Albums of 2021 updated 13/12/2021


It’s that time of the year when we look at the albums that I have listened to this year.
I have listened to 68 albums this year which means all the tracks on an album for at least a minimum of three listens some listening all week long.

I have already posted my top ten tracks of 2021 but here are my favourite albums in no particular order:

1. Little Simz-Sometimes I might be introvert
2. Wolf Alice-Blue weekend
3. Carcass-Torn arteries
4. The Vaccines-Alone star
5. Maximo Park-Nature always wins
6. Quicksand-Distant populations
7. Turnstile-GLOW ON
8. Laura Mvula-Pink noise
9. The Go Team!-Get up sequences part one
10. Adele-30

Been an amazing year for music if nothing else. A vast majority of nineties bands/artists released albums in this year such as Quicksand, Garbage, Foo Fighters, At the gates, Carcass, Weezer et al.
A lot of new music this year that has been great such as Little Simz, Laura Mvula, Arlo Parks, Turnstile etc.
Music is constantly changing and evolving and every year showcases different talent and genres.

Top lyrics from this year:

“Trying to finish the book I was reading
Put it down for too long
Got distracted by other things
Forgot the characters and their names.”
Quicksand-Phase 90

“Would you deceive me?
If I had a dick
Would you know it?
Would you blow it?“
Garbage-Godhead

“Would you like me to be smaller, weaker, softer, taller?
Would you like me to be quiet?
Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest?
Am I my stomach? My hips?
The body I was born with
Is it not what you wanted?
If I wear what is comfortable, I am not a woman
If I shed the layers, I’m a slut.“
Billie Eilish-Not my responsibility


Best and worst album covers:

From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Finally finished it.
First of all what a good job they did of adapting this movie.
Although I like this book the film is a lot better in its pacing and structure.



View all my reviews

 Workshop 1 –  Painting The brief

with Bernadette O’Toole

PAINTING AS STRATEGY

                              Damian Mead, Talcum, Oil on Linen, 65.5 x 44.5cm, 2011

SESSIONS

Monday Oct 11th (3 hours:  2-5pm) Making – between sculpture and painting.

Friday Oct 15th (3 hours: 2-5pm) Colour – chromatic grey workshop.

Monday Oct 18th (3 hours: 2-5pm) Colour – creating small painting studies using chromatic greys.

Friday Oct 22nd (3 hours: 2-5pm) Hybrid paintings somewhere between sculpture and painting.

WHERE

S1 Artspace, Unit 10 (Parkhill Flats)

OUTCOMES

You will develop your understanding of materials, processes, and conventions considered specific to the medium of painting, and practices that break with these conventions.

You will develop a more sophisticated understanding of colour and its application. 

BRIEF

Art-historian Isabell Graw writes, ‘painting has long since left its ancestral home––that is, the picture on the canvas––and is now omnipresent, as it were, and at work in other art forms as well.’

The painting workshops will explore some of the formal and conceptual strategies employed by artists to challenge an established understanding of the medium of painting. We will consider examples of work that operates beyond painting’s traditional boundaries, operating in what is described as the ‘expanded field of painting’.  We will examine the materials, processes, and conventions considered specific to the medium of painting, and practices that break with these conventions. The workshop will demonstrate how processes from one medium, when applied to another, can generate new forms of expression. 

Through a playful re-working of the American sculptor Richard Serra’s Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself’ [1967–68], you will produce a series of three dimensional hybrid forms based on Serra’s verbs. The verb list including actions such as, ‘to remove’, ‘to mark’, and ‘to suspend’, could be interpreted in many ways, and, through different media. To fold, for example, could refer to paint folding on to a surface, or to the action of folding paper. Similarly, the act of folding and unfolding might inspire a more figurative approach to painting, and representation of the human figure.

In the practical workshop exercises, you will re-articulate Serra’s verbs, firstly as ‘simple sculptural objects’ – without using paint, secondly as small painting studies re-interpreting Serra’s verb list through the medium of paint. The process will encourage you to reflect on what might be considered specific or unspecific to painting, at the same time demystifying the terms, ‘medium-specificity and ‘post-medium condition’.

In the second workshop you will have the opportunity to develop a more sophisticated understanding of colour through exercises in the use of chromatic greys.  In addition to this experimental approach to practice you will have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on your expanded painting vocabulary and how this could develop your studio practice.

I attended all but one workshop (I had infection in my eye) but I learnt a lot from this workshop. Bernadette gave us a rundown on artists.
As a group we did all that is mentioned above.
I was really pleased with the end result I don’t usually work with acrylic and it was a challenge to stay within the parameters of the chromatic greys.
I must admit I was sceptical of the processes but I produced a good piece of work and it was a struggle to get there but Bernadette did assist and help immensely in getting me to paint exactly to the brief.
I think the painting came out really well.

Crit/tutorial wrap up 10/10/2021

For my Crit I didn’t really have any work to show other than some scraperboard which I drew a pelican on.
Not much to report other than it’s a medium I’m not confident with.
Here’s the result:

I had a one to one tutorial with my Crit tutor who was very supportive and stated that I have lots of concepts I could go down including narratives of my mum’s memoirs and so on.

He said don’t be afraid of using pastels if I feel comfortable with them and try not to change my style for Uni and let University accept what my art practices are.

I explained about how pop culture references and modern art interlink such as Herge’s use of Malevich in Tintin in the land of the Soviets for example.

Talking to my Crit tutor inspired me to use my scraperboard to draw my own version of Malevich which came out really well.

Artist research 25/09/2021 Raymond Pettibon

Raymond Pettibon – The Art of Black Flag (1980s)

Taken from Wikipedia:

“Raymond Pettibon (born Raymond Ginn; June 16, 1957 in Tucson, Arizona) is an American artist who lives and works in New York City. Pettibon came to prominence in the early 1980s in the southern California punk rock scene, creating posters and album art mainly for groups on SST Records, owned and operated by his older brother, Greg Ginn. He has subsequently become widely recognized in the fine art world for using American iconography variously pulled from literature, art history, philosophy, and religion to politics, sport, and sexuality…Known for his comic-like drawings with disturbing, ironic or ambiguous text, Pettibon’s subject matter is sometimes violent and anti-authoritarian…Pettibon works primarily with India ink on paper and many of his early drawings are black and white, although he sometimes introduces color through the use of pencil, watercolor, collage, gouache or acrylic paint. He has stated that his interest in this technique is a result of the influence of artists such as William Blake and Goya, and the style of political editorial cartoons.”

I really like Raymond’s artwork. I love the punk aesthetic and the nihilistic satire behind his images.
I have seen his art on Black Flag album covers, Sonic Youth and even Foo Fighters.
Raymond came up with the band name Black Flag and the iconic logo.

Raymond also inspired this RHCP music video:

The Vaccines 12/11/2021

https://theinternetraisedu.wixsite.com/theinternetraisedus/post/live-review-the-vaccines-at-the-leadmill-12-9-21

1. Wanderlust
2. I Can’t Quit
3. I Always Knew
4. Alone Star
5. Paranormal Romance
6. Wetsuit
7. Post Break-Up Sex
8. Your Love Is My Favourite Band
9. El Paso
10. Headphones Baby
11. All My Friends Are Falling in Love
12. Handsome
13. Jump Off the Top
14. If You Wanna
15. Xct
    Encore:
16. All in White

Pete McKee new exhibition 09/09/2021

https://www.petemckee.com/news/eight-new-paintings-is-back

Originally intended to be exhibited at Sheffield’s Millennium Gallery back in 2020, Eight New Paintings had to be displayed online due to restrictions. The online show was still a huge success, however, Pete always wanted the work to be seen in person. Now, after seventeen months of waiting, Eight New Paintings will be shown at the McKee gallery in Sheffield from Saturday 4th September – Sunday 17th October.

This small but powerful exhibition allows visitors to view paintings which mark Pete’s experimentation in style; a seismic moment in the artist’s fifteen year career. If you are unable to view the show in person then you can still visit the online version of the Eight New Paintings exhibition here.

https://www.eightnewpaintings.com/gallery-3-1

My thoughts on the new paintings:
“I love these paintings. I do miss that minimalistic quality of previous McKee paintings that are illustrative and it’s no surprise McKee was brought up with comics such as Tintin.
It’s time for Pete McKee to branch out and try new styles. One quality I will say that the new paintings have is a more of a grounding in reality.
I love the pathos in Pete’s work such as the old lady in a home which has a feeling of yearning and a sadness.
The all too relevant racism of Social Media which now hides behind a tweet or an anonymous comment instead of a brick wall.
Pete McKee has a talent for not just being great at painting but picking moments from time that are often overlooked but are a fabric of our existence.
If a photo captures a split second and preserves it for all eternity then Pete McKee’s pictures do the same but have a warmth and empathy that comes from Pete himself.”

Thoughts on Vivian Maier 03/09/2021

Vivian Maier was a street photographer in Chicago. She was mostly active in the 50s, and she took over 150,000 photos in her lifetime. Despite this, she went largely undiscovered.

According to James Dean Bradfield in 2018:

Nick has written outside of himself about Vivian Maier, the photographer. She didn’t have much of a personal life, but she just took photographs all the time. And somebody discovered these hundreds of thousands of negatives in a clearance sale in New York, and he just discovered that she was probably one of the best casual journalistic photographers that have ever lived but never been recognized. Nick became obsessed with Vivian Maier as a photographer, because I think he sees it as a true representation of just an artist working and having no feedback from the outside world. Just doing something in isolation, not wanting any credit. No motive except for just she wanted to do it and she loved it.

https://genius.com/Manic-street-preachers-vivian-lyrics

You work these streets with a camera round your neck
It’s your weapon of choice, it’s your ultimate defence
I’ve seen your face but I’ve really seen your smile
Did you leave the ruins or did you build a life?

I discovered Vivian through the lyrics of Manic Street Preachers as I have with a lot of artists such as kevin Carter et al.
I looked into her history which is fascinating just as much as her photography.

http://findingvivianmaier.com/
“Finding Vivian Maier is the critically acclaimed documentary about a mysterious nanny, who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that were hidden in storage lockers and, discovered decades later, is now among the 20th century’s greatest photographers. Directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, Maier’s strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never before seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her.

Maier’s massive body of work would come to light when in 2007 her work was discovered at a local thrift auction house on Chicago’s Northwest Side. From there, it would eventually impact the world over and change the life of the man who championed her work and brought it to the public eye, John Maloof.

Currently, Vivian Maier’s body of work is being archived and cataloged for the enjoyment of others and for future generations. John Maloof is at the core of this project after reconstructing most of the archive, having been previously dispersed to the various buyers attending that auction. Now, with roughly 90% of her archive reconstructed, Vivian’s work is part of a renaissance in interest in the art of Street Photography.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=er8-Vq__cRE

http://www.vivianmaier.com/ to view her site and photos

Artists I have researched 14/08/2021

Honoré Daumier  http://www.artnet.com/artists/honor%C3%A9-daumier/
Honoré Daumier was a French painter and printmaker best known for his caricatures critiquing and satirizing society and politics in 19th-century France. His two most famous characters were the bourgeois Robert Macaire and the evil Ratapoil, each depicted with grotesquely exaggerated features. Born on February 26, 1808 in Marseille, France, the artist went on study at the Académie Suisse followed by a stint working for the Belliard publishing house, where he first learned lithography. During the rule of Louis Phillipe, he was imprisoned for his infamous depiction of the king as Gargantua (the gluttonous giant in François Rabelais’ novel) in the magazine La Caricature. Charles Baudelaire once said of Daumier that he was, “one of the most important men, I will not say only of caricature, but also of Modern Art.” Daumier’s works are in the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the National Gallery in London, and the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, among others. Daumier died on February 10, 1879 in Valmondois, France.

John Stezaker
https://www.richardgraygallery.com/artists/john-stezaker/biography

Biography taken from site

“John Stezaker (British, b.1949) is one of the leading artists in contemporary photographic collage and appropriation. Employing vintage photographs, old Hollywood film stills, travel postcards and other printed matter, Stezaker creates seductive and fascinating small-format collages that bear qualities of Surrealism, Dada, and found art. Indeed, in referring to the large compendium of images he has collected, Stezaker asserts that the images “find him,” not the other way around. With surgical-like precision, Stezaker excises, overlays and conjoins distinct images to create new personalities, landscapes and scenes.

John Stezaker studied at the Slade School of Art, and currently teaches Critical and Historical Studies at the Royal College of Art in London. In September 2012, he was awarded the Deutsche Börse photography prize. Stezaker’s work has been exhibited internationally since the 1990’s and has been adopted in renowned museum collections around the world such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Saatchi Collection, London, and the Tate Modern, London.”

I really like this style of cut up and hopefully I will try more of that soon.

Artists I have researched 09/08/2021

Hannah hoch

https://www.moma.org/artists/2675?=undefined&page=&direction=

Taken from the above site: “Known for her incisively political collages and photomontages (a form she helped pioneer), Hannah Höch appropriated and recombined images and text from mass media to critique popular culture, the failings of the Weimar Republic, and the socially constructed roles of women. After meeting artist and writer Raoul Hausmann in 1917, Höch became associated with the Berlin Dada group, a circle of mostly male artists who satirized and critiqued German culture and society following World War I. She exhibited in their exhibitions, including the First International Dada Fair in Berlin in 1920, and her photomontages received critical acclaim despite the patronizing views of her male peers. She reflected, “Most of our male colleagues continued for a long while to look upon us as charming and gifted amateurs, denying us implicitly any real professional status.”

The technical proficiency and symbolic significance of Höch’s compositions refute any notion that she was an “amateur.” She astutely spliced together photographs or photographic reproductions she cut from popular magazines, illustrated journals, and fashion publications, recontextualizing them in a dynamic and layered style. She noted that “there are no limits to the materials available for pictorial collages—above all they can be found in photography, but also in writing and printed matter, even in waste products.”
Höch explored gender and identity in her work, and in particular she humorously criticized the concept of the “New Woman” in Weimar Germany, a vision of a woman who was purportedly man’s equal. In Indian Dancer: From an Ethnographic Museum she combined images of a Cameroonian mask and the face of silent film star Maria Falconetti, topped with a headdress comprised of kitchen utensils. Höch’s amalgamation of a traditional African mask, an iconic female celebrity, and tools of domesticity references the style of 1920s avant-garde theater and fashion and offers an evocative commentary on feminist symbols of the time.
Although the Berlin Dada group fractured in the early 1920s, Höch continued to create socially critical work. She was banned from exhibiting during the Nazi regime, but she remained in Germany during World War II, retreating to a house outside Berlin where she continued to make work. In 1945, after the end of the war, she began exhibiting again. Before her death in 1978, her significant contribution to the German avant-garde was recognized through retrospectives of her work in Paris and Berlin in 1976.

Höch’s bold collisions and combinations of fragments of widely circulated images connected her work to the world and captured the rebellious, critical spirit of the interwar period, which felt to many like a new age. Through her radical experimentations, she developed an essential artistic language of the avant-garde that reverberates to this day.”

I really like her work especially the untitled piece below this text.

Artists I have researched 04/08/2021

Untitled Document (a-r-t.com) Goya an essay by Robert Flynn Johnson
http://loscaprichos.org/index.php

Los caprichos

Los caprichos is a set of 80 prints in aquatint and etching created by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1797-1798, and published as an album in 1799. The prints were an artistic experiment: a medium for Goya’s condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which he lived. The criticisms are far-ranging and acidic; the images expose the predominance of superstition, the ignorance and inabilities of the various members of the ruling class, pedagogical short-comings, marital mistakes and the decline of rationality. Some of the prints have anticlerical themes. Goya described the series as depicting “the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance or self-interest have made usual”.

A Visual Protest
https://www.parkwestgallery.com/francisco-goya-disasters-of-war/

Goya began working on “The Disasters of War” in 1810. At the age of 62, Goya was suffering from poor health and deafness, but eventually completed a series of 85 etchings in 1820. Three small etchings called prisioneros (prisoners) are not included in the final “Disasters of War” series.

Despite the fact that Goya worked on many of the plates during the actual war, “The Disasters of War” wouldn’t be published until 1863, 35 years after Goya’s death. The series was finally printed by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, where Goya had served as director. The plates had been passed along from Goya’s son, Javier, to the academy.

Rachel Maclean
Rachel Maclean is a multi-media artist born in 1987 in Edinburgh. Using film and photography, she creates outlandish characters and fantasy worlds which she uses to delve into politics, society and identity. Wearing colourful costumes and make-up, Maclean takes on every role in her films herself.
I enjoy her work immensely.

Joey Holder I Make Dildos Out of Insect Penises – Thinking Port
Joey Holder
Born 1986, London
Lives and works in Nottingham, UK
Joey Holder‘s work raises questions about our understanding of the world, the future of science, medicine, biology
and human-machine interactions. Working with scientific and technical experts she makes immersive, multimedia
installations that explore the limits of the human and how we experience non-human, natural and technological
forms.
I get a Cronenbergian vibe from her especially from the film eXistenZ.

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.

Blake abhorred slavery and believed in racial and sexual equality. Several of his poems and paintings express a notion of universal humanity: “As all men are alike (tho’ infinitely various)”. In one poem, narrated by a black child, white and black bodies alike are described as shaded groves or clouds, which exist only until one learns “to bear the beams of love”:

When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy:
Ill shade him from the heat till he can bear,
To lean in joy upon our fathers knee.
And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him and he will then love me. 

Blake had an enormous influence on the beat poets of the 1950s and the counterculture of the 1960s, frequently being cited by such seminal figures as beat poet Allen Ginsberg, songwriters Bob Dylan,  Jim Morrison, Van Morrison and English writer Aldous Huxley.

29 June England 2-0 Germany
A conversation with Richard Hawley and John Grant at Picture house social.

Lovely blazing sunshine and I have a day off so I walk down to Heeley to watch the match on my own because I have tickets to see a conversation with Richard Hawley and John Grant at the Picture House Social at Abbeydale directly after the football.
I get a seat but the pub The Crown Inn doesn’t serve food til 5pm so off to The Broadfield where I have a nice meal and back to Crown and get a seat.

Match was great England won 2 nil I had a bet for 2-1 to England which would have been either better.
Toddled over to Picture House Social that place is amazing (wish I took a picture) to watch Richard Hawley talk to John Grant about the new album produced by Cate Le Bon.

Took me forever to order a drink I had to scan the side of the chair and order on an app.
I even asked a question about the inspiration for Dandy Star which is the film about a blind girl who is terrorised by a mysterious killer.

John Grant and Richard Hawley are a fine pair with plenty of good stories to tell.

After the 45 minute talk got my CD signed by John Grant and my picture of both of them signed by both of them.