FEB
The Canadian ceramist France Goneau, is celebrating her six month residency in the Studio du Québec, Tokyo with a public exhibition at the Prince Takamado Gallery, Tokyo.
She first began to explore ceramics in Japan in 2010 at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park where she became interested in experimenting with the Japanese ceramic tradition. There she produced her first sculptures that mixed ceramics with textiles. Read more
JUL
Eleven teams competed in the seventh Lively Architectures Festival this year in Montpelier France. The Jury’s prize went to Berlin architect Julie Biron with her installation “Ne dérangez pas mes cerlces”. A special mention was given to the University Laval of Quebec for ‘Première Neige’. Lastly, the public decreed that “ByeByeBallon” designed by the Shalumo team from Bordeaux was their favourite.
There was so much interesting work that I have split it into two posts with the second to follow tomorrow. Read more
JUN
Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate Modern in London, defined art as existing solely for its own purpose. I paraphrase slightly as I do not remember the exact quotation, but the point is his definition suggests art is not there to sell stuff.
I invite you to consider Serota’s notion in the form of this clothes boutique in Montreal, Canada. The space was designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architect and is a refurbishment of some old warehouse space. In that sense it is unremarkable and similar retail environments can be seen in edgy, fashionable districts of London, Berlin and New York. But taken as a whole the the project aims to draw in the work of various artists treating the store as an art space.
It is selling, there is no doubt about that, but is it art? Read more
JUN
What is in a landscape? For atelier 37.2 the volcanic landscape of Auvergne, France is invisibly linked with the ‘idea of art‘. This installation is in the shape of a giant mammoth – some 100m long, and aims to sets-up a narrative between nature and art. ‘The idea is to set up an enigma within the landscape creating a deep impact upon the spectators’ imagination. He will be driven to search the depth and the mystery of our origins. Contemporary art has to create myths by reintroducing the sacred feelings that has deserted our world.’ Read more
FEB
Queuing reminds me of waiting for school dinners, however one queue that I did not mind waiting in for an hour and half was the one to see Lucien Freud’s painting of Kate Moss displayed a couple of years ago at the Wallace Collection in London. This queue eventually led to some deeply satisfying nourishment of a spiritual kind. The wait only heightened anticipation. Lucian Freud died in 2011, but before his death he was planning the biggest exhibition of his work in the UK covering 70 years of his life. That exhibition opens at the National Portrait Gallery in London on the 9th February running until the 27th of May. The queues will be horrendous but do not let that put you off.
