The Art Modern

UBS Openings: Art from the 80's

2008-11-25T14:56:00.006Z

A while ago I visited an exhibition of work from the 1980's at Tate Modern, and I'd completely forgotten anout it until today! The paintings were all from the UBS collection, and represented an incredibly prosperous time for the art world. The Stars of this scene included well known artists like Julian Schnabel, David Salle and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Schnabel and Basquiat are two of my favourite artists, and I've never seen their work shown in the UK before, so I was pretty eager to catch this exhibition. My favourite painting in the (admittedly rather small) exhibition was the one painting included by Basquiat, Tobacco Versus Red Chief, which I had never seen before, and was incredibly striking in the flesh. Basquiats in particular are quite rare in this country, but there's a chance to see a Warhol collaboration that he painted, not his finest moment but certainly worth a look, it's at Tate Modern's 'Pop life' exhibition if you get the chance. It closes very soon though so get in there while you can!

'Art is what you can get away with'

2008-10-29T17:02:00.003Z

There's currently an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London, of a lot of interesting Andy Warhol work. Paintings, prints, film, TV, audio, interviews, drawings and plenty of other weird and wonderfully things created by the Artist in his lifetime are on display. It was like being submerged in his subversive and beautifully celebrity obsessed world. Here's an interview I found, in which Andy Warhol talks about his 'painting' process. Its hilarious to see how confused the interviewer is when Andy mentions that he doesn't paint his own paintings.

Mark Rothko Exhibition

2008-09-29T15:23:00.004+01:00

As i mentioned before i was planning on visiting Tate Modern to have a look at the current Rothko exhibition. I did, and it was jaw dropping. Here's a short clip of the exhibition's curator, talking about Rothko's work.

Conversation about the film 'Basquiat'

2008-09-25T09:22:00.003+01:00

Director Julian Schnabel and musician David Bowie, who plays Andy Warhol, being interviewed about the film and the artist. This film came in for a lot of criticism when first released, but its one of my favourite films and its nice to see such an intellectual discussion between artists.

Mark Rothko at Tate Modern

2008-09-24T11:42:00.005+01:00

From 26th September until 1st February Tate Modern have an exhibition of works by Mark Rothko. He's one of my favourite artists so I'll definitely be going. The paintings are all works from the Seagram Murals series which were originally commissioned for The Four Seasons Restaurant in the Seagram Building New York, some of which could already be seen at Tate Modern in the Rothko Room. These works, in my opinion, are some of the most powerful paintings ever produced by the artist.

Bob Forrest

2008-09-17T14:42:00.007+01:00

I've noticed that Bob Forrest has been getting a lot more recognition recently due to his work as a drug councillor on the celebrity rehab TV show. I find this really weird because I've always known him as a singer/songwriter, and a damn fine one at that. From his early days as the singer of Thelonious Monster in the late 80's and early 90's, through his critically acclaimed album released under the guise of 'The bicycle thief', to the most recent solo work, he has always been more disarmingly honest and soulful than most songwriters who are a thousand times more well known than him. He was always fighting his various addictions up until the mid to late nineties when he helped himself by helping others with similar problems. So i guess that's how he ended up on the show, and I hope that it turns more people on to his beautiful music. Here is a clip of him being interviewed and performing 'Body and Soul' with Thelonious Monster at a festival in Holland in 1993. He was a bit of a mess at the time, but still manages to give a very insightful interview.

Charles Bukowski

2008-09-12T13:51:00.013+01:00

Bukowski is one of those artists who is almost too real. Luckily he is just real enough for me, and his poems and stories are always a great source of inspiration for my art. Again, he is one of those people who is notoriously difficult and controversial, much like his creative output. He is best known as a writer, but he has also made some paintings, so below is a little video of him reading some of his work, as well as a painting. All his paintings can be found at bukowski.net/paintings.

Julian Schnabel

2008-09-11T14:32:00.005+01:00

I really like Julian Schnabel's approach and attitude towards his art. Its very relaxed and not at all pretentious. He's more recently been associated with film making but in the 80's he was one of the biggest stars of the Neo-expressionist movement. I love his huge canvases with great lashings of paint and ambiguous use of words. I also quite liked 'Basquiat' the film he directed about the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Many people criticize it for not capturing what Basquiat was about, and whilst i agree with this, I believe that as a film about an artist it really stands up on its own as a great romantic portrayal of the life of an art star. This is a nice simple interview, courtesy of Hermann Vaske, with Schnabel about being creative.

Miles

2008-09-09T14:46:00.006+01:00

Another artist who went through a period of painting (towards the end of his life) was Miles Davis. I have to thank Miles for getting me into Jazz with 'kind of blue' probably one of my favourite albums of all time. Anyway, here's a performance from the 'Bitches Brew' era, as well as one of his paintings and an interview. He was never the easiest guy to talk to, and that's one of the characteristics that made him the very definition of cool.

Stuff- John Frusciante

2008-09-08T14:57:00.007+01:00

For me, no one embodies a life dedicated to art more than John Frusciante. Known best as the talented guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, his very recognisable playing style catapulted them to super stardom in the early 90's. However after recording arguably their best album, Blood Sugar Sex Magic, he quit the band, unable to handle the fame and hectic touring schedule. As most people know he then descended into drug addiction until 1998 when he cleaned up and returned to the band. It was during these years of drug addiction that he lived a life dedicated to art, and produced some amazing recordings and paintings. This film by Johnny Depp entitled 'Stuff' really sums it up.

The Biff

2008-09-07T12:42:00.003+01:00

Biffy Clyro have to be one of my favourite bands at the moment. They definitely went in a new direction with their most recent album 'Puzzle', and I personally love their sound. Especially the Scottish accent....very cool. Anyway this is their recently (ish) released video for 'Mountains'. Enjoy!

Basquiat Interview

2008-09-06T13:03:00.004+01:00

Here is an excerpt from one of only a few recorded interviews with Jean-Michel Basquiat courtesy of artnewyork.org.

Sparsity VS Aggression

2008-07-04T09:02:00.004+01:00

I've been in the studio a few nights in a row now with poor and confusing results. Its hard as an artist to create something original AND satisfying AND in keeping with your own style. At the moment I'm trying to push my style towards being a combination of Twomblys sparsity and Basquiats childish aggression, whilst looking like neither. I seriously challenge anyone who looks at something childish or simple in a gallery and says 'I could do that' to actually try. IT'S NOT EASY! I might post some results on here when/if I actually finish something..... In the mean time here is an incredible example of Basquiat at his most sparse.

Saw Twombly at Tate Modern

2008-06-30T11:23:00.006+01:00

Going by average life expectancy figures, I reckon I have about 50 years left to live. As compensation for this, for my birthday I was given a years membership at the Tate. So obviously the next day I went straight to London to have a (free!) look at the Twombly exhibition while my friends went straight to the bar (unbelievable). It was, of course, amazing. The scratchy, more aggressive paintings from the late 50's and 60's looked the most impressive, as they have always been a favourite of mine. Seeing them up close for the first time was quite a powerful experience.........however because it's free I didn't have to worry about getting everything I could from the exhibition due to the fact that I'll probably be heading back there again next week. Being able to go in the members lounge is also pretty cool. Membership aside, its definitely worth paying to see the work of this truly remarkable living artist. Go!.......NOW!

Record Breaking Picasso

2008-06-19T17:48:00.006+01:00

A 1954 Pablo Picasso painting, 'Sylvette', a portrait of the model and muse of Picasso, Sylvette David, has sold at auction for A$6.9 million, beating the previous Australian record. To me this painting represents my favourite period in Picasso's work, simple abstract style with bright colours.....definitely worth the money, if you have that kind of cash lying around.

Oooh what's this?

2008-06-18T20:51:00.006+01:00

This is one of my favourite paintings.....probably because I just painted it.....

Twombly at the Tate

2008-06-16T21:07:00.008+01:00

From the 19th June to the 14th September there will be a Cy Twombly exhibition at Tate Modern. Twombly is without a doubt one of my favourite artists who has had more influence on my own paintings than any other artist. I love the sparsity, the lack of paint and the expressive use of pencil that blurs the line between painting and drawing. Twombly emerged from the abstract expressionist movement in the 50's, and this exhibition has works ranging from that period right up to 2005. The focus seems to be on cycles and seasons, centering on the 'Four Seasons' paintings that admittedly, were already in the Tate Modern anyway. However these have been joined by works from the Museum of Modern Art in New York which I am looking forward to seeing. I can't really express fully how amazing the works of Twombly are, and photographs won't do it either so I recommend...no I am telling you to go to this exhibition and appreciate the genius that is Cy Twombly!

Gary Hume- Door Paintings

2008-06-15T18:16:00.008+01:00

Today I took a stroll into Oxford to have a look at the new exhibition at the Modern Art Oxford gallery. Up until today I have remained fairly ignorant about the work of Gary Hume, having never seen anything of his in an art gallery. On display for the next few months are his 'door paintings' which at first glance are literally that. Paintings that resemble doors. Not interesting or elaborate doors, institutional hospital doors. I have always been a fan of anything minimalist and I have to say that I loved these 'doors'. The significance of the paintings resembling doors was lost on me, but the use of colour was amazing. The earlier paintings circa 1988, which tended to be made up of one or two off white colours, looked particularly fantastic on large canvases. All were painted using gloss house paint, which gave a reflective surface, adding to the cold hospital feel. Above all though, all of these works had a powerful sometimes meditative presence, turning one of the rooms in particular into an instillation of sorts. I have checked out some of his other works but these 'doors' which first brought him on to the British art scene are in my opinion his strongest and most powerful works. I will definitely be heading back to have another look, with the gallery being pretty much on my door step. The exhibition runs until the 31st August, so if you're in the Oxford area I highly recommend visiting before this disappears and they replace it with more peacocks. (Sorry to whoever it was that was responsible for the last instillation, it was just completely lost on me!)

Rothko- It's not interior design

2008-06-14T20:33:00.014+01:00

I finished the last post with an image of Mark Rothko's work hanging at an exhibition in Rome. Looking at that image inspired me to share a few thoughts. I've always loved Rothko's work, and have never really had the reaction that a lot of people have, which is dismissing it as overly simple, dull and something anyone could do (makes me cringe). Others view it as pleasing to the eye, but not emotionally engaging and good for something like interior design. But whilst a Rothko may well look pretty hanging in your bathroom it goes so much deeper than that. If the spectator takes the time to look closely at the paintings and really open up a dialogue with what is in front of them I believe that they would have a far more intense experience. Looking at one of Rothkos astounding and often haunting paintings is as close to looking into his soul as you can get. The early works in his most famous style are bright and inspiring, his skill with colour is obvious and the paintings shine with his passion and creativity, while his later paintings, just before his suicide are dark and empty, giving the viewer a glimpse of how Rothko must have felt on the road to his suicide in 1970. I am constantly inspired by his simple approach. Expressing the most complex of emotions in such a minimal way.

The Art Modern

2008-06-14T05:35:00.002+01:00

So this is my new modern art blog. I love modern art, its as simple as that. Although its not. Its actually much more complex, which is ironic because at its most perfect, art can be the purest most simple expression of the self. Anyway I've set up this blog as a place to gather my thoughts on artists that inspire me and others that don't, and although I am an artist myself I am in no way an art critic. You may disagree with my views (comments welcome) or worship me as some kind of mighty Jesusman (preferably the second option, I've already started work on a large temple-like structure) but many people say that it is arts ability to divide opinion that makes it so great. I am not one of those people, I think that is a stupid statement.