Monday 27 September 2010

Book Fair Buys






Wolfgng Tillmans - Freedom From The Known, published by Steidl on the occasion of his solo show at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Centre New York. I've been meaning to purchase a Wolfgang Tillmans book for a while now, and this cloth bound hardback was too good an opportunity to miss at £14.50. The book contains mostly abstract works alongside black and white photocopied works, and a particularly insightful essay by Bob Nickas.


Words Without Pictures, published by Los Angeles County Museum of Art, part of the Aperture series. This book initially started out as an online project in which each month an academic/practitioner/thinker would contribute an essay on a certain aspect of photography and its place in the art world, leading to online discussion forums and panel debates, which has been carefully transcribed to exist in book form.

Saturday 25 September 2010

Corduroy


"This is the anglicised version of the French Corde du Roi, for the material was used on the jackets of the hunting livery of the servants of the King of France.

It is interesting to note that, like cul-de-sac (which always makes the French laugh as it is very rude), it is never used by the French, who call it velour côtelé which is exactly what it is, namely ribbed cotton velvet.

The Germans have an even more romantic name for it, namely 'Manchester'. Manchesterhosen to the German means corduroy slacks. It is in this latter form that it is mostly seen in our lives, and is of course very hardwearing.

On a jacket the cloth is almost too 'ungrateful' as the French would say, as it is too stiff to fall attractively or mould to the body. It is also extremely hot."

Nicely put in Hardy Amies' ABC of Men's Fashion.

Friday 24 September 2010

Website!


Just a note to say that my WEBSITE is now live! At the moment it is a collection of albums of photography but will hopefully expand to include work I make in the near future.

Absence


Today I stopped by Rachel Whiteread's current show at Tate Britain, a collection of drawings and sketches and preparatory work dating back to the start of her career as an artist. Presented as the studies and supporting material behind the sculptures for which she is known for (included are plans for many of her most well known works, such as 1993's 'House' and her Fourth Plinth commission) they are allowed to stand alone here as pieces in their own right, her pared down studies in such everyday materials as pen, pencil and correction fluid showing many of the minimalist tendencies of the much more tangible, solid structures that are her sculptures. What is so haunting about her sculptures - particularly her Holocaust Memorial, a maquette for which is displayed in the exhibition - is the sense of quietness and absence produced by something so gigantic and present. In her drawings we are instead asked to reflect upon the textures and marks made by materials on paper, the objects and spaces rendered in two dimensions with subtlety and a certain weightlessness that hints at the empty space within that is repeatedly the focus 0f her practice. Through collage, over-drawn photographs and drawings on paper Whiteread displays an affinity for the flat image that more than compliments her sculptural work.

Thursday 23 September 2010

Francis Alÿs



Really gutted I missed this exhibition at Tate Modern over the summer. If you have a few minutes spare and also didn't manage to catch the retrospective his website is worth checking out, with many of his videos and documentation of performances available to watch (and in some cases download) for free.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Let's try and revive this blog..

I moved back to London on Sunday and it almost feels like I was never away, settling a little to easily back into old routines. Anyway, as an attempt to start blogging more regularly again, here are a few things I'm looking forward to in the coming weeks...


The London Art Book Fair, held this weekend at the Whitechapel Gallery. Will have to try pretty hard not to bankrupt myself on discount books...


Launching my website, whilst I finally get past my indecisiveness and manage to finish it.


Gauguin at Tate Modern.



New releases from No Age and Deerhunter, both of which sound pretty good from what I've heard on various streams on the internet...

Ever since watching Annie Hall the other night I've also started lusting after a corduroy blazer. Whilst this stunning example from Margeret Howell may be slightly unobtainable Uniqlo do an almost identical one for a snip of the price...