids within the mixture of the floating cross; urine, milk, sperm and blood. This has been taken out of context due to the uproar of the religious aspects featured in the work from the Christian community.  The exploration between the inanimate object and the sanctified is what not only makes it an amazing piece of art, but a fascinating piece of religious iconography. Our vision of the normal (a crucifix) is distorted as we usually understand the normal, yet here the religious object has manifested into something completely different. As  the philosophizers Fichte and Hegel wrote on the topic of recognition of the eyes, "The familiar is not understood precisely because it is familiar." The name of the piece itself causes a stir, where audiences have classed it as blasphemous; it is simply in itself obscurely provocative.  Within the title it touches on Christianity, typically catholic fascination with the body and blood of Christ, to the extent it is used in communion and other religious ceremonies. Using blood, urine, milk and sperm in the work creates an outrage by using the beliefs of the church against itself: turning the church’s preoccupation upside down and making the contrast all the more shocking to a Catholic viewer.



PS..

I will be reviewing Terry's work asap.But before that is..................(coming asap)


'Of de Blacam and Meagher' and 'A Space for Learning' 


9th September - 29th October 


Ormeau Baths Gallery


http://www.ormeaubaths.co.uk/

MY GALLERY. MY INTERNSHIP. MY REASON FOR BEING ON THE EMERALD ISLE.

http://bpw.org.uk/home/


This is the link to my darling gallery. Beautiful space. Amazing studios. Talented people. 


Check it out. This is me pushing my space.


PS. The exhibition at the moment is a Terry Gravett Solo exhibition 'HORTULAN'

















MAPPLE SYRUP - Flowers part two.

At first within Mapplethorpe's flowers, the viewer, if familiar with his work, will notice the bright colours and contradicting backgrounds. This, compared with his perfectly sculpted with darkness nudes is a complete transition from the normal for Mapplethorpe. Firstly, the use of colour following onto a complete change in subject. The usual thoughts on Mapplethorpe are sculpted black and white nudes, S&M scenes, explicit racial blending and homoerotic messages. Although the flowers at first may appear to be simply stunning pieces of nature, with more study we can read the image properly revealing these images are more like his previous work than we first imagined. To begin with the flowers used, all except one ‘tulip’, are detached from the main plant itself, no longer growing as a whole but trapped and contained in vases, bowls etc. The growth cycle of that particular group of beings is over. The original bulb is lost.  Certain flowers are contained and thrust into small surroundings or simply cut at the stump. This leads to a feeling of having no original attachment to anything beneath the stem itself, no original purpose is left.  Arresting the flowers sexual organs, what they are losing is the actual process of fertilization. The flowers themselves are the sexual organs of a plant, taking the rest of the plant away serves a purpose, making these prints much more similar to Mapplethorpe’s nudes than we first expected. The flowers themselves are never linked to social morality, the life span of humans cannot be compared, every petal is present, and none withered, all intact and blooming with colour. Some of the flowers are leaning to the side, showing the fragile state of them, even in these images for example, Parrot Tulips. 8 kB. RobertParrot Tulips. 8 kB. RobertParrot Tulips. 8 kB. RobertParrot Tulips. 8 kB. Robert560 × 436 - Robert Mapplethorpe is very well know of making impressive portraits, ...
parrot tulips, they sit with the greatest of ease, no support almost like they have decided to move this way, obviously set there by Mapplethorpe. Some are in their engorged state, standing tall and filled with the liquid that supports them which makes them into solid objects much like the male anatomy.  The setting of the flowers gives nothing away to the audience, no thought of them being inside, apart from the few which feature a vase which could be looked at as an indoor plant, nothing is given away on the landscape they are positioned in. No clue to the surroundings, conditions or the weather. This withholding of information gives no insight to the scale of the sexual organs or flowers, letting us compare it to the human body rather than thinking of it as a small flower, fetishism as a sexual organ.  Mapplethorpe's other flower series, ‘Black Flowers’ , consisted of black male models holding flowers: this was a direct symmetry to the penises within his nudes, when featured are flaccid in direct compassion to the engorged sexual organs of the flowers. Taking the seemingly normal to explicit levels, concealing the human form in a flaccid state, even though the erect penis is not present within the work, it is replaced with the metaphor of the flower. It compels the viewer to compare the flaccid penis to the assertion of the flower cut at its root.  Even when the male genitals and the flowers are not directly in the same print, there still is a correlation and cohesion through Mapplethorpe's work. For example, the photograph of Michael, 1983 , where the model is placed in white tights against a black wall, once again using darkness instead of the light, is showing the contours of the models genitals making the piece arabesque, which is when the contours and geometric stylising is repeated in the prints. This reminds us of the 1982 Orchid , where the white vase once again is surrounded by darkness, the contours of the vase compared to the lines and curves of the models genitals concealed. This also happens in the Mark Stevens print, where the model displays his genitals on a square stone, almost like a sacrificial offering. This reflects Mapplethorpe's Eggplant 1985 , where the phallic object is bathed in darkness.

When we think of flowers we usually, as a society think of femininity: an iconic image of womanhood. Used as metaphors in countless works of literature and poetry for example Emily Dickson or Georgia O’Keeth, with her symbolic flower paintings of woman. This is another reason why Mapplethorpe's flower prints stand out as flowers usually associated if with any piece of anatomy, it is the females.  Mapplethorpe showing the flowers engorged and erect takes the classic flower as a male symbol of genitalia. Mapplethorpe's desire was for the audience to appreciate the male anatomy as fragile organs and delicate forms as much as the female organs but also with the ability to thrust engorge and have an assertive strength. Mapplethorpe's flowers are some of his most sexual pieces he has created, but due to the use of the delicate plant life to offset the explicit, the pieces are far less offensive that one might have expected. Flowers are innocent and fragile, but the meaning of what Mapplethorpe was striving for is lost, lost in the beauty of the images. The flower series will now and always be one of the strongest symbolic metaphoric pieces of photography that has been created.



MAPPLE SYRUP part one.

Mapplethorpe was best known for his photography but began with a collection of mixed media collages created from scraps and reused photographs from magazines. He later decided he wished to use his own photography within his work. This is when he obtained a Polaroid SX-70 camera, with which he would take self-portraits and portraits of love interest Patti Smith. Even the mixed-media work was suggestive of sexual repression, featuring scraps of pornographic magazines. Before turning to fine art based photography, Mapplethorpe becomes a photographer for Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine and this introduced him to the celebrity circuit and him shooting the likes of John Paul Getty III. During this time he also created and shot album covers for Patti Smith.

In Robert Mapplethorpe’s work, especially his early pieces, it is particularly hard to pinpoint a meaning behind the work, compared to his later pieces. For example, in the piece ‘The Sea’, one of the few pictures Mapplethorpe has taken in which the subject cannot physically be manoeuvred and posed to his liking. While there is a large body of work to look at, selecting the most potent and ‘shocking’ to the viewer will are the areas most significant to study. Equally interesting is the media frenzy itself and the reaction of his fans and fellow artists after his death. It is said that photography as an art form is painting with light. Mapplethorpe was less concerned with seeing the light: the negatives were much more appealing as they portrayed the darkness in his subjects. He discarded the real and embraced the unreal. He would take the subjects out of the world they were found in and give them back an original meaning, rather than the standard socialised one. Flowers, figures and faces, three of Mapplethorpe are most relevant and talked about images. The flower to re-establish strength and sexuality within them, within the figures was to give dignity to male and female genitals and within the faces and portraits giving the person themselves identity back.  In doing this it made us look at things we wouldn’t have before, giving the subject a deeper meaning and understand visuals we would usually pass by.

Monday 12 September 2011

Ireland’s Comedy Roast...tiny little review.

I departed the fine shores of the Emerald isle many moons ago, and here I am, my not so triumphant return to Belfast, plunged into the depth of an art scene I had not even realised existed. As this is my first article (and possibly last if it goes down like a lead balloon). To celebrate my return have decided to review the most Irish themed exhibition I could find. So Irish in fact I wanted to have an aftertaste of potatoes and catholic guilt. Striking gold, when I found Ursula Burkes exhibition ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on’, displaying beautifully crafted porcelain sculptures and embroidery, which is meant to promote a re-reading of contemporary representations of Ireland. Touching on issues such as the troubles, child abuse and religious iconography.  Displaying the negative stereotypes of Ireland’s culture. For example, the Virgin Mary statue draped in a white porcelain cloth, wearing gold high top trainers. The work itself is wonderfully crafted, fine details of delicate porcelain and lavish gold tips. The majority of the work is perfectly finished, but sadly certain pieces seem sloppy and childlike. A recreation of an Irish thug sitting on a sofa seems almost like primary school project compared to the rest of the pieces. Which in my view ruined the flow of the exhibition and dragged the rest down. 


The two embroidery pieces which seem dislocated from the        exhibition, one displays a pair of socks, green white and gold and winnie the pooh in a balaclava. This unfortunately reminds me of going to Irish markets and being exposed to the Irish stalls selling humorous Irish propaganda. Not particularly thought provoking, perhaps a little sad and dated. The exhibition outline uses such words as materialism, isolation, and exclusion.  Leading me to believe a serious statement was about to be either declared or forced down my throat, but Burke has presented these stereotypes in such a humorous manner it’s hard to take them seriously. Resulting in the ‘Father Ted’ effect where Irish people look out-dated and caught in their own stereotype.  Never could I have thought that humour and exquisitely made pieces of porcelain would have collided.


 This collaboration is a breath of fresh air, but unfortunately the meaning behind the work has been done to death. Taking Andres Serrano’s ‘Piss Christ’ for example where he actually made people think and had a statement to say, rather than having an amusing poke at Irish culture.  Breaking these stereotypes is what would have excited me, saying all that I would recommend open minded people to view these elegant pieces of comical porcelain, however if you are in any way an Irish stereotype steer clear, this is your comedy roast.

‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on’ Ursula Burke

Ps2 Gallery 29th August – 24th September 2011
Free Admission


Hello darling world. Read the ramblings.

As i find myself out of uni now (two degrees down, life to go) i find myself aborted into the real world. Gasping for air and trying to cling onto my memories of the old me, the lubricated with wine me. But here i am. A young gentleman trying to take on the art world but feeling like a child who is learning to swim. I lucky landed on my feet and got an amazing internship in a gallery. I want to curate. I want to write. I want to constantly learn and review my surroundings.


This blog shant be about what i had for lunch. Or what me and my friends get up to. But a collection of musing and reviews. My new sketchbook. Seeing so many exhibitions and artists i want to pin them down in some format before they float away from my memory.  So excuse the ramblings of a mad man. But this is where they shall be. So point in life at the moment: Left my darling Edinburgh. Living in Belfast. Curating on a basic level and writing for a small new independent arts magazine. Hopefully overtime this will capture my evolution from scared lil boy to that fine upstanding gentleman i long to be.