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June 29, 2005
Cecily Brown at Modern Art Oxford
‘Almost every time a painting show happens, or a young painter makes a splash - in the market as much as on a canvas - someone crows about a return to painting. As if, in a moment of blinding revelation, the entire art world had come to its senses: what fools we’ve been! Painting! Now we don’t have to worry about all that impenetrable contemporary art rubbish! Sanity regained.’
Adrian Searle, Art Critic, The Guardian, Tuesday June 28, 2005. ( see full review here)
I went the the private view of Cecily Brown last night at Modern Art Oxford. And I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite Adrian Searle’s (a wonderful art critic) take that we should be careful not to get over-excited everytime a genuine painter gets a contemporary art billing in a major museum, I was just so relieved to see someone who was exploring the stuff of paint in a sophisticated yet uncomplicated way. There are no post modern gimmicks, no wry asides within the images. They are luxuriously painted, and, I would expect, would have been dismissed had they been painted by a man for being exploitative and misogynistic due to to their highly sexual subject matter. But that is the stuff for a bigger debate than my feeble brain can cope with at this hour in the morning.
The opening itself was good, and I bumbed into and old aquaintance and artist from Aberdeen, Andy Stenhouse, who is now living and working in Oxford. It was nice to talk in a familiar venacular about things which matter and dont matter! Tracy Emin was there! I should have had the brass neck to go and speak to her (well she is a single girl), but I did not. I actually loved her recent show at the white cube in London and have been fascinated by her weekly column in the Independent (alas not published online). So it would have been nice just have said hello…
2 days until cyprus…
Posted by robbie at 9:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 28, 2005
on the suffering of fools
I have always thought of those that take the position never ‘to suffer fools glady’ are a terribly dull and rude lot. For, to my mind, it is the fools, the dafties and the eccentrics who are the people you would rather be trapped with. The fine educated people of Oxford generally dont suffer fools too well. In my time here, I have too often witnessed a people who never give much away and smile through a saccharine grin at any sign of foolishness. What is the point of being educated in one of the finest places of learning and yet have no empathy with humanity?
I am fairly proud of being a bit of a fool; it is a liberating position to take on life. Therefore, it has been with a great deal of struggle that I have lived through these past few months in Oxford. I certainly have not been able to blog as I feared my ranting at all those who needed ranting at would only be counterproductive.
However, I have managed to claw out some assemblage of a life in recent weeks. I have still done very little art of note despite spending most of my time in the studio.
Anyway - I am now off to Cyprus for the whole of July and I expect I will be able to provide a more positive account of my life soon.
Posted by robbie at 10:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack