Posts tagged ‘London’

Jan 4

Brit Art is the main focus of the UK’s 2012 exhibition diary

It’s 2012, year of the London Olympics, and to celebrate the fact that this year, the UK will be the focus of the world (hopefully for all good reasons) London entered the New Year with a spectacular firework display like none other. But as the country gears up towards its greatest sporting event for generations, the UK’s major art galleries are embarking on a cultural olympiad all of their own. This is my brief guide of what’s on in the UK’s art diary in 2012.

From the Damien Hirst 2007 butterflies collection

Patriotism is at an all time high in the UK, what with the Royal Wedding last year and the Diamond Jubilee this year, a sense that we should fling ourselves unceremoniously out of the EU and of course those all important Olympics. And it’s a state of national pride which is being more than represented in 2012 by the UK art galleries. Having spent 2011 promoting some of the world’s best artists (Catalan Miró at Tate Modern, Mexican Kahlo and Rivera at Pallant House, Parisian patriarch Degas at the Royal Academy, and of course the Italian master himself, Da Vinci, at the National Gallery), in 2012, the UK is promoting some of its biggest British artistic stars of past and present.

Damien Hirst - LSD - Image via Wikipedia

For sure one of the biggest exhibition events of 2012 will be the Damien Hirst retrospective at Tate Modern from 4 April to 9 September 2012. Love him or loathe him (I tend towards the latter, but not always), he is one of the big stars of our generation, and his works do at least show some longevity, unlike many of his unsavoury, untalented counterparts (unmade bed anyone?). In particular I love some of the butterfly works of his recent oeuvre, but who knows whether they will be included in this show. For sure Mr Hirst’s 1991 Shark in Formaldehyde (“The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living”) is bound to feature prominently” – has it not rotted yet?) as well as his pharmaceutical cabinet (“Pharmacy” 1992). Expect big crowds, and a slightly stinking smell of putrefaction lingering in the air at this show.

The Physical Possibility of a Norm in Formaldehyde (after Damien Hirst) (2011, pen on paper © Nicholas de Lacy-Brown)

One of Hockney's ipad works

The second contemporary Brit art blockbuster must be the Royal Academy‘s David Hockney RA: The Bigger Picture solo exhibition from 21 January – 9 April 2012. This is an exhibition of new large scale landscapes rather than a complete retrospective. While it may therefore lack the naked golden-skinned boys jumping into Los Angeles pools of Hockney’s earlier career, his bigger landscapes look to be every bit as colourful and vivacious, as well as… well, massive. Having said that, the exhibition is set to include landscapes spanning his whole career, and will, interestingly, feature some of his new iPad creations for which he is famously enthusiastic. His ipad works have already been exhibited to some acclaim at the Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Foundation in Paris in an exhibition appropriately entitled: “Fleurs Fraîches” so I will be intrigued to see how the works are displayed in this London show. There is no doubt about it, the ipad has made for a revolutionary new canvas for Hockney’s works. Just a shame about the financial side of things…

David Hockney, Winter Timber (2009)

Picasso's Weeping Woman (1937)

Meanwhile, at Tate Britain, a new exhibition running from 15 February – 15 July 2012 will explore how Picasso influenced generations of British artists: Picasso and Modern British Art. The British art on show will include some 90 art works by Duncan Grant, Wyndham Lewis, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Graham Sutherland and, once again, good old Hockney. However, I’m frankly more excited by the 60 Picasso’s on show, and hope that the works will extend beyond Tate’s own collection of his works. Although having said that, I could spend hours in front of Picasso’s Weeping Woman (1937) – the first ever Picasso I saw and the one I fell in love with.

Ben Nicholson, 1937

Ben Nicholson, the tumultuous ex husband of other British favourite, Barbara Hepworth, will also feature prominently in a forthcoming exhibition held at the Courtauld Institute between 16 February – 20 May 2012, Mondrian || Nicholason: In Parallel. The show will aim to explore the largely untold relationship between Nicholson and Piet Mondrian during the 1930s when both artists were leading forces in abstract art in Europe. Promising to reveal how each artist was driven by a profound belief in the potential of abstract to create new forms of beauty and visual power, it’s something of a diversion from the collection-based norm of the Courtauld’s temporary exhibitions and should be a good one to look out for.

Claude Monet, Poplars on the Epte (1891)

Next, that old British master, Turner, will be given the kind of exposure which Britain does so well when bringing out it’s most celebrated artist for admiration. Both the National Gallery and Tate Liverpool will be paying homage to Turner in 2012, the National Gallery hosting a new show comparing Turner with Claude Gellée with Turner Inspired: In the Light of Claude from 14 March – 5 June 2012, while at Tate Britain, an ambitious exhibition from 22 June – 28 October 2012 will bring together works by Turner Monet Twombly and explore the similarities between them in style, subject and artistic motivation. It is well known that Monet was suitably inspired by Turner’s superb handling of light and fog, storms and mist when he came to London during the Franco-Prussian war. How Twombly fits in remains to be seen – but I’m always open to suggestion.

Reflection (Self-portrait), 1985 © Lucian Freud

Finally, who better to complete the set of British artist masters than the artist who we sadly lost last year – Lucien Freud. In memory of this great artist, and taking a look back at what he did best – portraiture – the National Portrait Gallery will be taking a closer, comprehensive look at some of his greatest portraits from 9 February – 27 May 2012 in Lucien Freud: Portraits. It’s an exhibition which is sure to be a hit, as Freud paints his sitters with uncompromising honesty and intensity with virtuosity and exceptional skill. The exhibition features over 100 works from museums and private collections, so this will be an opportunity not to be missed.

So there you have it, a selection of the biggest and best shows coming our way in 2012. It’s going to be a busy year! Also worth a quick mention is a Pre-Raphaelites exhibition which will come to Tate Britain at the end of the year and the return of Edvard Munch to the UK – in fact to Tate Modern. It is I believe the same show I have just seen at Paris’ Pompidou Centre. If so, it’s a rather depressing retrospective, and won’t stand up overly well next to the superb retrospectives earlier on in the year.

Talking of Paris, I can’t end this post without mentioning one forthcoming show over in the City of Light which has caused me a great deal of excitement – the Edward Hopper retrospective – at the Grand Palais from 8 October 2012 – 20 January 2013. I cannot wait for this opportunity to see so many of this artist’s soulful, introspective works up close. Yes, it’s not exactly Brit art, but then we can’t expect Paris to promote the spirit of the London 2012 olympics… they were the losers after all.

Hopper, Early Sunday Morning 1930 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

David Hockney and Damien Hirst go head to head with solo London shows (guardian.co.uk)
Paris Part II: The Stein Collection, Munch (and the Screaming Norm) and the unyielding stench of Camembert (normsonline.wordpress.com)
In honour of Hockney: the DigiNorm (normsonline.wordpress.com)

Jan 2

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Happy New Year from the Daily Norm!

It’s been yet another bank holiday here in the UK, and so once again the Daily Norm has shut up shop for the festive season along with much of this strangely quiet city of London. However as the city’s working residents brush off their suits and iron their shirts in readyness for the first difficult day back to work tomorrow, the Daily Norm is firing up its production line just in time to wish you all a brief Happy New Year! 2012 – who would have thought it? The Millennium celebrations only feel like a couple of years ago to me. However this year, 2012 promises big things, for London in particular, as the Olympics hit our shores. And if the NYE fireworks in London were anything to go by, London will be a faultless and fantastic host of the big games.

I went into central London to see the fireworks live for the first time this NYE, and I have to say, while they may be stunning to watch on the TV, in person they are utterly exceptional. We had been enjoying an excellent dinner at the nearby Boyd’s Brasserie (dripping in art deco marble-clad elegance) and upon exiting found ourselves, fortuitously, in a cordoned off viewing area slap bang next to the Hungerford Bridge with a perfect view of the London Eye. This was fortuitous indeed, as the bulk of the 250,000 people crowd had arrived in the middle of the day to get a good viewing spot. But for us, only a few minutes wait were required before Big Ben started it’s notorious toll and the final countdown lead to an explosion of spectacular magnitude from both the Eye, and Big Ben itself.

What followed were 11 minutes and 15 seconds of surely unsurpassed breathtaking brilliance, a display which sent vibrations all around and quivers down my spine. What a way to start the new year! And stood amidst that crowd of similarly awed spectators, all happily revelling in the party atmosphere, I felt proud to be a Londoner, resident of a city which is not all about riots, or gang murders on Oxford Street, but which is filled with decent well-intentioned people who celebrate the good things in life. It’s a spirit which I anticipate will ride high throughout 2012, when not only the olympics come to town, but we will also celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee. Here’s for a good one! I leave you with some of my photos of the fireworks. Check back tomorrow for my look at some of the amazing art expected to come our way in 2012. Happy New Year!

Dec 18

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Sunday Supplement: Christmas Double

For this week’s Sunday Supplement, it is in the spirit of Christmas that I bring you not one but TWO de Lacy-Brown paintings to add a little artistic fulfilment to your weekend. And, seeing as this will be the last Sunday Supplement before the big day itself (I am anticipating being ever so slightly too merry and/or stressing in the kitchen next Sunday to blog…and I suspect you will be too busy in similar scenarios to read the good old Daily Norm) I bring you two paintings from my collection which have the great festival of Christmas at their core. Some way apart, the first, painted in a more illustrative style, was created in 2002, while the second, painted in 2010, features a much more matured, realistic style of representation.

The first work, above, was painted when I was in my first year at university in London. Studying at King’s College London on The Strand, I was lucky enough to be situated bang next door to what has become one of the most iconic sights of London’s Christmas celebrations: the ice skating rink at Somerset House. Flanked on all sides by the stunning Neo-classical masterpiece of Somerset House, the rink in the building’s huge cobbled courtyard is utterly atmospheric, reminding of the days of Dickensian London street scenes which, thanks to the likes of A Christmas Carol, have become synonymous with the traditional view of Christmas all around the world. At night, the rink glistens under turquoise lights, flame lanterns flickering on either side, and a tree, usually sponsored by Tiffany & Co. the jewellers, sparkling at the foot of the ice. It’s a wonderful place to skate, and it is something I really miss doing every Christmas since my accident in 2008 precluded me from engaging in such a risky activity. This painting however represents the jovial, whimsical joy of the skating I remember. However, if you ever got the rink as empty as this these days, you’d be very lucky…

The second painting of this week’s Christmas double-whammy is my later portrait of my nephew Alexander when he was just 18 months old. It captures a magical moment when he encountered the large family Christmas tree for the first time. Utterly entranced by the feast of new colours, objects and lights on view, he was literally stopped in his tracks as he took in the wonder of Christmas before him. Painted in a more photo-realistic fashion, I have tried to capture the furry white brim of the cute santa hat he was wearing, while blurring out the tree lights in the background. It was a beautiful moment. As ever, Christmas really is enhanced by the joy you can see reflected in a child’s eyes. However I may feel differently come this time next week, when I have three toddlers running rings around me, fighting for presents and playing catch with the baubles.

Postscript: If you like the painting of Somerset House above, and would like to own a high quality giclee print of the image, there are some available for sale via my Etsy online shop.

© Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm, 2002-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the material, whether written work or artwork, included within The Daily Norm without express and written permission from The Daily Norm’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas de Lacy-Brown and The Daily Norm with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Dec 12

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Paris v London: What ever happened to British Café Culture?

I was reading the post of one of my favourite Paris-based bloggers, Becoming Madame, the other day which described a truly resonant and idyllic scene which she witnessed when sitting inside a Parisian café. Like many of the readers who commented on the post, I was struck by how easily one can be drawn into the romanticised ideal of the Parisian café. It was the same when I was there two weeks ago: There’s something about Parisian cafes which exudes effortless elegance. Some of them are tatty, have tired looking waiters who have been doing the same job for years, browning mirrors and horrible toilets. But there’s something about them, with their hand-written blackboards, mirrored walls, wicker chairs and round tables squeezed outside, and cosy booths inside set amongst an array of old posters and photographs, that just IS romantic and offers us the very epitome of café culture. This quintessential idyllic view of the French café was very much indulged in my favourite film of all time, Amélie, and yet, despite the cinematic interpretation, the quirky little cafe captured in than film is wholly representative of reality.

My queuing experience in Starbucks yesterday

So all of this got me thinking (while stood in a massive queue in Starbucks yesterday), while the streets of Paris are literally dotted all over with cafés and brasseries on every corner, each inviting us to indulge with its cherry red awnings and cosy pavement heaters, why is it that in London, the best we can manage is a starbucks or a Cafe Nero every 100 metres? What happened to the Lyons Teahouses which were at the centre of polite society? Or the little privately run café to which everyone would flock for a gossip? In Paris you sit down and are greeted (not always immediately, warranted) by the friendly(ish) face of a smart French waiter. You order your coffee, you sit back, and you indulge in the sweet pleasure that is people watching. In London you queue for a coffee for what seems like an age. You can attempt to sit down, but most of the cafes are turned over to the takeaway trade, so seating is both limited and purposefully uncomfortable so that the turnaround is quick and no one stays too long. Because of the people rushing in and out, the doors are always open. Your experience is cold and drafty and usually, because of lack of accommodation you have to leave with coffee in a paper cup, the small hole in the lid badly designed for sipping so that generally you get half of the scalding liquid down your face before you’ve managed to sit down and enjoy it. And yet the thing is, these cafés are always full, and you get the feeling that in London there really is a growing coffee culture. So why can’t we have the relaxed café culture of Paris?

Dec 7

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Norm Profile: Cool Norm (2005)

Following on from yesterday’s Turner Prize blog entry, in which I examined the melancholy but strangely beautiful and atmospheric works of both Martin Boyce and George Shaw, it follows naturally that in today’s Daily Norm, I introduce you to one of my first Norm paintings, painted back in 2005: “Cool Norm”.