Tate Modern- Damien Hirst (2012)

I have to state that Damien Hirst is not an artist that i would call 'one of my favourites' however i knew that his exhibition in the Tate also during the summer, would present some interesting factors. It had been said that Damien Hirst's last exhibition 'freeze' was held a shocking 20 years ago and therefore it appeared to be intriguing what new inventions Damien had since created. From diamond incrusted Skulls to, stuffed animals Damien definitely came back with a statement. One that shocked the nation and media, ' The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living (1991)' Damien presents a shark in a huge tank of formaldehyde. It was quite an unusual, yet fascinating experience, the complete opposite of what in reality and if living the shark could create, fear, threat and danger. In fact this experience enhanced a non threatening and non fearful sense of emotion. I am not sure if i personally would call this 'shark' piece a work of Art? Although it appears to highlight a sense of life and death, and was highly interesting in showing the detail and contours of a motionless and life threatening species. The second piece that was most eye catching was a 18th century cast of of a human skull incrusted with it is said 8,601 real diamonds. This piece carries a latin quote, 'Memento Mori' which translates as 'Remember your mortality' this had a correlation to a wide variety of similar pieces to remind people of their mortality. Stunning as it seems in reality, the moral of the piece is to highlight victory over decay, whilst also representing a much relentless element to the prospect of life and death. 

Final Year... More Exhibitions and Gallery Visits! BP Portrait award- National Portrait Gallery...(2012)

The 'Bp Portrait Award' held at the National Portrait Gallery, Central London during the summer,  intrigued me as it focused on the best rated contemporary portrait paintings from around the world. There were some great examples of beautifully painted portraits, ranging from all different sizes, some filling the whole wall.  It was evident that there were a number of diverse styles and approaches focused on with each portrait. From personal and much more intimate paintings of friends and family to painted portraits of famous people, this exhibition really inspired me in creating a contemporary portrait for myself and getting messy with all my oil and acrylic paints again.. 

I found it truly amazing how the pieces chosen for exhibition, connected emotionally with the viewer, a lot of the paintings depicted strong meaning that was often presented amongst their paintings. One of my favourite portraits was 'El abuelo, Augustín Estudillo' by Ignacio Estudillo.  This piece stood out to me instantly, a 2000 x 2000 mm oil on canvas, portrait of an older man centered in a dark negative space in a dark and empty room. There was an immediate atmospheric and emotional feel to this piece, as the viewer i felt i was able to catch the loneliness and emptiness the figure presented in the moment. 
This portrait does not only relate to the artist personally as a family relation, the figure below depicting the artist, Ignacio Estudillo's Grandfather, but also shows a part of the artist himself.  An amazing piece of art that truly captured me in a daze for quite a while, pondering on the many aspects of human condition and life time experiences this piece depicted. 

Wendy Ramshaw, Rooms of Dreams Exhibition- Somerset House

Partaking in a Sculpture and Installation lecture course this semester, lead me go to see the Wendy Ramshaw exhibition in Somerset House. Not only announced and hugely known for her contemporary Jewellery designs but her dramatically large scaled Public Art. Having looked and researched much into Public Art and its diverse forms and elements it depicts, this exhibition benefitted in teaching me more behind this modern and up-leading designer. I achieved to learn that Wendy Ramshaw, strongly pushes the boundaries and judging from her well experimented pieces, that range from diverse materials and textures such as glass, stone, plastic and paper, they proved highly successful. Very admirable for using the best of every type of material around her, almost like a recycling process involving art. "Rooms of Dreams' takes Wendy's work and objectives to a completely new level. Adding a new and futuristic dimension to Contemporary Art. Transforming her wonderful array of jewellery designs into, story telling characters connecting with nothing other then our magical imaginations.. Wendy's exhibition proved signs of her inspiration from Lewis Carrol's famous 'Alice's adventures in Wonderland', and beautifully created they were, with a clear and definite connection to the wonderful story's and poems Lewis Carrol wrote. I found this experience, very interesting and somewhat 'out of the ordinary' for me, as this kind of art would not usually not appeal to me, however in this case i am glad i took the chance in finding out more about Wendy Ramshaw and her original creations.

Kororo: The Art of Horiyoshi III Exhibition- AT, Somerset House..

During a recent visit to Somerset house as a part of my illustration course, i came across this event of a Japanese tattoo artist with a unique talent, bringing his passion for introducing the genuine meaning of Japanese culture and living to his artwork and clientele. Given my early passion and desire for Art and finding my inner creative talent from a child, its no surprise that i have a strong weakness for beautifully detailed tattoos. So with relation to this statement i was very much obliged to check out the wonders of Horiyoshi III. The exhibition consisted of an array of lovely, silk paintings, photographs and prints. Being completely new to Horiyoshi and his works, i was completely unaware and excited to see and learn about him as a tattoo artist, but also had the advantage in gaining a wider insight to the Japanese culture and history that follows on. I was amazed by his delicate hand skill, loving the use of ink that is very popular within the art and culture of Japanese Calligraphy. His style reminded me a lot of the style of Japanese comic's but had a softer and much more subtle approach, this was one of the aspects of Horiyoshi's work that stood out to me, then researching wider into his creations, it came to my attention he is an amazing tatto artist. Smooth and fluid use of line, adds authenticity to the way Horiyoshi shows his influences and support to Japanese culture and history. The use of soft grey's, slowly blending nicely into a soft black. I love using black and white and sometimes have to remind myself all the beautiful diverse colours invented, however the level of detail and professional ability, from my perspective in most cases appears to prove stronger in Black and White images. I find Horiyoshi creates quite an urban, street feel also, within in his pieces, this may come from his tattooing skills, it works really well. Hoping to see more from Japanese tattoo artist Horiyoshi III, shall definitely be keeping update with any new artwork he brings to the table in the near future..

Lucian Freud Portraits- National Portrait Gallery...

So Lucian Freud finally makes an appearance at the National Portrait Gallery... I was pleased to know that an interesting exhibition in my personal opinion, was finally being held at the National Portrait Gallery, feels like quite a while since i have taken a trip down to London's finest Portrait gallery so this was my opportunity. Another hugely famous, artist Lucian Freud was said to have loved producing art of his 'friends' and 'family'. Lucian's portraits are some of the most unique and individual sets of paintings. His style and technique when using paint are exquisite, what may appear to look like simple brush strokes and maybe a few preferred colours used goes much beyond that. When looking at one of the main importances of this Lucian Freud exhibition, which was his famous 'Self Reflection', i really admire this piece, and i appreciate the amount of time and effort and strength to create such a successful piece of artwork. I was blown away with his blending of colours and detail to the ability to feel like you are there, standing right in front of him, for me i found that a great inspiration and push with my own artistic passion and talents. It is hard enough producing a piece of art work, viewers are going to acknowledge and be satisfied with anyway, to then produce a piece of artwork of a single portrait, aiming to grip the all viewers. This all being through, emotional, expression and feeling that Freud loved depicting in his work, and it is through this as well as his superb talent to paint that gained the most attention and positive feedback needed. For some art and having the gift of creativity, means expressing themselves in their art work and maybe with the styles or ways in which they represent their art, i love feeling like i am in that painting with whom ever or what ever may be presented, almost second handedly experience what ever the artist is trying to portray within in their work. For me Lucian Freud does this, i loved being up front and close to his pieces and found that before i had gone to this exhibition  knew very little about how Lucian Freud as an artist, this certainly taught me there is a much more psychological element to his style of artwork. Perfect quote below i just thought i could relate too this 

'I've always wanted to create drama in my pictures, which is why I paint people. It's people who have brought drama to pictures from the beginning. The simplest human gestures tell stories.'  ~Lucian Freud~

'Reflection' Lucian Freud 1985 

National Gallery... Titian's, Diana and Callisto Exhibition

Being from an Italian descent, and obviously having a natural passion for my culture, Italian Genius Painter Titian was a must see event! I have always been intrigued by old Myths, i guess i interpret this as the closest thing to real fairy tales.. I was particularly interested in looking, more in depth to the extraordinary painter Titian. The famous painting 'Diana and Callisto' was produced for the Spanish King Philip II, supposedly when Titian was in his 70's, i found this the most inspiring part of the journey behind Titain's masterpiece. Immense amount of the finest detail, calls out for the viewers attention. Even though the paining is a beautifully, demonstrated illustration, reading the whole myth behind it, in my opinion was one of the best and definitely my favorite aspects of the exhibition. There were many different lessons to learn from the myth, behind Titian's wonderful artwork,  was a story about betrayal, lies, deceit, humiliation and unjustified banishment. When looking at the piece 'Diana and Callisto' i was really able to engage in the fact that Titian was highlighting the young 'virgin goddess of the hunt' vulnerability and humiliation at the time she was subject and ordered to stripping to have a bath, by bystanders with a sneaky suspicion she was hiding something. To their great surprise, indeed she was. I recommend it as a must to actually find the story and read up, in more detail about it. I found it truly fascinating, however we are all individuals and the wonderful thing about life, is being open to many wide spread options. :) Very inspiring, and in my opinion a wonderful man who still strived with great artistic power in the very later stages of his life. Truly admirable and a great Artistic role model. I hope in the near future, i can extend my passion and interest for Titian's painting, by showing how inspired i was and creating my own contemporary interpretation of this mythical piece of Art. 

Yooo, Im back and here to talk about the recent exhibition, Picasso and Modern Art..TAte BriTain!

So one of the exhibitions i kept hearing about was the current Picasso and Modern Art being held at Tate Modern. Reminiscing back to a child, Picasso was one of the first artists i gained knowledge and was introduced to. This thought has always remained with me as i believe that subconsciously this was the beginning of my inspiring passion and desire for our world which in my opinion is Art. One of the most powerful and amazingly intellectual forms of Voice given, to enhance our vibrant imaginations, invited into the imaginations of diverse artists. However i decided to find out some more information on this current exhibition and given so found myself right there, looking at some of Picasso's most famous and well considered works over his years.  Still remaining the most imperative artist that changed the face quite literally of Modern Art. Picasso's work at Tate Britain invited me into the story behind Picasso and the way in which he produced some visually challenging but highly engaging and memorable pieces of work. 'Weeping Woman' was one of his most famous and one i have always been familiar with. I admire the expression and detail that goes into one portrait or image Picasso presented. 'Weeping woman' shows emotion throughout, interacting with its viewers, allowing us to experiance and almost feel what Picasso was trying to interpret from one woman's pain, one woman's story. Bold lines, Bright yet dark colours making every shape visible and eye grabbing to its viewer, i love pieces that have a hidden message and feel that Picasso managed to always find ways to engage and leave its viewers wondering. Many artists tried to follow in Picasso's steps, inspired by its prominent contours and shapes. Definitely worth popping and seeing for yourself,  giving a broader insight to Picasso and his life as an artist, there were an array of beautifully created pieces, all with a newstory to tell calling out for us as creative and artistic beings to read!

"Weeping Woman' Picasso 1937