The Closerie Falbala

Why did i not know about this before now? Jean Dubuffet's walled 'garden' and 'villa' 30 miles outside of Paris features in the March edition of WOI. "It is a unique piece of art in which a human being may physically stand, as though inside a picture and, as the artist himself says, 'inhabit a creation of the mind instead of just looking at it cautiously in a frame on the wall'."

Dexter Dalwood

Dexter Dalwood is showing work from the last twelve years at The Tate St Ives. Dalwood starts by selecting an historic moment, place or person. A collage is then made in the place of the traditional study or sketch, which is then scaled up and painted onto canvass. This transition works well as the array of marks, patterns and textures from the collage give the paintings added intrigue. And the canvasses are mesmerising in parts, asking the viewer to think, trying to solve the mystery; who is it, when was it? But..... the answer is there, its in the title, right next to the painting, and it left me feeling like i knew everything, when i didn't want too. Titling paintings is a far too large subject to cover here, from 'Still life with fruit on a stone legde' (Caravaggio) to 'Adam' (Barnett Newman) to 'The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living' (Hirst) and everything 'untitled' in between. But although I really liked some of the paintings, the punchline titles did not give me the due time to figure things out for myself, and more importantly, learn stuff in the process of that deconstruction.

History of the world in 100 objects

Most of you will probably know about the BBC's epic series currently running on Radio 4. But for those who are further afield and not aware of it, its well worth checking out. Mapping human development and civilisation through objects from the British Museum, the show concentrates on one particular object per episode. Examining the mindset of the instigators, how things were made, what materials were used and why, through to the actual logistics of making some of the enormous works. Ideas of Episteme and Techne are covered, there are also heavyweight contributions from contemporary artists such as Gormley, who comments on this Ramesses II statue, aired last friday. The reason it works so well is because you cannot see the object in question, it is essentially an (oral) essay, deconstructing and questioning each piece. You can catch up/listen again here. 

Holon Design Museum

About to open, Ron Arad's Design museum in Holon, Israel. The steel acts as a filter, wrapping the two more conventional buildings inside. The interest comes from how the steel ribbon and buildings react, creating the 'other' spaces, where you are inside the total form but still outside. I guess the choice of material is partly colour based as it will have strong chemistry with the clean blue skies. Of course there are going to be comparisons made to Richard Serra's sculptures but they only apply to the material used, the form is different, much more designed, dare i say it; prettier. I have seen Serra's Torqued ellipses and they are powerful and arresting, i expect the museum to be a more soothing experience. See loads more images here.

Rietveld - Steltman Chair

This came up in a meeting recently and its well worth an outing on the blog. Rietveld's Red and Blue chair is his most iconic piece but the Steltman Chair is different, it feels very honest to me. The ''4x2 section is evocative of construction rather than furniture, it feels fast and dynamic, like a 3D sketch. But the result of this bold form on the negative space around, under and between the object is very beautiful. The Steltman came forty years after the red and blue chair, when Rietveld was in his seventies, and his experience shows through. A concise yet fluid object which keeps giving me more, the more i look.

ink-dot

A belated shout out to Steve, who is currently planning the next ink-dot exhibition. Some really good graphic work here, and although the last exhibition is long over, you can still buy the prints on the website. (Super nice to catch up with you recently btw)

Precision

"My aim is simply to make the finest hand planes money can buy." I can only imagine how Karl Hotley's planes feel and cut, (they are totally inaccessible at between £2,000-8,000), but i bet they are truly beautiful to use. The thought, time, research and love that goes into each one is astounding.