Whistlejacket and Scrub – New Exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery

Whistlejacket and Scrub: Large as Life the great horse paintings of Stubs is a new exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery (showing until 9th November) that focuses on two of George Stubs largest and most famous horse paintings ‘Whistlejacket’ (which has been loaned to the gallery by The National Gallery) and ‘Scrub’ (to my surprise the paintings really where, was the name of the exhibition suggested, as large as life). George Stubs was an 18th century painter who is most famous for his horse paintings, these particular two where commissioned by the Marques of Rockingham (although for an unknown reason he rejected the painting of scrub). In addition to the two main paintings there are several smaller paintings by Stubs and post interestingly for my several of his horse anatomy studies showing various bone and muscle structures of a horse. I believe it was this in depth understanding of the anatomy of the horses he was painting which gave Stubs the necessary experience and skills to approach these large paintings which are as much a scientific study of the horse as they are a piece of art.

I also felt that the exhibition had been curate very well, the two main paintings were raised forward on deep red coloured walls which not only made them stand out even more but also added a sense of regency to the exhibition – these where famous race horses after all. (See my sketches)

I visited the exhibition as I am working on a new identity for an equine training school at work at the moment and I felt it might give me an interesting insight, but even if you have no special interest in horses I’m sure you’ll enjoy this (free) exhibition.

The New York City Waterfalls Exhibition

I came across the New York City Waterfalls exhibitions when I saw a video of one of the huge man made waterfalls on youtube. I initially thought it was a video of a water main running under the Brooklyn Bridge that had bust, but when I looked into it further I found out that it was in fact a man made waterfall. The waterfall (which you can see in the above video clip) is one of four currently ‘flowing’ around New York as part of a public exhibition designed by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (the man behind the ‘Sun’ exhibition in London’s Tate Modern a couple of years ago). The resulting effect is very impressive and slightly bizarre, it looks like an actual Amazonian waterfall right in the heart of New York – or like some thing from a Hollywood disaster movie.

The waterfalls will ‘flow’ in New York until 13th October 2008 when the exhibition finishes.

Inside Out by M. Cameron – World Pinhole Day Exhibition

The top picture that you see here is a (rather poor scan of a) photo taken using a simple pinhole camera that I found in amongst my college portfolio. The picture was taken as part of ‘world pin hole camera day’ by M. Cameron in Empire Vale, Australia and was the result of a ‘happy mistake’ when Cameron accidentally double exposed the film, once inside his apartment and one out side. He only noticed his mistake when he developed the film, however it came out really well.

Word Pinhole Photography Day is a global annual event (the last Sunday in April) when enthusiasts from all over the world “take some time off from the increasingly technological world we live in and to participate in the simple act of making a pinhole photograph”. The aim of the annual event is to “to share their visions and help spread the unusual beauty of this historical photographic process” and as you can see from the other examples of photos taken using pin hole cameras people can achieve some fantastic results only using very basic technology – the website is well worth checking out as it has plenty more brilliant examples of pin hole photography (see www.pinholeday.org) The next world pinhole day is Sunday 26th April 2008 – check out the website a bit closer to the time to find out if there are any exhibitions near you (or to find out how you can enter your pinhole photos).

Now Showing – A Exhibition of Old School Screen Printed Movie Posters

Now Showing is a new collection being displayed in London’s Cosh Gallery (or on the internet at www.flickr.com/photos/keepsmesane/) that was devised and curated by the designer Darren Firth. Firth set a group of designers the brief to illustrate a movie poster for a cult or obscure film from the past. The resulting posters have a really refreshing feel about them when compared to today’s highly photoshoped film posters. I feel they give a better ‘feel’ for the film than simply a large photo of the leading actor (as many film posters are today). They look like works of art in their own right that someone has carefully designed and created rather than the throw away designs that we are bombarded with today. As a designer looking at these posters I think it would be great if I could work some screen-printed designs into my future projects – I think they would really stand out because they look so different to the designs we are used to seeing.

Leeds City Art Gallery

I took a trip to the Leeds City Art Gallery this morning, which has been refurbished and got several new pieces since I last visited. I think the refurbish has been a big success, it has given the gallery a new lease of the life and the clean, white walls not only make the paintings stand out more but also extenuate the wonderful architecture of the building that houses them. Unlike some art galleries I have visited at Leeds, what ever your taste, you are sure to find a section that apples to you with work ranging from illustration, photography, modern, Victorian painting and sculpture. Work comes from all over the world (not just Europe) and the exhibitions regularly change work from both local artists and pieces, which are loaned by larger galleries such as the National Portrait Gallery or Tate. I even visited a special exhibition put on by one of my old college tutors a few years ago.

If you are in Leeds I’d definitely recommend visiting the gallery (which is free), there is always a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, its never to busy to stop and appreciate of sketch the work on display (see some of my sketches above) and you don’t feel like you have to be an expert to enjoy the work – there are even plenty of staff to answer any questions.