Ten in 2010
We all know they’re daft, but they’re also irresistible, to make and to read, and so here is my Top 10 of TwentyTen! Yeah! The ten artists that have mattered most to me, in one way or another, during the past year.
Tauba Auerbach (Best website ever too!)
Though I think my favourite exhibition was Cerith Wyn Evans at White Cube
Bad Religion wrote this song ages ago in anticipation of this list, so thanks to those guys.
And Stuart Shave/Modern Art confirmed themselves as one of my fave galleries of the year by having the incredible Slayer Xmas light show as their Christmas wishes on their website, makes this time of year bearable.
and this is my year that was on spotify, happy holidays!
possibilities for abilities
I have to leave my studio at the end of the month, the £250 monthly rent is just proving too much. This has actually had a positive side effect by providing me with a deadline and I’ve had an incredibly productive time recently. I feel that I have now produced a cohesive body of work as opposed to a few unresolved paintings. Owen & George from And/Or Gallery came round last night for a second visit to see how things were. Their first visit proved to be a catalyst for my recent productivity, providing me with confidence to pursue ideas and a belief in my own uncertain feelings. Having them round was again a really positive experience, it was great for me for them to see and understand certain intentions I have for the work. This will hopefully lead to actually exhibiting my new work, which is a very exciting prospect. I am starting to feel less like a fraud and as if I may actually be able to do this, though of course I am at the bottom of an awfully steep incline.
While although it is sunny, it is also bloomin’ Frieze-ing!
I work part-time in the Saatchi Gallery bookshop and more recently I’ve started to do some tech work/art-handling, helping to take down and install the exhibitions. Through this I’ve had a days work hanging photographs and paintings in a private house and more recently I got a call asking if I was free the next day to work at the Frieze Art Fair, for a gallery from Sao Paulo. I’ve never been to Frieze before, it’s absolutely massive & I was working within spitting distance of galleries such as White Cube, Gagosian, Marian Goodman, David Zwirner & Vilma Gold. It was incredible to see so much artwork in one place, and to see it in the process of being cared for, carefully constructed and displayed, mostly by artists like myself who work as art technicians to support themselves, as opposed to visiting the fair while it was actually open and full of people and all about selling art as a product, which I can imagine is not so nice.
The Epoch of Perpetual Happiness
13th November 2009 – 17th January 2010
The Epoch of Perpetual Happiness
Peter Davies
This painting (below) is incredible. And the gallery is in the upstairs of a pub, which can be good, and bad, and probably played a part in me saying stupid things at the Maaike Schoorel talk, which was very interesting.
“Small Touching Squares-diagonal overlapping rectangles-painting”, 2009
Acrylic on canvas, 213×366 cm
visible invisible
Visible Invisible: Against the Security of the Real
25 November 2009 – 7 February 2010
Artists: Cecily Brown, Hans Josephsohn, Shaun McDowell, Katy Moran and Maaike Schoorel
“… in the presence of a painting, it is not a question of my making ever more references to the subject … Rather … it is a matter of contemplating, of perceiving the painting by way of the silent signals which come at me … from its every part, which emanate from the traces of paint set down on the canvas … to form a tightly structured arrangement in which one has the distinct feeling that nothing is arbitrary …”
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
This is a brilliant exhibition, not least because it provided me with my first experience of Cecily Brown’s paintings, which thankfully lived up to my highest expectations. Katy Moran’s paintings are always a pleasure, Shaun McDowell’s work was exciting and made me want to play with oil sticks, and Maaike Schoorel’s paintings are a quiet challenge to the other artists excesses and definitely worth some extended looking time. I spent a long time at this exhibition and will be returning frequently.
There are also a series of artists talks to accompany the exhibition. I have my tickets.
Thursday 10 December, 7pm
Gallery talk: Maaike Schoorel in conversation with Pablo Lafuente
Pablo Lafuente is a writer, Managing Editor of Afterall and Associate Curator at the Office for Contemporary Art Norway, Oslo. He will be in conversation with the exhibiting artist, Maaike Schoorel, to discuss the guiding principles behind her work.
£5/£3 concessions
Thursday 7 January, 7pm
First Thursdays event: Katy Moran in conversation with Tom Morton
Tom Morton is a Curator at the Hayward Gallery, London, Contributing Editor for Frieze, and Co-Curator (with Lisa Lefeuvre) of the British Art Show 7, 2010- 2011. He is also the author of one of the catalogue essays that accompanies this exhibition. He will be in conversation with the exhibiting artist, Katy Moran, to discuss her work in the context of the exhibition.
£5/£3 concessions
Thursday 21 January, 7pm
Gallery talk: Shaun McDowell in conversation with Hannah Barry and Ben Eastham
Artist Shaun McDowell will discuss his work in the exhibition with Hannah Barry, Director of the Hannah Barry Gallery and Ben Eastham, Head of Publications. McDowell’s paintings have been exhibited since 2006; his first major solo exhibition was held at the Hannah Barry Gallery in May 2008.
Free
Painting…fucking love it.
2 comments