Figurative Art: Drawing, Painting, Sculpture
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Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 340. Das Wandgemälde „Aphrodite“, gestaltet vom Künstlerduo „PichiAvo“ (Pichi, *1977 und Avo, *1985) aus Valencia / Spanien. Auf ihrer Homepage (www.pichiavo.com/)
schreiben die Künstler zu dieser Arbeit: „Aphrodite-Wandbild in Wuppertal“. Das neueste für den 'Urbanen Kunstraum Wuppertal' (UKW) geschaffene Wandgemälde befindet sich in diesem Freilichtmuseum, das sich der Umgestaltung öffentlicher Räume durch eine Reihe temporärer internationaler Interventionen widmet. Von 2023 bis 2025 möchte UKW ein wiedererkennbares und einzigartiges Stadtbild schaffen, in dem lokale Umgebungen in internationale Wandkunst verwandelt werden. Dieses Wandgemälde ist vom Mythos der Aphrodite und dem Urteil des Paris inspiriert. Die Integration klassischer Themen mit urbanem Ausdruck bereichert die Wuppertaler Kulturlandschaft.“
English translation:
Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 340. The mural "Aphrodite" was created by the street art Duo "PichiAvo" (Pichi, *1977 and Avo, *1985) from Valencia / Spain. On their homepage (www.pichiavo.com/)
the artists write about this work: "Aphrodite mural in Wuppertal. The latest mural created for Urbaner Kunstraum Wuppertal (UKW) is located within this open-air museum dedicated to transforming public spaces through a series of temporary international interventions. From 2023 to 2025, UKW aims to establish a recognizable and unique cityscape, where local environments are transformed into international wall art. This mural draws inspiration from the myth of Aphrodite and the Judgement of Paris, integrating classical themes with urban expression to enrich Wuppertal’s cultural landscape."
Wuppertal-Barmen, Quartier Oberbarmen-Schwarzbach, Rauer Werth 8. Das Mural "Between Chaos and Care", das der argentinische Künstler Guido Palmadessa geschaffen hat. Der Maler und Street Artist wurde in Buenos Aires geboren und lebt heute in Berlin. Sein Bild ist ein Beitrag zum Projekt "Urbaner Kunstraum Wuppertal".
Guido Palmadessa ist im Urbanen Kunstraum mit zwei Werken vertreten.
English Translation:
Wuppertal-Barmen, Oberbarmen-Schwarzbach district, Rauer Werth 8. The mural "Between Chaos and Care", created by the Argentine artist Guido Palmadessa. The painter and street artist was born in Buenos Aires and now lives in Berlin. His picture is a contribution to the “Urban Art Space Wuppertal” project.
Guido Palmadessa is represented in the Urban Art Space with two works.
I had the opportunity to visit the Towner in Eastbourne to see the current touring exhibition of Barbara Hepworth's work entitled 'Art and Life'
Her working was amazing and groundbreaking and she continued working until her tragic death in a fire in her home in 1975.
This photo takes in the Limestone sculpture 'Bicentric Form (1949), the marble 'Cone and Sphere' and a painting on the wall in the background.
I liked the common shapes captured in each medium.
Gill was born in 1882 in Brighton, Sussex (now East Sussex) and in 1897 the family moved to Chichester. Eric studied at Chichester Technical and Art School, and in 1900 moved to London to train as an architect with the practice of W.D. Caroe, specialists in ecclesiastical architecture. Frustrated with his training, he took evening classes in stone masonry at Westminster Technical Institute and in calligraphy at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, where Edward Johnston, creator of the London Underground typeface, became a strong influence. In 1903 he gave up his architectural training to become a calligrapher, letter-cutter and monumental mason.
As the revelations about Gill's private life resonated, there was a reassessement of his personal and artistic achievement. As his recent biographer sums up: "After the initial shock, the consequent reassessment of his life and art left his artistic reputation strengthened. Gill emerged as one of the twentieth century's strangest and most original controversialists, a sometimes infuriating, always arresting spokesman for man's continuing need of God in an increasingly materialistic civilization, and for intellectual vigour in an age of encroaching triviality. (Wikipedia 2007)
In 2000 I gave some lyrics, which Sean O'Leary worked up into a CD that became "Songs of Experience"...a vague link with William Blake, well at least the title!
Sean's recent album The Alchemist is a double CD of musical adaptations of the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins work. In my opinion Sean is a very underated musician and songwriter, it has been a pleasure to know him and on occasions work with him.
O’Leary has done what I never thought I would hear: a wonderfully new, electrically charged version of the poet dearest to the heart of many of us.
Paul Mariani's review
Poet & Writer Paul Mariani holds a Chair in English at Boston College and is currently writing a biography of Hopkins.
O'Leary has been compared to Dylan and Johnny Cash. His eclectic sound incorporates chants and hymn-like compositions.
The TABLET 13 May 2006
No lover of poetry, no lover of G M Hopkins, no one with a splash of nature mysticism in their veins, and certainly no Christian should be without this deeply-moving and inspirational album.
Joe Potts's review
Beautiful renditions of Hopkins's poems that can strike like
lightnings to the heart's core.
Jerome Bump
SONGS OF EXPERIENCE
Songs Of Experience were written by Sean O'Leary (Lyrics and Music) and Martin Beek (Lyrics) during autumn 2001.
The songs on this album have been selected from a much larger body of work that was written and recorded over a period of three months.
Martin would send me his lyric-poems and as I read ones of particular interest, a melody would come quickly to me. These initial ideas I recorded with guitar, piano or mandolin whilst simultaneously adapting and changing the lyrics as the melodies necessitated. Some required almost no additional material; with others significant structural and content changes were necessary.
I would normally begin recording the song within a short space of time while the inspiration was fresh. I recorded about 100 songs altogether in many different styles.
Sean O'Leary
The lyric-poems usually came quickly to me. They relate to my perceptions of life events and my desire to communicate these realities.
It is very intriguing for me to see how Sean has taken and adapted my lyric-poems adding his own insights, perceptions and perspectives and turned them into the meaningful and beautiful songs that make up Songs Of Experience.
Martin Beek
I created this triptych from photos I took at the Barbara Hepworth 'Art and Life' at the Towner, Eastbourne.
A combination of 'Brass and String' and 'Project Spring Morning' 1957.
The title 'Orpheus' references the mythical Greek musician and poet who taught the god Apollo to play the lyre. Orpheus was also the inspiration for a collection of Rilke's poetry, 'Sonnets to Orpheus' of which Barbara Hepwoth owned two copies. The poetry may have formed a direct inspiration for these works, as 'Sonnet I' opens 'A tree ascending. O pure transcension/O Orphic song'. Hepworth drew a connection between the material form of the 'Orpheus' works and a sense of ascension, 'I found the most intense pleasure in this new adventure in material - and revelled in the lightness of the poise and delicacy of forms which seemed nearer to the flight of birds and their form in flight rather than to more gravity-bound rocks and humans'.
(taken directly from the information with the exhibits at the 'Life and Art' exhibition at the Towner, Eastbourne.
Wakefield Council Permanent Art Collection (The Hepworth Wakefield). Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from Kate Ashbrook, 2019.
A street performer takes a break on the grass, adjusting his look in a small mirror—a brief pause before stepping back into the act.
Stowe evolved from an English Baroque garden into a pioneering landscape park. The progression is of the greatest interest. Although the end result does not have quite the drama which one might expect from such a famous place, there are many fine buildings and composed scenes. In the 1690s Stowe had a modest early-Baroque parterre garden, owing more to Italy than to France. This has not survived.
In the 1710s and ‘20s Charles Bridgeman (garden designer) and John Vanburgh (architect) designed an English Baroque park, inspired by the work of London, Wise and Switzer. In the 1730s William Kent and James Gibbs were appointed to work with Bridgeman, who died in 1738. Kent and Gibbs designed more temples. Stowe began to evolve into a series of natural pictures, to be appreciated from a perambulation rather than from a central point. Kent’s Temple of Ancient Virtue (1734) looks across the Elysian Fields to the Shrine of British Worthies. A Palladian Bridge was made in 1744. In the 1741 Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was appointed head gardener. He worked with Kent until the latter’s death in 1748 and his own departure in 1751. Bridgeman’s Octagonal Pond and Eleven Acre Lake were given a ‘natural’shape. Brown made a Grecian Valley which, despite its name, is an abstract composition of landform and woodland. As Loudon remarked in 1831, 'nature has done little or nothing; man a great deal, and time has improved his labours'. Stowe is said to be the first English garden for which a guide book was produced. The Cobham monument has been restored and shows the owner in Roman dress.
Wuppertal-Barmen, Quartier Oberbarmen-Schwarzbach, Rauer Werth 8. Das Mural "Between Chaos and Care", das der argentinische Künstler Guido Palmadessa geschaffen hat. Der Maler und Street Artist wurde in Buenos Aires geboren und lebt heute in Berlin. Sein Bild ist ein Beitrag zum Projekt "Urbaner Kunstraum Wuppertal".
Guido Palmadessa ist im Urbanen Kunstraum mit zwei Werken vertreten.
English Translation:
Wuppertal-Barmen, Oberbarmen-Schwarzbach district, Rauer Werth 8. The mural "Between Chaos and Care", created by the Argentine artist Guido Palmadessa. The painter and street artist was born in Buenos Aires and now lives in Berlin. His picture is a contribution to the “Urban Art Space Wuppertal” project.
Guido Palmadessa is represented in the Urban Art Space with two works.
Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 340. Das Wandgemälde „Aphrodite“, gestaltet vom Künstlerduo „PichiAvo“ (Pichi, *1977 und Avo, *1985) aus Valencia / Spanien. Auf ihrer Homepage (www.pichiavo.com/)
schreiben die Künstler zu dieser Arbeit: „Aphrodite-Wandbild in Wuppertal“. Das neueste für den 'Urbanen Kunstraum Wuppertal' (UKW) geschaffene Wandgemälde befindet sich in diesem Freilichtmuseum, das sich der Umgestaltung öffentlicher Räume durch eine Reihe temporärer internationaler Interventionen widmet. Von 2023 bis 2025 möchte UKW ein wiedererkennbares und einzigartiges Stadtbild schaffen, in dem lokale Umgebungen in internationale Wandkunst verwandelt werden. Dieses Wandgemälde ist vom Mythos der Aphrodite und dem Urteil des Paris inspiriert. Die Integration klassischer Themen mit urbanem Ausdruck bereichert die Wuppertaler Kulturlandschaft.“
English translation:
Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 340. The mural "Aphrodite" was created by the street art Duo "PichiAvo" (Pichi, *1977 and Avo, *1985) from Valencia / Spain. On their homepage (www.pichiavo.com/)
the artists write about this work: "Aphrodite mural in Wuppertal. The latest mural created for Urbaner Kunstraum Wuppertal (UKW) is located within this open-air museum dedicated to transforming public spaces through a series of temporary international interventions. From 2023 to 2025, UKW aims to establish a recognizable and unique cityscape, where local environments are transformed into international wall art. This mural draws inspiration from the myth of Aphrodite and the Judgement of Paris, integrating classical themes with urban expression to enrich Wuppertal’s cultural landscape."
On a sleepy Villefranche roundabout, a reclining bronze figure lies draped in flowers, seemingly lost in thought or shielding her eyes from the Riviera sun. Just beside her, a flesh-and-blood counterpart strikes a similar pose—though with less introspection and more attitude. Is it homage, coincidence, or competition? Either way, this unexpected pairing adds a touch of artful humour to the everyday choreography of street life.
• • • • •
Sur un paisible rond-point de Villefranche, une figure de bronze allongée repose parmi les fleurs, comme absorbée dans ses pensées ou se protégeant du soleil de la Riviera. À ses côtés, un double bien vivant adopte une pose similaire — moins de méditation, plus d’attitude. Hommage, coïncidence ou rivalité ? Quoi qu’il en soit, ce duo improbable insuffle une touche d’humour artistique au ballet quotidien de la rue.
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear,
Who has written such volumes of stuff.
Some think him ill-tempered and queer,
But a few find him pleasant enough.
His mind is concrete and fastidious,
His nose is remarkably big;
His visage is more or less hideous,
His beard it resembles a wig.
He has ears, and two eyes, and ten fingers,
(Leastways if you reckon two thumbs);
He used to be one of the singers,
But now he is one of the dumbs.
He sits in a beautiful parlour,
With hundreds of books on the wall;
He drinks a great deal of marsala,
But never gets tipsy at all.
He has many friends, laymen and clerical,
Old Foss is the name of his cat;
His body is perfectly spherical,
He weareth a runcible hat.
When he walks in waterproof white,
The children run after him so!
Calling out, "He's gone out in his night-
Gown, that crazy old Englishman, oh!"
He weeps by the side of the ocean,
He weeps on the top of the hill;
He purchases pancakes and lotion,
And chocolate shrimps from the mill.
He reads, but he does not speak, Spanish,
He cannot abide ginger beer;
Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish,
How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!
Edward Lear
Edward Lear, Jerusalem (Ashmolean Musem Oxford)
Lear (1812-88) is probably best known as an author of Nonsense rhymes, however he was also an accomplished ornithologist and an artist of considerable skill. He painted largely romantic far away places in the Middle East and Asia. His early works were in wash and body colour but he took up oil painting in 1838. Lear began his work out of doors but finished these works in the studio. during the last forty years of his life he was friendly with Holman Hunt and the Pre Raphaelite painters and possibly some of the richness of Lear's later landscape owes much to Hun't encouragement and instruction. He accompanied Hunt on a few of his painting trips and Hunt became a kind of mentor to the older man. Seddon another Pre Raphaelite painted near here at the same time. Whilst Lear's landscapes are very strong his figures show he did not have the passion for observation that is displayed in Hunt's or other Pre Raphaelite work and are more akin to the work of David Robert's landscapes of an earlier school.
Among the Greeks and Italians he is a favourite of sailors, fishermen, ships and sailing. As such he has become over time the patron saint of several cities maintaining harbours. In centuries of Greek folklore, Nicholas was seen as "The Lord of the Sea", often described by modern Greek scholars as a kind of Christianised version of Poseidon. In modern Greece, he is still easily among the most recognisable saints and December 6 finds many cities celebrating their patron saint. He is also the patron saint of all of Greece.
In the Middle Ages, both Saint Nicholas and Martin of Tours were celebrated as true people's saints. Many churches were named for them and later gave their names to the villages that emerged around them. As described above, while most contemporary saints earned their place in heaven by dying for their faith in manners most unusual and cruel, both Nicholas and Martin lived peacefully to a ripe old age. At a time of Religious wars and Crusades the idea that one could go to heaven, even become a saint, just by the way one lived instead of the way one died must have offered a great deal of consolation for the Medieval common folk. Therefore this time made Saint Nicholas a 'popular' saint in every sense of the word, more than all his miracles combined.
The Small Writer - statue created by Ellen Klijzing in 2005 , displayed during Summer 2007 at the seaside resort of Noordwijk, Holland.
The artist explains:
Man is the only being that writes, that marks to reflect what happens in his mind and that which we leave on the face of the earth. Writing is proof of our humanity and existence. The small writer has a long arm. He has a lot to write, and an entire ocean lies in his writing. In the end, he will survive on an island of his own text.
---------------------------------------------------
Beelden Boulevard, Noordwijk - zomer 2007
Schrijvertje “alles stroomt, alles in voortdurende beweging”
beeld gemaakt door Ellen Klijzing - uitleg van de kunstenaar:
De mens is het enige wezen dat schrijft, dat tekens maakt die weergegeven wat er in zijn geest gebeurt en die we op de huid van de aarde achterlaten. Schrijven is het bewijs van ons mens-zijn en van ons bestaan. Schrijvertje heeft een lange arm; hij heeft veel te schrijven en heeft de hele oceaan als schrift. Uiteindelijk zal hij overleven op het eilandje van zijn eigen tekst.
Step into the mesmerizing world of teamLab’s Life Survives by the Power of Life II (2020), a digital masterpiece blending calligraphy, nature, and life’s profound unity. This 60-minute looping installation challenges the boundaries between art and audience, immersing viewers in a seamless interplay of physical and artistic spaces. The artwork reimagines the kanji character for “life” (生, sei) through Spatial Calligraphy, a technique pioneered by teamLab that explores the depth, power, and fluidity of brushstrokes in a three-dimensional realm.
This creation transcends traditional two-dimensional art forms, utilizing teamLab’s Ultrasubjective Space concept to dissolve the perceived boundary between viewer and artwork. Unlike conventional framed pieces, where the surface separates observer and art, Life Survives by the Power of Life II extends into the audience’s environment, fostering an intimate and unified experience. The result is an artwork that blurs the lines between nature, civilization, and the individual.
Drawing inspiration from the continuity of life’s blessings and challenges, the piece asserts a timeless truth: existence is interconnected. Vibrant digital renderings of natural motifs and bold calligraphy merge to symbolize resilience and beauty amidst life’s dualities. Witnessing this work is not merely observing—it’s becoming a part of its living, breathing essence. Perfect for those seeking to engage deeply with art that defies conventions, Life Survives by the Power of Life II is a profound reminder of life’s interconnectedness and beauty.
I had just delivered the pictures I'd taken a while before. Although I don't know this woman, and she doesn't speak English (she's Russian), I love to take her picture.
To see more pictures of this woman, click the "woman on the home page" tag
Luke 18:18-23
[18] A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
[19] "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good -- except God alone. [20] You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'"
[21] "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
[22] When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
[23] When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
[24] Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! [25] Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Watts shared similar preoccupations to that of the aesthetic movement with its reliance upon the beauty of classical antique and Italian sources. The painter was friendly with Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) the iconic photographer, if one thinks of her blurred portraits and ill defined yet highly suggestive photos one can see a close relationship, Watt's paintings have a granular indistinct almost impressionist surface, matted layers of paint applied over rough canvas, not for him the smooth gesso white boards of the Pre Raphelite painters, his vast canvases often remind one of crumbling stucco. Their indistinct quality like the late Titian leads one's mind to formulate vast distances and conjure up ghosts. Watts as early as 1873 said his painting "Chaos " was influenced buy looking at cracks and stains on a dirty plaster wall, whilst "The Sower of The Systems" was influenced by patterns cast upon a ceiling by a lamp, it became a formless swirl of strokes, barely more than a gesture depicting the Deity as he put it, and it was painted in 1902 when artists elsewhere in Europe were moving towards forms of abstraction in painting.
Explore What Matters: A Proposition at SFMOMA, where contemporary works converge to question life, meaning, and art. The exhibition presents an evolving narrative in eight rooms, each inviting visitors to engage deeply with materials and concepts that bridge the personal and the universal. In this second episode, the exhibit showcases newly acquired works from artists such as Patty Chang, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Sky Hopinka, and Guadalupe Maravilla, among others.
A standout is Maravilla’s Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine). This imposing structure blends organic and industrial elements, weaving together ritual, survival, and regeneration. The piece reflects Maravilla’s own migration journey from El Salvador to the U.S., using materials gathered along the path. The sculpture, part of a series known as “Disease Throwers,” incorporates objects such as gongs, loofahs, and wooden elements, all designed to be activated through ritual sound baths. These immersive performances imbue the piece with healing energy, resonating with both historical and spiritual significance.
Architecturally, the minimalist gallery space complements the dynamic forms of the sculpture, allowing visitors to focus on the intricate interplay of textures and materials. The circular chalk outline on the floor, visible in the installation, emphasizes the piece’s ritualistic qualities, creating a space where art and healing intersect.
This exhibition encourages visitors to reflect on resilience, transformation, and the cyclical nature of existence, with works that evoke both quiet introspection and collective healing.
Admiralty Arch was designed in 1910 by Sir Aston Webb (who also worked on Buckingham Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum) to provide an elegant ceremonial passage from the hectic Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace. Note that traffic does not pass through the massive central arch - that is only opened for state occasions. The small outer arches are for pedestrian traffic, and the remaining central arches for vehicles.
The Arch was originally commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, though Edward did not live to see the work completed. A Latin inscription on the underside of the Arch denotes this memorial connection.
As part of the same development scheme that saw the Admiralty Arch built, Sir Aston Webb also widened The Mall (the old Mall, which dates from the time of Charles II, still exists beside the current thoroughfare), and provided the gilt statue of Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace, that provides such a striking counterpoint to the Admiralty Arch at the other end of The Mall.
William Frend De Morgan (November 16, 1839 – January 15, 1917) was a British potter and tile designer. A life-long friend of William Morris, he designed tiles, stained glass and furniture for Morris & Co. from 1863 to 1872. His tiles are often based on medieval designs or Persian patterns, and he experimented with innovative glazes and firing techniques. Galleons and fish were popular motifs, as were "fantastical" birds and other animals. Many of De Morgan's tile designs were planned to create intricate patterns when several tiles were laid together.
Recollections of William De Morgan praise him both for his personal warmth and the indomitable energy with which he pursued his kaleidoscopic career as designer, potter, inventor and novelist.
Christchurch Abbey, Dorset
The Shelley Memorial
Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in 1792 in Sussex and came from a prominent family being the son of the MP for Horsham.
The Shelley memorial was erected at University College in 1892-3 it lies in the west front quad of the college under a dome painted with stars and is close to The High Street, yet it seems another world. The domed memorial was intended for the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Curiously Shelley’s memorial is placed in the college from which he was sent down from in 1811 for publishing a “scandalous” document “The Necessity of Atheism”, this had be co-written with his friend Jefferson Hogg. Lady Shelley presented the memorial to University College, who by 1894 had undoubtedly forgiven Shelley’s earlier misdemeanour. Following the disgrace of the pamphlet Shelley eloped with sixteen year old Harriet Westbrook to Scotland, this marriage like Shelley’s tempestuous life was doomed, and Harriet drowned herself in the Serpentine (Hyde Park.) Drowning was to be the romantic poet’s own fate eleven years later when he too was lost, his yacht was sunk in a storm in the Bay of Lerici following a visit to Lord Byron . Onslow Ford’s monument is very “fin de siècle” it was designed to appear as if the muse of poetry and two lions support the drowned poet on a slab of Conemara marble as if floating on an invisible sea. The cold marble of his naked body contrasts with the heavy bronze of its support. The whole edifice is behind a grille and is locked so one usually observes it from eye level. The monument and its architectural surround was described by Pevsner as “extremely lush.” (P.211 Oxfordshire The Buildings of England , Yale Press) The memorial is an intriguing piece of work and is not generally open to public view. Basil Champneys (1842-1920) who was the architect was also responsible for Newham College Cambridge and Mansfield College Oxford. His work is often cited as late gothic, however in this case his influences appear more classical in keeping with the mausoleum.
It is worth comparing the University College monument with Weekes’ 1854 one of Shelley (In Christchurch Abbey). This monument was intended for St Peter’s Bournemouth where the poet’s heart is buried. (NT)
STELLA VINE: paintings
17 JULY TO 23 SEPTEMBER MOMA OXFORD
‘Her colours are a cake-maker’s – girlie pinks, Alice-band blues – and the way she writes on her pictures has been learnt from a bakery. But there is something there, nevertheless: a combination of empathy and cynicism that can be startling’
The Sunday Times
Stella Vine’s paintings are exuberant, funny and irreverent. She is notorious for her portraits of Kate Moss and disturbing images of Princess Diana and the heroin victim Rachel Whitear, but she also paints her mother and her son from photographs and memory. Stella Vine: paintings is the first opportunity to see a major exhibition of her work. Many rarely seen paintings will be on display. New work, made especially for the exhibition, includes a series of paintings of Princess Diana.
Born in 1969 in Northumberland, Stella Vine studied painting part-time at Hampstead School of Art in 1999. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions in the UK and internationally, notably ‘New Blood’ at the Saatchi Gallery in 2004 when she first came to public attention. Stella Vine currently lives and works in London.
A limited edition, illustrated hardback book has been specially created by the artist with designers FUEL. Essay by Germaine Greer.
‘Diana and her demons, Kate and cocaine, Jose Mourinho and his dog. Is any subject too raw for this notorious artist?’
Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times Magazine, June 2007
Guildford, Cathedral of The Holy Spirit
a triangle symbolises Omniscience; the all seeing divinity. The context in this piece of Flemish glass from the Alderman Fletcher collection is "The light of the body is the eye" Matt 6:22, in a triangle depicts the triune Godhead. Here it is pierced symbolising suffering, hence the tears.
A friend of mine who is an artist has included this image in one of her paintings. I think it is only a fragment of a larger piece. This device was also used on the frame of a Caspar David Friedrich painting.
On Saturday 3rd March we visited Kate Wilson's exhibition at the cathedral. The interior of Guilford's post war Cathedral is certainly far more inviting than its grim "Soviet" brick exterior. Kate's pastel of the eye, was based on a piece of glass that she saw from Alderma Fletcher's collection at Yarnton when she and her husband Simon visited us in Oxford in 2005. Kate adapted the image from this piece of glass and made this pastel from it. She also depicted Pentecost in an imaginative work based appropriately in The Cathedral of The Holy Spirit. Kate Is exhibiting some fine works in black and white (charcoal) depicting scenes portraying Jesus' humanity, for Lent 2007.
Camille Pissarro (July 10, 1830 – November 13, 1903) was a French Impressionist painter. His importance resides not only in his visual contributions to Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, but also in his patriarchal standing among his colleagues, particularly Paul Cézanne.
Known as the "Father of Impressionism", Pissarro painted rural and urban French life, particularly landscapes in and around Pontoise, as well as scenes from Montmartre. His mature work displays an empathy for peasants and laborers, and sometimes evidences his radical political leanings. He was a mentor to Paul Cézanne and Paul Gauguin and his example inspired many younger artists, including Californian Impressionist Lucy Bacon.
Pissarro's influence on his fellow Impressionists is probably still underestimated; not only did he offer substantial contributions to Impressionist theory, but he also managed to remain on friendly, mutually respectful terms with such difficult personalities as Edgar Degas, Cézanne and Gauguin. Pissarro exhibited at all eight of the Impressionist exhibitions. Moreover, whereas Monet was the most prolific and emblematic practitioner of the Impressionist style, Pissarro was nonetheless a primary developer of Impressionist technique.
Pissarro experimented with Neo-Impressionist ideas between 1885 and 1890. Discontented with what he referred to as "romantic Impressionism", he investigated Pointillism (as seen in this work above) which he called "scientific Impressionism" before returning to a purer Impressionism in the last decade of his life.
University College, Oxford
The Shelley Memorial
"Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity."
Shelley, "Adonais".
Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in 1792 in Sussex and came from a prominent family being the son of the MP for Horsham.
The Shelley memorial was erected at University College in 1892-3 it lies in the west front quad of the college under a dome painted with stars and is close to The High Street, yet it seems another world. The domed memorial was intended for the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Curiously Shelley’s memorial is placed in the college from which he was sent down from in 1811 for publishing a “scandalous” document “The Necessity of Atheism”, this had be co-written with his friend Jefferson Hogg. Lady Shelley presented the memorial to University College, who by 1894 had undoubtedly forgiven Shelley’s earlier misdemeanour. Following the disgrace of the pamphlet Shelley eloped with sixteen year old Harriet Westbrook to Scotland, this marriage like Shelley’s tempestuous life was doomed, and Harriet drowned herself in the Serpentine (Hyde Park.) Drowning was to be the romantic poet’s own fate eleven years later when he too was lost, his yacht was sunk in a storm in the Bay of Lerici following a visit to Lord Byron . Onslow Ford’s monument is very “fin de siècle” it was designed to appear as if the muse of poetry and two lions support the drowned poet on a slab of Conemara marble as if floating on an invisible sea. The cold marble of his naked body contrasts with the heavy bronze of its support. The whole edifice is behind a grille and is locked so one usually observes it from eye level. The monument and its architectural surround was described by Pevsner as “extremely lush.” (P.211 Oxfordshire The Buildings of England , Yale Press) The memorial is an intriguing piece of work and is not generally open to public view. Basil Champneys (1842-1920) who was the architect was also responsible for Newham College Cambridge and Mansfield College Oxford. His work is often cited as late gothic, however in this case his influences appear more classical in keeping with the mausoleum.
It is worth comparing the University College monument with Weekes’ 1854 one of Shelley (In Christchurch Abbey). This monument was intended for St Peter’s Bournemouth where the poet’s heart is buried. (NT)
My friend usually doesn't look serious, but here maybe the backdrop influences her. This mural is (was) on West 146th Street just east of Broadway.
Note from 2008: this mural has disintegrated.
And Lillian died in early 2014.
Jane Morris: Wife of William Morris, and muse of Pre Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. These are a selection of Rossetti's paintings of her. Rosetti was obsessed with the romance of the medieval world and his later paintings were an enormous influence upon the younger artists of the aesthetic movement, he loved colour, ornament, jewelery and the texture of cloth and surface detail. Unlike Hunt he was less concerned about "truth to nature" and never painted out of doors. His work was the greatest influence upon the young William Morris and Edward Burne Jones when they were both students at Exeter College in Oxford. The Exeter College chapel houses a premier work of art by Burne Jones "The Star of Bethlehem" also titled "The Adoration of the Magi" this closely follows a large tempera work of an earlier date (Birmingham City art Galleries) it was woven by Morris and Company 1890.
Queen Victoria,
My father and all his tobacco loved you,
I love you too in all your forms,
the slim and lovely virgin floating among German beer,
the mean governess of the huge pink maps,
the solitary mourner of a prince.
Queen Victoria,
I am cold and rainy,
I am dirty as a glass roof in a train station,
I feel like an empty cast iron exhibition,
I want ornaments on everything,
because my love, she gone with other boys.
Queen Victoria,
do you have a punishment under the white lace,
will you be short with her, will you make her read those little Bibles,
will you spank her with a mechanical corset.
I want her pure as power, I want her skin slightly musty with petticoats
will you wash the easy bidet out of her head?
Queen Victoria,
I'm not much nourished by modern love,
will you come into my life
with your sorrow and your black carriages,
And your perfect
memories.
Queen Victoria,
the Twentieth Century belongs to you and me.
Let us be two severe giants not less lonely for our partnership,
who discolour test tubes in the halls of Science,
who turn up unwelcome at every World's Fair,
heavy with proverbs and corrections,
confusing the star-dazed tourists
with our incomparable sense of loss.
Leonard Cohen QUEEN VICTORIA lyrics
Thine are these orbs of light and shade;
Thou madest Life in man and brute;
Thou madest Death; and lo, thy foot
Is on the skull which thou hast made.
Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man, he knows not why,
He thinks he was not made to die;
And thou hast made him: thou art just.
In Memoriam (Tennyson 1-2)
Watts sculpted heads for his large statue of Tennyson (Lincoln)
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and is one of the most popular English poets.
Much of his verse was based on classical or mythological themes, although In Memoriam was written to commemorate his best friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and classmate at Trinity College, Cambridge who was engaged to Tennyson's sister but died from a cerebral hæmorrhage. One of Tennyson's most famous works is Idylls of the King (1885), a series of narrative poems based entirely on King Arthur and the Arthurian tales, as thematically suggested by Sir Thomas Malory's earlier tales on the legendary king. The work was dedicated to Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. During his career, Lord Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success even in his lifetime.
The Watts Gallery, Compton , Surrey
Situated not far from their home at "Limnerslease" nearby, (limner meaning painter, lease to glean.) This little gallery has been described as "One of the most beautiful small galleries in Europe." It recently was featured on Restoration (BBC) and although much more popular these days than when I first visited it as a student back in 1977, it still needs considerable funds to ensure it remains there for posterity. G.F.Watts was one of the very great painter's of the Victorian era, his work likewise suffered an almost terminal decline in interest during the early to mid part of the twentieth century, but by 1960's there began a renewed interest in Victorian art and particularly that of The Pre Raphaelite painters. Watts however is hard to categorize, his paintings are somewhat like Leighton's but often without the grace of his output. Watts was given to his ambitious motto "The Utmost for the Highest" so similar the Pre Raphaelite aims he sought to use art to convey moral, spiritual and political truth in visual means. Clearly such an ambitious remit came about in the Victorian age which was one of great confidence, Although Watts was always somewhat removed from worldly concerned being considered an ascetic almost monk like character. Wilfred Blunt likened him to England's Michaelangelo, although stylistically his work is Venetian, and he more resembles Titian in his style (particularly his late work.) Watt Gallery covers the span of his career, some of the paintings are indeed of a very high caliber, whilst others are poor relations to those of his celebrated contemporaries. Watts career with our new century may once again enjoy a reappraisal and this small Arts and Crafts building designed by Christopher Turnor may yet do much to inspire people afresh. The galleries are hung with paintings in the Victorian manner, one modern curator's would consider overcrowded. However like Watts own work truths are eternal and the whims of fashion should not play a part when it comes to presenting great ideas, and Watts at his best in a late paintings such as "End of the Day" and "Sower of The Systems" shows him to be an artist to be reckoned with. It is known Picasso much admired some of Watts work and one can certainly see something of Watts in Picasso's Blue Period and Oscar Kokoshka's "Bride of the Winds" which is very similar to Watts' "Paolo and Francesca."
Nicholas Mynheer
"Rest on the Flight to Egypt" Oil on canvas 20X 50 cm
Nicholas Mynheer's work is well known in Oxfordshire from his work at North Leigh , St John's College Chapel, and Beckley. He is a contemporary artist whose principal themes are biblical, not only does Mynheer work in oil but also in glass and stone. For twenty years Nicholas has been painting and sculpting cheifly around Biblical themes for churches and religious institutions. His artworks are in many churches of all traditions throughout Britain and beyond, see Newcastle Cathedral and recently Great Missenden and sculpture at Sir Harold Hiller Arboretum, Hampshire.
Mynheer's painting in the Methodist collection depicts the traditional scene of the Holy family taking rest in the desert on their way to Egypt fleeing from the wrath of Herod. (Matthew 22:13-15)
Of the work Mynheer said: " I remember being told that the Judean Desert blooms with wild flowers for about two weeks every spring. I had the idea that as the Holy Family travelled across the desert it flowered in response to the presence of The Lord." It echoes the words of The Benedicte "O All ye works of the Lord: praise him , and magnify him forever."
Mynheer's work is highly styalised, rather like medieval images in stained glass, sometimes his figures have an almost comic book cartoon like quality with a strong expressionistic force akin to some early C20 German paintings by Beckman, his colours like stained glass are very intense and saturated.
Nicholas Mynheer studied at Hornsey College of art; he is a native of Oxfordshire and lives and works in Horton cum Studley. See window at his local church St Barnabas Horton Cum Studley. He feels naturally feels very attached to the landscape of Otmoor and has recently carved a number of "Green Men" from stone. He said "I think of the Green Man as an ancient-somebody who's been around forever. I've lived my life in the countryside, so I suppose as my faith and belief in God developed it became very nature based, even though it is Christ-centered." Mynheer's images seem to be influenced by many of the medieval carvings of his native Oxfordshire churches, possibly the carvings on misericords at New College or the Green Man at South Leigh...Tim Healy in "Limited Edition" has been doing a series on "The Green Man Trail" in Oxfordshire and the February edition featured an article on Mynheer's work P.13
Nicholar Mynheer will be giving a talk to co-incide with this exhibition next Thursday (in Oxford).
And a C19 painting of the Holy Family in Egypt by Long (Russell Coates Art Gallery)
Guildford, Cathedral of The Holy Spirit
On Saturday 3rd March we visited Kate Wilson's exhibition at the cathedral. The interior of Guilford's post war Cathedral is certainly far more inviting than its grim "Soviet" brick exterior. Kate's pastel of the eye, was based on a piece of glass that she saw from Alderma Fletcher's collection at Yarnton when she and her husband Simon visited us in Oxford in 2005. Kate adapted the image from this piece of glass and made this pastel from it. She also depicted Pentecost in an imaginative work based appropriately in The Cathedral of The Holy Spirit. Kate Is exhibiting some fine works in black and white (charcoal) depicting scenes portraying Jesus' humanity, for Lent 2007.
STELLA VINE: paintings
17 JULY TO 23 SEPTEMBER MOMA OXFORD
‘Her colours are a cake-maker’s – girlie pinks, Alice-band blues – and the way she writes on her pictures has been learnt from a bakery. But there is something there, nevertheless: a combination of empathy and cynicism that can be startling’
The Sunday Times
Stella Vine’s paintings are exuberant, funny and irreverent. She is notorious for her portraits of Kate Moss and disturbing images of Princess Diana and the heroin victim Rachel Whitear, but she also paints her mother and her son from photographs and memory. Stella Vine: paintings is the first opportunity to see a major exhibition of her work. Many rarely seen paintings will be on display. New work, made especially for the exhibition, includes a series of paintings of Princess Diana.
Born in 1969 in Northumberland, Stella Vine studied painting part-time at Hampstead School of Art in 1999. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions in the UK and internationally, notably ‘New Blood’ at the Saatchi Gallery in 2004 when she first came to public attention. Stella Vine currently lives and works in London.
A limited edition, illustrated hardback book has been specially created by the artist with designers FUEL. Essay by Germaine Greer.
‘Diana and her demons, Kate and cocaine, Jose Mourinho and his dog. Is any subject too raw for this notorious artist?’
Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times Magazine, June 2007
University College, Oxford
The Shelley Memorial
"Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,
Stains the white radiance of Eternity."
Shelley, "Adonais".
Percy Bysshe Shelley was born in 1792 in Sussex and came from a prominent family being the son of the MP for Horsham.
The Shelley memorial was erected at University College in 1892-3 it lies in the west front quad of the college under a dome painted with stars and is close to The High Street, yet it seems another world. The domed memorial was intended for the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Curiously Shelley’s memorial is placed in the college from which he was sent down from in 1811 for publishing a “scandalous” document “The Necessity of Atheism”, this had be co-written with his friend Jefferson Hogg. Lady Shelley presented the memorial to University College, who by 1894 had undoubtedly forgiven Shelley’s earlier misdemeanour. Following the disgrace of the pamphlet Shelley eloped with sixteen year old Harriet Westbrook to Scotland, this marriage like Shelley’s tempestuous life was doomed, and Harriet drowned herself in the Serpentine (Hyde Park.) Drowning was to be the romantic poet’s own fate eleven years later when he too was lost, his yacht was sunk in a storm in the Bay of Lerici following a visit to Lord Byron . Onslow Ford’s monument is very “fin de siècle” it was designed to appear as if the muse of poetry and two lions support the drowned poet on a slab of Conemara marble as if floating on an invisible sea. The cold marble of his naked body contrasts with the heavy bronze of its support. The whole edifice is behind a grille and is locked so one usually observes it from eye level. The monument and its architectural surround was described by Pevsner as “extremely lush.” (P.211 Oxfordshire The Buildings of England , Yale Press) The memorial is an intriguing piece of work and is not generally open to public view. Basil Champneys (1842-1920) who was the architect was also responsible for Newham College Cambridge and Mansfield College Oxford. His work is often cited as late gothic, however in this case his influences appear more classical in keeping with the mausoleum.
It is worth comparing the University College monument with Weekes’ 1854 one of Shelley (In Christchurch Abbey). This monument was intended for St Peter’s Bournemouth where the poet’s heart is buried. (NT)
Édouard Manet (French pronunciation: [edwaʁ manɛ]), 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883, was a French painter. One of the first nineteenth century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.
His early masterworks The Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia engendered great controversy, and served as rallying points for the young painters who would create Impressionism. Today these are considered watershed paintings that mark the genesis of modern art.
Emma Cousin The Ruskin Degree Show
Action in Air and Landing is the final exhibition of work by all sixteen third-year students at the Ruskin. Organized and curated annually as part of our examination in Fine Art, the degree show is the most celebrated and significant exhibition of the year for both the Ruskin and the University of Oxford.
The building used for the degree show functions throughout the rest of the year as a mix of studios, seminar rooms, offices and workshops. Each year, in a ‘spring clean’ of epic proportions, these spaces are emptied and purged of the messy accumulations of an art school.
All of the art exhibited is new work, inevitably conceived with the various moods and demands of the building in mind. While some pieces may seem more site specific than others, the location and installation of all the work has been considered and discussed amongst ourselves over a period of time – and has remained intentionally flexible right up until the last moment.
As an exhibition by a group of artists defined as a year group, rather than selected according to a curatorial concept, Action in Air and Landing reveals an eclectic mix of interests and preoccupations. Exchanges and discourses, which have been cultivating over the past three years, have come to fruition in this show. Rather than an individualistic ‘showcase’ of work, Action in Air and Landing should be seen as a culmination of the collective learning and productivity during our time at the Ruskin.
I thought that the work of Emma Cousin was very much like that of American “realist” Eric Fischl. Fischl was born in New York City and grew up on suburban Long Island; his family moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1967. His own web site describes him as growing up "[a]gainst a backdrop of alcoholism and a country club culture obsessed with image over content."
His art education began at Phoenix College, then a year at Arizona State University, then California Institute of the Arts in Valencia,California, where he earned his BFA in 1972. He then moved to Chicago, taking a job as a guard at the Museum of Contemporary Art.
Emma’s work looks quickly executed but there’s lot of depth to it, she brings out significance from somewhat throwaway moments caught as in a snapshot.