POINTLESS ART: CACTUS, BALLOONS & NEONS

MARTIN CREED / EXHIBITION

LONDON / SOUTHBANK CENTRE / 29 January 2014 - 27 April 2014

Until April London's Southbank Centre is hosting a retrospective exhibition of Martin Creed's work.

Winner of the 2001 Turner Prize, Creed is recognized for his playful installations and minimalistic, but witty approach. Crossing all artistic media and including music, he transforms everyday materials into surprising art forms. After 20 years of his presence on the British art scene, it is about time to sum it all up in one major exhibition.

Martin Creed was born in Wakefield in 1968 and currently lives and works in London. Apart from being an artist, he is also an independent musician. On February 3rd he released his second album Mind Trap via Telephone Records.

Caution! Lichtenstein!

On Feb 21st 2013 Tate Modern is launching Roy Lichtenstein's retrospective art exhibition. With over 100 pictures, sculptures and drawings, it will be a great opportunity to see the work of one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Whaam! by Roy Lichtenstein in Tate Modern's storage warehouse.
Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

There is something final and metaphorical about all Lichtenstein's works. As if he was trying to compare life to a comics story and show us that we should either be more easy going about everything or - on the contrary - extremely dramatic. If we live only once, why not do it with the passion and energy of an exploding plane from his 'Whaam!' painting?

Lichtenstein was one of the most significant figures on the American pop-art scene. His comics-inspired style earned him a place in the pantheon of acclaimed art gods. Lichtenstein did his own interpretations of Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Paul Cezanne or Jackson Pollock's pictures showing his sense of humor and extensive knowledge of art. 

Damien Hirst at Tate Modern

Damien Hirst's exhibition at London's Tate Modern is one of the most powerful things in art I have ever seen. Hirst built his career up on controversy. However there is also beauty and strong conceptual thinking behind his work. The exposition is open till September 9th 2012. It is a combination of absolutely fascinating images and repulsive objects. Life and death. Fragility vs violence. Delicacy contra blood.

 

I can not say I loved everything, but it was definitely an experience. I found the living butterflies display the most captivating part of the exhibition. You actually walk into a room and these amazing little creatures fly around you! You do not want to upset the guards by touching the living part of the exhibition. But if the butterfly chooses you and lands on your jacket, enjoy the feeling! You are special!

Go to Marina Sacley's blog to see more of Hirst's butterflies: http://iced-vovos.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/damien-hirst-butterfly-inspiration.html

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Text: Maya Persson 
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Links:
Damien Hirst at Tate Modern: http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/damien-hirst
Hirst's Official Website:
http://www.damienhirst.com/

Yoko Ono's London Exhibition

Yoko Ono's exhibition at Hyde Park's Serpentine Gallery was a lovely collection of the artist's video-art, installations and interactive projects.
Before you entered the gallery you found a beautiful Wish Tree. Everybody was given a chance to write their wish down and hang it among other people's notes. It was a beautiful meditation, Lodon's message to God.

Inside there was a glass labyrinth, some of Yoko Ono's early video-art projects, poems and a wall with meditative and somewhat quirky texts written in pencil.

Yoko collects images of people's smiles. There were 2 electronic photo-booths where you could take a picture of yourself and submit it to the artist's collection. After a few minutes the images were projected on a large screen so that you could see yourself in a gallery and somehow become a piece of art. The photos are kept in Yoko Ono's archive and will be used in the future as a part of a larger installation.

The soothing surroundings of the Serpentine Gallery became a home for Yoko Ono's beautiful and minimalistic art concepts.

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Text: Maya Persson
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Bernard Barnes - Art in Wales

 Author: Bernad Barnes

During my Bank Holiday's trip to Wales I stopped in Barmouth where I discovered a beautiful art gallery located in former St. John's Church Hall building. Transformed into an open studio, this magical place is based on a level above the city and offers a free access to an impressive private art collection. Bernard Barnes and Reyna Rushton have taken over the building and filled it with their paintings and sculptures. It is an exhibition space open to visitors, but also a private workshop where the artists produce their work and organize events. Barnes is interested in cosmology, synapses and connections between living creatures. His pictures are covered with very precise lines which resemble the paths of the traveling light and the maps of the stars in the sky.

'Art On The Hill' Gallery is a MUST-SEE if you are in the Gwynedd Wales not only because of its atmosphere, but also Bernard's impressive painting installation which fills an entire wall of St. John's Church Hall. This masterpiece is made of 9 panels, exceeding the size of 3 tall men standing on the top of each other and is definitely some kind of a discovery for me.
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Text / images: Maya Persson
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Links:
http://www.bernardbarnes.com/
http://www.culturecolony.com/news?id=6020&start=40

Healing Power Of Fantasy

Kirsty Mitchell lost her mother to brain cancer in 2008. The 'Wonderland' photo series has been a way to deal with the sorrow. All costumes, wigs and sets were constructed on a shoestring budget. Kirsty would often wait an entire year to find the perfect natural setting for her shots. Her photographic series began as a small summer project which challenged her grief and turned into passion. Her mother Maureen was an English teacher who spent her life inspiring generations of children with imaginative stories and plays. Kirsty's work has been greatly appreciated by an international audience with the recent articles in the Daily Mail and on BBC websites. Her exhibition has become a part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee's celebrations in London.
Kirsty Mitchell's website
http://www.kirstymitchellphotography.com/galleries.php

via Daily Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2145760/Wonderland-Kirsty-Mitchell-heart-breakingly-beautiful-photographic-series-memory-extraordinary-life.html
via Enpundit
http://enpundit.com/wonderland-kirsty-mitchell/