V&A Museum of Childhood

I went with my son to run around the museum and among all the weird toys my attention caught this creepy Jack in a Box.

Newspeak: British Art Now @ Saatchi Gallery

Newspeak: British Art Now is the new exhibition at Saatchi Gallery which, like Saatchi’s Sensation in the nineties, is supposed to breed new generation of YBAs. The result is rather headache triggering mix of different styles, approaches and not always fresh ideas. Fortunately there are few hidden gems in this visual cacophony that highlight the show.

MacKinven Et Sick In Infinitum

Alastair MacKinven’s Et Sick In Infinitum (End is Forever) series is definitely one of them. The series contains of four vast oil paintings depicting variations of Penrose staircase, an impossible architectural construction familiar from the work of MC Escher. The crooked structure build from vivid colours and thick impasto is contrasted by perfect grid set as the background of the painting. These geometrically chaotic forms remind claustrophobic fortress-like buildings: jails, maybe mental asylums. There is a palpable threat, that if one would be placed inside, there would be no escape.

Quinn Dad with Tits

Ged Quinn’s Dad with Tits is a humorous transformation of the iconic portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart. Here the ‘founding father’ is pictured with a pair of boobs as the breastfeeding mother of the nation. The sign on the Washington’s chest reads “PAPA”. Quinn underlines the autopsy of the old painting by picturing the first American president as a rotting corpse. The bird sitting on his shoulder symbolises departing soul. The volcano eruption seen through the window in the background is yet another sexual insinuation.

Daniels William Blake II

Another recycled image is William Blake II by William Daniels. Based on the portrait by Thomas Phillips, the painting is executed in oil and uses very interesting and original technique of working from constructed model. Daniels, similarly to Quinn, depicts his ‘reused’ subject as zombie-like dummy, or some futuristic robot made from origami, but his portrait lacks vivid colours and uses just cold grays.

Wilson 20:50

The only permanent installation at Saatchi Gallery is Richard Wilson’s 20:50, which has been continuously shown in each of the gallery’s venues since 1991. It is an extraordinary illusion created in a space by flooding its floor with thick, pitch-black engine oil, which mirrors the room’s architecture, doubling its size. There is a waist deep walkway that extends into the pool and places the viewer at the centre of the artwork. Unfortunately at the time of my visit the walkway was closed and not accessible to the spectators. Hopefully it is not a permanent decision of the gallery’s management.

The Judge

etching, soft ground on zinc plate.

The Judge - etching & sketch

I came up with this idea after a visit to Royal Courts of Justice. I saw this mannequin showing traditional Judge's uniform and it remind me the ass-faced judge, that Gerald Scarfe drawn for Pink Floyd's "The Wall":)

Old Man Silver Card Print

It is my first print using simple Silver Card technique.

I deliberately "recycled" this old image to remind myself about one of my successful yet still unfinished projects!

I find printmaking absolutely fascinating, it requires great patience, but it suits my detailed style..I've got the feeling there is potential for a flourishing relationship:)

Hell's Half Acre @ Old Vic Tunnels

The collaboration between the Lazarides Gallery and the Old Vic Tunnels brings the extraordinary Hell’s Half Acre, a group exhibition inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy. The show takes place in the abandoned railway tunnels beneath the Waterloo Station. As we enter the vaults we are greeted by the looped video of a madly barking pit-bull, which like Cerberus guards the entrance to the underworld.

The Heretics’ Gate

One of the first rooms hosts Doug Foster’s The Heretics’ Gate, a video installation, which is one of the highlights of the exhibition. The crowd of people gathered in front of it seems to be hypnotised by the Rorschach-like flame explosions. The animation doubled by its reflection on the greased floor and surrounded by complete darkness looks like suspended in space. It gives an impression of a portal to a different dimension or a gate to hell indeed. It is visually very powerful and impressive piece.

For What We are [...]

Jonathan Yeo, known for his porn collage portrait of Gorge W. Bush, displays a three-dimensional collage For What We are About to Receive portraying two naked women kneeling in prayer. The image is made from adult mag’s cut-outs spread across six Perspex sheets, and hung the way that it can be seen entirely only from a certain angle. The execution of the piece reminds plastinated cadavers and animals cut into slices by demonic German anatomist Gunter von Hagens for his Body Worlds exhibitions. ‘Things are often more beautiful if they’re disturbing and they’re more disturbing if they’re beautiful.’ – says Yeo about his piece.

Zac Ové The Time Thief

Among all the sculptures in the show the most eye-catching are the voodoo statues by Zac Ové. These dramatically lit life-size figures made from found material, strangely terrifying when approached on short distance, seem that at any moment may break the stillness and attack the viewers gathered around them.

Each artwork is more intriguing than the previous one as we move through the space. Beginning with mad hound and finishing with Tokujin Yoshioka’s ambiguous vision of Heaven as the Swarovski incrusted disco ball. Hell’s Half Acre is definitely one of the most exciting art shows that I had pleasure to attend.

Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? -=2010=-

My own response to the same question, but set in 2010..

Digital Collage using Photoshop and Google-found imagery.

Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?

1956

1992

Richard Hamilton's original collages "Just What Is It that Makes Today's Homes So

Different, So Appealing?"