New York 2010 - Museum of Arts and Design

The highlight of my trip to New York was the Museum of Arts and Design. Not only does it have an excellent permanent collection but at present is showing 'Slash - Paper under the Knife' which includes much work that I consider to be lace.

Of the pieces from the permanent collection that are currently on display I particularly liked:- 'Cylinder Form' a plaited basket, in English calfskin, by Ken Carlson. It not only interests me technically but has a natural beauty as it spirals unevenly around.

Close by is this stoneware plate by Robert Sperry. 'Plate # 754' is described as; stoneware, slip, glaze, jiggered. I think with this piece it's the juxtaposition between the strong geometric elements and the naturalism of the sweeping stroke that crosses the centre of the form.

Jin-Sook So's untitled wall hanging is quite mesmerising to behold. Formed from steel mesh and enhanced with goldleaf the visible surface of the pleats changes from silver to gold as the units twist sinuously from one section to another. This is further accentuated by the way that the piece forms a trough in the centre, rising to peaks at the four points surrounding it.

I could stand a look at Sakiyama Takayuki's stoneware form 'Choto: Listening to the Waves' for hours. The gentle rhythmic swirl is so evocative of the soft sound of tiny waves subtly shifting the minute grains of white sand around the edge of a rock at low tide - just wonderful.
The numerous vessels that form Tony Marsh's 'Still Life' (Perforated Vessel Series) form a cohesive whole and yet are individually complete. These white, perforated, earthenware vessels would throw wonderful shadows but the are not lit to do so, I would also love to see them lit from within. What the viewer is being asked to consider is the form of each piece and its relationship to those around it.

On the subject of ceramics - Anna's favourite piece was this superb sculpture by Marilyn Levine, 'Anne's Jacket' which only reveals itself to be ceramic, not leather, if you read the information label.

In the stairwell was an installation by Mary Temple. 'First Week' is part of her 'Light Installations' series that began in 2002. The light and shadows from the windows seems to be raking the walls - it's an illusion, there are no trees on this side of the building. The hand painted trompe l'oeil image asks the viewer to question what they are seeing. The image is taken from Central Park in the first week that the trees began to bud. A frame of time specific to that place and day has been transposed from exterior to interior in this incredibly subtle piece.

New York 2010 - Rockefeller Centre

Snow was forecast for this morning, fortunately only a light dusting arrived.
We thought that this would be a good day to take a look at the art works in and around the Rockefeller Centre. Having decided to go up the Empire State Building we chose not to go up to the centre's observation deck. However we did take a look at Joie - Crystal Waterfall, a Swarovski installation, in the stairwell. I'm not generally keen on 'sparkly' things but I do like these large hanging installations, especially when viewed from below.
This superb glass wall is at the end of the underground shopping mall. Normally the area behind it would be the sunken garden and outdoor cafe but in the winter it becomes the ice rink.
The highlight of the sunken garden/ice rink is the golden statue of Prometheus by American sculptor Paul Manship. On either side of the steps leading down to this are male and female companion pieces in bronze.
Above Prometheus is the main entrance to the Rockefeller Centre and 'Wisdom' the famous relief by Lee Laurie. The inscription reads; Wisdom and Knowledge shall be the Stability of thy Times, which is a wonderful thought.
The atrium to the International building houses a ten panel sculpture by Michio Ihara of goldplated leaves on vertical stainless steel cables which shimmer in their bottom lit recesses. This vast work creates a magnificent entrance.

The entrance way to another building houses the mosaic
'Intelligence Awakening Mankind' by Barry Faulkner, created from over a million hand-cut glass tiles. The central area (shown above) shows Thought and his messengers Written Words and Spoken Words sending out wisdom to the people. At either end of the piece Ignorance and Poverty can be seen falling into the flames of hell.

The shop Anthropologie had themed its window decorations on snow scenes which had been created in white paper. My favourite was this one with the back-lit window, although I was also very taken with one that had deep layers of 'snow' - layers of paper being very relevant to my current research on archives.

New York 2010 - United Nations Sculptures

Cold but dry (-5c).
Good day for walking and taking in the sights.
First stop Bryant Park, icicles on the fountain and skating on the rink, perhaps more importantly for Anna - free wi-fi!
Christmas tree and street decorations still up and whole area looks lovely

Next stop Grand Central Station. Considered coming back to the Oyster Bar for lunch as the menu was so good. Found the 'Whispering Arches' - like St Paul's whispering Gallery but below ground level. The painting of the constellation on the ceiling of the main atrium (above) was beautiful although I'm told it's back to front.
Amazing mixture of architecture including lots of relief work and detailing on the facades.
Walked on across the city until we came to the United Nations. Great to see the actual Hepworth sculpture as I've seen it marked out on her studio floor where it looked vast.
Also at the UN is 'Sphere within a Sphere by Italian artist Arnaldo Pomodoro which was unveiled in 1996.

And 'Knotted Gun' by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik which was given to the UN by the Luxembourg government in 1988

From here we walked up to Saks on Fifth Avenue and on to Tiffany's for Anna to get some retail therapy buying a birthday present with money from her grandmother.
Shoes are really not my thing but as Anna is doing a Masters degree in Fashion Footwear at London College of Fashion she spotted this piece of street sculpture from a long way off.
We found a fountain stacked with these giant red baubles that was a great landmark. Breakfast at a local cafe on one side and the turning for our hotel on the other.

New York 2010

While the rest of Britain did battle with the snow my daughter, Anna, and I were in New York.
Fortunately we had seen the forecast and booked into a hotel at Heathrow on Tuesday evening as we would not have got out of the drive on Wednesday morning! Extra security at the boarding gate meant we were 45 minutes late taking off but better safe than sorry.
Beautiful view of the Welsh coast as we flew over it.

Getting through passport control at JFK took over an hour including all ten finger prints and a retinal scan. Even with the 5 hour time change it was still dark as we arrived in New York, lovely way to see it for the first time with all of the bridges and main buildings lit up.
Good hotel, just far enough away from the crowds but near enough to Times Square to have a good view of it from our room (right).

Dark Monarch

Dark Monarch, at Tate St Ives, takes its title from the 1962 book by Sven Berlin. Subtitled 'Magic and Modernity in British Art' it explores the influence of folklore, mysticism, mythology and the occult in British art. The works include aspects of Modernism, Surrealism, Neo-Romanticism and contemporary art practice.
Damien Hirst's The Child's Dream (2008) uses the universal Unicorn of myths and fairy tales to challenge perceptions of beauty and the grotesque. The case can also be viewed as a coffin, especially here where it stands beside the stained glass window of the Heron Mall.

Eva Rothschild's Disappear (2004) comprises incense sticks that are burnt, probably on a weekly basis. There is mounting evidence, on the floor below the work, of the changing nature of the work.

She also has two other superb pieces in the exhibition; Stairway (2005) and Highlife (2004). Highlife is a trio of 'head' forms of black and red leather interwoven strips which turn into 'tears' that trial down to form a small pool on the floor beneath. Stairway is a series of triangular frames suspended from the ceiling and walls so that they interlock at their points. Painted black, with red inners, they are held in place (quite literally) by small black hands.
Simon Periton Il Cornuto appears on the stairwell (left) and as a 5 colour screen print (below) the latest of the Limited Edition Prints to be sold by Tate St Ives.
Combining natural forms from traditional fairy tales with images of industrial decay these pieces are at once enchanting and eerie. This is especially true of the stairwell where the work seems to be invading the building and creeping insidiously down the walls.

Best known for his contemporary paper cuts Periton also has one of his latest works on glass in Gallery 4, hung above the doorway through which visitors enter it is easily missed, which is a shame.
Sven Berlin's Owl in Flight (1988) blurs the boundaries between nature, landscape, man and magic. Referencing the ancient standing stones of the area this haunting sculpture evokes the haunting calls and silent flight of the owl and the mythology associated with the bird.

Peter Lanyon Construction for 'Lost Mine' (1959). Glass is an interesting medium for this piece, Mining is thought of as a though, strong, process. In reality the state if the Cornish miming industry in the 50's was very fragile, foreign competition, lack of investment and ever more difficult access to poorer quality ore seams made this an industry that could collapse at any time.
John Latham Great Uncle Estate (1960).I had previously come across his work in the online archive and at the Flat Time House website. There is a sinister side to the work shown here, defaced and partially burnt books are never easy viewing. Latham considered books to be repositories of knowledge but this knowledge could be 'faulty' and much of his work from the 1960's questioned the truth and value of books as carriers of ideas and information.

Adam Chodzko has installed a number of Secretors around the building. These glass vessels, filled with a mysterious red liquid he calls 'manifestation juice', are easily missed and this somehow adds to their air of disquiet. Placed where wall and ceiling meet they give a sense that the life-blood of the building is oozing from minute fissures in its fabric.

Gillian Carnegie's Black Square (2008) is a study of dark woodlands and the tales of loss and enchantment emanating from such places. The glossy black surface of the oil paint is a wonderful carrier of texture that calls out to be touched and investigated more fully. A truly moving piece that rewards time taken to study it in detail.

Bryan Wynter's Path Through the Wood (1950) is a good contrast to Carnegie's work. This subtle monoprint draws the viewer ever further into the woods, enticement and entrapment, Hansel and Gretel spring to mind as do a number of other ancient folk tales.

Paul Nash's Mansions of the Dead (1932) has a particular resonance for me with the shelving recalling archives waiting to be filled with the artifacts/memories of the departed.

John Russell's vast, back-lit Untitled (2009) is a stunning example of what I would refer to as 'second-life' art. Surreal yet enchanting it overwhelms the final gallery space becoming omnipresent drawing the viewer into its central portal as if a moth drawn to a flame. Quite outstanding. The image also shows three Adam Chodzko Secretors at ceiling level in the top left hand corner of the picture.

John Keys

Having seen John Keys collaborative piece at the Exchange Gallery, Penzance, I looked up his website and found some excellent pictures of his work for Tidal 28. The picture, above, shows part of the ramp wall lit at night - quite different to the daylight impression.
Tidal Cliff (right) and Tidal Sandbar (below) are two of his drawings that chart the tideline from a specific point. It is vertical sections from these drawings that have been enlarged to make the panels for Tidal 28. Described on the website as 'Acetates' each drawing has several layers, to form a composite whole.

The drawings are accompanied by a set of photographs of the beach/sandbar/cliffs around which the sea swirled in its twice daily tidal dance.

Double Vision

Double Vision is the title of the current exhibition at the Exchange Gallery, Penzance. It is the result of nine collaborations that have been developed by NSA (Newlyn Society of Artists) members with other professional artists and non-artists alike. The artists have risen to the challenge to expand their current practice in a year long collaborative process with musicians, surfers, academics, Touchgloves kick boxing club and Cornwall Libraries' Art Collection.
John Keys and composer Graham Fitkin's have produced an audio visual installation that turns the ramp into an all encompassing passage of sound and light. Tidal 28 (above) is based on the tidal rhythms and sounds of a shifting sand bar. Audio samples from the sandbar and notation of aural data produced a 28 minute musical work that compliments the sequential drawings of the tideline made on 28 days. Both artists are concerned with notions of passing time and the significance of boundaries which are eloquently voiced in the work presented.
Bren Unwin and anthropologist Dr Helen Cornish used their collaboration to explore the role of arts practice within an academic framework. Their contribution to the exhibition is in the form of both video and print. Chiasm: Miners' Cage 2nd State (above) is a triptych of superbly textured etchings that took on a film reel-like quality hung next to the accompanying video projections. Cage/Metal evokes the blur of rock wall and track lighting that would have been seen from a speedily descending/ascending miners cage and would have been quite disorienting on a larger scale. Cage/Water was beautiful but would have been more powerful in an enclosed, darkened, space where the rushing, bubbling, water could have echoed and become all encompassing.
The Operators by Alessandra Ausenda and musician Ruth Wall was, for me, the highlight of the show. I was lucky enough to encounter this piece alone in a silent gallery, as the initial ethereal beauty of the dress slowly revealed itself to have a deeper, darker, content so the soundtrack started, quietly at first but building to an almost menacing climax. The work explores the exploitative working conditions within the fashion industry and violence that is often associated with it. On closer inspection the golden 'swags' around the hem turn out to be knives and the 'floral' decorations composed of hand-guns not petals. Almost hidden within the cage that supports the skirt are three industrial sewing machines referencing the cramped conditions often prevailing in the unregulated sweat-shops that supply the fashion industry. The entire soundtrack is composed from the sounds of sewing machines, from the soft rhythmic clicking of a single needle slowly piercing fabric through to the insistent menace of multiple machine motors running at full speed, it is an unexpectedly subtle piece.