Month: May 2007

  • Pop Art Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery

    ‘Pop Art Portraits’ at the National Portrait Gallery (Wolfson & Ground Floor Galleries)
    11th October 2007 to – 20th January 2008

    Starting in October 2007 British and American artists of the Pop Art era will have their work on display side by side at ‘Pop Art Portraits’ at the National Portrait Gallery in London. This is sure to be an exciting and well attended display, with works including UK artists David Hockney, Peter Blake & Richard Hamilton and from the USA: Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Ray Johnson & Richard Hamilton and art portraits featuring Elvis, John F Kennedy & Marilyn Monroe to name but a few.

    Marilyn Monroe, Orange by artist Andy Warhol

    In the first in a series of exhibitions on Pop portraits -The National Portrait Gallery will see a lay ‘chapel’ in honour of Marilyn Monroe, created. This will bring comparisons to a 1960’s New York art exhibition that took place a few years after her death, where she was celebrated as the patron saint of celebrity culture.

    Infact the exhibition will contain 16 pieces which were actually part of a 1967 display in New York where UK and US artists jointly showed their works in honour of the Hollywood Idol.

    Oedipus (Elvis Johnson #1) by artist Ray Johnson

    Sandy Nairne, the NPG director, said that this era was significant in the history of portraiture, blazing a trail for the cutting edge artists of today, such as Sam Taylor.

    The NPG curator, Paul Moorhouse, has spent almost 5 years gathering pieces for the exhibition. But with work such as Richard Hamilton’s: a portrait of John F Kennedy as an astronaut with the quote “together let us touch the stars” from his famous speech, nearby to his portrait of Hugh Gaitskell, showing Hamilton’s anger at his commitment of the Labour party to nuclear weapons, Paul Moorhouse states:

    “It will be a double-edged exhibition….Nobody could say that pop art was just one long party.”

    artist Richard Hamilton in his Oxfordshire studio (2003), with his paintings (right) The Sainsbury Wing, 1999-2000 and Bathroom fig 2.1, 1999-2000.

    Further reading:
    ‘Pop Art Portraits’ at the National Portrait Gallery

    thank you

    Russell

  • The Art & Framing Industry Awards – 2007

    The Art and Framing Awards Event 2007 took place earlier in the month, 12th May 2007 in London at the Shaw Theatre & Novotel Hotel Euston.

    Hosted by the Fine Art Trade Guild, The Art & Framing Industry Awards is considered to be the UK Art Industry’s premier awards. All sectors of the industry are represented at the event, not just the large players and are in with a chance of winning. The awards themselves are, in essence, a chance to celebrate the success stories of the last year within the Art Industry.

    To enter the awards one normally has to apply the previous September and previous years have shown that winners of the awards may receive national media recognition and possibly new avenues of business.

    Some photos of the event are available to view.

    Just off the top of my head, two premier UK artists I know who have won awards in previous years and seen benefits from the recognition are:

    John Silver, who was awarded the 1998 “Best New Published Artist” Awarded by the Fine Art Trade Guild.

    Nigel Hemming received the Fine Art Trade Guild’s “Published Artist of the Year” award in 1996.

    Incidentally they are both known for their canine art.

    In Results from the 2007 Awards ceremony:

    Best-Selling Published Artist 2007
    Henderson Cisz
    Sponsor: Arqadia

    Up & Coming Published Artist 2007
    Philip Gray
    Sponsor: Daler-Rowney

    Independent Publisher 2007
    Selective Prints
    Sponsor: Great Art

    Set Piece Framing Award 2007
    Katie Herriman GCF, Towngate Framing, Poole
    Sponsor: Peterboro Cardboards

    Free-Thinking Framing Award 2007
    Kerensa Carr, The Framing Room, Dornoch
    Sponsor: Glass & Mirror

    Exemplar Framing Award 2007
    David Wilkie GCF, The Eagle Gallery, Carshalton
    Sponsor: Glass & Mirror and Peterboro Cardboards

    Customer Service 2007
    JOINT WINNERS: LION Picture Framing Supplies and Arqadia
    Sponsor: Washington Green

    Best Mount Design 2007
    Paul Pearson, Exhibit 1 Frames, Leeds
    Sponsor: Framers Corner & Wizard

    Art Retailer Of The Year 2007
    Platinum Galleries, Middlesbrough & Northallerton
    Sponsor: DeMontfort Fine Art

    Art Business Website 2007
    Creation Art Gallery, www.creationartgallery.co.uk
    Sponsor: Hahnemühle

    Sales Promotion Event 2007
    The Framing Workshop, Bath
    Sponsor: Art Business Today

    Sales Promotion Campaign 2007
    Castle Galleries
    Sponsor: Slater Harrison

    International Contribution 2007
    LION Art Service, Moscow
    Sponsor: Hot Press

    Innovation 2007
    Gunnar Weissenberger AG
    Sponsor: Emap TPS

    thank you

    Russell

  • www.fineartblog.co.uk – update

    Hello

    Readers of this blog are now able to submit comments on all posts, having not previously been able to do so.

    I am looking forward to reading people’s opinions on art related subjects.

    www.fineartblog.co.uk

    thank you

    Russell

  • Mike Sibley’s book 2nd Edition Released – with foreword by David Shepherd

    Mike Sibley has just released the second edition of his top selling book “Drawing from Line to Life.” Mike Sibley is one of the UK’s premier canine artists, who works in the medium of pencil/graphite and has produced several top selling open and Limited Edition prints of canines and animals.

    This 2nd edition now features a foreword by one the of the UK’s most famous living artists, David Shepherd.

    Drawing From Line To Life – Book by artist Mike Sibley

    Mike states: “I am honoured to have received this endorsement of Drawing from Line to Life from the eminent and much respected artist David Shepherd.”

    This book actually works on several levels: a step by step instructional guide on how to draw art with Pencil/Graphite, an account of how Mike Sibley actually produces his amazing limited editions that sell worldwide – with actual ‘case studies’ of how he drew particular images and lastly it is a good collection of Mike’s actual work featuring more than 625 illustrations.

    The bullet points on the cover provide a good summary of content:
    “● Methods ● Materials ● Step-by-step instructions ● Techniques ● Philosophy ● From Line drawing to near-Reality ● Suitable for the Beginner to Advanced Artist”

    Drawing From Line To Life – Book by artist Mike Sibley

    I have spoken to Mike about this on several occasions and what is clear is the dedication, attention to detail and the actual man hours put into this book. Mike says it took over a year to complete and with the breath taking amount of detail in this book, I believe him.

    The book is Softback and is 288 pages and chapters in this book include:

    (1) An introduction to the tools of the trade and chapters on basic techniques
    (2) The philosophical and more advanced techniques
    (3) The Tutorial section: explanations and step-by-step demonstrations
    (4) Putting it all together

    All these chapters are then broken down into several logical sub sections.

    thank you

    Russell