David Hockney is undoubtedly one of the most important of contemporary artists; all the more so because, like that other contemporary great, Gerhardt Richter, he hasn’t been seduced into the ever increasingly ridiculous nonsense that goes under the rubric of contemporary ‘conceptual art’. His latest exhibit at the Royal Academy in London is focused on [...]
Archive of posts tagged trees
Modernist Autumn – Martin Boyce Wins 2011 Turner Prize
In his winning entry for this year’s Turner Prize, Martin Boyce brings an autumnal park indoors and re-interprets it in classical modernist/constructivist terms. A large room, re-designed in every detail. White columns from which flows a designed ceiling of white shapes – “trees” with “leaves” and branches. The centrepiece is a table covered in graffiti [...]
Simple or Simplistic – The Works of Sanna Kannisto
I recently visited an exhibition of the work of Sanna Kannisto and bought the recently published book about her work. The work of this young Finnish artist is fascinating. It questions how, in order to understand and describe, science has to simplify and can never hope to capture the true complexity of life. The body [...]
Gisele Bundchen – Naked for the Earth
Let’s face it. The above image of Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen wearing a dress made out of water is more likely to draw attention to the vital importance of water to our lives than yet another picture of a polluted river or another attempt at heart rending with a child in Africa standing by a [...]
Nature is Invited to the Royal Wedding
For the first time ever, 20 foot trees from the Royal Estate were, at the request of the Royal couple, brought inside Westminster Abbey to line the ceremonial passage – particularly appropriate in this International Year of the Forests. The importance of Nature also made it into the Bishop’s address. There is maybe nothing that [...]
Our Relationships To Nature – Gaudi’s Architecture
Nature has inspired humans in many ways over many centuries. But maybe none match the completeness of Antoni Gaudi’s relationship with nature – Nature as structural, functional, spiritual and decorative inspiration. Gaudi was a spiritual man with a great regard for nature as God’s creation. The newly consecrated Sagrada Familia “strives to compress all of [...]
Reality in Abstraction – The Images of David Maisel
David Maisel’s work spans many different project over many years. One of his interests is in documenting through aerial photographs the impact that Man has on the landscape. The image above is from “The Mining Project” where he explores the effect of mining in “undoing of the landscape, in terms of both its formal beauty [...]
High Art or Drivel? The Environmental Art of Joseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) was maybe one of the more influential artists of the 20th century. His was a strong belief in the power of art to transform society. He believed that art had an important social, cultural and political function and was confident in the power of art to bring about revolutionary change. “Only art [...]
