Frames of Reference

Villa Panza

Villa Panza is a grand 18th century mansion in the hillside suburb of Biumo Superiore, overlooking the city of Varese. It was the home of Count Giuseppe Panza, art collector and a great champion of Minimalist and Conceptual Art. He bought his first painting in 1956, by Antoni Tàpies and in 1966 he began collecting work by Brice Marden, Richard Serra and James Turrell. In 1996 the house was donated to the nation and opened to the public after major restoration work in 2000. Continue reading “Villa Panza”

Clejani Love Song

Taraf de Haïdouks are celebrating their 25th anniversary with a new album, Of Lovers, Gamblers and Parachute Skirts, released by Crammed Discs. They’re playing soon at Union Chapel, but it looks like I’ll miss the concert, so in compensation here’s a little video for a song off the album. I first saw them perform at the Royal Festival Hall in 1998 when they shared the stage with Kronos Quartet and made ecstatic music together. I’ve been a fan ever since. Yehudi Menuhin and Pina Bausch were also fans, as are Johnny Depp and Terry Gilliam. They’ve been called “the best Gypsy band in the world”. Yet despite all the international acclaim they still live in their home village of Clejani in Romania.

Arboretum

Ivon Hitchens, Oak Tree in Purple Woods, Southampton City Art Gallery

In 2013 St Barbe Museum in Lymington organised an exhibition entitled Under the Greenwood: Picturing British Trees (accompanied by an impressive book published by Sansom). The exhibition was curated by Tim Craven of Southampton Art Gallery, himself a painter. Continue reading “Arboretum”

A New Year Revolution

Three weeks ago, on the second day of 2015, we took a turn around Glastonbury Tor to welcome the new year. We met up at 100 Monkeys for lunch then set off over the fields to climb the hill. Continue reading “A New Year Revolution”

Five Mornings

Breaking waves, sexy and smoking and curling. A video for an exhibition last year at the Minories in Colchester of five paintings by Maggi Hambling. See also – Walls of Water at the National Gallery and March Wave Breaking, a painting we hung at Kensington Place in 2013.

In The Now

David Hockney IN THE NOW (in 6 minutes)

A film by Lucy Walker for Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

The story of David Hockney, an artist who is adamant about living life in the now.

Juliette Losq & David Wiseman

This interview originally appeared in the London Group Newsletter.

JL – We share in common a childhood in Essex (with parents moving out from London). Do you think that growing up in this semi-rural / suburban environment has influenced your work, or experiences as an artist in general?

DW – I was brought up on one of the first sprawling council estates to be built in Essex, in the also newly built Basildon New Town. But we were surrounded by countryside and spent all our free time as kids outside, summer and winter. I remember there were special mysterious woodland places, special trees and streams that you grew up with so I suppose this may have had an influence. Continue reading “Juliette Losq & David Wiseman”

16 Newtons

This little oil painting, titled Passing By and roughly the size of a small paperback, is one of sixteen that Robert Newton was commissioned to paint at the end of last year. We’ve just finished framing them. They’re set in simple white trays to protect and contain their overflowing edges and, so that they don’t disappear without trace, they’re saved here in Frames Of Reference. Continue reading “16 Newtons”

4 x 4: Ephemeral Architectures

A short trailer for a new piece by Gandini Juggling, to be premiered in the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House on 13th, 14th, 15th January – 4 x 4: Ephemeral Architectures features jugglers and dancers performing together with live musicians in a work constructed from grids and patterns and mathematics. See more here – Gandini Juggling, and for an earlier piece see – Smashed.

To Monastero

Villa Monastero was on the furthest shore of Lake Como, a long circuitous drive by car from Argegno where we were staying, but just ten minutes by ferry if we drove up to Menaggio. We left the car there and crossed the lake as foot passengers on the autotraghetto to Varenna. Continue reading “To Monastero”