Sarah Sparkes - new website and show

Border Line

The Patriothall Gallery, 1D Patriothall, off Hamilton Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH3 5AY

Exhibition runs from 25th March to 4th April 2007
12 till 6pm everyday, except Monday, and 12 till 9pm on Thursday

Preview 5.30 till 8pm, Saturday 24th March

The Patriothall Gallery is pleased to present the first of two shows featuring the work of ten contemporary artists. Five are based and work in London, the other five in Edinburgh. The exhibition explores discourses between the artists of the two metropolises, and examines identity and role, geographic and social geography, the political and the comic.

Sarah Sparkes is playing with the significance of elevating names to a position of dominance. Names and titles are spelt out on bunting flags that reign above the viewers head, raising the question have we entered a political arena, a royal jubilee, a sporting event or a village fete. The theme of borders is continued in Sparkes' three evocative paintings of shorelines.

>> view the artist's website at www.sarahsparkes.com
(site design by webcabin)

Grand Rue Sculptors - Act II

The artists are having a show at the Foundry Bar/ Gallery, 86 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3JL from weds 21st March to sun 1st April. The show will feature new work created during their recent London residency.
Opening night party from 7pm on the 21st March.
ps: Margaret Thatcher will be there...

CARSTEN HÖLLER - Test Site, 2006

If you still haven't tried the slides at Tate Modern, well, you still have till April 15.

So why not go wooof! swish! and aaaahh!, all for art's sake?

Rides are free but need to be booked through a 30 minute slot ticket system at the box office for the longer slides.

Photography Ban to reach England

The government is seemingly due to pass a bill to restrain photography in public places. If the bill went through only people with a special ID would be able to take photographs. This is an attack on our civil rights and freedom of expression, especially for us photographers and artists. Yet it involves a lot more than the professionals and amateurs of photography... so many people like to take pictures in public spaces. There are so many digital cameras and cameraphones operating at present, this bill would be a nightmare to enforce. Let's avoid going through the trouble and keep our right to photograph. If the government is so hot on privacy why not get rid of a couple CCTV cameras which saturate the streets of England?

A petition against these measures was submitted by Simon Taylor of Phooto.co.uk on the government's official petition website (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk). Simon states concerning the Bill that "these moves have developed from paranoia and only promote suspicion towards genuine people following their hobby or profession."
The deadline to sign the petition is the 14th of August 2007. The aim is to get 750000 signatures to block the Bill. Only 44000 people have signed the petition so far, so if you read this post, click here for a direct link to the petition. Sign it and spread the word!

Kate Atkin at Museum 52

KATE ATKIN

NO FOREIGN MATTER UNCONSUMED

Private View 2 March 2007
2 March - 31 March 2007
Wednesday-Saturday 11am - 6pm

Atkin produces two and three-dimensional work that explores form, medium and the isolation of specific elements from their physical and conceptual surroundings.

Atkin's work begins with a photographic record of a site, taken at specific angles to generate ambiguous forms. Atkin thinks of her incredibly detailed drawings as 're-enactments' of the content of her photographs. She searches for the unnatural within the natural: each item she decides to draw thus bears the mark of separation from its surroundings - an island within its own environs.

For the full press release click here

For more information please call +44 (0) 20 7366 5571 or email us

The Sculptors of Grand Rue

The artists Celeur, Eugène and Guyodo all grew up in an atmosphere of junkyard make-do, survivalist recycling and artistic endeavour. Their powerful sculptural collages of engine manifolds, TV sets, wheel hubcaps and discarded lumber have transformed the detritus of a failing economy into bold, radical and warped sculptures. Their work references their shared African & Haitian cultural heritage, a dystopian sci-fi view of the future and the positive transformative act of assemblage.The artists from Grand Rue are extending the historical legacy of assemblage to the majority world. Their use of the readymade components are driven by economic necessity combined with creative vision and cultural continuity. Their work is transformative on many different allegorical levels, the transformation of wreckage to art, of disunity to harmony and of three young men, with no formal arts training, to the new heirs of a radical and challenging arts practice that has reached down through both modernist and post-modern arts practice. [leah gordon.txt]

The Haiti Support Group are holding a reception for Haitian artists Mario Benjamin, Jean Herald Celeur, Andre Eugene and Frantz Jacques Guyodo on Thursday March 1st 6pm - 9pm at Four Corners, 121 Roman Road, London E2 0QNThere will be a screening of E.Pluribus Unum by Maxence Denis (22 mins) and a presentation by the artists with Q & A and refreshments. As there is limited seating only those who have sent an RSVP by email to Leahgordon@aol.com will be admitted.For more information check http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org/ , www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk or the artists' website www.atis-rezistans.com

Blog starting... yet again

A year and a half since my last post. I guess no one is reading this blog anyway. I have resolved the language issue and as you will guess I will write in English, with translations into French when time allows. You will find useful links and resources in the right side bar of this blog and more will be added in the coming weeks. At the moment only the publications are up, more to come soon.
So, what will this blog feature? Well visual arts first and foremost, with reviews of exhibitions, books, maybe films and exhibition alerts, so you can only blame yourself if you miss them...
I will also try to promote starting artists, getting interviews of some people and showcasing their work. Although I do wish to keep a coherence throughout the range of posts, I will also comment on totally random stuff, that's how I am any way.
Hope you enjoy reading this refurbished blog and its new title: photocabin(e).