This is a story about a man and a boot...

I first began to notice Gary Hume’s work when I stumbled across an exhibition of his at the Tate Britain a few years ago. I was immediately struck by the simplicity and bold use of colour in his paintings that really caught and held my attention. I remember finding his work aesthetically appealing with an almost alluring quality to it, perhaps due to his seductive use of glossy colour, or perhaps his use of complex, interweaving lines to represent such simplified forms. They somehow seemed to contain a feeling of melancholy in their fluidity and beauty. Ever since that first exhibition I became a big fan, following his work from time to time.

Months later I found myself at a friends 18^th birthday party, tucking into some nibbles and some bubbly, when Gary Hume came up in conversation with a friend of mine who is a bit of an arty type too. Suddenly the birthday boy piped up “Are you talking about Gary Hume? He’s my uncle, and he’s over in the barn having drinks with my parents. You can go and meet him if you like!” Now of course our natural reaction was “yeah yeah, whatever, how would we not already know this if it were true…”, when we found ourselves being dragged over to the barn, up the stairs, through the door…and there he was! I was totally star-struck. I always thought I’d be able to think of some really good question if I ever met someone famous who I really admire, but no, not this time. I vaguely remember babbling like an idiot, although I think the champagne may have had something to do with it! So we chatted for a bit and in the end he very sweetly signed his painting boots which he had brought with him straight from his studio: ‘Gary Hume painted in these’ and gave us one each. I remember thinking how generous it was, although maybe had something to do with his consumption of champagne too! So we joked about how he’d probably wake up in the morning and wonder where they were…and then left, still quite shocked at what had just happened! It was really fantastic to meet such a prominent figure in the art world and realise that as well as such an innovative artist, he was also a really lovely and down-to-earth man. I still sometimes look at the boot and wonder if it would be possible to match up the blobs of paint with the paintings they came from. So far I have had no success!

Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle

For those unfamiliar with Dahl’s peculiar terminology, Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle make up the main components of the Big Friendly Giant’s diet.  Snozzcumbers are a particularly foul type of cucumber, covered in warts and sour in taste.  Quite on the contrary, Frobscottle is a delicious and refreshing drink, full of fizzy bubbles and delight.

A fantastic exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood drew to a close last Sunday after 4 months of the capturing the imagination of children and adults alike.  The traveling exhibition titled ‘Snozzcumbers and Frobscottle; the Wonderful World of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake’ was organised by the children’s literature museum, Seven Stories.  It brought together a wide range of exhibits from original illustrations and manuscripts, to sculptures and objects including both stationary as well as interactive displays.  This exhibition celebrated the great creative partnership between Dahl and Blake, a collaboration that began with The Enormous Crocodile and evolved into twenty one well-known and loved classics.

So set for a nostalgic trip down memory lane, I was delighted to discover plenty of gems, including initial illustrations of the BFG, his friend Sophie, and models of snozzcumbers and dreamcatchers in the BFG’s model cave.  Everyone has their favourite Roald Dahl story, many of them read time and time again as a child, until our parents were blue in the face!  Whether it be Matilda, James and the Giant Peach or Esio Trot among many others, the BFG is definitely up there for me so this was a treat!  There were also plenty of other familiar characters to spot, among them the scary witch from The Twits and Charlie Bucket’s grandparents lined up in their big bed.  What was fascinating, and for me added another dimension to the exhibition, was the showing of a film following Quentin Blake carry out his work in his studio.   It’s curious and almost surreal stepping into this world as an adult, coming face-to-face with original work by Blake.  One can’t help but marvel, with the knowledge that these magical illustrations have touched millions of childrens imaginations and continue to all of the time.  His naïve style is especially striking, immediately recognisable with its scribbley lines and splashes of watercolour.  He manages to create images that are spontaneous and disorderly, as if he’s drawn them extremely quickly, but at the same time are perfect without a line feeling out of place.  The result is wild, yet enchanting at the same time.  I love Blake’s style, with his carefree illustrations perfectly embodying Dahl’s characters and their expressions, from the totally bizarre to damnright abominable.  

I can imagine that illustrating Dahl’s stories, bristling with neology and make-believe, and creating a visual identity was not always an easy job for Blake, however it certainly feels like it would have been an adventure full of fun.  This is highlighted when he struggled to visualize what the BFG would wear on his feet, so Dahl sent him a package to re-instil some inspiration.  In a quote from the culture 24 website Blake recalls: "I received through the post a rather oddly-shaped and oddly-wrapped brown paper parcel.  Unwrapping it revealed a large sandal of a type unfamiliar to me. I soon discovered that it was Norwegian and one of Roald's own. It is what the BFG wears."  The original Norwegian sandal also featured in the exhibition.  I think that ultimately it is the successful capturing of the essence and humour of Dahl’s writing in the illustrations that makes the duos work so powerful and really allows you to jump head first into their vividly animated, imaginary world.   The illustration of children’s fiction is always a wondrous thing, however this particular partnership between Dahl and Blake is clearly something extra special.  With so much excellent work to chose from the V&A did a great job in whittling it down to a captivating and succinct exhibition. Here are some of the characters featured below:

Partly Cloudy

‘Partly Cloudy’ is Pixar’s latest short film released around the beginning of August this year, being shown at cinemas before ‘Up’.  Directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Kevin Reher it is one of many short films by Pixar, including ‘Your Friend the Rat’, ‘Lifted’, ‘Geri’s Game’, ‘One Man Band’, ‘Poundin’’ and ‘Presto’.  Click here to find out more about all of these short films.

The story is based around a lonely, grey cloud called Gus and his stork friend Peck.  The clouds spend their days laughing, joking and sculpting adorable little babies from the fluffy cloud around them, whilst their delivery stalks carry them to their joyful and awaiting parents on Earth below.  However Gus seems to have a knack for creating dangerous animals with sharp teeth, horns and attitude providing tricky and hazardous cargo for Peck.  Will Peck be able to carry on with his deliveries and assisting his good friend Gus?

The animation in this film is excellent, but then again we expect nothing less from Pixar.  It is a beautiful and poetic animation for children to enjoy and for adults it reminds them of that childhood innocence.  I hadn’t given much thought to any morals, simply just enjoyed the animation, however loyalty and acceptance of everyone is perhaps the key.  Funny and sympathetic, it is pretty impossible not to crack a smile.  Watch the approx 5 min clip here.

To celebrate the last 20 years of Pixar animation, between August and November this year, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan is holding an ongoing major exhibition showcasing some of their finest work and much-loved characters.  Bringing the stories to life, the exhibition contains a mix of storyboards, sculptures, sketches, paintings and interactive elements.  The tour of this exhibition has been all over the world, starting in New York back in 2005 and set for its last stop in Mexico after Taiwan.  Personally I missed the exhibition in London 2006, and for those of you in the same boat, seeing as I’m guessing not many of us will get to experience it first-hand, it is definitely worth having a quick peek at some of the pics up and around on the net.

BP Portrait Awards 2009

Exhibition @ the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, 18^th June – 20^th September

After picking up one of those ‘What’s on: Guide’ type supplements I decided to visit the BP Portrait Awards Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London.  An annual and prestigious competition, I learnt that the BP Portrait Awards sees thousands of entrants from all around the world put forward their accomplishment in contemporary portraiture work.  This year, 2009 saw 1, 901 entries, a record number in the history of the event, and from there the winners were chosen and the remainder whittled down to 56 paintings to be showcased in the exhibition.  

Here are the portraits that won first, second and third prizes:

First prize awarded to Pete Monkman for his work Changeling 2 which contains a series of portraits of his daughter at different stages of her life, exploring the concept of childhood.

Second prize awarded to Michael Gaskell for his work Tom, a portrait of Gaskell’s 17 year old son.

Third prize awarded to Annalisa Avancini for Manuel, a portrait of 31 year old Manuel, in her aim to catch his story and personality through his face.

Upon arrival I was intrigued to be amongst works submitted from members of the public with varied backgrounds and training in the arts, in what felt like a sort of an extremely high quality talent show, one in which every piece was worthy of a prize.  The variety between portraits was of interest, in subject and in style.   Featured were the young and old alike, a Lord, a fisherman, a football fan, as well as subjects from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.  However what really drew me in was being able to relate to the relationships between the subject and the artist, and pondering on the complex characters laid out in front of me.  Which family member is featured, what are they doing, what mood are they in, what sort of personality do they have.  Similarly here as when looking at the book 'Two Faced', it is the relationships between the sitter and the artist that have created such interesting portraits, and the intimacy that can therefore be conveyed within.  

One of my favourites was this piece, Madeleine, by Jane Cooper.  The way she has captured the light falling across the little girl.  The juxtaposition of the furry headband symbolising fun and playfulness, against the pose, which suggests a certain fragility and seriousness making her old beyond her years.

The exhibition has quite an old-fashioned feel to it, in the exploration of portraiture in a fairly traditional sense without much pushing of boundaries.  Much of the work is photorealistic, with only a few exceptions of more naïve and abstract representations.  In fact there are perhaps a few too many photorealistic portraits, despite the extremely obvious high level of skill and incredible realism.  Overall however, the exhibition exudes energy and features an impressive range of portraits full of emotion, and committed to high quality figurative painting.