Sunday, 31 October 2010
'Here and Now' exhibition preview
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Sylvie Broussine - Art Commentator
In this latest exhibition View Art Gallery has combined five artists who, in very different ways, come together to convey their own interpretations of the sub-conscious and inner workings on the mind. The beauty of an exhibition like this is that whilst walking around, new perspectives and forms shoot out at you unexpectedly.
Take the artist Damian Daly for instance. His enigmatic, detailed piece ‘Fall of the Rebel Angels’ was at first something I saw as uplifting. I felt he was conveying a modern pseudo-religious piece using a mystical world as his subject. It wasn’t until closer inspection that I realised Daly had created what I felt to be a modern apocalyptic scene, not dissimilar to the hell-ish pieces of Hieronymus Bosch in the late fifteenth century. Suddenly, my understanding was challenged, and rather than the dream-like quality I had originally read, I felt something more nightmarish in its place.
Daly’s work constantly demands our attention when we are stood in front of it. In this piece he plays around with patterns, creating the illusion of symmetry in a work that might be better described as ‘organised chaos’. The colours he chooses for the background depict a calm, heavenly scene, whilst the more sinister black and red ‘Rebel Angels’ spiralling around the piece work to change it into something more restless. I feel this art is the perfect example of what this exhibition is all about. This image makes real the multiple layers that lie within our sub-conscious and only comes out during dreams. Just as our sleep can bring confused thoughts and feelings to the surface, so does Daly’s art on canvas.
Another example of Daly’s work where this is apparent is ‘Secret Sisters’, a multi-panelled large scale drawing, sectioned into twelve separate boards. When first appreciating the work, I reacted strongly to the appearance of a wolf-like animal centred between the two girls on either side, their hair forming a collar for the beast. It wasn’t until I read the title that the symmetrical, dancing adolescents appeared to me. By virtue of this doubled layered effect, the creature in the middle evokes a more sinister side to the piece. In fact Daly claims the creature is not necessarily a wolf, but as with all his work, this depends on the interpretation given by his audience; perhaps the fact that I noticed it before the two girls says more about my sub-conscious than anything else.
The power of the piece is emphasized by the black and white, graphite form of the work. Whilst speaking to other viewers it becomes apparent that the numerous possible perspectives, along with Daly’s clear talent, make his work truly interesting. Rather than give you any detail about the various interpretations of this, or any of his other work on show at View, I feel Daly’s work is best appreciated via your own analysis, not to be mislead by anyone else’s. With an exhibition focused on our inner thoughts and feelings, viewing this art is very much a personal experience, and viewers are encouraged to develop their own understandings. So rather than me tell you more, I think it is better for you to go visit and experience it for yourself.
Sylvie Broussine
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
'Dreaming Out Loud' exhibition preview
'Dreaming Out Loud' is a show full of unconscious moments of genius, surprises, even accidents. Six artists share a common process where the subconscious has influenced, or even taken over, to create art that tells a story from deep within.
In this new collection of work, there are recognisable forms and themes that emerge from the abstract. These have been allowed to materialise through a variety of unusual processes, such as drawing blind, creating chemical reactions, and painting in a trance-like state. There is rarely a start, middle and end; the life of this artwork goes on beyond the physical process and continues to evolve with every new viewer's interpretation.
Suzanne Partridge builds a relationship with each of her paintings, without prior thought or planning. The palette is selected from mood, and layers of paint are applied and removed repeatedly until the end result represents the emotions and thoughts she was experiencing.
In Damian Daly's paintings and drawings, initial whimsical ideas form characters that develop on a journey of story telling. Initially, innocent fairy-tale characters are influenced by personal associations and then latent meanings emerge and numerous characters evolve over long periods.
Spontaneous, improvised, unpredictable. Harry Simmonds uses a multitude of unusual techniques to create raw images of portraits in his paintings. He only allows split second glimpses of his model to create components of a painting , which are then assembled to show the important memorable elements and discarding the waste of conformity.
Ann Goodfellow returns to View with a new collection, building on her sell-out show earlier this year. Her sculptures are 'drawn' using only the sense of touch and unusual markings emerge on beautiful self modelled ceramic bodies.
Photographer Charles Emerson uses ink, water and flowers to experiment with the boundaries between photography and painting, but without the use of digital manipulation. There is a sense of theatre in the process as ink is added to submerged flowers and a unique moment is captured in the 'performance'.
Installation and video artists Becky Kidson exhibits 'Fortress', where a search light emits abstract patterns that dance around the room from a honeycomb of taleidoscopes. The projections try to distract our attention from what is locked away in the centre of the fortress.
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Feedback and debate
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Haiti Benefit Exhibition
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Naked Truths Preview
The art work also reveals some amazing creativity, technique and beauty. Each piece stands alone with aesthetic quality as well as a deeper sense of meaning.
The context of the subjects is significant. We may see nudity in a gallery as art, whereas the same image in a sex shop is pornography. Similarly, a death theme may provoke a fear of horrific memories for some people or innocent comedy to others. When we view these images, we are often looking at a reflection of ourselves.
There are seven artists featuring in Naked Truths, each with a different combination of media, style and message:
- After longer inspection, the apparent chaos of the angular shapes and striking colours in Thomas Dowdeswell’s painting starts to generate familiar figurative forms and strange stories.
- Peter Bullen is influenced by the artist/model relationship and contrasts the confident contortionist with the vulnerable first-timer in his nude portraits.
- There is a wonderful innocence and charm to David Thompson’s male figurative paintings, with an undercurrent of commentary on our attitude to sexuality.
- In ‘The Sex Shop’ series, Simon Ledson plays with our minds as we explore apparently innocent forms in imprints and wallpaper.
- Russell Oliver's large and dramatic paintings explore the attitudes to life and death through the eyes of different subjects, including a self portrait.
- Tim Perks challenges the traditional figurative sculpture, as the unusual poses and compositions of the female form involve imaginary cross breeding of species.
- In Becky Kidson's 'Young Hearts' installation three friends take it in turns to jump into a bowl of mirrors.
Naked Truths presents some beautiful art with provocative themes and offers us a mirror to reveal our hidden thoughts. The show runs from July 29th to September 12th.
Friday, 25 June 2010
Urban View 2
Saturday, 22 May 2010
Urban View
UPFEST 10 Press Release
Europe’s Biggest Urban Art Festival Just Got Bigger!
Upfest’10 - The Urban Paint Festival Releases Full Line-up
More than just Europe’s biggest urban and street art festival, Upfest has announced the broad range of events taking part at the two-day festival in Bristol.
As in previous years, the festival will be centred on live painting at the Tobacco Factory on 5th and 6th of June. Over 200 urban artists and illustrators will be painting live over the weekend, with 50 artists having come from around the world to be a part of the event. The artists will be mixing it up with this year’s MashUP theme, with some very special collaborations due to take place.
Upfest’10 will kick off with a preview of the Urban View group show at View Art Gallery (159-161 Hotwell Road, BS8 4RY). The show features work from seven urban and contemporary artists and will run through 17th July.
Saturday, the festival will be in full swing at the Tobacco Factory (North Street, BS3 1TF). From 11am, over 200 urban artists and illustrators will be painting live. Visitors to the free event are also invited to take part in the painting, with a children’s painting area and the Kiss101 Give It a Go painting boards.
The Tobacco Factory will also host a Very Affordable Art Sale and dedicated print room, where original artwork and prints by the artists painting at the festival will be available for sale at bargain prices. There will also be badge making, clothing, and art material stalls around the venue.
Throughout the weekend, DJs, beatboxers, hip hop groups and MCs will take to two stages at the Tobacco Factory (full schedule attached). Along with music, the world renowned Kompany Malakhi will host dance workshops on Saturday.
During the day (11 am to 6 pm) on Saturday, a live illustration event will take place indoors in the Tobacco Factory Theatre Foyer. In the evening (6 pm), six artists will battle it out in a Secret Wars live art competition. The public will vote to decide whether Upfest or Monorex will be named champions of the 90-minute battle at the Tobacco Factory Cafe Bar.
The evening will wrap up (10 pm to 4am) with the Upfest’10 Mid-Festival Party at Basement 45 (8 Frogmore St., BS1 5NA), presented in association with Kiss101, featuring The Loose Cannons, Ninebar Sound System, Chris Read (Music of Substance), Dave Cridge (Ninja Tune) and Kiss101 DJs. Tickets available at Bristol Tickets Shop (£4.50) or on the door (£5 before 11, £6 after).
Upfest’10 continues on Sunday at the Tobacco Factory from 10 am with additional live painting, music, and art sales. Upfest has raised over £10,000 for Nacoa (National Association for Children of Alcoholics) since the festival began and as in previous years, Upfest’10 will raise awareness of and fundraise for the charity..
Friday, 2 April 2010
Life in Stillness Preview
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Exhibitions and Festivals
The festival season is coming soon and the Bristol art scene is no exception. View is taking part in the Bristol Festival of Photography in May with two very different photographers exhibiting in the 'Life in Stillness' show. In June we are pleased to be one of the venues in UPFEST, Bristols urban painting festival, for the second year running. Our 'Urban View' show will include many of the major artists from the festival.
More information on the festivals can be found on their websites from the links above. The shows at View are introduced below with more details to come nearer the time.
Life in Stillness
In many inanimate objects we see and feel life. In the next exhibition at View Art Gallery, five artists bring consciousness to their subjects through different sources of inspiration and use of media.
Dawny Tootes uses recycled aluminium from discarded household objects to create fluidity in her tree sculptures that have an apparent organic quality. Evocative figures appear from the deep forest of colour in Fran Williams' vivid oil paintings. Using only the sense of touch, unusual markings emerge on the self modelled ceramic bodies of Ann Goodfellow's sculptures.
As part of the Bristol Festival of Photography, View introduces two photographers who portray life in imagery in both reality and abstract forms. Frank Drake captures the music of his subjects in the drama of live performance. Chris Parks creates and ethereal world through his dynamic fluid paintings, which capture a movement of light in organic materials that can never be seen again.
Life in Stillness runs from April 15 to May 30.
Urban View
Following the hugely popular urban art show last year, View Art Gallery once again teams up with the UPFEST movement and showcases the best artists from this year's urban art festival. Examples of last year's 'spray fest' can still be seen on the exterior walls and entrance floor of the gallery. 2010 promises to be bigger and better than ever, with live painting, original art on canvas, limited edition prints and the antics of more of those uniquely styled artists.
Urban View runs from June 3 to July 11.
Saturday, 13 March 2010
New Video Channel
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Beneath the Petticoats... Ghosts Get Horny Too
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Comfortably Strange - exhibition review
‘Comfortably Strange’ promises to be one of View’s most innovative exhibitions to date. The styles are quite diverse but there is a commonality in the feelings that are induced through a journey of discovery. The show features some very collectable art from established artists, some new to View and some returning with fresh work.
Beth Carter is well known at View for her mythological sculptures but this time focuses on her drawing and painting to explore the shows theme. Caroline Watson, another Bristol based artist, has also been creating work especially for the show, using traditional puppetry and children’s stories in her paintings and 3D work. Nina Mankin adds some lyrical imagery to her predominantly doll themed painting and installations. John Simpson’s drawings are beautifully crafted and yet the subjects are bound to ask some challenging questions of the viewer. Alex Korzer-Robinson creates his art from old encyclopaedias that result in a very different form of book art. Arthur Lanyon’s abstract oil paintings perfectly fit the Comfortably Strange theme as we are presented with partially familiar shapes, changing as we lengthen our gaze.
The initial raw impact of all the show’s work is maybe one of playfulness, shock or humour. With further interrogation this is followed by deeper suspicion, perhaps sinister, sadness, or joy. The emotional transition through continual exploration of each piece is quite magical. All is not what it seems, and your first impressions will rarely be your last.
Comfortably Strange runs to April 11th. Images of a selection of the work on show can be viewed here.
Friday, 1 January 2010
New Year, New Work
To kick off the New Year, we're doing a bit of reflection combined with some forward thinking. We look back on our first year at View with pride and gratitude. We have found some amazing new talent, built a beautiful space to show their work, and met some wonderful people who have become regular visitors to the gallery.