Shred #7

I’m quite enjoying this work. There’s no aim in mind, just a cohesive bunch of images.

Rinko Kawauchi

Rinko Kawauchi – Untitled (from Utatane)

The work of Rinko Kawauchi is becoming increasingly important to me, the tenderness and delicacy she uses to document her world fascinates me. She often exhibits her work alongside haikus she has written which is very apt as her work is very poetic.

I first saw the above photograph a few years back and it really grabbed my attention. To this day I can still spend hours looking at it.

I thought I’d show some new work. I’m not totally sure where it’s going, these may just remain as sketches.

Shred #1

Shred #2

Also, I’ve found BBC2’s School Of Saatchi to be quite distasteful – I don’t like art being a horserace. Especially when put into this X-Factor style format. It’s quite a shame as the show does have it’s  good points. Matthew Collings and Kate Bush always have interesting and constructive points to make.  The work of Suki Chan is by far my favourite. Really subtle and poetic. She’d be a deserving winner. I’d seen some of her work at the Chinese Art Centre in Manchester a few years ago, I remember liking it but then forgot who it was by. Revisiting it has been a very pleasant surprise!

Gerhard Richter – Modern Times

Last month I went to see the Gerhard Richter retrospective at MIMA in Middlesborough. Richter is my favourite artist, the benchmark I judge other contemporary artists by, and Middlesborough is only an hour on the train from me.

There were four rooms housing his work. The first room contains Richter’s Corner Paintings. There’s something quite disconcerting about the focus of the room being in the corners. It cuts the viewer off rom the rest of the room, shrinking the viewing space down.

Gerhard Richter – Eckspiegel, Braun-Blau (Corner Mirror, Brown-Blue) 1991

The second room is composed solely of Two Sculptures for a Room by Palermo which is two sculptures of Richter and Blinky Palmero by the artists themselves. The sculptures are situated on plinths and are facing each other so seem to be ’staring’ at each other. The locked gaze creates tension between the two objects.

Gerhard Richter – Zwei Skulpturen für einem Raum von Palermo (Two Sculptures For A Room By Palermo) 1971

Room three shows several of Richter’s Abstract Paintings which he’s probably best known for (along with his Photo Paintings). These were the first Richter works I ever saw and it’s always pleasant to revisit them. It’s easy to forget the subtlety happening on a large-scale while looking at reproductions of his work. They still have the same impact on me that they did when I was a student.

Gerhard Richter – Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Painting) 1994

The final room contains a selection of Richter’s drawings. The fluency of line he employs is truly spectacular. It also houses some of Richter’s painting of Gilbert & George.

Gerhard Richter – Gilbert, 1975

Gerhard Richter – George, 1975

It goes without saying that I loved this exhibition – it’s a good overview of his work (it’s by no means even close to exhaustive but it would take a much bigger gallery than MIMA to achieve this).  I’d love to see what a bigger gallery, say the BALTIC in Gateshead, could do with his work.

At one the wind rose,
And with it the noise
Of the black poplars.

Long since had the living
By a thin twine
Been led into their dreams
Where lanterns shine
Under a still veil
Of falling streams;
Long since had the dead
Become untroubled
In the light soil.
There were no mouths
To drink of the wind,
Nor any eyes
To sharpen on the stars’
Wide heaven-holding,
Only the sound
Long sibilant-muscled trees
Were lifting up, the black poplars.

And in their blazing solitude
The stars sang in their sockets through
the night:
`Blow bright, blow bright
The coal of this unquickened world.’

Phillip Larkin – Night Music

One from the archives.

Fiona Crisp – Subterrania

This was the first show I had the chance to see since returning to Newcastle, at BALTIC Centre For Contemporary Art.

Fiona Crisp is a North-East based artist, primarily creating installations of large-format photographs. Subterrania documents underground spaces that are rarely seen. The many prints are large which gives quite a claustrophobic feeling – the individual photographs don’t give the mood justice, it is very much an installation.

The BALTIC show closed a few weeks ago. It will shortly be moving to Impressions Gallery in Bradford from 20th November until 24th January 2010 before finishing at Newlyn Art Gallery in Cornwall between 13th February and 17th April 2010. I’d certainly recommend it. Very different to a lot of photograph-based exhibitions and all the more refreshing for it.

Fiona Crisp – Abteilung Nr/C

Fiona Crisp – Victory Cross Cut

I’m back. Here’s an experiment.

Nine Prints #1-9

Still without an internet connection at home so I’m blogging from my dad’s house. Just letting you all know I moved safely.

I’ve seen the Fiona Crisp exhibition at BALTIC and will be going to see the Gerhard Richter show at MIMA in Middlesbrough tomorrow. Reviews as soon as BT get my phone line sorted.

I’ve also bought a coffee machine, no music and spent a lot of time in Intermezzo.

Two nights left in Manchester. So here’s another photograph!

Al Palmer – Isn’t Anywhere