All in the best possible taste

After more than a month without getting to see any major London exhibitions, this week two came along at once.  Yesterday I went to the amazing Abstract Expressionism at the Royal Academy which was quite exhausting.  A couple of years ago before I knew anything about art history, I might wandered around confused, but this was just the perfect timing having just finished a year studying 20th century art.  Like many art works, no image can take the place of the real thing, and I can see now why Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Clifford Still (and many others) have such a following. However, as this is a textile themed blog and there was absolutely nothing specifically textile related about this these works, I will move on to the exhibition I saw on Thursday.

With a title of The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined, currently showing at The Barbican, you might think that this was going to be an exhibition of really bad fashion.  Instead, as the display clearly explained, to understand what is vulgar you also need to understand what is tasteful so here was plenty of both. In fact it might be difficult to assess what was vulgar as much depends on who you are and when you lived that allows you to decide what is vulgar and what is not.  Even some of the outfits that I might have put into the "vulgar" category on first sight, I had to admire for the exquisite detail, much of it embroidery.  

The word vulgar has had many meanings, and originally it was more about something common and ordinary than something ostentatious and showy.  So is being vulgar something that is trying to be something it isn't - a copy?  Something glitzy or provocative?  Something extravagant and out of place?

Amongst the pieces on show there was some exquisite lace, 18th century court gowns, historic stomachers and Viennese "golden bonnets" from Wien Museum, Vienna, dating from 1798-1810, so even if you were just interested in historic fashion there was plenty to see.  There was also plenty of twentieth and 21st century high fashion, including some made from denim (a vulgar fabric?) and a dress made of pencils.  The range of fashion styles on show meant there was much to admire and even some pieces to make you almost laugh out loud - although perhaps that would be acting in a rather vulgar way?

In conclusion, I thought this a very thought provoking exhibition.  It was also definitely worth sitting and watching the recorded interviews of fashion designers answering the question "what is vulgar?"  I came out seeing the world in a new light. 

The Vulgar: Fashion Redefined continues at The Barbican, London until 5 February 2017

Abstract Expressionism continues at the Royal Academy, London until 2 January 2017

Unfortunately as I can not post any images of either of these exhibitions, I have added an image of Omer Arbel's 44, which is currently installed in the Barbican foyer (until 18 April 2017).

This is not an orange.

It may look, taste, feel, smell like an orange - but it is in fact a piece of art, and previously on display at Tate Britain.  It is not often that galleries suggest you take a piece of art they have on display home, and when I visited I have to say I did not have the nerve to do so, but my friend did and gave the "art" to me. The exhibition is Conceptual Art in Britain 1964-1979.  For many people conceptual art is quite baffling but really it is about questioning what art is - a question famously asked by Marcel Duchamp when he tried to exhibit Fountain (which everyone thought was just a urinal) - a so called "found object".

So what has this to do with textiles?  Well it reminds me that despite all the decades of discussion, with many now agreeing that something is art if an artist says it is, there are still many who do not include embroidery and textile art as fine art.  Despite this there are plenty of textile pieces, even embroidered ones, in the major modern art galleries.

It did not help that in the 18th century the Royal Academy banned "fancy work" from their exhibitions - but even though there was at least one embroidered piece in last year's Summer Exhibition, most embroiderers are still nervous of submitting their work to this open show.  Now they must love textile art as the Royal Academy has wrapped their building in a fabric installation by artist Yinke Shonibare - a work titled Family Album.  (It is called a tapestry but I think it is more likely to be a printed art work, but I have yet to see it in real life).

Tomorrow sees the opening of a brand new exhibition at the Foundling Museum - called Found. Curated by Cornelia Parker, the list of other participating artists is impressive and I am looking forward to seeing what they have found - and also hearing about the stories behind their work.  I am particularly interested to find out if there are any textiles - watch this space.

Found - opens at the Foundling Museum in London, on Friday 27 May 2016 and continues until 4 September 2016.

Conceptual Art in Britain 1964-1979 continues at Tate Britain in London until 29 August 2016.

The Royal Academy Summer Show opens 13 June and continues until 21 August 2016.

Stunning textiles in pastel and enamel

In London, with time on my hands, I decided to visit the Royal Academy's exhibition of the 18th century artist, Jean-Etienne Liotard.  Until technological developments to overcome the difficulty of displaying his favoured medium of pastel were overcome, his work has been difficult to exhibit. It is this medium that gives his pictures a particular luminosity, yet equally it has made him less well known that he should be.  

Born in Geneva in 1702, Liotard spent much of his early life travelling across Europe painting for people on their Grand Tours.  John Montagu (4th Earl of Sandwich) and William Ponsonby (Viscount Duncannon) commissioned him to travel and draw souvenirs of their journey to the Levant, in particular the local costumes.  Not only did this display his talent for attention to detail and love of painting textiles it also gave him contacts that later in life helped obtain even more prestigious clients.

Liotard spent four years in the Levant and when he returned to Europe he dressed in an Oriental style. This made him stand out and attract customers, but they were also impressed by his artistic skill. His other eccentricity was that until his marriage he sported a very long beard.  This was removed at his new wife's request.  On her death (in 1782) the beard returned.  He was still painting in old age and, like Rembrandt, he recorded his own changing features in several self-portraits.  Liotard died in 1789.  

Although an exhibition of mainly portraits, this exhibition that could be viewed for the costumes alone.  Many of his western clients would wear for costumes purchased abroad, to give themselves an air of exoticism.  He had a particular love of a beautiful blue in which many of his sitters were dressed.

I think what I particularly enjoyed with this exhibition was looking at the difference in images looked from a distance and then close up.  In one painting of Katherine Furnese, Countess of Guilford (1754), a diamond at her throat looked so realistic seen from afar. Close up it seemed to be a brown oval with black and white marks - it was almost magical.  

Not only was Liotard skilled with pastel but also talented as a miniaturist working in enamels but both were difficult media.  On the audio guide there was a section that told how until recently it was difficult to transport pastels for exhibition and it is only with new developments in understanding the physical properties of this technique and advances in art transformation that made this exhibition possible.

Liotard drew and painted royalty across Europe including the young Marie-Antoinette, and the British Royal family.  He also painted more ordinary bankers, physicians, actors and singers.  He had no desire to idealise his sitters and the faces are informal and real.  There were so many beautiful images it would be hard to pick just one favourite.

It would also be impossible to finish this review without mentioning his trompe l'oeil, in particular his painting on silk of two plaques and sketches on what appears to be a wooden mount.

This exhibition continues until 31 January 2016, but be warned because the Ai Weiwei exhibition is in its final days (finishes 13 December) there is currently some queueing at the door.  This is partly for bag searches and then ticket purchase.  It was only about 15 minutes when I arrived around lunch time on Wednesday, but by the afternoon the queues were considerably longer.  

Amazing materials - combined and destroyed

Although my link between art and textiles is rather tenuous this week, I felt after seeing the amazing Ai Weiwei exhibition this week I could not avoid giving it a mention.  In fact the strongest link was the chair that was set beneath the trees in the Royal Academy courtyard.  This chair was not of course made of a textile, not even leather - it was carved from marble.  A marble chair is not good - especially on a winter's day.  It is rather cold.  In fact in this photo I seem to have the expression of someone on a marble chair, while my friend Melinda looks much more comfortable.

This was not the only chair in the exhibition as Ai Weiwei son's stroller also made  an appearance - this too was made of marble and set surrounded by a marble lawn.  The creases in the "fabric" looked so real.  It reminded us of a piece of work made by fellow E.A.S.T member, Susan Canfield for our "Making a point!"

If there was a central theme surrounding the Ai Weiwei exhibition it was "materials".  Whether he was protesting about the tragedy of the Shanghai earthquake or "celebrating" the authorities decision to destroy his artists' community building, or even to explore Chinese culture through its craftsmen and women, the materials used were the key to interpretation.  He combined antique furniture with pieces of temple, he mixed rubble with furniture, he used straightened rebars, he compressed tea into a metre cube.

He also used destruction in a creative way - famously breaking a Ming vase or grinding neolithic pots to dust.  Or did he?

One of my favourite pieces was a material of a different kind - a crystal cube, a metre cube.  As people passed by it reflected and fractured, and although I realise there must be a scientific explanation for its properties, it felt as if it was a magic trick - cutting someone in half.

Of course there is much more to this exhibition than the use of materials and many more pieces on display.  It was thought provoking, sometimes challenging and moving.  I came away having a great respect for the bravery of the artist, and other artists who challenge the system.  There were also items that were just amazing in their construction like the bicycle chandelier.   

This is an exhibition I would thoroughly recommend - it is on until 13 December 2015 at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Weaving a narrative - a portrait of every-woman (or man)?

When I knew I was visiting the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy in London last weekend, there was one work I knew I wanted to see - Grayson's Perry's Julie and Rob tapestry.  Last summer I was lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time at the Foundling Museum when the exhibition Progress was on, which included Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences (2012).  That set of tapestries followed the progress of Tim Rakewell, in a parody of William Hogarth's Tom Rakewell (Rakes Progress) - both "rag to riches" stories, that end with the protagonist having a rather untimely death. They were both portraits of a fictional life with a moral tale and both contemporary of their time.

At the time of Progress, I had spent the previous year studying Exploring Art and Visual Culture (A226) with the Open University.  It was the perfect timing to understand the art history references and symbolism that Perry includes in his contemporary narratives.  What I particularly noticed about Perry's work is that although you can enjoy it on a simple level with its bold images and contemporary references, there are always symbols and layers of meaning to discover - some humorous, some thought provoking.  

This Summer Exhibition piece is part of a body of work that tells the story of the fictional Julie Cope. Part "shrine", part holiday home, Perry had been commissioned to design a house, now built in Wrabness in Essex, and this is perhaps the most well known part of his homage to the "every-women" in Essex.   Despite being a native of Essex myself, "Julie" is not a character I fully identify with, but perhaps that is the point - there is no typical "Essex woman" (or man).  Anyway can a portrait ever tell the whole story of someone?

Julie's identity bracelet did resonate as I had a similar bracelet when I was in my teens/twenties - did my charms say something about me then?  I also wondered about the flowers - did they symbolise some personal aspect of Julie or her life?  What about the tear welling up in Rob's eye - what did that imply? The fictional Julie died, (as symbolised by the pizza delivery bike that is part of the display in the Wrabness house), but unless this Rob had some foreknowledge of her demise surely this image was supposed to be a portrayal of a couple in happier days.  Is he raising his glass or drowning his sorrows?  

Julie and Rob also reminded me of another of Perry's exhibitions which had as its main theme identity through portraiture (personal, regional, national) - the Who Are You? exhibition, which I visited in February this year at the National Portrait Gallery, London.  Not only did it examine a whole range of British identities (mainly in the medium of textiles or ceramics) but the work also questioned how we view different individuals and groups - by their appearance, by their gender, by their disability, by their religion, their lifestyle or home town. Can anyone really be identified by these things and does our identity change in different circumstances depending on who we are with and where we are at the time?  

I have found all these explorations of identity fascinating and Perry's work always challenges my thinking - opening my eyes to lives I might not have thought about before.  I think one of Perry's greatest skills is how he communicates his ideas - using contemporary themes and media we are all familiar with (ceramics and textiles, and often an accompanying TV show), his work is certainly accessible to every-woman and every-man.  And perhaps that it why his work appeals to so many - you certainly do not need to understand art history to enjoy his work, but it does give another layer of meaning.

Sewing in the Summer

On the very last weekend of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, I managed to catch the show.  It is an exhibition that can sometimes be overwhelming - just because of the number of pieces on display all vying for attention.  It is impossible to take in everything.  I went this year with friends and was glad I did. 

One of the first pieces we saw as we entered the Central Hall was Blood of Sweat by El Anatsui Hon RA - a large work of "stitched" aluminium, using copper wire.  I love the way that this artist creates his soft, shimmering textile-like works.  Aesthetically intriguing you are drawn in to find bits and pieces of discarded metal and wire.  If there was time to look properly, there would be a much deeper message than an object of beauty made from detritus.

The exhibition is always a combination of serious work alongside images that make you smile.  One section of wall contained work by celebrity artists Harry Hill (the image of Damien Hirst) and Una Stubbs (Grayson and Measles) both below an image of a smiling Simon Cowell (by Jean Samtula). However the image that particularly appealed to me here was that of Smuggler by Kate Barlow - the budgerigar in the top left corner.  I liked the simplicity of the design, and had not realised initially that it was hand embroidered.  Kate is a student of the Royal School of Needlework, and I was glad I picked it out first for its design, before then being wowed by the silk shading technique.  According to the RSN website it took 140 hours to complete.  It was good to see a traditional embroidery considered an artwork by the Royal Academy.

There were other textiles on display, including a machine embroidered piece (so high up I could not see any detail), a tapestry by Grayson Perry, a cilice (hair shirt) literally made of the artist's hair and a sculptural piece that came out from the wall (One-to-One by Lisa Milroy RA) that used hand printed fabric.  

Nice as it was to see some textiles, there were many other works I found interesting.  One I particularly liked was a work by Sir Anish Kapoor RA Untitled - unfortunately the photograph does not do this piece justice.

There were several paintings, prints. architectural designs, sculptures and other works that I enjoyed. I think the trick with the RA Summer Exhibition is not to try and take in too much, but to wander slowly looking for pieces that catch your attention and then think why.  Even better is if you can go with friends to talk about what you like, what is interesting and what you don't care for.  Sometimes seeing someone else's viewpoint helps change your opinion - which is no bad thing either.