Uffizi, Hermitage, MOMA, Tate - it's been a journey

Four countries, four museums in just a few seconds, it’s been a journey. This all became possible with the launch of Art Project powered by Google, simply street view in 17 of the world’s most famous museums. You can travel from Italy, to Russia to America and right back to Britain at a touch of a button, getting a 360-degree look inside museum collections. You can even view one chosen piece of artwork, (that is by the museums themselves) microscopically; a term “gigapixel” has been coined to describe this type of resolution. But what will this do, can it help or will it aid a digital generation with yet another excuse not to experience life in all its realism?

For me, I am undecided, only time will tell. But what is sure is that the software needs some work, the images are poor and the collections are rather canonised, no surprise there though. But what is good is that this software will definitively get more people looking at artworks that might never have thought it possible to see MOMA or the Palace of Versailles in their lifetime. Lets see what happens.

Image above is section of "The Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh in MOMA.

http://www.googleartproject.com/

Stezaker at the Whitechapel

The new John Stezaker exhibition opened last weekend at the Whitechapel Gallery, so I wondered down on the opening sunday to take a look. What initially struck me was just how busy the show was, I hadn't anticipated so many people and found myself quite surprised by the turnout. The exhibition is stunning. I have always been a great fan of Stezaker and seen much of his work through his gallery The Approach, but this is quite an experience.

The show brings together over 90 works from 1970 up until the present day and each and everyone is beautifully crafted and offers up the audience new ways of seeing. The Whitechapel explains “His ‘Dark Star’ series turns publicity portraits into cut-out silhouettes, creating an ambiguous presence in the place of the absent celebrity. Stezaker’s way of giving old images a new context reaches its height in the found images of his Third Person Archive: the artist has removed delicate, haunting figures from the margins of obsolete travel illustrations. Presented as images on their own, they now take the centre stage of our attention.” This series I found to be very inspirational and very good research material when thinking about the notion of the Punctum. For me, these pieces were one of my favorites as well as "Stolen Sky, 1976" and "Sublime, 1987-1998."

If you haven't yet been to the Whitechapel to see this exhibition you must, also there is a great show by welsh artist Betham Huws which is also worth a visit, her textual pieces I found to be very inspiring.“A series of wall texts show Huws’ research into the French idiomatic expressions she has found in the work of Marcel Duchamp, offering both a possible interpretation of his work, and an indirect way of understanding hers.”

Image above, Love XI, 2006, collage. Private Collection, Switzerland. © The Artist.

New Arrivals

I have some new additions to my book collection, both of which have work published in from the series "The Photograph as Contemporary Art." Firstly the Magenta Foundation sent through from Canada the Flash Forward Emerging Photographers catalogue from 2010, which I was one of the UK winners. Secondly, very excitingly is the exhibition catalogue from the Turku exhibition "Alice in Wonderland." It's a great publication put together by The Finnish Museum of Photography and can be purchased from the museum for only 30 euros.

Strangers in my Photo Album

I am starting to research a new project, which I am going to start very soon regarding the notion of the Punctum and being a huge fan of Erik Kessels found some real inspiration from many of his works, but particularly the book "Strangers in my Photo album." Watch this space for more information and visuals for the new project.

See more of KesselsKramer publishing here: http://www.kesselskramerpublishing.com/

Artists and their Cats

I found this wonderful blog post about artists and their cats on Fans in a Flashbulb, the images are from the International Center of Photography in New York.It would seem I am not alone in my love of cats, even the great photographers and artists of our time share the same! This lovely image above is of the great Margaret Bourke-White and her kitten in 1944 by Alfred Eisenstaedt.

Read more here: http://fansinaflashbulb.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/meow-artists-and-their-cats/

-17

After Friday's first opening at Logomo came the VIP opening and then the official opening ceremony of the European Capital of Culture on the banks of the Aura River in Turku. At this point it is very important to note that it was the coldest day we experienced with -17 degrees celsius - freezing!!!!

What happened next can only be described as very lucky and very privileged. As we headed for the opening ceremony on prearranged buses, it became apparent that we had found ourselves in rather important company; dignitaries, cultural ministers and some vvv-vips! As we arrived at the river we were assorted onto a warm boat where we were served with a collection of tasty treats with an abundance of wine. As the minus degrees increased so did the lack of feeling in my fingers and toes, but what made it all worth it was knowing that I was part of something so important for this former capital city in Finland, I felt very proud to be part of this spectacular event.

I braved the Arctic conditions and took some pictures of the opening fireworks display from the top deck of the boat, I hope you enjoy them and get a sense of how wonderful this event truly was.

Logomo

So, I am back and what a trip it has been! A completely amazing experience and something I will never forget. There is so much to write about, but I think it is best to start with the exhibition, "Alice in Wonderland" at the cultural centre, Logomo in Turku.

The space was incredible, a converted warehouse with floor to ceiling windows and untreated concrete, absolutely stunning. The walls were suspended and the show was curated brilliantly, spiraling to the centre as if you were in a maze. As you can see the space was pretty huge and my works sat at the centre, with the book acting as a full stop to this section of the exhibition. The domed glass really added to the plinth and the book worked so well underneath it.

The private views were very exciting and it was so good to meet all the curators and artists in the show, a great night was had by all, particularly a small group of us to failed to be turned off my the cold blue night and drinking into the early hours!

My Tip

"Submit a body of work that touches you deeply, that you have invested a substantial amount of thought, theoretical investigation and exploratory vision in. Choose imagery that work on varying levels and which captures something extraordinarily unique, your personal insight."

You can find my tip for Foam Magazine's new talent call on their website, twitter and facebook pages.

http://www.foammagazine.nl/talent , http://twitter.com/foam_magazine

artelier LTD

A collection of images from the series "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" have been featured on artelier Ltd by Nino Mier, a photography collector in America. Other posts including Hans Peter Feldmann, and Leigh Ledare. View more here http://www.artelierltd.blogspot.com/

Photomontage XXII used for PR

Photomontage XXII, (2010) from the series "The Photograph as Contemporary Art" is part of the press material being used for the exhibition "Alice in Wonderland." Its now featured on the Finnish Museum of Photography's website and in other press surrounding the show!

Only 4 days now until I am off to Helsinki, got my itinerary and what a schedule it is, Press conference, Openings, VIP events and Firework displays on the river, I am so excited!

Look here to see http://www.valokuvataiteenmuseo.fi/en

Big City Press

My work has been featured on the Big City Press blog, for Hijacked 3 and amazingly recommended by the following; Mark McPherson, Louise Clements, Chris Littlewood, Rhubarb Rhubarb and Aaron Schuman! Look here to see more and find out about the other artists featured like Trish Morrissey, Spencer Murphy and many many others.

http://bigcitypress.blogspot.com/

10 Days to go

So a new year and a new beginning for me. Much has changed and there is much more to come, old and sad to good and new.

A great start to this month is my trip to Finland, only 10 days away now, I can't quite believe the time has gone by so quickly, before I know it I will be in minus degrees, with snow under my feet and meeting and greeting artists and curators! The "Alice in Wonderland" exhibition private views are the 13th and 14th, so I am going to be busy.

I am now very busy planning my Finnish adventure, a trip to Uniqlo helped me out with warm, winter clothes, my flight details are pending, my schedule from Helsinki to Turku is being finalised, all in all it seems to be very organised. I will update you on the trip and just how cold it is, and of course pictures will be uploaded as soon as possible.

More information can be found here: http://www.turku2011.fi/en/ohjelmahanke/116/info