Exhibited in Plymouth

This was my first time exhibiting in Plymouth - my home town. I left it aged 18 desperate to get to London. Decades later it has a fast growing arts scene - thankfully - and Plymouth Arts Weekender is in it's 2nd year. Six Caroline Place is the project of Charlotte Squire who selected 8 artists for Uncanny World of Interiors. The setting has layers of domestic unspoiled-ness (I loathe all those super modernised interiors you see when perusing rightmove etc.) - a perfect backdrop.

Holding their own against the funky wallpaper are the skillful, intriguing paintings by David Edmond.

A curious corner created with a sculpture (made from interior items) by Charlotte Squire and paintings by David Edmond against the wallpaper that Charlotte and inhabitants haven't decided whether to keep yet or not; lovable and livable are different things aren't they?!

Where the wallpaper is gone there are many different coloured patches of plaster wall; gorgeous colours and textures. I loved showing my chandeliers here because the texture of my tarnished and rusty metal items felt so at home in a space that also showed it's history. It was a fantastic weekend chatting to the many visitors doing the Plymouth art trail - thanks to all who took part!

Open Studios

I'm very excited to be taking part in these Open Studios next weekend - see you there!

Art Auction

photos from Cancer Research UK website

I was lucky enough to be invited to an art auction at Christies last night. I've never been to a proper auction, only a more relaxed one at Pilchuck Glass School during a summer session, so I was really curious to see what these DNA form sculptures would go for. I hadn't seen this art trail in London but these sculptures were out and about before sale. All funds go Cancer Research UK at The Crick Institute due to open fully next year. So a great cause as this will be the largest facility in the world pursuing effective treatment for some awful diseases.

Two of these sculptures were by Ai Weiwei so I thought they would go for massive prices since he is a huge figure in the art world. They went for £32,000 and £30,000, I wondered if these were bargains. Of course if they were bought as investments and get resold I wonder if that profit can go to The Crick Institute?

Ai Weiwei has a major exhibition at the RA currently, I admire him as a political heavyweight but looking at his conceptual sculpture I couldn't respond to it without reading all the blurb.

It's definitely exciting to go to a big auction and watch the bidding, at Christies we were told to dress smart, the champagne was flowing and the canapes were top notch as you'd expect.

On the left: sculpture by Kindra Crick recreating the drawings of the workings out of the structure of DNA by her grandfather.

More Works of Art

I have always admired the (ever changing) bricks a painter friend uses to sit his canvasses on when he's working on them. Having just visited Collect, the Crafts Council show of high end craft I think it was hard to find much that was actually more beautiful than these - craftsmanship aside of course. I notice Collect's sub-title is careful not to use the word 'craft' but rather 'the international art fair for contemporary objects'.

The wear and tear or signs of use of tools of an artist are often full of passion and interest and their aesthetic has evolved unselfconsciously - I love this.

Capital Culture

I have seen loads of fantastic exhibitions in London over the past couple of months. I'm not able to be there all the time so I try to see as much as I can when I am. One of my favourites was Disobedient Objects (til 1st Feb 2015) at the V&A museum. It looks at the role of objects in affecting social change. I LOVED the Barbie Liberation Organisation; watch this short video - hilarious.

This tree in the V&A courtyard went from yellow up to beetroot and looked beautiful against the red brick.

I also loved: Egon Schiele at the Courtauld; amazing nudes, virtuoso drawing until 15th Jan 2015, Rembrandt at the National Gallery til 18th Jan, late Turner at Tate Britain til 25th Jan: all these guys were radical in their day. And Constructing Worlds at the Barbican Centre; fantastic photographs of amazing architecture and environments, until 11th Jan 2015.

I wanted to live in London since I was about 12, I thought that's where it's all going on, I still do and it's easy to dismiss the provinces; to be honest - by my demanding standards there isn't remotely enough going on in the Plymouth area, so I was thrilled to see Light Fantastic, a projected light spectacular in the city recently. Hats off to Illuminos who created it, enchanting. Below is the facade of the beautiful but derelict Palace Theatre with ever changing moving images and sound collage on a loop.

This gave us time to walk to another site, the Eddystone lighthouse on Plymouth Hoe.

This piece was simpler,  to suit the tower and so beautiful on a clear night by the sea. Both pieces incorporated historical snippets from the locale cleverly put together. Look out for Illuminos - they work all over the country and it's a treat to see really great public art.

And I took this photo of the Palace Theatre 3 years ago - check out the buddleia, must be like trees by now. I remember seeing a pantomime here when I was young, Aladdin I think with the late great Irene Handl. I wonder if the building really will be saved and used again for something.

Vincent and Banksy

I think Vincent Van Gogh may have liked these hydrangeas; the intense purpley blue. They are are at the front of a house he spent time in. Did you know he lived on the edge of Brixton for a while? Yes, so the creativity of the area dates way back, he was there from 1873 -1874. I went into this house recently when an artist made an installation of the house based on it's history - more here - sorry this event is over now, but nevertheless interesting and you can pay homage at 87 Hackford Road, SW9.

So I really enjoyed walking up the stairs that Vincent did, holding the handrail he must have too.

I went to the Banksy exhibition at Sotheby's - and here is his homage to Vincent in this exhibition. Isn't it interesting that he ended up so Bankable, maybe he should update his name! I'm so curious how this has affected his stance and the sharp political insight of his early work.

And how do you know what's a genuine Banksy now? well obviously Southwark think this is one. It's quite painful watching everything become a commodity. As our community in Brixton is destroyed by Lambeth Council and our building will be boarded up this year (criminal!) I wonder that they will later want to capitalise on OUR history and the great old days when pioneers lived where others didn't want to, where residences were called 'hard to let' and where artists thrived creatively. 

And poor Vincent never saw the real appreciation of his work in his lifetime.

Cavaliero Finn Sale

I'll have 2 chandeliers in this showcase next weekend amongst a great selection of contemporary artists and designers. Have a look at all the designers on the Cavaliero Finn website.

Everything

The Museum of Everything No. 4 exhibition.....

.....is on in Selfridge's (400 Oxford Street) basement
until 25th of October. I liked this best out of all their exhibitions, so inspiring. Most of these artists are fixated by something, I loved all the clay cameras made by a blind man, I'm still trying to comprehend that.  And there's a beautiful painting of an extension lead.  Definitely check out their website. They are looking for volunteers to help with the exhibition so if you're not busy what better place to be...
They've also got a great shop on the ground floor and have developed some lovely stuff around their signature graphics.

Also worth seeing is Power of Making at the V&A until 2nd Jan - it's free. Happily this is not your usual craft show, it displays hand made stuff extending into digital and medical arenas including the very useful and very useless. There's even a cake that looks like a real baby, that was on the dark side - something craft shows have been lacking. Check out Sugru hacking material - you could adapt everything in your home, its a silicone that you form yourself. I loved the example of some wrapped around the thong bit of an uncomfortable flip-flop - it can stop an object that doesn't work very well from being redundant - genius.
And apart from 'Origin' I successfully avoided Design Week again - oh too much stuff!