Books – Page 10 – Frames of Reference

B For Barcelona

This large letter B is on a rooftop in the Born district of Barcelona. Is it B for Barcelona or is it perhaps B for Born in Barcelona (that old Springsteen classic)? Or maybe it doesn’t stand for either, especially since it’s lying on its back. Maybe it’s B for Brossa, the Catalan poet, playwright and artist Joan Brossa. He liked to play around with letters and it seems to be on the roof of his theatre. We found it when we came looking for Lottie who lives nearby. We met her under the B for Beer. Continue reading “B For Barcelona”

Art & Life (& Memory)

This painting by Ben Nicholson, titled c.1930 (Cornish Port), features on the cover of Art and Life 1920-1931, the catalogue for the exhibition at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, examining the artistic partnership of Ben Nicholson and Winifred Nicholson in the 1920s and their friendship and collaboration with Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and the potter William Staite Murray. Continue reading “Art & Life (& Memory)”

Walton’s Treat

Tucked away around the back of Oxford’s Walton Street is the delightful Art Jericho gallery where a visual treat awaits the curious trek-cyclist, art-lover, flâneur, passer-by or Port Meadow pilgrim. An exhibition by Andrew Walton celebrating the Thames riverside from Jericho to Wolvercote. Continue reading “Walton’s Treat”

Triptychs

This is Pink Dark Triptych, 2011, oil on linen by Sean Scully, a donation to the Pallant House Gallery Collection and the catalyst for their recent exhibition, Sean Scully: Triptychs. It sounded like a great show, I was looking forward to seeing it, but I wasn’t quick enough and now it’s closed. I was disappointed to miss it so here’s my own compilation of Scully triplets and trinities and trios. Continue reading “Triptychs”

London Walks!

In the Tate Modern shop we found this inspiring book of hand-drawn London rambles. Badaude takes a line for a walk around town. Not to find one’s way in a city may well be uninteresting and banal. It requires ignorance, nothing more. But to lose oneself in a city – as one loses oneself in a forest – that calls for quite a different schooling – Walter Benjamin. Continue reading “London Walks!”

Victor Skipp

Kettle’s Yard are presently hosting – A Lasting Legacy: The House and Collection of Victor Skipp. When he died in 2010 Victor Skipp left his estate to Kettle’s Yard. He was a writer and historian with a passion for art and philosophy. This exhibition reflects his many interests, with displays of modernist and minimalist art side by side with tribal rugs, African sculpture, Indian miniatures, folk art and vernacular architecture: a perfect complement to the existing Kettle’s Yard collection. Continue reading “Victor Skipp”

Popular English Art

This is another of Evelyn Hallewell‘s books. It’s a celebration of vernacular art, published in 1945. It was an attempt to rehabilitate a popular culture which was seen to be endangered by classical taste and mechanical reproduction. Continue reading “Popular English Art”

Pride & Prejudice

200 years ago Jane Austen wrote a masterpiece. About four years ago I read it. Since then I have become a devoted Austen fan. Her books have inspired my most successful series of prints. For a poor foreigner like me, reading the novels is like munching a delicious cake made with words. I couldn’t help it but to carve on lino the images she put in my imagination with her amazing dexterity in the use of the English language. Continue reading “Pride & Prejudice”

Molloy On The Shore

I don’t know if Samuel Beckett ever visited Orford, but when we were there – I took advantage of being at the seaside to lay in a store of sucking stones. Click on the play button below for an excerpt from Molloy spoken by Jack MacGowran. It’s one of my favourite pieces of Beckett tomfoolery.

Tree Of Life

I’ve been reading Lawrence Weschler’s Everything That Rises: A Book Of Convergences. The title comes from Flannery O’Connor’s collection of short stories, Everything That Rises Must Converge. She took her title from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s Omega Point which contains the lines: Remain true to yourself, but move ever upward toward greater consciousness and greater love! At the summit you will find yourselves united with all those who, from every direction, have made the same ascent. For everything that rises must converge. Continue reading “Tree Of Life”