Tag Archives: Flowers Gallery

Above and Below!

Michael Benson – Atmospheres, Flowers Gallery, 21 Cork Street, London W1, until 3rd December 2016

Earth over the Lunar Horizon, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, 12 October, 2015, 2016 Digital C-print. 98 x 72 in / 249 x 183 cm (c) NASA/GSFC/LROC/Michael Benson, Kinetikon Pictures. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery.

Earth over the Lunar Horizon, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, 12 October, 2015, 2016
Digital C-print. 98 x 72 in / 249 x 183 cm
(c) NASA/GSFC/LROC/Michael Benson, Kinetikon Pictures. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery.

In this his first solo exhibition with the gallery Michael Benson has created large-format landscape photographs depicting planets, their moons and the Sun.  He uses fragments of raw image data garnered from robotic interplanetary missions to create these intriguing images. They really should be seen.

Sunset on Mars, Spirit Rover, May 19, 2005, 2012 Digital c-print. 20 1/2 x 26 1/2 in / 517 x 667 cm (c) NASA JPL/Michael Benson, Kinetikon Pictures. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery.

Sunset on Mars, Spirit Rover, May 19, 2005, 2012
Digital c-print. 20 1/2 x 26 1/2 in / 517 x 667 cm
(c) NASA JPL/Michael Benson, Kinetikon Pictures. Courtesy of Flowers Gallery.

http://www.flowersgallery.com

 

Norman Ackroyd – Just Be A Poet, The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street London W1, until 30th November 2016

Norman Ackroyd RA Holbeck - Leeds, 1991, Courtesy of The Fine Art Society

Norman Ackroyd RA
Holbeck – Leeds, 1991,
Courtesy of The Fine Art Society

This is a celebration of the British landscape by Norman Ackroyd RA through watercolours and prints dating from between 1978 and 2012.  It is a detailed vision to which the artist has been faithful for six decades and is one that engrosses the viewer. Like the landscapes they depict they deserve re-visiting time and again

Norman Ackroyd RA Hardraw Force, North Yorkshire, 2005 Courtesy of The Fine Art Society

Norman Ackroyd RA
Hardraw Force, North Yorkshire, 2005
Courtesy of The Fine Art Society

thefineartsociety.com

 

Finally – Just a brief mention about Charles Mackesy’s whimsical painted sculptures at Sladmore Contemporary (until 25th November http://www.sladmorecontemporary.com/). He has transformed found objects into sculptural works of art.  Great fun as these doors clearly illustrate.  Many of the cartoons depicted on it were produced by the artist when he was cartoonist for The Spectator magazine.

The Loo Door Oil on Wooden Door 78" x 27" Charlie Mackesy

The Loo Door
Oil on Wooden Door
78″ x 27″
Charlie Mackesy

 

Andy Warhol, Lucy Jones and Italian Pop

Warhol Icons, Halcyon Gallery, 144-146 New Bond Street, London W1, until 26th June 2016

Andy Warhol Blackglama (Judy Garland) 1985

Andy Warhol
Blackglama (Judy Garland) 1985

This is the gallery’s first exhibition solely focusing on the works of Andy Warhol.  It is wide-ranging with over a hundred works on display, including iconic figures, early works and the Anatom (Rado Watches) which was one of his last works.

Andy Warhol Paramount 1985

Andy Warhol
Paramount 1985

http://www.halcyongallery.com

 

Lucy Jones, The Cycle Of Life, Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London W1, until 21st May 2016

Lucy Jones, Sitting, 2015, Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm (c) Lucy Jones, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Lucy Jones,
Sitting, 2015,
Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm
(c) Lucy Jones, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

This exhibition of new portraits and landscape paintings is well worth seeing.  Her portraits are frank and also revealing of the sitter’s inner persona but handled with great understanding. Her landscapes are a personal interpretation of the countryside along the border between England and Wales and like her portraits there is a personal resonance in them.  The artist describes her process as “grabbing hold” and “pinning down” the essence and colour of the place.

Lucy Jones, Tree, 2015, Oil on canvas, 91 x 122 cm (c) Lucy Jones, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Lucy Jones,
Tree, 2015,
Oil on canvas, 91 x 122 cm
(c) Lucy Jones, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

www.flowersgallery.com

 

Italian Pop, Tornabuoni Art, 46 Albemarle Street W1, until 18th June 2016

Mimmo Rotella Italia e Corona , 1962 Decollage on canvas 22.4 x 22.4 in / 57 x 57 cm Courtesy Tornabuoni Art

Mimmo Rotella
Italia e Corona , 1962
Decollage on canvas
22.4 x 22.4 in / 57 x 57 cm
Courtesy Tornabuoni Art

This is a heady celebration of the Italian Pop Art movement which came to the fore in the early 1960s.  The gallery’s director, Ursula Casamonti, sums it up saying “We wanted to provide a counterpoint to Italian post-war abstraction and the Milanese avant-garde that we typically show at Tornabuoni Art and present a different side to the Italian 1960s, one driven by Rome and by the people’s relationship to Italian culture and the ‘Dolce Vita’.”

The artists included in this striking show are: Valerio Adami, Franco Angeli, Mario Ceroli, Tano Festa, Giosetta Fioroni, Mimmo Rotella, Mario Schifano and Cesare Tacchi

Cesare Tacchi, I guardiani della primavera Pop, 2006 paint on printed fabric and relief (triptych) 210 x 300 cm / 82.7 x 118 Courtesy Tornabuoni Art

Cesare Tacchi,
I guardiani della primavera Pop, 2006
paint on printed fabric and relief (triptych)
210 x 300 cm / 82.7 x 118
Courtesy Tornabuoni Art

www.tornabuoniart.com

 

 

THREE SHOWS IN CORK STREET

David Blackburn: A Search for the Inexpressible, Messum’s, 28 Cork Street, London W1, until 11th March 2016

GREY AUSTRALIA, pastel and collage, 1983, H 41 x W 37 cm (H 16 1⁄8 x W 14 5⁄8 in)

GREY AUSTRALIA, pastel and collage, 1983, H 41 x W 37 cm (H 16 1⁄8 x W 14 5⁄8 in)

Although scenes in Australia and America are the subject of these somewhat abstract pastels the artist describes the way he depicts them as ‘a sort of visionary geometry’. I certainly feel that he also reflects his native Yorkshire in some of the wonderful colours he uses and it is quite understandable why he has such an international reputation.

SUMMER SUNLIGHT, pastel, 2003, H 65 x W 51 cm (H 25 5⁄8 x W 20 1⁄8 in)

SUMMER SUNLIGHT, pastel, 2003, H 65 x W 51 cm (H 25 5⁄8 x W 20 1⁄8 in)

www.messums.com

 

Gabo’s Monoprints: A Family Collection, Alan Cristea, 34 Cork Street, London W1, until 12th March 2016

Naum Gabo Opus Four (Family name – The Lyrebird), 1950 Monoprint in dark brown from a professionally made end-grain block. Paper 22.9 x 15.3 cm / Image 15.9 x 13.7 cm Inscribed For my dearly beloved daughter Nina Serafima on Her Seventeenth Birthday from her Father Gabo May 26th 1958 Courtesy Nina and Graham Williams and Alan Cristea Gallery, London

Naum Gabo
Opus Four (Family name – The Lyrebird), 1950
Monoprint in dark brown from a professionally made end-grain block.
Paper 22.9 x 15.3 cm / Image 15.9 x 13.7 cm
Inscribed For my dearly beloved daughter Nina Serafima on Her Seventeenth Birthday from her Father Gabo May 26th 1958
Courtesy Nina and Graham Williams and Alan Cristea Gallery, London

This is the first time that these prints made by the celebrated Russian sculptor Naum Gabo (1890 – 1977) have been seen publicly. He was persuaded at the age of sixty to make prints and the first – Opus 1 – is on a small circular piece of tissue. He used the same woodblock to make another print which he gave to his daughter Nina for her ninth birthday in May 1950.

Naum Gabo Opus Eight, date unknown Monoprint from block of Florida Boxwood. Paper 30.2 x 23.8 cm Courtesy Nina and Graham Williams and Alan Cristea Gallery, London

Naum Gabo
Opus Eight, date unknown
Monoprint from block of Florida Boxwood.
Paper 30.2 x 23.8 cm
Courtesy Nina and Graham Williams and Alan Cristea Gallery, London

He went on to produce a serious body of woodcuts (Opus I – XXII) until his death. His daughter and her husband have particularly treasured those received as gifts and even given them special names.  This is a unique opportunity join them in their admiration of Gabo’s work.

http://www.alancristea.com

 

Boyd and Evans – Overland, Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London W1, until 12th March 2016

Boyd & Evans, Tonopah NV, 2015 (c) Boyd & Evans, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Boyd & Evans, Tonopah NV, 2015
(c) Boyd & Evans, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

This show of works by Boyd & Evans of large-scale photographs continues their exploration of the wild landscapes of America’s south-west. It is almost a visual diary, one they have been working on since the 70’s.  These new works show signs of human occupation but with no human figures raising the question are they now abandoned or unused places?

Boyd & Evans, Benton Springs CA, 2015 (c) Boyd & Evans, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Boyd & Evans, Benton Springs CA, 2015
(c) Boyd & Evans, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

http://www.flowersgallery.com

Tom Hammick at Flowers

Tom Hammick – Wall, Window, World, Flowers Gallery · 82 Kingsland Rd · London, E2, until 10th October 2015

Tom Hammick, Violetta and Alfredo's Retreat, 2015, Oil on Linen, (c) Tom Hammick, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Tom Hammick,
Violetta and Alfredo’s Retreat, 2015,
Oil on Linen,
(c) Tom Hammick, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Hammick’s paintings are quite engrossing in that they immediately draw the viewer into the slightly mysterious worlds he has created and make you want to understand what may be going on.  Paintings, figures and buildings feature and whether they be in the paintings and prints inspired by his recent year-long spell as Artist in Residence at the ENO, or the natural or urban landscapes you get a feeling of edginess of the unknown and even isolation.

Tom Hammick, Walther von Stolzing’s New Suit, 2015, Oil on canvas, (c) Tom Hammick, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

Tom Hammick,
Walther von Stolzing’s New Suit, 2015,
Oil on canvas,
(c) Tom Hammick, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

At the same time as this memorable show a new book by Julian Bell Tom Hammick: Wall, Window, World is published by Lund Humphries. It is a welcome survey and examination of his work to date.

TH_CoverLR-res

 

www.flowersgallery.com