Current Affairs 13.02
Charles I: King and Collector, Royal Academy
Until 15th April 2018
King Charles I had one of the most incredible art collections of his time, including Titian, Mantegna, Holbein, Dürer and even commissioning the leading contemporary artists such as Van Dyck and Rubens. However, when he was executed in 1649, his collection was sold off and scattered across Europe. This exhibition reunites the masterpieces of this magnificent collection for the first time, including over 100 works of art, ranging from classical sculptures to Baroque paintings, from exquisite miniatures to monumental tapestries. By showing this great range together, the exhibition demonstrates their radical impact.
Leonardo da Vinci Hid Invisible Drawings in His Sketches, and Only Now Have High Tech Scanners Brought Them to Light.
To mark the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, a collection of his drawings will go on a tour around the UK in February 2019. This will contain far more than the classic images we associate with Da Vinci, with 144 illustrated works displayed in 12 simultaneous exhibitions in various cities across Britain. They will eventually be exhibited all together in May at the Queen’s gallery, Buckingham Palace; with 200 sheets on display, the largest exhibition of Da Vinci’s work in over 65 years. There will be new revelations in the show, as infrared light will be used to discover hidden drawings and alternative versions of his sketches.
Eddie Peake: Concrete Pitch, 7 February – 8 April 2018,
White Cube South Galleries, Bermondsey
The White Cube, Bermondsey is presenting ‘Concrete Pitch’ by Eddie Peake. The exhibition is his fourth at the gallery and includes new sculpture, painting, sound work and performance in an immersive, constructed environment. The works in this exhibition weave autobiographical elements and an examination of self-identity for Peake; whose work can be located within a history of painting and object-making as well as more recent narratives of dance and performance art. Even the title, ‘Concrete Pitch’ is inspired by the concrete recreation ground in Finsbury Park where the artist grew up. The gallery can also be considered a stage; a place to orchestrate dramas of the everyday and to present the rich associative portrait of his childhood neighbourhood as a microcosm of urban, multicultural society.
Picasso’s Stepdaughter is Opening a Museum to House the Largest Ever Collection of His Works
Catherine Hutin-Blay, the only daughter of Picasso’s second wife Jacqueline Roque, is opening a museum in the South of France to house her large collection of works by the Spanish artist, of around 2000 works. The museum will be dedicated to the painter and her mother and will be located near to where the couple is entombed. It will be in the former college of Preachers in Aix en Provence. Hutin-Blay next year will also have a major loan to a Berlin Museum for a Picasso show next year at the Museum Barberini.
2018’s New Delhi’s India Art Fair = A Major Success!
2018 marked the 10th edition of the India Art Fair at the NSIC Grounds in New Delhi, and potentially the beginning of a new and exciting era for South Asian art. Under new management, this year’s fair saw redesigned and better booths, much-improved lighting, and a higher standard of exhibitors. It’s said that many regular galleries did not make the cut this year, whilst heavyweights like David Zwirner and Blain|Southern entered the mix and made their mark on audiences. The focus was on fresh new work with director Jagdip Jagpal explaining to artnet News “If the galleries become tired, the fair becomes tired, and we are going to work very hard to make sure that never happens again.” There was also an emphasis on work from within the region, with galleries like Kolata’s Experimenter Gallery coming close to selling out on the fair’s opening day, and much excitement surrounding the work exhibited by Jhaveri Contemporary, Chatterjee & Lal and Tarq Gallery. Yamini Mehta, Sotheby’s international head for Indian and South Asian art, noted “A lot of the speculators are now out of the market, and collectors are instead buying with the idea of owning a work for at least a generation. This has built stability in the marketplace, whereas before you had works mostly staying in their crates and moving from one warehouse to another for years.”
Many congratulations to the fairs’ organisers – we look forward to even bigger and better things next year!
Catch Yoko Ono’s Sister’s exhibition!
You know of John Lennon. You know of Yoko Ono. But are you familiar with Setsuko Ono, the visual artist connected to both? Setsuko Ono is the Japanese sculptor and painter whose show will open at The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation on Friday, February 16 and at Asia House on March 13. Formerly a world bank executive, Ono (younger sister of Yoko) found art after retirement but was encouraged by her world-famous brother-in-law John Lennon to make more art as early as 1986!
The sculptures are made of cut out steel, which she has said is partially inspired by John Cage. Ono has explained “John Cage’s 4’33” impressed me so much because it was silent. There was a full orchestra on the stage, and no one made a sound. I was sitting in the first row; I heard the audience coughing, shuffling, and that was the music. Thus, my art is silent but most of the time it is moving with the wind, especially my steel sculptures because they are made of very thin steel, dancing in the sun or moonlight.”
David Granick: The East End in Colour, 1960-1980
Over at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives catch “David Granick: The East End in Colour, 1960-1980” before 5th May 2018. The photographic exhibition presents the work of true east-ender David Granick who, a member of the Stepney Camera Club, lived and died in the area. His familiarity and love of the area is undoubtedly evident in his bright Kodachrome images of the East End. Taken over 20 years, the photographs capture both the simplicity and mundanity of life.
