500,25,600 minutes...................not quite............

.......but it feels like that long since I’ve  felt the pleasure of blogging.

With the world hurtling to who knows what future, and the UK becoming an  country unrecognisable to me, my creative urge has been struggling to find any point in emerging in to the daylight. Today felt right for a review of February. This is a very photo heavy post.

Decorating a samba drum to be played at Extinction Rebellion events

A beautiful, soothing piece from the exhibition at Two Temple Place, “Unbound” sadly, like so many events, cut short. Some great pieces in this, particularly the historic clothing, but also a few strange placements of exhibits on the second floor, meaning that four pieces could not be seen effectively. If this exhibition is re-opened, I hope the curators take note of the comments about the placement of the beautiful saris, and the two indigo wallhangings.

Painting course, a piece now probably never to be finished about locks and fragments, 

based on this photo

Signs of spring

Creating textures with paint

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The visionary Alexander McQueen, a superb exhibition in the shop on Bond Street - and they did let me in even although I was dressed in my oldest clothes worn to the painting class.

Dyed and shredded silk chiffon

As a dressmaker, intrigued to see the effect of the two wedge-shaped panels inserted in to the full circle skirt.

Hand made,  gold work bees

There are some excellent reviews ( and photographs of the actual garments ) in these articles here, and here. I know that couture is criticised as only being applicable to the rich, but I see the skills involved as no different from other fine crafts and therefore worthy of admiration. 

Then to see The Doncaster Heads, by Laurence Edwards, an art project commissioned by Doncaster Council to honour the town’s mining heritage. 

These heads are so moving, half life-size, I think. I’m often not taken with the finish on bronze portraits, but these are excellent. Perhaps it is the sheer number, and that each person is recognisable as an individual, yet part of a whole.There is a superb series of videos, of Laurence Edwards, sculpting the heads of 22 of the participants, as they talk to him. Each one is at least 1h and 50 mins, but are an excellent antidote to our current lockdown.

Library quilt, piecing completed, but needs a couple of appliques,  before quilting.

More textured paper

Picasso exhibition. Fantastic. I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did . So many media, and I was not aware of how much he was prepared to experiment in them all. 

My professional life takes me to many hospitals across the UK. In Southampton General, there was an exhibition of the work of Alexa Cox. Delicate, yet powerful of images of young children, with paper cutaways. Very arresting and getting a lot of attention from hospital visitors. I didn't notice the parallelogram shaped light reflections until I loaded this photo.

Cutting circles in the textured papers

Experimenting with tone

Blue textured papers

An exhibition of new work by Frances MacDonald at the Portland Gallery. If I am ever left an inheritance, I will buy one of her huge paintings.

Franken-seed-pods in a London square

Spring sunset

Hellebore from my garden

Carrying the weight of the world? This running man, is one of a whole series that supports the banister inside a Newcastle hotel. Whenever  my work takes me away from home, I try to stay somewhere interesting, or to get to a local exhibition that I would not see otherwise. I wonder if I will be able to do that again before I retire.

The image below, from here, shows the statuettes before renovation.

Flooding in York, seen from the train

What a month of memories and inspiration.

Alexander McQueen's birthday is today

When I booked my ticket on 4th April 2014 for the Savage Beauty exhibition, I did not realise that I had booked to go on the day that would have been Alexander McQueen's 46th birthday.  This is my 4th clothing-based exhibition at the V and A and it really does live up to the hype, and I am not surprised to see that the exhibition has already even extended until the 2nd August.

Suzy Menkes has written a very perceptive review, with excellent photographs, here.  As a devoted McQueen fan, I am familiar with his training in Savile Row, Angels and Bermans, Central St Martins and his work at Givenchy, but Menkes makes a fair point that none of this is really explained in the exhibition.  I think it is critical to understand McQueen's path into couture, to really appreciate his technical skill, his cultural context and his breathtaking artistry.  

I would have appreciated more indication of  which pieces he had the actual artisanal as well as the artistic hand, so I could revere even more those where he stitched, cut or slashed the fabric himself.  

The staging of the show is supremely theatrical, many of the garments are not under glass  and viewers can get close enough to see construction seams and embellishments, - the curved French dart was much in evidence as is McQueen's understanding of the properties of the fabrics with which he worked.  I've never seen bias-cut hessian look so elegant.

The V and A seem to have learned from the crush at the Golden Age of Couture  exhibition, and there was less crowding around the exhibits and the flow through the rooms seemed steady and gave everyone enough time to really examine each piece as they wished.  The book to accompany the exhibition, by Claire Wilcox ,is now on my wish list.  No photography in the exhibition, therefore images of my favourites are from the websites that you will find if you click each image, particularly the Met museum in New York.  

I do have an ambivalent relationship with couture, loving the artistry, the ingenuity and the incredible fabrics, but being very uneasy about the uber-luxury market to which it is now pitched.  That being said, I would still urge you to go, and then go again.

Is 11 months ahead really too soon to book for an exhibition?

Not if it is an opportunity to see the workmanship on this

and this

Alexander McQueen's "Savage Beauty" is coming to the V and A in March 2015 and I've booked my ticket.  I used to wonder what all the fuss was about with McQueen, until i went to Liberty's and tried on some of the jackets.  He was a master of his craft and it will be a joy to see the combination of the tailoring and the skills of the atelier staff with whom he worked.

( Images from the Metropolitan Museum site)

A day of contrasts

Three exhibitions in a day, and what contrasts.  First, a morning of couture excellence at the Valentino exhibition at Somerset House.  On until 3rd March, this is a must for anyone with an interest in couture techniques.  Not only 130 stunning outfits ( some technically impressive , but it has to be said, a bit hideous to look at) but several detailed  exhibits showing how some of these techniques are done.  No photography allowed, so these are from the Guardian and dressful websites.

The catalogue is full of useful definitions of types of fabric, and of the techniques used.  This one, pagine, was a favourite of mine.

Then on to The Mall Galleries to see the entrants into the Lynn Painter Stainers competition for representational painting.  On until 02 March, this was an intriguing collection of contemporary painting.  The winner, shown below ( picture from the Independent website) glowed in the gallery.

Fascinating, densely thick impasto paintings by George Rowlett were new to me.  Astonishing colours glowing through paint as thick as 1cm in places.

Finishng with a visit to the Ben Uri Gallery in North London to see challenging art works by Judy Chicago, Tracey Emin, Helen Chadwick and Louise Bourgeois.  This exhibition is on until 10th March and certainly gave me a new perspective on Judy Chicago.  Of real note to me was how much of her work is made in collaboration with her husband and with other "maker artists" , particularly for her work in stitch, tapestry and stained glass.    Much of the work on display is still visually shocking, which is intriguing in this age of immediate access to shocking imagery from many sources.

The amount of collaborative effort that goes in to Judy Chicago's pieces stimulated more thought on the relationship between artists and the artisans who make their work, and back to my exploration of the Maggi Hambling "Scallop".

A great day for the mind, and for celebrating friendship.  Thanks Helen.