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David Bailey, photographer and East End Boy, has worked with The Rolling Stones, Andy Warhol and has helped make British Vogue the iconic fashion bible that it is today. Crane.tv catch up with him at his latest exhibition, East End, a documentation of the area since the 1960s, to talk political correctness and why he hates being photographed.
David Bailey’s East End, 06/07/2012 until 05/08/2012, Compressor House, Royal Docks, Newham.www.createlondon.org
Janet Cardiff, in her exhibition The Forty-Part Motet, understands intuitively a cardinal aesthetic principle – that less is more. With a show the only material features of which are loudspeakers, positioned in a circle as they convey a pivotal Elizabethan musical work, Cardiff notes the virtues of a spartan layout that emphasises the nuances of the score over what might otherwise seem invasive ephemera. Taking as the title of her presentation the technical make-up of Thomas Tallis’ exquisite Spem in Alium (Hope in any Other), Cardiff reworks a piece for eight choirs of five voices each. In doing so, she is careful to distinguish her accomplishment, as one who purely experiments with music, from one she well knows to lie compositionally with a celebrated late Tudor prodigy. He creates, she adapts, and Cardiff admirably resists the temptation to impose embellishments that would vainly seek joint attribution. Spem in Alium Nunquam Habui (1573) was supposedly written to mark Elizabeth I’s 40th birthday, and Cardiff’s strikingly original perspective is as meditative as it is engaging.
Turner prize nominee, Glaswegian artist Luke Fowler’s latest work The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the deluded followers of Joanna Southcott focuses on the work of the Marxist historian Edward Palmer-Thompson, who from 1946 (at the age of 24), was employed by the Workers’ Education Association (WEA) to teach literature and social history to adults in the industrial towns of the West Riding. These classes provided education to people who had been historically unable to access a university education.
The world’s first online art fair is back with a new edition, VIP Photo. Back in January 2011, the launch of VIP Art Fair was overshadowed by some technical problems which made it impossible for people to actually buy any work. The decision to launch a new strand with VIP Photo is brave and commendable considering the quality of the work on sale. VIP Photo aims to represent a dynamic selection of photography reflecting the best in modern and contemporary art from the world’s leading galleries. Galleries as diverse as Brancolini Grimaldi, London and Peter Fetterman, Los Angeles will show works from internationally renowned photographers such as Man Ray and Massimo Vitali. The full programme includes the premiere of new video work by Mexican artist Emilio Valdés and a never-before-seen collection of 160 signed photographs by Henri Cartier Bresson, the largest private collection aside from the one at Fondation Cartier Bresson, Paris.
VIP Photo, 12 July – 12 August 2011, www.vipartfair.com
Following his recent Locked Room Scenario (2011), an exhibition in which the only room that could not be entered was the room of the (admittedly anecdotal) exhibition, Ryan Gander has continued to pursue a model that does not require the art itself to be present. His current show at Lisson Gallery, The Fallout of Living, takes as its theme the notion of art and artist becoming inextricable, the moment in which an artist no longer quite knows how to separate their work from their life.
Karl&Tynan are the writers and directors of Ouroboros, a unique film of Ravensbourne’s 2012 fashion graduates. The video features all 80 fashion graduates and showcases a variety of outfits without resorting to the usual catwalk format. Take a look at the film above, and click here for a full list of designers featured.
At Aesthetica, we celebrate the visual arts in all forms and that’s why the Aesthetica Art Prize welcomes entries from artists working in all mediums. Artists may submit their work into any one of the four categories; Photographic & Digital Art, Three Dimensional Design & Sculpture, Painting & Drawing, Video, Installation & Performance.
Earlier this month, we showcased a selection of images from last year’s Photographic & Digital Art and Installation & Performance categories. This selection was taken from the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual 2012, available to purchase here.
Still in need of inspiration? Here’s a selection of images from the Painting and Drawing category. Enjoy!
As a society we are less fixed on living in one place, artist Julia Vogl’s latest work HOME is a large scale public art work, audio and visual, that reflects Peckham’s residents’ ideas of why London is their home. Julia Vogl reflects on her hopes for the project and what “Home” means to her.
The Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012 is the largest and longest running annual open exhibition for drawing in the UK. Judged by an independent panel of selectors; Stephen Coppel, Curator of the Modern Collection, Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum; Kate Macfarlane, Co-Director of The Drawing Room, London; and Lisa Milroy, Artist and Head of Graduate Painting, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, the Prize explores and celebrates the diversity, excellence and range of current drawing practice in the UK.
Frieze Film is a programme of artist films screened to coincide with Frieze London. Curated by Sarah McCrory, this year’s commissions include five new films that will be shown in a specially constructed cinema. The artists commissioned to make new work for Frieze Film are: Bertrand Dezoteux, Patricia Esquivias, Jimmy Merris, John Smith and Wu Tsang & Nana Oforiatta-Ayim.
The Stone Roses’ recent homecoming gig in Manchester has been hailed as a triumph. For those of you who still want more, Dennis Morris’ photo essay on the rise of the band’s career should suffice. This Is The One features over 250 never before seen images of the band, including live photos from Spike Island and Glasgow Green, behind the scenes photos and intimate studio shots.
Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood appears in a brand new film to talk about two paintings which capture her vision of London. In an intimate interview, Vivienne Westwood discusses the work of the artists Frank Auerbach and JM Whistler who drew inspiration from scenes of London and the River Thames. These artists have a personal significance to her and she speaks about how the museums and galleries of London have been a constant source of inspiration throughout her life.
The paintings are Frank Auerbach’s Oxford Street Building Site (1959/60) and JM Whistler’s Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Cremorne Lights (1872) which are part of the BP British Art Displays at Tate Britain.