Review Of The Year

As the new year approaches, it's time to both look back over recent months and look forward to more exciting art over the coming year. It's been an interesting year for the art world as well as for us. Here are a few of the things we particularly remember.

The Turner prize was won by Martin Boyce with a sculptural installation. 2011 was a special year for the competition as it was held away from the Tate Gallery at the Baltic in Gateshead. In coming years, the plan is to hold the competition at venues alternating between the Tate and other regional galleries.

The Hepworth Wakefield Gallery opened in the Spring. Although we haven't yet been to see the exhibitions, a visit is on our list for 2012. We enjoyed the Barbara Hepworth Museum at St Ives in Cornwall a couple of years ago and look forward to seeing more of her works along with other similar art.

The Zurbarán saga continues. First these historical paintings were to be sold off, then a deal was agreed to save them. Recently the deal looked like it had fallen through, then it was back on. Perhaps we haven't seen the end of the uncertainty yet but hopefully the plans for converting Auckland Castle into a new art gallery, with visiting exhibitions as well as the Zurbaráns will be finalised in the new year.

Vicky's highlight of the year was when we visited Bowes Museum to see an exhibition by Damien Hirst. His prints, depicting food packaged as medicine, ask whether we are as reliant on drugs as we are on food in these modern times.

Our trip to the village of Lempa in Cyprus was Vince's highlight of 2011. The jumbled collection at the College of Art reflected the bright and informal atmosphere of the island and it was a visual delight to become immersed within the work of the students.

But we both agreed that our joint favourite place this year has to be Cass Sculpture Foundation at Goodwood. Their stunning collection of outdoor sculpture really needs a whole day to view and appreciate the huge amount of artworks. Unfortunately we didn't allow enough time to see everything so we'll be heading back there again, hopefully in 2012.

Vicky And Vince,
Love Your Art.

A Trip To Hove

The sun shone brightly, the sea air was fresh and breezy. The colourful beach huts almost glowed in the sunshine. A row of squawking seagulls sat on the rusty iron railings. A scruffy little dog ran past. "Good Afternoon!", cried a man with a long orange coat, a stripey scarf and a wide brimmed hat. As we walked along the promenade at Brighton it felt just like the scenes in our collection of Sam Toft's Mr Mustard pictures.

One of the first pictures we bought together was a limited edition print called "No Sheep On The Beach" by Sam. (By the way did we mention we collect sheep art?) We came across the picture in Gallerina in Darlington, Sam's official northern agent, and simply couldn't resist it. This began our mini collection of Mr Mustard pictures and ever since then we've wanted to go to one of Sam's open studio events. Finally, last weekend, we managed it.

As we entered Sam's Brown Dog Studio, there was a Christmassy atmosphere with seasonal music in the background, mince pies, mulled wine and popcorn! Sadly, we'd just had lunch so had to pass on the mince pies.

The place was packed with people. In fact, this was the busiest open studio either of us can remember visiting. Everyone seemed to be buying something: framed prints, signed artist's proofs, books, greeting cards and more. There were also some new pictures that we hadn't seen before. We snapped up a 2012 calendar and a couple from previous years. Unfortunately, this was all we could carry home on the train.

While we were there, Sam asked us if we would like to send a message of hope to Jabbar Savalan, a young man imprisoned in Azerbaijan after calling for protests against the Azerbaijan government. From 3rd to 17th December 2011, people from over seventy countries will take part in Amnesty International's annual Letter Writing Marathon, writing letters, signing petitions, sending SMS messages and taking action online to demand that Jabbar's rights are respected. Sam was preparing a letter to the Azerbaijan President and we were pleased to write a brief message of hope to Jabbar on a card. More from Amnesty International.

Sam is a keen to support various charities with her work and proceeds from some of the sales at the studio will also go to Sightsavers.

We enjoyed our visit to Sam's studio and were pleased to have met one of our favourite artists. We'll certainly go back again soon, to catch up with Sam and see how the Mustard story has moved on.

Check out more about Sam and the Mustards at Sam Toft's web site.

Vicky And Vince,

Love Your Art.

The Fat Lady's Singing

It looks like Darlington Arts Centre will finally close next summer following Darlington Borough Council's latest proposal to withdraw all subsidies for the building.

In Autumn 2010, the Council initially proposed cutting all their funding for the centre and the building was due to close in Spring 2011. Fortunately, for the current financial year they were able to find enough cash to keep the centre open. This allowed talks with Darlington For Culture (DfC) to proceed with a view to them taking over the running of the centre in 2012.

Despite the past year being only a temporary reprieve, DfC claim they are "shocked" by the latest closure announcement and have vowed to continue the battle to save the building. But their plan relies largely on continued funding from the Council which, as we pointed out in our post in November 2010, seems quite unrealistic given the current financial climate. In addition, the building is in need of substantial investment to make it more practical and many people believe that some of the facilities are less than ideal for the arts activities taking place there.

Over the past few months, DfC have been running some additional events to demonstrate how they might operate the centre. They have had some success in bringing together ideas and helping to put them into practice. We enjoyed visiting their busy arts fairs, held in September and last weekend. The film club, quiz nights, tea dances, expanded writing classes and knitting group are other innovative activities that make more use of the building, even if they are not all directly related to art.

Sadly, this doesn't appear to have been enough to secure the survival of the centre. What is actually needed is replacement funding, raised by DfC or other organisations. DfC say they need more time to gain experience of running the centre and raise money. But direct fund-raising doesn't seem to be a priority yet.

In order for DfC to save the current Arts Centre, they will need to put up the cash, make the Council an offer it can't refuse and get stuck in. We're not sure how they can do this so they need a Plan B, an alternative way forward that ensures that the arts survive and thrive in the town.

The Council and other organisations are already considering elements that could form a Plan B. The recently produced Vision for the Arts in Darlington suggests that a new "hub" for the arts could be built in the town centre.

There would be many benefits from a new centre: cash raised from selling the old building should go towards the new one, it will be in a more prominent and convenient location, the facilities will be more practical and up to date, there will be improved accessibility, better parking and it will give a greater return on the investment made.

Of course, at this early stage there are still a few issues to be ironed out: lack of specifics about what facilities would be included, more detailed costs, no funding yet in place, how the funds will be raised and an unclear timetable.

We are very keen to see the arts survive in the town, but the existing Arts Centre does not look like the best option, both practically and financially. What little money there is needs to be invested in a future for the arts that is more sustainable and better value for money than at present. The suggested new arts "hub" looks like a reasonable solution and a plan that we would be likely to support.

The end is in sight for the Arts Centre in Vane Terrace. If DfC continue to focus on what they already do well - co-ordinating events - and also engage with plans for a new venue and help to influence its development, the arts in Darlington may yet survive the difficult times ahead.

Vicky And Vince,

Love Your Art.

ps. If you want to read our previous posts relating to Darlington Arts Centre, they are here:

Suffer Not In Silence, November 2010

Arts Centre Update, January 2011

Arts Centre Update 2, April 2011

Darlington Art Fair, September 2011

Art Or Craft?

The other evening we got chatting about the difference between art and craft. This is an age-old argument and doesn't seem to be getting any closer to being resolved.

Art is often given higher status than craft which perhaps is a bit unfair. Even the simplest craft work needs a level of skill that could be described as artistic. And works of art have to be created with manual skills that might more commonly be used to create craft type objects.

Pieces of art are more often one-off works, personal expressions of the artist's feelings and perhaps having some investment value; crafts are normally duplicated (sometimes with small variations), are lower cost and each object is what it is, without any higher meaning or purpose.

Crafts might often be produced at the maker's home, without the need for dedicated space whereas art is more likely to need a studio to separate the activity from everyday living.

After a long and interesting discussion we realised that it was getting late and had to come to some conclusion. We settled on describing everything as artistic.

This helps us to justify some of the objects we have in our art collections. A few of these items could be described as craft objects but using the general term "artistic", we are able to group together all the things we like, regardless of any alternative views.

Take Alistair (Why Alistair?) from our ceramic sheep collection (top picture) as an example. There are a number of these sheep in existence but being hand made, all are uniquely individual. Some people would regard these as craft objects. If we apply our artistic label, focussing on the artist's skill and the individuality of each one, we would definitely consider this a work of art.

Or what about this embroidered coaster (lower picture). It is likely to have been produced from a pre-supplied pattern, suggesting it would be categorised as crafts. But the high level of needlework skill along with the flexibility of the pattern and choice of colours suggest that an artistic ability is needed to create it.

Both of these items are collectible. Both have aesthetic value. Both are worthy of the term "artistic".

Vicky And Vince,

Love Your Art.

Turner Prize At The Baltic

You may have read our previous post about the four contenders for the 2011 Turner Prize coming to the Baltic gallery in Gateshead (here).

I've been looking forward to visiting the exhibition and had the opportunity to go to Newcastle on Friday. Unfortunately, Vince couldn't make it so I headed off alone to see what was on offer.

The first of the exhibition spaces contained Martin Boyce's installation of three works. I found this interesting and atmospheric: metal leaves along the ceiling created a dappled effect with the light, a sculptural table and a streetscape of rubbish including a waste paper bin and fallen leaves.

Then I moved on to Hilary Lloyd's space which had a variety of visual images playing on television screens or projected on to the wall. The images were deliberately distorted partial images of objects such as a tower block, shadowy figures and other unidentifiable things. This was quite challenging to the viewer as the images were constantly moving and changing.

Next were Karla Black's giant size sculptures of paper and cellophane which dominated the exhibition space. Covered with paint, powder and perfumed bath bombs these objects smelt as well as making a visual impact. I was able to walk under and through some of the sculptures.

George Shaw's paintings of the urban landscape of Coventry were very realistic. The pictures, whilst showing the bleakness of an inner city estate, turned run down garages and boarded up shops into works of art. Witty titles such as "Landscape with dog s**t bin" made me laugh out loud at the irony of such a commonplace item being given pride of place in the landscape.

So which one do I think will win the Turner Prize? Although I liked Martin Boyce's pieces, my favourite works are by George Shaw. These are something that even people who hate modern art can relate to. The pictures are painted with such skill and detail they look almost photographic. It's hard to believe they were painted with Humbrol enamel paint and not the more traditional oils or watercolours.

Read more on the Baltic Gallery web site.

Vicky,

Love Your Art