Laura Noble's Blog

So my lovely readers, firstly an apology is in order, as my posts have been less frequent. The least I can do is give you an update of the numerous goings on including trips & openings in the last few weeks.

B.S.T. British / Summer/ Time opened on June 6th to rave reviews! To see the press release with info on all the artists included download it from my website here. I shall blog further about it during the run of the show. In the meantime please come & visit as with all great photography there is no better way to view the work than in the flesh.

So, to other news...

I was recently invited to speak about collecting photography at my favourite photography gallery in Amesterdam FOAM as part of their Collecting Club programme. I was joined by two of the gallery's artists, namely Emily Allchurch & Lisa Holden who expanded on the subject of contemporary practice in todays photography market, alongside talking about their own work & practice. As you may know both artists use traditional techniques coupled with incredibly advanced Photoshop to achieve the amazing imagery that they produce. Both - although aesthetically poles apart - have roots in traditional art practice including painting & performance art.

The lecture was well attended & we were inundated with questions afterwards. Thank you to all those who came & a big thanks to FOAM for hosting such a lovely evening with such generosity. The evening was ended with a well earned drink at a local watering hole with Lisa, Tim (who kindly took pics at the event) & Emily of course.

As there was time to catch during our stay we caught a couple of exhibitions as well. Emily & myself were keen to see a couple of things before going back to the UK. We of course went to see the displays on at FOAM including: Bertien van Manen's 'Let's sit down before we go' which has a book to accompany it.

See the Mack site for details. I also found a look thru on Youtube. The display was large on the ground floor. Further up was the New York Times show, which was updated from the Arles exhibition last summer. It was interesting & informative & it was good to compare it to the dramatic inventive display inside the empty church in Arles last year. (A curatorial triumph I thought)

Then into a wonderful room for another show by Nina Poppe called Ana which has been written about beautifully by the Guardian Culture section, in the link by Sean O'Hagan. The curation worked fantastically well amidst the book filled space with its spiral staircase.

I couldn't resist taking a few snaps with my phone. (For those of you who love looking at books on shelves, see this site I love to peek at occasionally).

The panelled walls with the shelves above make you feel at home instantly. It is a space perfectly chosen to display this intimate portrait of a woman who is part of the legendary fisherwomen who dive for abalone sea snails.

Abalone sashimi

The delicate nature of catching these snails involves skilled diving, in tiring conditions without tools off the Japanese island of Ise-Shima. As you can see I couldn't resist putting a picture of food into this, especailly Japanese food!

There is a book of this work also, see her site for details.

So, just enough time for coffee (which my sweeteners failed to penetrate) before going to the next museum...

A guilty pleasure visit to the cat museum, Katten Kabinet, go to the link for a virtual tour!

It was a fascinating place, in stark contrast to FOAM, but equally enjoyable with lots of things to look at including a display of illustrations from a famous children's book illustrator, Fiep Westendorp & her cheeky pair of cats Pim & Pom. they were delightful & as both of us are avid cat fanciers we had a great time.

Pim & Pom up to their usual mischief

The rooms are full to the brim with interesting & varied cat-themed objects, furniture & the like...

By far my favourite work was this beautifully simple paper sculpture lounging on a sideboard, fantastic!

So the next day we had time to head up to the Hermitage to cool down as the weather had been warmer than expected. On the way a bridge made way for a very long barge. The mechanism was fascinating as it lifted. I'm not sure what the text says on the panels beneath, but would be curious to find out.

The Hermitage was a first for me in Amsterdam, so it was a wonderful chance to compare the traditional with contemporary spaces.

What a spectacular building, so traditional from the outside, yet with all the mod-cons inside.

Here are some examples of the beautiful interiors...

I think I could get used to a space like this...

Or this

With the odd artwork dotted here & there...

So as I was saying before dreaming of living in a place like this (all offers gladly received) I digress from the exhibition we saw.

The show, Rubens, Van Dyck & Jordeans : Flemish painters from the Hermitage was not something that would ordinarily appeal to me as none of them are my favourites. However, the works by Flemish painters neither myself or Emily had heard of were indeed fascinating & a great surprise.

Frans Snyders (1579–1657), Concert of Birds, 1630–50, Oil on canvas. 136.5 x 240 cm
© State Hermitage Museum, St

This work by Frans Snyders was less of a concert (despite the owl holding the music) & more of a screech, but quite extraordinary. Everything about it is strange, from the mixture of birds that would never be grouped together in nature & the idea to make this the subject of a bird study. Perhaps he was as mad about birds as I am, why not!

Then to our delight, more amazing bird images took our fancy, amongst them many dead ones strung onto poles, looking beautiful all the same.

Still Life of Dead Birds and a Hare on a Table, 1647 by Adriaen van Utrecht

Someone whom I had heard of but whose work I had all but forgotten having never seen their work up close was that of Adriaen van Utrecht. Here is a wonderful example. What can I say, beautiful death with so much care taken to render every bird 'feather perfect' (that ones an in-joke for those into taxidermy). It was hard to tear myself away from his work, I could st-hare at it for days. (Sorry)

So in true Banksy-style we headed to the gift shop before leaving & bought a more realistic sized sample of Dutch architecture, a ceramic house. Finally a nice souvenir that wasn't painted in garish colours, horay!

It is impossible to visit Amsterdam without admiring its wonderful architecture. On the way to Lisa Holden's we passed this wonderful house, & as chance would have it this lady walked into the frame wearing a beautifully co-ordinated outfit to go with it! Ok, so it is a bit lop sided, but I was in a moving car at the time...

And so back to reality on the London Underground, also whilst moving I couldn't resist snapping this lady's tatooed calves. She was wearing a Rockabilly styled outfit to match as well with a Mexican Day of The Dead inspired print too.

I could easily do a whole blog on skulls in art....

I am the proud owner of a sugar skull from Mexico myself, with my name on it. The orange bow I feel is particulaly fetching & one of my favourite colours. Spooky, weird but true all the same...

And so to another beautiful death...

I am proud as punch that the talented artist Maeve Berry has been selected to exhibit at the Arles Photography Open Salon this year with her 'Incandescence' series, so another reason to go!

Here is a picture from last years venue. This year is bigger by all accounts, so I can't wait.

So back to London with my final bit of news before the round of all the degree shows which are still running & some new ones to attend this week in my next blog...

William Road Gallery

So no rest for the wicked, even at the weekend with a day at the William Road Gallery. I was a reviewer for the day event of portfolio reviews for the London Festival of Photography. It was a jam packed day, with lots of interesting work to look at & just as many interesting photographers to advise & discuss their work. I must thank Grace for looking after us so well, plying me with coffee, biscuits & sarnies to keep us all going. I was less than chipper with a lovely cold, so it was much appreciated.

So that's all from me for now folks. Please post your comments, as I am always curious to your thoughts on any of the subjects, artists, ideas in this blog, its VERY encouraging.

Hope to see you out & about at DIemar/Noble Photography Gallery very soon, it is British Summer Time after all!

Lucian Freud, 1985. Oil on canvas, 559 x 533mm

Private collection Ireland

After a recent second visit to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Lucian Freud exhibition it made me think about the great portraits in art. What is wonderful about a painted self-portrait is that the sitter is using a mirror, so we really see how they see themselves. This powerful image is rendered more so by the strong brushstrokes that Freud uses with multiple layering of colour & tone that build to a solid almost sculptural presence both physically & emotionally weighty as a result. Photography is more realistic, but is it more representative of the artist?

Frida Kahlo, Self Portrait with Thorn Neclace and Hummingbird,

Nikolas Murray Collection,

Harry Ransom Center,

The university of Texas at Austin

For example, Frida Khalo was able to add symbolism into her self portraits, which would have been extremely difficult to create in camera without the cat & monkey killing each other? Perhaps she could have used stuffed animals? Perhaps the fantasy imagery builds as the layers of the paint were applied... The allowance for change whilst creating an image are so easy now with Photoshop, but somehow the personality of her delicate body is translated through the marks she made. Can this truly be done with photography?

David Hockney

Self Portrait, 1954

collage on newsprint, 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 in

In this Hockney image, the beautiful collage technique really overshadows the accuracy, but is no less powerful as a portrait. By accuracy, I mean that the simplification, even caricature-like nature of it has placed his general features into another realm whereby he is instantly recognisable by his general appearance & key haircut, glasses & shirt.

Robert Mapplethorpe

Self Portrait, 1980

Of course we all know this great self portrait. The steely stare grips you instantly in a way that a photograph has of a sense of immediacy. That is not to say that this is not possible through other art forms - we've all heard the one about the painted portraits with eyes that follow you around the room - but this timeless photograph still breathes the smoke from Mapplethorpe's cigarette never to burn out.

Cindy Sherman

Untitled Film Still #13. 1978.
Collection The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Of course here we have the consummate self portraitist who takes on a new role each time she is before the lens. Constructing characters for our enjoyment are we seeing a facet of her inner personality or are we just viewing a construct based on a film still or both? I lean towards both as she obviously has a personal interest in the filmic portrait so cannot help have a little of her own personality present in each image apart from the obvious fact that she is the sitter.

1983 / did not cry

I recently attended an exhibition opening at the Tenderpixel Gallery called 'I LOVE YOU' featuring work by 5 artists including a series by E-J Major titled 'Marie Claire RIP' Her self portraits embrace the notion of taking on anothers identity with haunting results.

1989 / hear rain

They come in the form of reconstructions of mug shots published in Marie Claire whereby the photographer used herself as the sitter posing as the woman whose life was spelled out through the tragic demise of her mugshots over a 14 year period. The woman it based on is not named, yet her appearance conjures up a narrative not seen but brutally clear. Major plays with the fiction that can be depicted through self portraiture whilst simultaneously challenging her own identity through this work. I urge you to go & see how powerful this work is whilst the show is on display if you can.

Van Gogh
Self-Portrait
1889 (250 Kb); Oil on canvas,

65 x 54 cm (25 1/2 x 21 1/4 in); Musee d'Orsay, Paris

So does it mean that the painting & photograph are equal?

If Van Gogh were alive today would he be using a camera as well as paint? Possibly...

With the colours available with a click of a mouse or shutter he could have been all the colours of the rainbow without ever touching a brush. Was it the medium or the visual effect?

Does the slower process of putting brush to canvas - the labour itself being part of the appeal - make for a more intense experience for both the artist & the viewer? Is the hand of the artist more present with a medium such as painting than photography?

For this I do not have all the answers, but would love to hear your comments on the subject. I have only featured a few images here. Perhaps I should test this theory with a painted or drawn & photographic self portrait & let you be the judge...

Sunday, 17 June 2012

B.S.T. British Summer (long) Time passing...

Saturday, 12 May 2012

Me, myself & I