London Art Fair 2010 as seen by Cerise Art Agency

Exhibition of Drawings at the Albany Gallery (15th January 2010 to 6th February 2010)

by Marcaeus Yates

It has truly been some time since I last stepped through the doors of this wonderful gallery, but in an instant I felt at home.

20 gallery artists have been given the opportunity to display their drawings for all to see & all are invited to vote for their favorite both online and at the gallery itself.  I certainly made my vote, but will not reveal for whom as I do not want to influence anyone’s selection as the work is varied and truly wonderful

Having only used drawing as a means to adding flesh to an idea or to be painted on canvas, I found myself in awe at what these artists have chosen to utilise as a main medium.

There were three artists though that truly reached out to my soul and here is a list of those that instantly grabbed my attention.

I am not familiar with all the mediums used to create these works, but I will mention where possible those mediums and techniques that I can.

Alun Mogan – Barn interior versions 1 & 2

The use of both lighting and shadow within these works were stunning.  This artist truly has a special eye for detail & despite the fact that the barn used is in desolation and disrepair, Alun Morgan had managed to breath life into both these works.

Farmer 6

Again the eye for detail as well as the passion that Alun possesses shows through in this work & seems to reach back to the advent of photography as it has an almost sepia like quality.

Ceri Aukland Davies – Dusk

This is a very well structured charcoal work & Ceri has used the medium extremely well through the entire cloudscape effected in this piece.

I always found charcoals extremely difficult to use, but Ceri has managed to create a scene that is smooth, serene and yet turbulent at the same time.

In effect Ceri has mastered this medium in a way that leaves others to shame.

Study for Shadow

Well what can I say about this work?

I was truly left breathless by this work which was again mastered in charcoal.

I felt the crash of every wave as well as felt the air of what the artist was looking to portray in this work.

Steve Alport – Storm Clouds over the Brecon Beacons

Another artist with a love and a master of charcoal.

I live very near to the Brecon Beacons and am very familiar with this scene in real life & all I can say is that Steve Alport has captured every detail there.

This was an intense work capturing everything that nature had to offer on the day the artist created the work.

His use of light and shadow is sublime and for me heralded as well as paid homage to the works of great artists long since past.

This is a venue I’d recommend all to visit if they have the opportunity as the works currently on display here are stunning to say the least.

After spending many hours looking at every piece held within the Albany Gallery, I found myself coming away with a thirst to see more as well as wanting to study these artists in more depth as I strongly felt there was much they could teach me about the spectacular techniques & mediums each had harnessed within their works.

Cerise Art Agency, London, 2010

Jean Francois Rauzier – dreaming through photography

I was lucky enough to visit the  recent exhibition at Watermans & Dodd in London where Jean-Francois Rauzier had his first exhibition in the UK.

Needless to say, I had formed an initial opinion and generated a considerable interest prior to seeing his works, but what I saw went beyond my imagination and expectations. The intricate details and pursuance clearly definite in his works are beyond any expectations of photographic mastership and undoubtedly represent only the tip of the genius iceberg of this artist with what it seems an infinite imagination.  Complicated yet clean, multilayered yet defined, his works are encyclopaedia of his knowledge, passions and ability as an accomplished photographer. His over 30 years of experience on the advertising field have everything to do with the meticulous execution of his hyperphotos and luckily have not affected his vision in typically marketing direction of the immediate attention grabbing shot.

Quite the opposite.

Jean Francois Rauzier’s works looks almost natural until you manage to concentrate on a fragment and turn your pre-conceptions upside down. Pebbles on a long beach, oh no, these are actually clocks; beautiful tree with a lake (is that a little girl over there?), block of flats in an entangled honeycombed building; an immense ‘no beginning-no end’ library… So, now are you seeing it? I mean really SEEING IT?

Jean Francois demands attention.

Going beyond the pixels per frame attitude of the modern photographers he uses up to 3,500 images per photo, yes, there is no typo here. Some of the pictures he exhibits actually contain up to 3,500 images and hold on to it – have size of about 30-40GB! The monolith works could spread over 50 metres and one could not possibly imagine the patience and surgical brilliance of matching and adding, resizing and collating the images together until a truly exceptional pieces emerge. But besides the pure technological accomplishment lies his vision of a fine artist, a modern day Rafael, Da Vinci or Titian who uses his mouse as a brush and his Mac as a canvas.

Once should feel privileged to be able to see in person the brilliance extraordinaire of this man. Jean Francaois Rauzier set a very high marker for comparison and a standard in its own rights.

Art review by Elena Todorova-Stanev, Cerise Art Agency 2010

Happy New Year 2010 from Cerise Art Agency

Creative Ads @ Unusual Places

Mondo Pasta

Tangled phone lines are a common sight on the streets of Bangkok, so Procter & Gamble decided to take advantage of how they resembled long strands of tangled hair. To promote P&G’s line of Rejoice conditioners, a large green comb was placed on the telephone lines, reading: “Tangles? Switch to Rejoice Conditioners.”

Fedex whiteout cross walk ad

A print of a cup of Folgers coffee was placed on top of manhole covers in New York City, USA. Wordings around the cup reads “Hey, City That Never Sleeps. Wake up.
–from Folgers”.

Coop’s Paints made use of the side of a building right through to the car park for this ad.

This is ad for Mini Cooper was placed at the Zurich (Switzerland) train station.

This is a clever ad for HSBC by Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai ad agency in India. The bank wanted to raise awareness of the dangers of global warming, so the ad guys glued an aerial photo of a city’s skyscrapers to the base of a swimming pool.

Watch Around Water is a campaign designed to educate the public about what adequate supervision is, and encourage parents/guardians to take on the responsibility for adequately supervising their children while visiting public aquatic facilities.

A billboard for Zwilling J.A. Henckels , famous knife-makers

“Reserved For Drunk Drivers”

To celebrate swimwear designer Shay Todda’s new collection, Nivea fashioned this Good-Bye Cellulite sofa for the event. You could call it a product demonstration carried out when our target thinks about cellulite the most.

“Thousands are held prisoners for their beliefs in places worse than this.”

Smiles from the old photos

The Rolltop

The Evian Effect

Mesmerising and touching – Kseniya Simonova, 24

This video shows the winner of  ”Ukraine’s Got Talent”,  Kseniya Simonova, 24,  drawing a series of pictures  on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II.  Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about £75,000.

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated. It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again.
Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos  from which a young woman’s face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a  monument to an Unknown Soldier.  This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye. The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Kseniya Simonova says:  ”I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there’s surely no bigger compliment.”

Small discoveries: The Last Supper by Francis de Cleyn

The painting is the work of Francis de Cleyn, painter to James I and designer of the Mortlake Tapestries, and a noted painter of ceilings and panelling. Holland House contains some of his fine work. De Cleyn was a German and studied in Rome, following Parmigiano.

In 1960, Brian Duppa, Bishop of Winchester and Prelate of the Order of the Garter, presented the picture to St George’s Chapel. In the Great Rebellion it was rolled up and buried in the plumery along with St George’s Altar Plate.  In 1698, according to an order of 29^th April, it was ‘refreshed, and a new handsome frame made for it’.  In 1702 or 1707 it was shown to Verrio and to Sir James Thornhill and others, all of whom highly approved of it and it was hung over the Alter at St George’s replacing the famous hanging tapestry, “Our Lord and His Disciples at Emmaus” after Titian.

It was cleaned in 1739 and 1756 and then in 1788 when extensive alterations were carried out at St George’s, the painting was given to the Parish Church by George III.  A picture of the old Parish Church shows it in use as the Altar Piece over the Communion Table (1788 onwards). When the present Parish Church was built it again occupied the place of honour over the Altar. About 1870, when the present rounded apse was added, the painting had to be removed to the West End, over the Gallery.

In 1913 it was taken to Evans’ Studios, Fizroy Square, London, where it was cleaned, restored and re-lined at a cost of £73.00. In 1959 it was again cleaned by Mr Harry Hubbard and illuminated under the supervision of Mr Cameron Ward, the cost being defrayed by a parishioner.

Sometime before 1698 the painting was ‘maliciously cut’ while in Urswick Chapel at St George’s, but fortunately, the slash was in the top background and did not reach any face or figure.

The picture has the vivid colouring, the intensity of feeling and the strong characterisation of an old Master. The perspective is strong, one has an impression of actually looking into The Upper Room. The seventeen portraits have escaped damage, apart from a slight discoloration on the side of Judas’ face. Peter bears a strong resemblance to Da Vinci’s portrait. All the faces are strongly characterised, full of reality and one feels the deep emotion storming through them. By contrast, the Saviour is calm, full of power and radiant, dominating the scene. He is centralised in the Alcove (again like the Da Vinci).

A feature of the picture is its accurate representation of the traditional Passover fare as described in Exodus, Chapter 12 “The young lamb, complete with head, legs and the purtenance thereof, roast with fire” is central on the board and on other dishes are ‘the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs’. Another feature is what appears to be the towel wherewith the Lord had washed the disciples’’ feet, cast over the shoulder of His blue robe. The Saviour’s hand is lifted in blessing. It is the moment that has held the devotion of the centuries. We are witnessing the institution of the Last Supper.

Following a campaign spearheaded by Mary Lynn Landgraf from America and Michael Harding, churchwarden, the painting was restored by South East Conservation Centre and new lighting installed in 2003.

You can find the Representation of the Last Supper In the West Gallery of Windsor Parish Church, Windsor, Berkshire, UK

Fête du papier au Portugal

Twitter exhibition meeting in London ‘The Elixir of Life’ @ The Smithfield Gallery #temil ! Vote your preferred day now!

Sabin Todorov Trio playing ‘The Field’

Why Our Great-Grandparents were Happier Than We Are…

Bayers Heroin

A bottle of Bayer’s heroin. Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as
a non-addictive substitute for morphine. It was also used to treat children with strong cough

Coca Wine, anyone?

Metcalf Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment.

Mariani Wine

Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it’s time. Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time. He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Maltine

Produced by Maltine Manufacturing Company of  NewYork. It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal… Children should take half a glass.

A Paper Weight:

A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne ( Mannheim, Germany ). They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.

Opium for Asthma:

No comments.

Cocaine tablets (1900)

All stage actors, singers teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance. Great to “smooth” the voice.

Cocaine drops for toothache

Very popular for children in 1885. Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children happy!

Opium for the new-born

I’m sure this would make them sleep well

(not only the Opium, but 46% alcohol!)
No wonder they were called The Good Old Days!!

Angels and DEMONS by Iasen Dimitrov

angels and DEMONS

The first of two paintings from the diptych ‘Angels and Demons’ which will participate in ‘The Elixir of Life’ exhibition at The Smithfield Gallery is a powerful depiction of a fallen down man.

The theme is so current that I cannot keep but thinking about the resonance and effects of the current economic crisis for some people.

The very unsettling and depressing feeling is something we cannot avoid but rather than passing by the painting, we keep on discovering new subjects which unveil the personality of this human being.  The picture describes a rather metaphysical state of mind which is the consequence of a series of events (look at the chain of figures in the left hand corner). The fact that this man was something and someone important is emphasized by the ladder on the right left corner, and the presence of many ‘Os’ (zero’s) is the result of his inner depreciation and downfall (I am = O). His desolation is further made apparent by the presence of a sole cloth, which resembles a modern day Christ.

Iasen explores a very painful and touchy subject of the border between human desperation and madness. Once fallen into this state and cornered by unfavourable circumstances, how do we keep sanity and pick ourselves up? The man is stretching his hand towards the ceiling as he wants to find an invisible helping hand in return. Or is he blaming someone for his misery? The duality of the human being is shown clearly by covering one of his eyes as to further fall into the darkness and sometimes symbolising the refusal to see the reality of the situation. At the same time his other eye looks towards the ceiling as he is trying to pierce the invisible bonds and reach straight to the heart of God.

In this painting Iasen goes back to his roots and his primal language, Bulgarian, which he has used to write on the walls of the cell. He is going back to his roots, back from the beginning, where lies the universal questions of ‘Who am I’, ‘Why I am here’ and even questioning the existence of ‘I’.

Art review by Elena Todorova-Stanev, Cerise Art Agency, October 2009

Elena is curating ‘Elixir of Life’ exhibition at The Smithfield Gallery in London from 22nd until 28th November 2009. http://bit.ly/1a4Hox, where you can see more of Iasen’s paintings and drawings.

Sometimes I just awake with fear

Dedicated to my husband Petar

Sometimes I just awake with fear

that you are gone.  An empty space

lies down beside me, where your face

was lying next to mine, quite near.

I search for you, I crave you, dear

I seek your smell in every room.

My loneliness and worries loom,

My future seems unclear.

Your poems still caress my ear

- the soul of an insatiable guitar

who searches for the solitary star

emerging from the ephemera.

I welcome you and madness sheer

besiege my heart. I skip a beat,

there is no time for self retreat,

I am safe for now, I disappear.

Wish me luck

Wish me luck

For the times that I have to endure

For the feeling of being mature

For the wide open, champagne buzzing world .

Wish me luck

For the steps that I am going to make

For the smiles that I am going to fake

In the crowd entertained by the word.

Wish me luck

For the changes I need to disguise

For the nights and days in other pip’s eyes

In the car, on the bus, on my drive.

Wish me luck

For the moments of utter reflection

For the life’s coming all imperfections

For the will to go on, for the strive to survive.

The one to watch: Mallika Chabba – the 4164 miles long interview

4164 miles is the distance between London and Delhi.

I had the chance to chat to the very talented and inspiring Mallika Chabba on a late Friday evening and I am delighted to highlight some of Mallika’s personality, inspirations and aspirations ahead of her first solo exhibition at The Claridges, Delhi.

Mallika discovered her love of painting while on college breaks from the Government College of Fine Art, Chandigarh, India . She specialised in sculpture and would love to continue with wood carving one day when she has her own studio. She further went to study art conservation of oil paintings at INTACH (indian national trust for art and cultural heritage). Malika loves to experiment with different materials and that has lead to a wonderful array of works which she united under the name of Potpurri – her first solo exhibition, which is about to take place at The Claridges in Delhi, a great recognition for the young and multitalented Malika.

LW: The theme behind your exhibition – Potpourri – why did you choose that name?

MALLIKA: Well, because at this point of time I like everything and my work is based on everything around me it’s a mixture of different elements forms and textures, because I don’t restrict myself to a particular kind.

LW: What materials do you use most?

MALLIKA: I use acrylics, oils, leather, spray, distemper, charcoal

LW: Do you prefer to work with certain materials and how do you decide which to choose when?

MALLIKA: I love working with acrylic on canvas but I love to experiment and it’s very spontaneous as to what material to use when

LW: How do you decide on the subject of your next painting?

MALLIKA: Sometimes when I look around all I see is different kinds of colours and then I just close my eyes and form an image…and that’s how I paint even like painting from photographs.

Since I am out of college I don’t have a model who can sit nude for me in a certain pose so I tell Kenny (Mallika’s husband) to click my pictures and then I just follow my heart. I see my own pictures and paint female figures

LW: What makes you grab a brush and start painting?

MALLIKA: I am completely nocturnal, if there is an image in my mind and colour formation I just need to get it out as soon as possible and it happens mostly when I am about to sleep, where I get up and forget abt my sleep and pick up my brush and start painting

LW: Do you admire any artist in particularly?

MALLIKA: For me every artist has its unique style but I really like the boldness of Pablo Picasso and softness of Leonardo. And in Indian art I really admire amrita Sherrill’s works and nikhal changala’s works. ooo i also really like chintan uphadya’s sculptures

LW: Thank you, Malika. Good luck with the exhibition!

Mallika Chabba exhibits at The Claridges, Surajkund, Faridabad, Delhi, India from 24^th October until 31^st October 2009.

For more information visit: http://bit.ly/Potpourri

Art interview by Elena Todorova-Stanev, Cerise Art Agency, October 2009

Elena is curating ‘Elixir of Life’ exhibition at The Smithfield Gallery in London from 22nd until 28th November 2009. http://bit.ly/1a4Hox

European Commission announces new rules for the Eglish language

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as “Euro-English”.

In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of “k”. This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling..

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent “e” in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w”with “v”.

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

The Queen and the Presidents

The Queen with The Presidents, eleven of them to be precise.