Gavin Turk 'Me as Him'

When looking at this image and others at first glance, I thought it was Warhol’s. However, Gavin Turk has reworked Warhol’s self-portraits in order to challenge and haze the limits about who the artist is, who the subject is, the familiarity of the image itself and how the authorship and ambiguity affect the value of a work.
With an exhibition entitled ‘Me as Him’ at the Riflemaker gallery, the layered patterns of colour are in fact pictures of Gavin Turk himself, taken in the same style as the Warhol prints.
Continuing his manner of using other artists work as the starting point for his own, the screen prints appear in 2D with the colour work layered over the top. Each original print is the same, but with different coloured patterns over it, this following in the style of Warhol.
The combined effect of colour and pattern make the portraits of Gavin Turk personal and distinctively different, with each piece expressing a different aspect of personality. A great exhibition as it questions Warhol’s work as well a make a statement of Turks.

It is a free exhibition which is on viewing till September 8th.

Impressionists by the Sea

'Impressionists by the Sea' is currently on show at the Royal Academy of Arts in Westminster. The exhibition shows a number of seascapes and beach scenes by artists of the 1860s and 1870s such as Monet, Manet, Boudin. Prior to this period, pictures of the sea had focused on the romance of stormy weather, or on picturesque coastal landscapes. However the Impressionists work captivates the ordinary intersections of sky, sea and sand. The sea off France's northern coast offered infinite opportunities for the artists to express there fascination with colour and movement. Many of the paintings are studies of how light glimmers off the sea and sand, whilst others illustrate tourists enjoying themselves, or the work of local fishermen finding a simple beauty in there daily routine. Coming away from the exhibition, I found it interesting how over time an artist’s style of work can change so much in the contemporary beach scene. Skill wise, a much firmer understanding of how light and movement can be used was obtained.

Global Cities at the Tate Modern

After reading about Global Cities exhibition at the Tate Modern I went and visited it. At the exhibition you are able to peer into the Mixtacity installation, designed by Nigel Coates. As you peer in, inanimate curiosities such as upturned dinner plates represent buildings such as the Millennium Dome. The installations aim is to highlight the issue of diversity in the London riverside area. It seems to fit in well with the rest of the exhibition which looks at architectural and social changes in ten international cities.
If you are in the London area and want to see it, hurry, it closes on 27th August.

The Sony Playstation Stand at the Games Convention in Germany

This is a picture from the Sony stand at Europe's biggest video and computer games fair in Leipzig, Germany. What I find interesting is that there sat on a toilet seat. Is there some irony in the fact they’re playing on a Playstation whilst perhaps going for a Wii.

Tour de Monde at Getty Images Gallery in London

In commemoration of London staging the opening stage of the Tour de France, Getty Images Gallery in London W1 hosted a cycling exhibition, named Tour de Monde. Curated by Lewis Blackwell, the event drew on the visual links between the Tour de France and cycling life across the world: from a boy standing on his bike in Basra in Iraq, to a cycle polo match from the 1930s, to Lance Armstrong putting himself through the pain barrier.
On display was a unique selection of photographs that immerse you in the world of the bicycle and celebrate the passion of those who use it, whether as a means of transport, a status symbol, an ecological statement or a finely-tuned racing machine.
Having looked round the exhibition it provided a journey of emotion and experience, which increased the anticipation for the opening stage of the Tour de France vastly.

Picture House- Film, Art and Design Exhibition at Belsay, Newcastle

On a recent trip to Newcastle I visited the new exhibition at Belsay Hall. A group of 15 artists, designers and performers were commissioned to respond to the atmospheric rooms of Belsay. The property itself is the subject of this event, which spanned from the cellars to the first floor of the hall, the castle and also the gardens. The exhibition consisted of a wonderful, theatrical and eclectic mix of sound, visual, moving image and strange goings-on. This allowed the viewer to engage in what it would have been like to live in the Hall when the Middleton family occupied it since the 12th century.

Below are a selection of photos that capture some of the most powerful and innovative scenary during my visit.

This photo was taken in the New Dining room. On entering the room the visitor sees a strange, coffin-like structure upon which sits a pair of servant's shoes. Through an eyehole embedded at the back of the shoe coffin you see a film that traces the subjective journey made by the servant's sole. However what the eye sees and the ear hears are only the footsteps themselves that have been left impronted in time's dust.

A picture taken in the Housekeeper's Room, the artist here tries to convey a sense of domestic routine- the daily struggle to heat the house, to dust and banish cobwebs. As you walk through the room a poem is spoken which weaves together the fragmentary recollections of those who worked in the house, whose lives were shaped by domestic routines, while trying to both evoke and absorb the elemental loss of this experience and memory from the heart of Belsay Hall.


Fashion duo Viktor and Rolf loved the elegance of the pillar hall at Belsay. In this picture they tried to mimic the statues that had once been positioned between the iconic pillars. Viktor and Rolf's bridal gown, dipped in real silver, stands proud within the centre pillar hall claiming its presence within Belsay's severity. Romantic and visually arresting the wedding dress seems to freeze a moment in time. This reminded me of the old Dutch tradition of dipping a baby's shoe in silver as a reminder of something beautiful and precious.

This picture was taken within the bedroom of Kitty Middleton. The dreams of a young girl inhabits this room. Longing for love and romance, her childhood world dissolves into social connections, potential husbands and family obligations. The artistic vision is exceptional and the presence, atmosphere and emptiness of the room is filled with memories which are both imagined and real.

The picture here is taken within the Estate Office. The artist felt a lack of presence within the room which needed to resolved and resulted in a that work that deals with memory and perception and how spaces can be affected by what has happened in them over time. As the viewer approaches the 'history mirror', the traces of previous visitors appear on its surface. What appears to be an empty room when entered seems to be now inhibited by others. Connected now by a group of strangers, one becomes part of the room's history for others to discover in the future.