Cortona is a charming, peaceful town and one of the most delightful places to visit in all Tuscany.
It stands on a steep hillside overlooking the wide fertile plain of the Val di Chiana. Continue reading “Mio Pomodori (3)”
Mio Pomodori (3)
Tag: John Berger
The Art Of Looking
This little film appeared on my screen on Sunday, dropped by a passing bird, and instantly took root.
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Documentary exploring the life and work of writer and art critic John Berger. The film is an intimate portrait of a man who has shaped our understanding of the concept of seeing.
Art, politics and motorcycles – on the occasion of his 90th birthday John Berger or the Art of Looking is an intimate portrait of the writer and art critic whose ground-breaking work on seeing has shaped our understanding of the concept for over five decades. The film explores how paintings become narratives and stories turn into images, and rarely does anybody demonstrate this as poignantly as Berger.
Berger lived and worked for decades in a small mountain village in the French Alps, where the nearness to nature, the world of the peasants and his motorcycle, which for him deals so much with presence, inspired his drawing and writing.
The film introduces Berger’s art of looking with theatre wizard Simon McBurney, film-director Michael Dibb, visual artist John Christie, cartoonist Selçuk Demiral, photographer Jean Mohr as well as two of his children, film-critic Katya Berger and the painter Yves Berger.
The prelude and starting point is Berger’s mind-boggling experience of restored vision following a successful cataract removal surgery. There, in the cusp of his clouding eyesight, Berger re-discovers the irredeemable wonder of seeing.
Realised as a portrait in works and collaborations, this creative documentary takes a different approach to biography, with John Berger leading in his favourite role of the storyteller.
La Grotte Chauvet
The Chauvet Cave in the Ardèche region of southern France was discovered in 1994. It contains the most perfect examples of Paleolithic paintings ever found. But they are considered so fragile they must remain hidden from view. Copies of the paintings have been recreated and they can now be seen in a full-scale replica cave above the town of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc. A gallery of simulacra of some of the most authentic paintings in the world; it’s an unsettling idea. Continue reading “La Grotte Chauvet”
Portraits Of Christ
This is another book from the collection of Evelyn Hallewell. It was published in 1940 as a paperback unlike most King Penguins which were usually hardbacks. It contains examples of Penguin’s earliest attempts at colour printing. Continue reading “Portraits Of Christ”
Jelly Green At Kensington Place
Jelly Green‘s cows are now installed at Kensington Place. The famous mural has been put into storage to make way for a new exhibition space to be known as The Art Wall. As Dominic observed, it’s less of a mural, more a mooral. Which is one way of looking at it. They are very direct, very ‘in your face’ as one of our customers described Jelly’s paintings. They are a face to face encounter, one to one, nothing else is important, no need for superfluous background. There’s a spark kindled by those magical, energetic brushstrokes, a spark of recognition. Continue reading “Jelly Green At Kensington Place”