Ancient Egypt

"Beyond Beauty transforming the body in ancient Egypt" is the title of the current exhibition at 2 Temple Place.  A unique opportunity to see exquisite Egyptian funerary.  Masks, painted coffins, beautiful jewellery, paintings and silk clothing.  

Two Temple Place is a small gallery, in one of London's magnificent town houses, that gathers together pieces from museums and collections throughout the country enabling the pieces to be seen together.

It's not just the pieces themselves that are interesting but also the stories of the obsessive Victorian collectors and archeologists who excavated and brought the pieces back with them.

In addition to the exhibition there is a program of cultural events that includes storytelling, lectures, traditional Egyptian music and craft workshops.

Beyond Beauty
2 Temple Place
30 January - 24 April 2016

The Minatures

Minaturesque by Slinkachu is a humorous body of work that explores life in London albeit in the most unexpected places where small people mimic the life of real people. How we work, play and live.  Under a dandelion, in the cracks of concrete or even a melting ice-cream.  Staged photos and sculptures such as the cigarette butt towers below.

My thanks to Angie in Yanchep for telling me about the exhibition.

Showing at Andipa Gallery until 18 April 2015 

Rubens and the small print

I was rather excited when Chesterton's invited me to see the new exhibition at the Royal Academy titled "Rubens and his legacy," nothing quite like a Rubenesque women is there?  I was very confused when the first images I saw were Constables, and then I re-read the name of the exhibition properly.

The exhibition is about how other painters had been influenced by Rubens, or how many have copied or created works similar to his. Painters from Van Dyck to Cezanne even, which means that there are works from a range of famous painters on display. Don't worry though there are also some actual Rubens works in the exhibition, and naturally they are there are superb and make the visit worthwhile in it's own right, plus you get to see all the others as well. I would like to have seen more Rubens but then for me there can never be enough of Rubens!!

The Anti Gallery Show

A demonstration site, an encounter space and an ideas laboratory is how the Espacio gallery describes the latest installation: "the anti gallery show".  Thirty five artists and art groups have collaborated to create unique works designed to challenge the nature of the art world and how art space is used.

The show includes performances, constructed works, some being constructed as part of the show, dance, recitals and much much more.

Espacio Gallery
159 Bethnal Green Road E2 7DG
8-29 January 2015

Japanese Garden

London has so many wonderful galleries tucked away in every corner of the city.  In the heart of Bloomsbury is one of my favourites, the Brunei Gallery which is on the campus of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).  My last visit was to see Colours of Change - Sri Lanka the work of photographer Stephen Champion who has lived and worked in Sri Lanka for 28 years.

The gallery is a wonderful space worthy of a visit in its own,  especially the tranquil Japanese rooftop garden.

Small Amusement

A hat lay on the floor beneath the head of the portrait.  Everyone politely walked around it.  I'm easily amused.

Extraordinary Objects

The world of extraordinary objects is the title and theme of the current exhibition at the October Gallery in Bloomsbury.  The artists have taken ordinary items and transformed them into extraordinary objects that aim to reflect modern society and culture.

This piece titled "Medusa" by artist Gyeong Yoon An, is bold in its message with a head covered in paper mache guns with recorders creating a low level of white noise that flows up into the head and then back out of the hair.

The works are all strong visual statements on the environment, poverty, and politics.
  
October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AL
21 February - 13 April 2013

Warm Igloo

An installation in front of the Hayward Gallery that invites you to look up at the ceiling.

 For the latest panoramic view of London, yes that one from the Shard that costs so much! No I haven't seen it myself, however I found you a competition with a prize of two free tickets.  All you have to do is write about your worst ever date.  It closes tomorrow so be in quick.

Jeunesse

Head to Shoreditch to find London's "happening" art scene, with emerging artists very much front and centre. Three different exhibition openings in one street alone last night, and yes!! I went to all of them.

  These pieces are showing at the new Jester Jacques "pop-up"Gallery. The gallery is show casing the work of several young and talented artists, with work across a variety of genres until Monday 5th November. 
 
Jacques gallery is located in the Blackball Studios, 73 Leonard St, London EC2A 4QS - get along there as soon as you can. 

Day Trip to Margate

Margate was the favourite seaside resort of Charles Dickens who found the place "delightful and fresh", a place where he enjoyed long walks. So when I was offered a trip there I jumped at the opportunity.

Margate has had a recent revival since the Turner Contemporary Gallery opened in 2011 after 20 years to create. Named after Turner whose early life began in Margate and was drawn back regularly because of his love of the seas, skies, quality of light and later his landlady Mrs Booth.

Artists continue to be inspired by Margate, today's most well known contemporary artist being Tracy Emin.
My trip began with a visit to the gallery to see the current exhibition of works by Turner, Rodin and Emin. It is worth going to Margate just for this show alone.

Gallery visiting makes me very hungry and so a hearty lunch was in order. We went to the Walpole Bay Hotel for a traditional English roast. What a gem this place is. It opened in 1914 as a hotel for society to spend their summer vacation. It remained in the same family until it was taken over by Jane and Peter Bishop in 1995. The original owners had not thrown away a single item in all those years. Jane and Peter quickly saw the value in these items and have turned part of the hotel into a museum.


You could spend hours looking at everything here. I recommend a weekend stay to take it all in.
Another lovely tale began in 2009 when guest Curtis Tappenden presented Jane with a sketch he had drawn on his napkin during dinner. It has now become a tradition with artists from around the world crating art on their napkins. There are currently 121 adorning the walls of the hotel.


After a hearty meal we needed a walk. As luck would have it the Tudor house was preparing to open its doors for the first time since its restoration and we were given a preview. It's the oldest remaining building in central Margate, built around 1525. (Margate was heavily bombed in WWII). It is thought the place was probably owned by a wealthy yeoman farmer.


For something totally different and rather quirky you really must visit the shell grotto. It was discovered quite by accident when in 1835 the current owner was digging a duck pond and broke through the roof. No-one knows its origins, however it is believed to date from the time of the Knights Templar. A winding passage leads to an altar room, the walls and ceiling are all covered in a mosaic of seashells. A space of 190 square metres and at best guess 4.6 million shells.

Take a fast train from St Pancras International station and you will be transported to Margate in just under an hour and half.

Words of the Century

Yesterday I saw a fantastic exhibition at the October Gallery in Bloomsbury. It's only showing until the 20th August so I urge you to get over there to see it.
As part of the centenary celebrations of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, photographer Jimmy Symonds has created 10 hand-made artist books for each decade from 1900. For this work Jimmy researched new words from each year, reducing the list until he finally produced this exhibition of one new word or phrase from each year illustrating it with a photo. Examples are 'avant-garde' , 'cloning', 'down-turn'. It is a fabulous project.


I'm gong back to take another look. Pity Jimmy hasn't published a book as this work is really worth being in your library.

Ernest Neto Exhibition

A fun exhibition showing at the Hayward Gallery at present. You are encouraged to take pictures in this section and text them to the on line gallery

The Courtauld Gallery

The Courtauld, a small lesser known gallery on the Strand side of Somerset House, houses an impressive collection of mainly French impressionist and post impressionist art.
Thanks to the philanthropist Samuel Courtauld who founded and donated the works in 1932, you can see and study these works.

Where are all the modern philanthropists? Time bankers and others with the wealth gave back to the community.