Wednesday 28 August 2013

Eric Ravilious at Bridport Arts Centre

Eric Ravilious, Interior at Furlongs, 1939
Next Saturday (14th Sept) I'm giving an illustrated talk on Eric Ravilious at Bridport Arts Centre, which is an exciting prospect. For one thing I'll have an opportunity to talk at length about the Cerne Abbas Giant, which Ravilious painted in 1939, but I also plan to give an all-round picture of his life and work, with pictures of his wood engravings, lithos and ceramics (much sought-after these days) as well as lots of his downland watercolours.

Ravilious had a lovely sense of humour and led a fairly unconventional life, so I hope the evening will be entertaining as well as visually stimulating. Here's what illustrator Lucy Auge thought of my recent lecture in Bristol. Do come along!

Eric Ravilious, Greenhouse: Cyclamen and Tomatoes, 1934





Monday 26 August 2013

Mendocino, California




New England meets the Wild West on the California coast....

'East of Eden' was partly filmed here

After the spring floods the beaches are piled with driftwood. Sea cold but no worse than West Wales




Fogbank in the distance, but sunshine here


I wonder who carved this coastal totem...




 



Roots art centre, gallery and garden extraordinaire

Succulents love this climate
















The first European settlers here were from New England




Weathervanes galore....





The fog rolls in...






Some photos by Dayna Stevens.

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Nottingham-on-Sea: Aquatopia


On 11 September I will be leading a Gallery Walk-through at Nottingham Contemporary, where the strange and wonderful exhibition Aquatopia is showing. My excuse is that they have a couple of Ravilious's Submarine Lithographs on display in the exhibition, but this is the kind of art show I love: literary, eclectic and thought-provoking.


As the title suggests, this isn't an exhibition of nautical art but an exploration of the ocean as a dreamworld of the imagination, by turns utopian and dystopian. Giant squid loom large, alongside water babies and mermaids. There are divers, sharks and Sirens, and even a representation of Shakespeare's 'fish-like' Caliban.


The work itself ranges from 19th century British oil paintings and Japanese prints to unsettling contemporary sculpture and installation pieces, with plenty that is playful or adventurous. Jules Verne is a significant backstage presence, quite rightly as his '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' took generations of readers beneath the waves at a time when only deep sea divers could explore the ocean, and that in the most limited way.


When Eric Ravilious made his lithograph of a diver, in 1941/2, subaquatic exploration and photography were still in their infancy; post-war, Jacques Cousteau brought the oceans into our living rooms, but his scuba teams could only explore reefs and shallow waters. Today, the depths remain as mysterious as distant galaxies, and every child who puts on a snorkel and mask and peers under the surface knows that the undersea world is exciting, scary and strange.


So I'm looking forward to my visit to Nottingham. Do come along - the gallery walk-through is free, and it should be a lot of fun.


The gallery views above were taken from the Nottingham Contemporary flickr page, and copyright remains with the photographer.

Decorated City: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

Mural, New Mexico Museum of Art

The Museum that launched an architectural revival...

Pasqual's Restaurant





Vintage car rally on the Plaza




Decorative tiles, Seret & Sons









Tiles on downtown shopfront

More tiles - these are great


Guadalupe in tiles

The Museum again, with Ristra