Rowley Gallery Blog
I only just heard of his death. I wasn’t paying attention. 1931-2011. I first heard him with Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden. His way of playing was unique. Such a sad loss. I can’t write an obituary but there are many on the internet, here’s one at the Guardian. I heard the news from Bill Frisell.
This is one of my favourite pieces. He dances on the drum kit.
A mint condition 1966 record sleeve, of thick cardboard typical of US albums of the time, with eyeconic psychedelic artwork by John Cleveland. It is set in a deep bevelled mount with an incongruously rustic frame, seen here sitting on an easel. I veneered three faces of the moulding with a gnarly oak burr, then stained it and finished with French polish. Continue reading “Strange Meeting”
A postcard sent to us by Christopher Corr, from the Out Of This World exhibition at the British Library last year. Continue reading “The Man From Mars”
Backstage at the Civic Opera House, Chicago. Wilco, Nick Lowe and Mavis Staples rehearse a classic song by The Band in this inspired dressing room performance. It first appeared on Wilco’s website on 6th January. It is so full of love and good humour, it’s too good to miss. I want to give Mavis a hug!
Over Christmas I finally got to see Wim Wenders’ film Pina, a tribute to Pina Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal. I saw them on stage in 1982 at Sadlers Wells, but never again until this wonderful movie. It had felt then that she brought the gravitas of Tarkovsky to dance, though from the evidence of this film she did lighten up a little in the intervening 30 years. I wish I had seen more of her. Continue reading “Pina”
Here’s one for a New Year’s knees up. Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012. May all your frames come true.
We are all off now for a spot of carol singing. Ding dong merrily and hail chime on.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
For a couple of years now we have had Fanny Shorter‘s suite of exquisite screenprints featuring some of the world’s smallest birds, all of them depicted life size. They are beautiful and popular and fast becoming an endangered species. I sold two more today, which prompted this post, before they disappear altogether. Shown here is the Crimson-Hooded Manakin, a native of the northern coastal regions of South America, where its habitat is mangroves and riverside forests. It measures just 9 cms. Continue reading “The Littlest Birds”
On a recent trip to Suffolk, driving up the coast from Orford, we took a detour through Saxmundham hoping I might find a fleece. The weather had turned cooler and we were planning a circular walk from Dunwich. Saxmundham was fleeceless but Sue had spotted some paintings in the window of a frame shop. They were vibrant accomplished paintings of cows heads staring directly back at us. Like a face to face encounter, capturing all the animal’s character and vitality with a few sure brushstrokes. Continue reading “Suffolk Jelly”
Here are some that I’ve been saving up. This first one, Intemperie by Catalan artist Perejaume, was at Fondation Maeght, St Paul de Vence in 2007. An enclosure built of picture frames, facing inwards inviting you to step inside and look through them at paintings by Bonnard, Leger and Chagall on the gallery walls beyond. It was originally sited on a mountain top in Garraf, south of Barcelona, where it could be used as an observatory of the surrounding landscape. Continue reading “Frameworks”