Bauhaus: Art as Life at Barbican Art Gallery

At the weekend I paid a visit to the Bauhaus exhibition at the Barbican, probably the biggest exhibition solely dedicated to the pioneering German art and design school in recent history, and a substantial delve into the school's turbulent pathway from 1919 to its final closure in 1933. This is a vast exhibition, with over 400 works; starting with ceramics and textiles from the school's arts and crafts beginnings, to Bauhaus's move in 1925 to the industrial city of Dessau and a purpose-built campus designed by founder Walter Gropius. The exhibition design, by architects Carmody Groarke, guides you chronologically through the works, revealing not only the huge output of works; buildings, painting, sculptures, but also life backstage at Bauhaus, with black and white photographs of the studios and revealing images of the students and professors. 'The freedom from all conventions to liberate their creative potential" carries through their way of living as well; a playful portrait marks a case in point- Marcel Breuer standing next to three delectable ladies with the title of 'Marcel Breuer and his harem'. Another room documents Josef Albers' simple but delicate preliminary course for his students, whilst another portrays the school's parties, including one 'white party' in which everyone was instructed to appear in costume '2/3 white 1/3 dotted, chequered and striped' and dance to the music of bells, eerily played through the exhibition space. 

This exhibition is primarily for the design conscious, but even if you are a Bauhaus novice, it provides a jam-packed educational road through a school thought to be the driving force in modernism. Bauhaus: Art as Life on at the Barbican Art Gallery 3rd May 2012 till the 12 August 2012, standard ticket £12, concessions £8. 

 Back cover of the brochure Bauhaus, 1929 by Hannes Meyer

 Stone sculpture workshop, 1923

 Work by Farkas Molnar (above) and Alexander (Sandor) Bortnyik (below)

 Tea infuser by Marianne Brandt

 Bauhaus books 1-14, 1925-30

 Masters on the roof of the Bauhaus building, 1926. 

 Children on the balustrade of a master's house, 1927

 Students on a balcony at the Prellerhaus, 1932

 The jump over the Bauhaus by T. Lux Feininger

 Marcel Breuer and his Harem, 1927 taken by Erich Consemuller

 Portrait of Ellen Frank by Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, 1929

 Gunter Hirschel-Protsch, The Olympic Master Cactus, 1929

 Exercise from Josef Albers's preliminary course 1929-30

Neue Sachlichkeit Party, 1925

Images my own taken from the accompanying catalogue Bauhaus: art as life. 

Frida Kahlo

After watching Frida with Selma Hayek the other day, I thought I would share some colourful and revealing images of Mexican primitive painter and self-portraitist Frida Kahlo. There was recently an exhibition at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester titled 'Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera: Masterpieces from the Gelman Collection', which ran from the 9th July to the 2nd October 2011. This major international touring exhibition, featured work by both Frida Kahlo and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera. The fascination with these two key figures of Mexican Modernism lies not solely with their significant body of work, but also from their renowned friendships (and consequently conflicts), striking physical appearances and both their spirited and sometimes volatile personalities. Kahlo was a feminist icon, whose self portraits openly addressed various emotional issue of love and loss, while Rivera was a socialist, famous for his vast political murals, which sometimes sparked controversy. 

BP Portrait Award 2011

I went to the annual BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery today, a free exhibition showcasing the very best in contemporary portrait painting; "From intimate and personal images of friends and family, to revealing paintings of celebrity sitters, the exhibition presents a variety of styles and approaches that together illustrate the outstanding and innovative work currently being produced by artists of all ages and nationalities". Five prize winners are shortlisted each year, but this year's selection didn't catch my eye as much as the painting's I have selected below. 

Katherine (and Millie) by Barbara Skingle

Barbara Skingle studied painting at Alberta College of Art and Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. Her work has been seen at the annual exhibitions of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (1997, 2004) and in group exhibitions in Canada.

The portrait is of Skingle’s daughter, Katherine, with the family’s pet canary, Millie. The portrait was created from a combination of sittings, reference photographs and memory. Katherine has sat for her mother on a number of occasions, who says: ‘Katherine is tuned in to both the dark and light of this world which is why I have put her in a slightly defensive posture.’ (Text taken from National Portrait Gallery)

Abi by Nathan Ford

Nathan Ford took a BA (Hons) degree in fine art at Byam Shaw School of Art. His work has been seen in solo exhibitions in Bath and group exhibitions including those of the Royal Society of British Artists (2001, 2002) and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (1999–2006), whose Winsor and Newton Young Artist of the Year Award he won in 2001. His work was included in the BP Portrait Award in 2000 and 2010.
This portrait of Ford’s friend Abi was painted from a single sitting in February 2011. (Text taken from National Portrait Gallery)

Howard Zinn - A People's Historian by Raoul Martinez

Raoul Martinez left formal education at the age of seventeen in order to work as an apprentice in the studio of the artist Paul Benney. Since setting up his own studio, Martinez has forged a career as a portraitist and documentary film maker. He is working towards his first solo exhibition.

Shortly before his death last year, the historian, playwright and activist, Howard Zinn, granted Martinez an interview and sitting for his ‘Creating Freedom’ project. Among Zinn’s extensive list of publications, he is probably best known as the author of A People’s History of the United States(1980).  (Text taken from National Portrait Gallery)

RIP Lucian Freud

Lucian Freud in 1947 aged 25

'I paint people', Freud has said, 'not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be'. 

Lucian Freud, the foremost figurative artist in the 20th Century art world, renowned for his intense realist portraits depicting the vulnerability and humanity of his sitters, died last week at the age of 88. He was the grandson of psychoanalysist Sigmund Freud, born in Berlin in 1922 and moved to England with his Jewish Family in 1933, where he gained citizenship in 1939. Freud came to redefine British painting, with his stark portraiture showcasing what it is like to be human. Freud's subjects were often the people in his life; friends, family, fellow painters, lovers, children. As he has said 'The subject matter is autobiographical, it's all to do with hope and memory and sensuality and involvement really'. His works have been increasingly sought after at recent auctions and his portrayal of an overweight nude woman, Sue Tilley, sleeping on a couch sold in 2008 for £20.6 million - a world record for a work by a living artist. He is also famous for his portrait of the Queen, which he refused to paint in any other style but his own, and the supermodel Kate Moss, who posed for him in 2002. 

Naked Man Back View 1992-1993

Reflection (Self Portrait) 1985

Portrait with Whippet

Benefits Supervisor Sleeping 1995

Nude with Leg Up 1992