12 Star Gallery
17 November 2008 to 19 December 2008The following series of exhibitions celebrates the creativity and cultural diversity that is the hallmark of the European Union. The exhibitions take place at 8 Storey's Gate, SW1 ( map) and are open to the public 10am-6pm Monday-Friday. Entry is free.
A Day in Latvia/The View
exhibition of photographs
11 - 21 November 2008
The idea for this exhibition was developed by photographer Ilmārs Znotiņš, who also made the selection of photographs. The works are mainly of rural scenery, townscapes, seascapes and urban landscapes, reflecting life in Latvia during two time periods: the Soviet occupation (1987) and the present day (2007). The photographs have succeeded in recording two differing perceptions of time, world outlooks, and the rhythm of life. The exhibitions contain not only works by Latvian photographers, but also by renowned foreign professionals, who present their view of Latvia. About a quarter of the photographs represents the output of the 1987 event, and the remainder is from 2007.
Exhibition organised by the Latvian Embassy in the UK
in association with VIENA DIENA (www.vienadiena.lv)
Recent Work
by Jonathon Brown
25 November - 5 December 2008
Just as one comes to relish the colour in Jonathon Brown's work, one sees also how strong and lively the line is too; in his more recent work - "Brushing with Light" - the manner in which colour and line play between each other has a new richness.
There has always been a narrative streak in his vision — epitomised by the big show of his 'car journey' paintings at Edinburgh University's prestigious Talbot Rice a few years ago, entitled "RoadMovies", and even if only for himself his pictures are frequently animated by hidden references to texts from favourite poets or writers - but now one finds a new audacity in this handling of time, travel, and the onlooker's participation in these almost translucent perspectives.
He has written:
"I took up drawing, then painting, only after a degree in Philosophy; but I don't feel as if I have quite given up philosophy. Much of the challenge — and much of my relish — in making pictures is to try to do something with the way layers of memory of a journey for instance, a car trip, just a short walk, or even climbing a tree, form a sort of fabric of space and time that then the eye has to explore in the picture, on the move and involved with the story. So, I often work in series, with more than one version of each subject. The pictures are made in layers and mostly have to be painted flat; I have found that painting on free-hanging canvas helps this sensation of unfettered flow both for me as I work and when the thing is seen almost floating against a wall.
"As for 'Nietzsche's Walk by the Sea at Eze-Village', illustrated here, though it follows a path I'm sure shepherds knew before Plato, Nietzsche is credited with establishing the walk between Eze Village and Eze Bord de Mer. You can boil on this walk in the noon sun and the steep aspect over the sea seems to emmphasis both the round Earth and the course of the ever present sun towards evening. For my day-long perspective of time, I had in mind Schubert's Wanderer in 'Die Winterreise', whose madness of exhaustion leads him to see three suns...
All very well, but none of this should prevent us from an excited gratitude at his humour as well, and his plain sense of joy in things that artists are now sometimes scared to admit, but which we need.
Reincarnated
A series of objects transformed by Anne Schwegmann-Fielding
9-19 December 2008
Born in England to a German mother and Geordie father, Anne Schwegmann-Fielding transforms functional objects. Utensils, tools, logs, hard hats and other familiar objects undergo metamorphosis, and emerge as sculptures, mosaics, jewels and ornaments – they are The Reincarnated.
This act of transformation is central to Anne’s work, making the ordinary extraordinary, she gives overlooked objects significance. Her recycling and re-use of materials began as a child, making things from whatever she found around the home. She has continued to be fascinated by materials which have had a previous life, and has an ongoing concern surrounding the disposable society in which we live and the often thin line between what is valuable and what is worthless.