The majestic Houghton Hall & Gardens in Norfolk is one of Britain’s finest Palladian mansions, making it the perfect backdrop for hosting Anish Kapoor's largest outdoor show in the UK. This exhibition showcases his considerable talents with 21 of his large- scale pieces, including his iconic 35-foot-high Sky Mirror. Built in 1720 for the first prime minister Sir Robert Walpole, Houghton Hall is now owned by the Marquess of Cholmondeley. From now until 12 November, visitors to Houghton Hall will be able to view the exhibition. In addition to the stone sculptures, there are also a selection of drawings and smaller works that Kapoor has created over the past 40 years. Presented together, this series is meant to 'challenge the classical architecture of the house and the idyllic beauty of the grounds, whilst being in continuous dialogue and engagement with Houghton’s history.' I have been a long-time fan of Anish Kapoor's work, but I must confess, I was less excited to see his stone sculptures. That being said, I was actually pleasantly surprised, and really enjoyed them. Perhaps the grand backdrop of Houghton Hall and the fact it was the first exhibition I'd seen in months since lockdown, also positively influenced my experience. As I was walking past his series of three large rectangular pieces made from onyx, limestone and granite, I overheard a fellow visitor, who said, “If these (the sculptures) were inside, I’d walk straight past them”. I strongly disagreed with their statement and was fascinated by the simplicity of the sculptures and the obvious skill and dedication that had gone into creating something seemingly so simple. There was also an impressive array of works located within Houghton Hall. The Stone Hall filled with cherubs, ostentatious chandeliers and grand furniture is reflected back at you with a series of Kapoor’s brilliantly coloured mirrors, which beckoned one to stay and play. Each of the mirrors had a different reflective quality and with a room so full of detail and texture, one can easily spend hours in there. But with queues building up outside and restricted numbers allowed in the rooms, I had to let go of my indulgent self and move on! For me, the north wing courtyard was my favourite spot. This smallish outdoor space hosted “Grace” (marble) and “Imminence” (Onyx). The romance of the rich historical backdrop brought out a playful, almost sexual element to these anti-form sculptures, with the containment of the sculptures somehow adding to their potency.
To provide the perfect ending to your visit, stop by the walled garden for a lovely respite before your return journey home. If you're interested in travelling further afield, you can also explore the wonderful Norfolk countryside, and visit the sprawling lavender and poppy fields and many fantastic beaches, such as the nearby Hunstanton Beach, which is a personal favourite. Elinor Seath
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Istanbul Biennial 2019: The Seventh Continent Istanbul’s art scene is booming and it’s never been more evident than in this year’s 16th Biennial (14 September – 10 November). Running across three sites, and showcasing more than 220 artworks by 56 participating artists, it provides art lovers with a wealth of opportunities to fully immerse themselves in art. This year’s theme – The Seventh Continent The Seventh Continent refers to the mass of plastic waste floating in the Pacific, estimated to be five times the size of Turkey. Curator and art historian Nicolas Bourriaud uses this theme to explore the Anthropocene epoch; an era where human activity has been the dominant influence on climate change and the environment. While the biennial isn’t set on preaching an environmental message, it explores our current period in history and suggests a new ‘approach is needed to make sense of it. Bourriaud sees the 56 international participating artists as anthropologists of this ‘off-centred world’, a time where, the physical and symbolic limits that formerly separated human beings from their environments have collapsed. He suggests that,’ both anthropology and art are reflecting the erosion of the old mass systems – sociological, ethnical, sexual or political.’ The site locations Site 1 Located a stone’s throw from the beautiful Bosphorous and a 30-minute walk from Galata Bridge, the main venue (the new addition to the MSFAU Painting and Sculpture museum), plays host to more than half of the participating artists, so ensure you allow a day to take it all in. It’s also conveniently located for grabbing a coffee or a quick bite to eat, should you want some refreshments after an art-filled day. Site 2 The second host venue, the Pera Museum, is more centrally located near Taksim Square. Here, alongside the 14 Biennial artists, is the museum’s permanent collection, which is well worth viewing. Afterwards, head to Solera Winery, a fabulous little wine bar with a good selection of wines. Site 3 The third site, which is home to five art works, is located on Buyukada (the largest of the Princes Islands), situated a one-hour boat ride from the main port. All of the works are located within a short walk from the ferry drop-off for ease. To help inspire your visit to the Biennial, I’ve rounded up a few of my favourite installations / artists’ works. 1. Korakrit Arunanondchai – Thailand This video piece brings together two historical events – the rise of Donald Trump and the death of the King of Thailand woven together with the artist’s grandmother’s experience with dementia and a drone spirit called Chanti. Done through a collage of cleverly woven interviews, original footage, imagery and story-telling, there’s a real beauty to Arunanondchai’s work, which has an ethereal and spiritual quality. The content of the video is almost irrelevant; it’s the sum of the parts that makes it stand out. He punctuates the footage with poignant phrases, which encourage reflection such as: ‘how have the strokes of history painted your picture’, ‘for consciousness to exist beyond bodies’, ‘soil is the most valued species on the earth,’ etc. 2. Jonathas de Andrade – BrazilPeixe The Fish– video This powerful film shows a fisherman holding and stroking a fish with care and love while the fish slowly dies; a ritual performed by fishermen in the Northeast of Brazil. This demonstration of love while the fishermen knowingly kill the fish for food, throws up a complex set of emotions, making for compelling yet difficult viewing. Andrade uses this video to explore human’s relationship to the earth, that we are slowly killing yet depend on for our existence. 3. Hale Tenger – Turkey Appearance –Installation and audio - Buyukada This meditative piece is set in the gardens of Sophronius Palace, a now un-inhabited, dilapidated building on Buyukada Island. As you wander around the gardens you are drawn to the black obsidian mirrors that reflect the magic of this wild garden. You are forced to walk slowly in between the mirrors so you can hear the audio that forms part of this installation, a poem written by the artist – the voice of a fruit tree. The inspiration for this installation comes from a botanical technique girdling: the complete removal of a strip of bark which can kill trees or encourage enhanced growth of fruit. The artist asks ‘Can you be by not doing?’ and she creates a wonderful space to reflect on this and indeed how humans manipulate nature for their own gain. 4. Haegue Yang – South Korea ‘Incubation and Exhaustion’- sculpture, sound (Painting and Sculpture Museum) Yang presents an immersive sensorial environment with scents, sounds and textures. The room is saturated with biomorphic sculptures made up of motifs ranging from chillies and garlic to high-end surgical robots. These striking hyperreal images and sculptures are paired with an audio from a famous interview with Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in, where native bird song and camera clicks was all that was recorded. Yang’s installation explores the breaking down of barriers between technology, politics, art and nature. Overall, the experience left me feeling reflective. Perhaps human beings are merely a dot on the landscape of the history of this great earth whose time is up. Motivated by human-centric concerns, the climate change debate, which has provoked so much discussion and anxiety, maybe suggests our focus should be on how to leave this earth gracefully.
Elinor Seath Fortnum & Mason has continued their annual artistic collaboration Fortnum’s X Frank 2018 (FXF18), with eminent art collector, Frank Cohen, presenting a rich body of work by British landscape artist, John Virtue. Running from now until 20th October, Fortnum’s X Frank 2018 (FXF18) will see over 60 large-scale monochromatic works by Virtue placed across the floors of the luxury London store, in the heart of Piccadilly. Having trained at the Slade School of Fine Art and now residing in North Norfolk, Virtue’s practice is continually informed by natural environments and his geographical moving from Lancashire to Devon, to London, and now to Norfolk. The artist’s idiosyncratic black and white canvases, created using a mix of white acrylic paint, black ink and shellac, will provide a provocative juxtaposition among the iconic Fortnum’s colours and gilt. The works chosen include abstract landscapes that challenge the viewer to see beyond the paint to make out landmark sites, such as London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, London Eye and The Gherkin. Fortnum’s X Frank 2018 (FXF18) is curated by Robert Upstone, former Director at the Fine Art Society, which he joined in 2010 from Tate Britain where he was Head of Modern British Art. This month-long collaboration takes place as the global art world descends on London for the prestigious Frieze Art Fair. Fortnum’s has a long-standing commitment to the arts, supporting generations of artists and designers through its connections with the Royal Academy, the Royal College of Art, the Slade School of Fine Art and the Bloomsbury Group, alongside Fortnum’s own distinguished collection.
What better way to explore Venice than being on the hunt for thought provoking, enlightening world class art and exhibitions? I recently made the pilgrimage to see the work of Khadija Saye, an artist who sadly died in the Grenfell Tower disaster, an unexpected and poignant moment during my visit. While this trip was my first time visiting Venice, I had to remain focused and not be distracted by the sheer beauty of the city, to ensure I had ample time to take everything in during my weekend jaunt. For those who wish to see all that the Biennale has on offer, I’d recommend a five or six-day visit, however, a weekend visit will give you a good flavour of what’s on show. Now is the perfect time to visit – the throng of summer tourists have packed up and left and the Biennale buffs have been and gone – leaving a wonderful space to wander round the exhibitions bathed in the dazzling Autumn glow. In addition to experiencing the artworks themselves, you can attend ‘Open Table’ sessions with the artists and check out the music festival. This year’s curator is Parisian Christine Macel, best known for her curatorial role at the Pompidou Centre. Macel’s working title for this year’s Biennale ‘Viva Arte Viva’, translates to ‘a celebration of the artist and of art for its own sake’, a move away from one central theme most Biennales have, while removing it from a political agenda where many Biennales have sat in the past.
Throughout the Biennale there are 120 invited artists from 51 countries; 103 of whom are participating for the first time. While most of the artwork is concentrated in the two main sites, The Biennale spreads throughout the city with more than 20 collateral events and exhibitions taking place. The main exhibition sites are the Giardini and the Arsenale; two immense permanent buildings that sit within a 10-minute walk of each other and lie along one of the main waterways of Venice. The participating artists are grouped together into nine ‘chapters’ including The Pavilion of Joys and Fears, which explores the relationship between the individual and his own existence, and The Dionysian Pavilion, which celebrates the female body and its sexuality. These groupings help the viewer navigate their way around an eclectic mix of art forms, scale and meaning. So, if you haven't had the chance to attend, now's the time to go! To wrap up the celebrations in style, the grand finale on 26 November promises an exciting programme of events and closing parties, ensuring an electric atmosphere for all to enjoy. Elinor Seath London Design Festival celebrates and promotes London as the design capital of the world. Now in its 15th year, the Festival will be returning to venues and institutions across the city from now until the 24 September 2017. A major feature of the Festival is an ambitious programme of over 450 projects and events, offering Londoners and visitors to the city an opportunity to experience world-class, innovative, and challenging design across the capital.
Key exhibitions to see at The London Design Festival... Set in Stone The Design Museum, which opened the doors to its new home in Kensington in November 2016, presents an exciting project during this year’s London Design Festival. Set in Stone presents a selection of works by eight designers invited to explore the potential of marble and limestone. These works, displayed in various locations both inside and outside the museum, include objects intended for public use, such as seating by Eduardo Souto de Moura; a slide by Elemental; graphic pieces by Sagmeister & Walsh; and a series of domestic objects by Michael Anastassiades and Jasper Morrison. The project is an investigation of the qualities of stone, and the technical means through which it is cut and shaped. The natural formation of stone over millions of years produces patterns and textures that are unique and unrepeatable. The designers’ responses represent small moments of monumentality that reflect the solidity and permanence of an elemental material. Drop in the Ocean Designer, Brodie Neill, presents ‘Drop in the Ocean’ at ME London, a mesmerising site specific nature-driven installation, located in The Atrium of the iconic Foster + Partners designed hotel, the Official Hotel Partner for the Festival. ME London, is the flagship property for the ME by Melia brand, located in the cultural heart of Covent Garden. Neill’s presentation premieres his work Flotsam, produced using his self-created material Ocean Terrazzo which Neill developed for the Australian Pavilion for the 2016 London Design Biennale, and confronts the problem of the world’s plastic waste within our oceans. Cast completely as singular pieces, the Flotsam collection is created from a combination of all-white Ocean Terrazzo to reflect water and multicoloured ocean plastic fragments to reference the floating nature of the plastic waste which travels across oceans and break down into small fragments from the force of the currents, meanwhile the single drop seen in the melodic installation symbolises the smallest essence of nature resulting in momentous consequences. Sound sculptures, a thought provoking if somewhat macabre photographic exhibition of unclaimed corpses dressed in high fashion, cutting-edge video installations set up in dilapidated warehouses, the sadness of a water journey for a Syrian refugee’s family brought to life in the ‘Sea of Pain’, a water installation, and a dark labyrinth that echoes the voices of exiled poets inside a 40-foot pyramid constructed of cow dung. These are some of the memorable encounters I experienced at the 3rd annual Kochi Biennale held in the coastal state of Kerala in India. Spanning 12 venues and with 97 participating artists from 35 countries, Kochi comes alive with art, performance, talks and workshops. Its spectacular setting in Fort Kochi, a water-bound extension of the mainland, lends the Biennale its unique atmosphere. The Kerala region has been a trading centre and a melting pot for centuries, with seafarers from Arabia, China and Europe seeking the spices that Kerala was famed for. Fort Kochi’s amalgam of old churches from the Dutch and Portugese period, synagogues, forts, trading warehouses, old homes and palaces have been creatively utilized by the organisers to create a special ambience for artists to show their work. The whole aesthetic experience is cleverly tied together with an 88-chapter text of ‘Baroni,’ a novel by Argentinian writer Sergio Chejfec stenciled across the city walls. Since the start of the three-month event in December 2016, there have been 800,000 visitors to the Biennale, according to the organisers. I visited in mid-March in sweltering heat, just as the build up to the final ceremony was starting. As an artist myself, I came away with my conviction strengthened --- art is an essential medium to discover, challenge, and turn on its heads our pre-conceived notions of the world. The theme of the Biennale ‘Forming in the pupil of an Eye’ came to Sadarshan Shetty as the curation process developed. He had initial conversations with Raul Zurita, the Mexican artist, and things organically grew from there. This was Shetty’s first curating experience and he wanted to create a ‘space’ where the artist/curator relationship was symbiotic, “I was merely the facilitator of a shared space,” he told me over lunch at Solar, a café frequented by the Biennale crowd. I asked him how artists were responding to the space, meaning of course the physical space of the Biennale’s setting. “What do you mean by space? Your perception and mine are very different,” Shetty said. Our Biennale guide, Anjali, a student of English from Hyderabad University, emphasised the “interactive” nature of the exhibits and encouraged us to make our own interpretations of the artwork. For me, the potency of the ‘Sea of Pain’ was a fantastic example of this. The viewer is made to wade through an expanse of water, which connects you to the fate of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year old Turkish boy whose body was washed ashore on a sandy beach in Greece after the boat he and his family travelled in capsized. The image of his crumpled and lifeless body washed up on shore shocked the world and humanized the refugee crisis. The dark maze of the Pyramid of the Exiled Poets, by Aleś Śteger, where the whispers of dead and exiled poets is the only sound you hear as you walk single file, claustrophobic and scared in the dark, recreates in you the fear and repression experienced by poets persecuted for speaking their truth. I cannot but mention the incredible 38-minute video installation Inverso Mundus by the Russian artists AES+F shown on a 15 metre screen. A surreal slow-motion film that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy in a topsy-turvy post-industrial world, Inverso Mundus also questions the power dynamics of today’s world, between the sexes, class, generations and even the animal-human relationship. Yet another interactive piece was Turkish artist Ahmet Ogut's "Workers leaving the factory - Version 2.” Two simple Merritt sewing machine on which a television screen replaces the operative part of the sewing machine stands in an open room overlooking the sea. As you pedal the machine, a grainy video of workers walking out in protest from a factory site plays out on the screen. The viewer, in other words, has to labour in order to view a labour force, in this case, in protest. Indian artists have also been featured heavily. P.K. Sadanandan, a mural artist from Kerala, started on a mural in the traditional Kerala style at the opening of the show and completed the 10-metre mural by the closing week. It depicts the pernicious institution of caste, which is still very prevalent in India. I spoke to him when he was on his final strokes, and hoarse from talking to visitors over the last three months. Running alongside the main Biennale are 20 Collateral events, where more international and Indian artists are given the opportunity to show their work. I visited an exhibition by the recently discovered artist Brij Mohan Anand, who came of age in pre-Independent India and was involved with the nationalist and Communist movement. His energetic black and white etchings on subjects such as the futility of war, social oppression, serve to shock the viewer, but are aesthetic in their own right. Roots/Routes, a collaboration of four Pune-based artists portray the individual artist’s journey in mediums as varied as ceramic, video, sculpture and painting.
The ABC (Art by Children) programme engages 5000 children from across 100 schools in Kerala. It provides a platform for children to engage in high quality visual and performance art and will surely ensure that the rich legacy of the Biennale is kept alive and developed through generations to come. The selection process for the curator of the 2018 edition of the Kochi Biennale is already underway. There is talk of a women being chosen but no one knows as yet. What is certain, if Biennale 2016 is a benchmark, is that it is sure to be another exciting and event of global art standards, where boundaries are pushed and fresh perspectives created.
Outside of the formal Biennale experience, or indeed as a ‘collateral’ experience, there is a plethora of things to do and see, and fantastic places to eat and stay. It is easily accessed from the international airport at Kochi, and getting around by taxi or autorickshaw is easy for first-timers. An overnight houseboat trip on the beautiful Kerala backwaters is highly recommended and can be combined with your visit to the Biennale. To fully immerse yourself in Biennale, allow yourself a week to visit. To avoid disappointment, book early and stay at Secret Garden, a fantastic, reasonably priced boutique hotel. It’s also worth enjoying a houseboat experience with Bay Pride Tours. I hope that this provides you with a taste of the joys that attending an international biennale can bring and that it whets your appetite for the Kerala Biannale in 2018. Elinor Seath Magnus Plessen's 'The Skin of Volume' exhibition was my first visit to the White Cube Gallery, Mason's Yard. One of four White Cube sites across London, this petite gallery tucked behind The Ritz was an old electricity station in its former life. Today, it features an expanding programme of exhibitions, hosting a wide range of art from international artists.
In this exhibition, Magnus Plessen presents a series of provocative images exploring the impact of war on the human form. Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, the artwork has a playful, child-like quality and his use of vivid colours is striking against the back drop of the black walls. There are two main rooms in the Mason’s Yard White Cube. In the first, Plessen’s work is presented in a dimly lit room with black painted walls, which add an air of drama. In the larger space down stairs, the walls are white, which created a lighter atmosphere. In addition to the larger works of art displayed in the two main rooms, I loved Plessen’s smaller ink on paper works in the lobby, which showed a completely different side to the artist. I was also thrilled to have caught a glimpse of the founder of the White Cube dynasty, Jay Joplin, and his new beau! While I tend to prefer my galleries on the larger side, allowing me to get lost within the space, I absolutely loved this exhibition and was immediately transported into Plessen’s world. It's definitely worth a visit for anyone who's a fan of vivid, modern art. Magnus Plessen ‘The Skin of Volume’ White Cube Mason’s Yard Dates: Now until 14th January 2017 http://whitecube.com/ Elinor Seath Lacking some colour, fun and kitsch in your life? Then don't miss Jeff Koons: Now Lobsters balancing upside down on chairs, mountains of Play-Doh and graphic pornographic images, where else could you be but at a Jeff Koon’s show?! Jeff Koons: Now spans more three decades (35 years to be exact) of Koon’s extraordinary career, providing enough art to fill the six gallery spaces in London's Newport Street Gallery. Lauded as one of the most significant artists to have emerged in the postwar era, Jeff Koons' diverse work has explored themes of taste, consumerism, mass culture, beauty, acceptance, and the role of the artist. Now is the first major UK exhibition to be devoted to the artist since Jeff Koons: Popeye Series at the Serpentine Gallery in 2009. Now features more than 30 paintings, works on paper and sculptures dating from 1979 to 2014. Drawn from Hirst’s collection, a number of these works have never before been shown in the UK. Koons' work is all about the surface, which is generally oh so shiny and deceives the viewer. The largest of his works the ‘Balloon Monkey’, (a loose interpretation as I didn't see a monkey), is a giant imitation of a few nifty twists and turns of a balloon, crafted in steel. Its sheer scale combined with its perfectly reflective surface make it a truly captivating piece. I love how Koon juxtaposes fantasy with the mundane, a theme that runs throughout his work.
I’m not getting involved in the debate as I'm not an expert on Koons. All I know is I left the exhibition with a smile on my face and it stayed with me for the rest of the day – thanks Jeff. If that doesn't demonstrate the power of art, I don't know what does.
Jeff Koons: Now is on Until 16th October 2016. To book tickets. visit www.newportstreetgallery.com Newport Street Gallery Newport Street London SE11 6AJ Elinor Seath Late at Tate Britain - The perfect cultural destination for an alternative night out in London18/11/2015 Searching for an alternative Friday night out in London, I found myself looking at gallery lates. I had a distant memory of playing a weird ball game one evening in a grand hall at the Victoria and Albert Museum, so I was looking for something similarly unique to enjoy. I searched Google for 'London museum and gallery lates' and I was overwhelmed by the amount of information that exists. After a considerable search, I discovered the The Body (November) exhibition at Tate Britain. It had something to do with bodies and DJ’s were playing, which was enough information to convince me. I happily found a willing friend to join me, who, incidentally had never been to the Tate Britain, shame on her! Status at Late at Tate Britain This season, Late at Tate Britain is inspired by the theme of ‘Status’, and each event will explore a different idea: Power (October), The Body (November) and Celebrity (December). The series will explore representations of status and its parallels with the Tate Collection, from historic royalty to YouTube fame.
Enjoy some fabulous art...
When we had finished the exhibition, we decided to take advantage of viewing the fabulous artworks on display. From modern sculptures to traditional paintings, there is something for everyone to enjoy. While sadly, the experience didn’t quite live up to our expectations, it still ticked the box for a great alternative night out and I am now on the search for more! Elinor Seath |
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