Francesco Clemente

Galleria Lorcan O'Neill

Rome, 24th July 2018

Francesco Clemente, After Frederico Garcia Lorca

Francesco Clemente, Black Flags Blue Sky 1, 2017

Francesco Clemente, Great Prisoner King, 2017

Francesco Clemente, With a Spoon, 2017

There was two paintings that took my eye, Black Flags 1 and 2. Comments on the 2016 presidential elections in the US. Interesting painting technique, using oil in the way watercolours are applied, I presume using terps. The result is quite similar to the results I had in my two oils from 'Existing Removed', using terps. 

Gagosian, Rome, Tatiana Trouve

The Gagosian Gallery

Rome, 24th July 2018

Tatiana Trouve

Tatiana Trouve, Les Indefinis 2017/2018

Interesting pieces consisting of Bronze sculpture and perspex, a piece making comment and influenced by Giorgio Morandi and Arte Povera. I certainly felt the work portrayed a disconnect between rich and poor, the promise of a fair capitalist society but in fact the consequences of  a badly regulated capitalist world breeds a society forever splitting the rich and poor further apart,  resulting in an unbalanced unfair society. 

The Maxxi, Kara Walker, Anselm Kiefer and Marlene Dumas

The Maxxi

Rome, 18th July 2018

The Place To Be

The general opinion around the BSR had been quite negative about this space, mainly from a group of curators on a course run by Goldsmiths in London so I headed to this exhibition with slight trepidation, my concerns were unfounded, I found the whole experience an aesthetically fulfilling one, especially as I entered the first space, on the wall a piece by Kara Walker, an artist that has informed two of my pieces, Ties That Bind and Strange Fruit.

Kara Walker, The Emancipation Approximation - 1989

Further on through the exhibition having enjoyed seeing a Kara Walker in the real, I was excited to see only my fourth Anselm Kiefer, truly this work is just astonishing, a comment on Germany, living with its past, the Holocaust, its out there in the cosmos for all to see, the biggest void of them all, space. Kiefer's work is a big influence on mine, in particular 'Duff's Legacy' and 'Where Is Uri'

Anselm Kiefer, Sternenfell 1998.

Another piece of note was up in a exhibition of African Art, African Metropolis, Any imaginary city, not sure why a piece by Dutch artist Marlene Dumas was in it but it was, seems to be a trait in Italian curating to mix things up, I suppose the sitter is African in appearance, painted in South Africa, the artist is not African, anyhow this piece impressed and the artist herself has influenced my animations and painting as part of 'Existing Removed'

Marlene Dumas, Black Jesus Man, 1994.

Frutta - Roma. Group Show

Group Show

Frutta - Roma

July 7th 2018:

Not much to say about this show, just good to see some contemporary art. Sorry there was no published literature about the artists so I can't say who the work is by, but hey the author is dead, right ?

This piece was the most interesting for me personally. Made from layers of veneer, could have been made from a found item, a piece of furniture a table perhaps. The sculpture is in the shape of a bread loaf? empty, perhaps reference to hunger, who knows ! its what I think anyway

Triumphs and Laments

Soon to disappear I fear, here are a few images of William Kentridge's Triumphs and Laments, a river  side mural made by using stencils, removing the dirt and grim of the city.

National Museum of Rome - The Terme Boxer and more.

In my previous post was an essay on todays main viewing opportunity seeing The Terme Boxer, or Boxer At Rest. It was also the first time I have ventured past the Villa Borghese gardens into the busy city streets of Rome, the traffic is silly, pedestrian crossings are not! they are bulls eye targets for mopeds! seriously though once you get use to just closing your eyes and stepping out they do work. I've been in Rome since 2nd July, the weather is very warm, at the height of midday its 30 plus, so I set out early, although it was still warm, a slow pace required with my destination, The National Museum Of Rome a little over 2 miles away.

The Museum is set over 4 floors on Palazzo Massimo, a vault level, one down from the entrance level, 2 floors from the entrance level up with Roman and Greek busts and sculptures and a top floor of mosaics and frescos. The Boxer is on the first floor, the entrance floor. Seeing the sculpture for real was one of the most moving experiences I have had viewing art, the piece is stunningly beautiful, there is nothing else like it, all the other male sculpture are what you could heroic nudes, depicting power and victory, this rare bronze sculpture depicts a reality, a fighter having a rest, his dark hollow eyes are tied, he is bruised, he has scars, he has bleeding cuts, a broken nose, cauliflower ears, it has a sorrowful gladiatorial the end is nigh feeling, very moving. Here are some photos and a sketch, I probably spent over an hour looking at this magnificent piece.

As mentioned previously the top floor was full of frescos and mosaics, I was quite taken with these, not so much the mosaic but the frescos, the simplicity of the painting, reinforcing the saying less is more. Look how many thousands of years they survived. Seeing the, what look like to me, the depiction of ordinary folk, probably slaves, going about their daily lives is giving me a seed of an idea for some work. What now is The Villa Borghese park could well have been the area the original frescos images was inspired by, so I thought a few water colour sketches of the folk who frequent the park in the 21st century, and those folk from the frescos could make a nice comparison, then and now, just a thought, now in blue, the past in brown.

Time is Out of Joint

La Galleria Nazionale - Roma

July 3rd 2018:

An exhibition put together from the Italian national collection featuring a wide range of art from the classical period through to present day contemporary Italian art. Purposely put together out of joint to unhinge the viewer, put aside preconceived ideas on how art should be viewed in its genre, its chronological order, no, mix it up, stir in this that and the other. The ingredients do what you will, the author is dead.

I had research the gallery before I went and was pleasantly surprised to find 6 outstanding pieces by Alberto Burri. Important to my foundation research Burri continues to inform my work, it was inspiring to experience the work first hand, the depth of layering, the physical experience of seeing the mixed media he used, metals, plastics and wood all distorted out of joint to produce what I consider great pieces, dare I say the results though not the context are Kiefer before Kiefer. 

Pino Pascali, 32 mq di mare circa 1967

 Dan Flavin, Monument For V. Tatlin 1964

 Alberto Burri, Grand Sacco 1952

 Hanna Hock

Close up, Alberto Burri, Nero Gretto G5 1975