Garageland Magazine

Transition has a new magazine - the fantastic Garageland. It is available at all the usual places and a few more.

The magazine takes themes that arise from shows at Transition and expands on them to create a reference book about the chosen subject. The current issue no.1 is all about Machismo. Issue 2 (due out in May) is Baroque and issue 3 is Nature.

My contribution to issue 1 is a series of paintings and texts about skinhead girls.
So Macho

I know, I know I haven't written anything for ages and I have slagged off blogging, but I felt like revisiting at least one more time so here I am.

While I am here I guess I may as well mention the new show at Transition which just happens to be myself and Alex Michon and is called The English Museum. It is on until 11 September and will be featured (hopefully) in a forthcoming edition of Time Out and The Independent.

Arty Greatest Hits - Still Going Strong

There is a nice review of Arty Greatest Hits on the April 13th entry on the Art in Liverpool weblog written by Ian Jackson.

So here is a drawing from The fore mentioned publication by Jamie Clements and if you haven't bought a copy yet (why not?) you can find a list of stockists or buy online at the Arty site.

I'll be Your Mirror

The latest show at Transition is I'll be Your Mirror by Emma Talbot. It features a group of paintings inspired by the magazine collection at The Women's Library in Whitechapel, London. Emma has also made an animation inspired by graphic love stories which takes the form of a little book with the drawings floating across the pages and dissapearing down the spine.

The image below is one of the paintings in the show which seems to be a favourite with a lot of the audience and is called Leathers.

The show is on until May 1, you can read more on the Transition website. Also don't miss the fab publication that goes with the show with Martin Coomer interviewing Emma and an essay by Rebecca Loncraine.

San Sebastian

I went to San Sebastian last week to talk at a seminar called 'Mutations in Feminism'. Everyone was very nice and I got shown around the town - here is a snap showing pollarded trees and the 'Belle Epoque' roundabout.

New Show at Transition Shock

Soul Mining opened last night with two fantastic performances. The first was a short experimental set from Sharon Gal this was followed by a storming set from Esther Planas's Dirty Snow which included a noir version of The Beatles Day in the Life. The show itself includes the work of three artists, Ruth Calland and the already mentioned Planas and Gal. All the work is very different but hangs together really well, there is a curious tension between it all which fits very well with the show's psychoanalytical theme.
The image below is of Sharon Gal's opening night performance in front of Esther Planas's Happiness is a Warm Gun installation and was taken by Transition regular Marc Vaulbert.

Continuum

I have just written a beautiful, pithy piece about Conrad Shawcross's Continuum, the fantastic Queen's House and the crap National Maritime Museun Greenwich and somehow it has dissapeared into the ether. I am very upset and I may give up blogging altogether.

I will just give you a summary as I can't possibly write it again. The Continuum is brilliant and is perfectly site specific. The museum is bland and has no character. Too may visitors is bad, interactive is bad, engagement is good. the Continuum has now finished.

Tate Tales

Finally the Tate Modern have said yes to stocking ARTY GREATEST HITS. So on Wednesday I wheeled 20 copies in my trolley over The Millenium Bridge. If you don't have a copy yet shame on you, there is no excuse as it is available by mail order or from numerous stockists. Also look out for the review in the March issue of AN.

So Anyway, while I was there I had a look at the show Pin-Up - Contemporary Collage and Drawing. The show is in the space previously occupied by the small shop at the river entrance to the gallery and feels a little cut off from the main space as you can't now get in by that entrance. Really this is no bad thing as it makes it seem like an independent gallery seperate from the great institution. A factor I suppose in staging this show which is the first in the series Untitled - Exploring New Ideas in Contemporary Art, which are dedicated to showcasing recent or new work by international artists not widely exhibited in the UK.

Pin-Up includes the work of a couple of artists who have shown at Kate McGarry - Dr Lakra and Matt Bryans. Dr Lakra has also had work at the Saatchi Gallery, so that seems fairly well exposed to me, but maybe I am being pedantic and Dr Lakra is actually my favourite in the show. He is apparently a Mexican Tatooist and his work consists of vintage magazine covers with added tatoos. They are really clever and I would look great on my wall at home. Matt Bryans is also very clever, he rubs out newspaper pictures leaving only the eyes and then puts all these scraps together to make a huge blob of discolured paper and staring eyes. It looks a little like a dark wood with creatures staring out at you - very sinister. The other stuff was less interesting but the concept is good and it is about time some contemporary art got into the Tate.

Doll

Doll
Originally uploaded by CathyL.

Now that we are through the Christmas treacle, thoughts inevitably turn to spring and the unknown treasures that the new year will bring.

Blog Off

God, blogging is sooo bourgeois. I have been reading through a selection of blogs, linking from one to another. It is all just a load of middle class twittery, smart alec, self congratulatory stuff. Why don't you all just stop it and stick to your day jobs.

Independent Art Publishing

Yesterday I went to a symposium at Tate Modern about Independent Art Publishing. It was actually quite good especially the fantastic Michael Bracewell who spoke about the eighties and their importance in fusing mainstream and independent cultures. This was the second time in a few days that I had heard the name Kathy Acker. Bracewell put her forward as someone who has been unjustly forgotten - an eighties embarresment. The day before the artist Esther Planas mentioned her as being the most important influence on her work, especially the book Blood and Guts in High School which she discovered when she first came to London. Esther also pointed out that Tracey Emin's work owes a huge debt to Acker.

Also at the Tate thing were Matthew Higgs (the chair) who showed us a photo of himself at 14 in the same room as Joy Division (very impressive) and the amiable Sina Najafi the editor in chief of the American magazine Cabinet. There is also a Bookworks book called Put about that deals with the same stuff. The cover of the book shows the famous Mark P thing about here's a chord...now start a band. I had always thought that this was in Sniffin' Glue but I can't find it in my Sniffin' Glue book and Put About just credits it to Mark Perry. If anyone has any idea where it was first published I would love to know. I'm particulary intersted because I have quoted it in a piece I've written in the forthcoming Arty: Greatest Hits which will be available soon from Transition and all good shops. The drawing of Twiggy below is from the cover.

Dark Covers

Dark Covers

Playing at the Goth Moth private view was the fantastic Esther Planas with a short set of Dark Covers. These highly individual versions of Beatles songs were sung sitting on a blanket in the corner of the gallery in her very own Nico-esque style.

The show is on until 19th December so check it out.

Goth Moth

Ghost World

Goth Moth has opened at last at Transition and the weeks of preparation have resulted in a kinda creepy domestic gothic. The image shows work by Tobi Deeson (White Dresses - Non Biological), Shane Waltener (Web Doily), Myself (It's Me, I'm Cathy) and Mimei Thompson (Untitled). I think that it's a brilliant show but I suppose I am biased.

The Clash

The Clash

There is a new book out about the Clash by Arty contributor Pat Gilbert
called Fashion is a Passion. Although I haven't read it yet I
have heard bits of it read by Alex Michon (who features heavily in the
book as she made the now iconic clothes that the Clash wore back in the
day). One of these pieces, Joe Strummer's jacket was featured in the
show Sense and Sensibility at Transition.

The Last of E9

The Last of E9

This weekend is the last of E9 at Transition and alongside the work of the artists we have work by children from Lauriston School's Junior Art
Club. They have done a fab job and have made a whole load of different stuff from t-shirts to clay models. There is also an E9 shop where you can buy lotsa E9 stuff. Next Friday (19th November) sees the opening of Goth Moth at the gallery. This is going to be very different from E9 but just as fantastic.

Precinct Deborah

Attack on Precinct Deborah

I have some work in a show on at my studios this weekend. Attack on Precinct Deborah, Deborah House, Retreat Place, London E9. The show is on 30 & 31 October 10-5pm.

This picture is from the private view when the 'Russian folk singer' performed in front of my two paintings of Joe Orton. There were also some people watching but they were less photogenic.

Acting Painting

Art, Art, Art

I went to a whole bunch of shows last weekend in the galleries clustered around the Vyner hub. The main reason I went was to see The Horizon of Expectation at the Empire in Wadeson Street. This show has had some of the most intense publicity ever with emails arriving independently from most of the artists involved. It is basically a show of landscape painting, not I hasten to add the sort of watery landscapes beloved of provincial galleries but cutting edge, Royal Saatchi, landscape paintiing. A lot of the work was very nice - Mimei Thompson, Peter Lamb etc. But I particularly enjoyed Jost Muenster's Campsite and Stripes, they had a nice homemade, humourous left field approach to the subject.

Next on the list was the newly refurbished Vilma Gold which is showing Marc Titchner's 20th Century Man. All very slick and shiny but I just can't ever be bothered to read the text on his pieces so that probably means that I am missing the point.

Further along Vyner Street at Modern Art there were some nice paintings by an American whose name I don't remember and there was no press release to take away so I haven't got any idea who he was. They were of people like Abraham Lincoln and had lots of colourful firework like explosions in the background. They reminded me a little of Alex Gene Morrison's paintings.

Lastly I visited the new (well to me anyway) SSAI Space at 45a Tudor Road. This tiny space (its almost like a cupboard) has a show called Acting Painting whch features a group of small paintings. I really liked Gaston du Pape's cheval paintings (see image above).

enough art for one day

E9

E9
Originally uploaded by CathyL.

Here is one of Tania McCormack's pieces for the E9 show

The Art Zoo Versus E9

So once again its ages since my last post blah blah blah. I think the problem is this new all singing all dancing blogger format. I can't do things that I used to do easily like upload pictures. I am probably being very stupid but thats how it is.

So here in London at the hub of the art world lots of things are happening. This weekend is the number one weekend in the artworld calender (if you are a wanabe corporate/commercial gallery or an unadventurous collector who just likes artfairs rather than real exhibitions) Friday sees the start of the Frieze art fair in Regents Park and Saturday see the start of the Zoo art fair in um Regents Park. The difference is that Zoo is for under 3 year old art organisations (a kind of arbitary figure used so that the Keith Talent Gallery just fits the bill)

Over at the sharp end of the London art scene in the East End, Transition has a new show opening on Friday night - E9. It doesn't contain any 'big' name artists but it is a really fab show about the area that the gallery is in and engages with. This specificity curiously has spawned new work which is beautiful and has a wistful universal appeal. There is also a brilliant publication to accompany it partially funded by The Arts Council and with a new piece of writing by novelist Tony White. You can buy it from the gallery and various local outlets and online at theTransition Website

As soon as I work out how to upload pics I will post some!

I'm Back

Yes just like the Elvis' '68 Comeback Special I am returning from a long Blogging break with a fantastic new entry. My excuses are that I've been on holiday and it's been the summer and well I just haven't gotten around to it.
There is a new show opening tonight at Transition called Hans in Transition. It a self exploritory kind of show by the artist Hans Schriel featuring a series of recent and not so recent paintings that examine issues around gender politics from his very personal viewpoint. One of the paintings has one of my favourite ever art titles - Rabbit Picture on Skis.