VISUAL ARTS AND EXHIBITIONS

BACKGROUND

Due to the continuing expansion of the arts group this programme evolved from Literature and Humanities to fulfill the need for a dedicated visual arts programme..The BRLSI’s Articles of Association call for the promotion and advancement of art in the city of Bath as well as science and literature and this new Programme strives to satisfy that requirement.

CONTENT

Through lectures and discussions the content includes: Contemporary art practice and artists; contextualization of ideas within the canon of art history; some traditional areas of Fine Art; and response to major exhibitions. Field trips are intended but so far have proven unsuccessful.

It is our hope and intention to continue holding exhibitions such as the Members’ Exhibition 2007 and others. Competitions in various media are also planned.

NEWS

We open the new season by responding to the major retrospective of Louise Bourgeois’ work to be held at Tate Modern from Oct 10 – Jan 20. There will be plenty of media coverage closer to the date so be one step ahead and come to the September talk.

The December Art Quiz is intended as a social and entertaining event held ‘off piste’.

In 2008 a series of talks is planned examining the lives and works of London artists, i.e. Bacon, Freud, Kossoff, Auerbach, Bomberg, Morley,etc. Roger Whelan has signed up for Kossoff in July and Rex Valentine for Bacon in Sept.

It is hoped to present a series of talks which address the question Is It Possible for Art to Exist Outside the Museum? Subjects arising would include: the evolution of the museum/gallery, curating, public art, and collecting as an art form. Artist Duncan Cameron from Spike Island will be speaking on this subject but because this is all going to tie in with the DARWIN 200 events in 2009, his talk will not be until the end of 2008, or beginning of 2009.

You will notice that this still leaves gaps in the Programme. Hopefully these will soon be filled..

PROGRAMME 2007

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WEDNESDAY SEPT 12 LOUISE BOURGEOIS: her trauma and creative process.

an illustrated talk by Adrienne Horswill BA (Hons) Fine Art, Convenor

WEDNESDAY OCT 10: No Meeting

WEDNESDAY NOV 14: 17thC Dutch and late 19thC Danish Interiors in ART  Gene Deal (artist)

TUESDAY 4 - 15 DEC : Three Printmakers; an Exhibition curated by Adrienne Horswill

WEDNESDAY DEC 12: The Workings of an Artist Printmaker Wendy Batt & Madeleine Town

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PROGRAMME 2008

WEDNESDAY FEB 13 tba

WEDNESDAY MAR 12 INTERIORS

an illustrated talk by Roger Whelan BA (Hons) Fine Art " "

WEDNESDAY APRIL 9 tba"

WEDNESDAY MAY 14 tba

WEDNESDAY JUNE 11 tba

WEDNESDAY JULY 9 LEON KOSSOFF

an illustrated talk by Roger Whelan BA (Hons) Fine Art "

2008/09 Programme will begin in September. Hopefully still on the 2^nd Wednesday of the month.

ARCHIVE

RECENT PROGRAMME 2006-2007

  COMING HOME Tuesday October 17 2006

An illustrated lecture by photojournalist Mary Jane Maybury who returned to New Orleans 6 weeks after Hurricane Katrina burst the levees to illustrate the tragedy of the devastation and demonstrate a true sense of loss combined with ‘the uncanny’.

Now living and working in London, she has a commitment to discussing society today through the medium of photography. See some of her images on www.mjmaybury.com

KANDINSKY AND HIS LEGACY Thursday, 2 November 2006

An illustrated lecture by Roger Whelan BA (Hons) Fine Art, responding to the London exhibition.

He demonstrated that Kandinsky’s life and work revealed his conviction that art has a transforming influence on the human spirit and that his exploration and development of abstract forms had a profound effect on his contemporaries, successors and is still felt in current practice.Images shown included Mondrian, Pollock, Barnet Newman, Rothko, Richard Diebenkorn , Tomma Abts, Elizabeth Morton and Fiona Rae.

  THE SUBLIME:A Presence That Disturbs Wednesday March 14 2007

Roger Whelan BA (Hons) Fine Art, .examined this concept which fascinated artists and poets of the Romantic movement and inspired the Abstract Expressionists of the 1950’s.He showed its presence in the work of Caspar David Friedrich, James Ward, James de Louthebourg, Barnett Newman and Rothko. He claimed that today the Sublime influences Anselm Kiefer and Mariele Neudecker.

  THE PRINTMAKING METHODS OF WILLIAM BLAKE Wednesday May 16.2007

Dr Michael Phillips, a plenary speakers from the William Blake Conference in York and curator of Blake exhibition at Tate Britain in 2000 gave an illustrated talk on Blake’s life, print-making methods, choice of pigments, medium and media, in the creation of his illuminated books and separate prints. Facsimile etched copper plates were available and Dr. Phillips donated one to the Institute.

  TIME WITH DAMIEN HIRST Wednesday June 13 2007

Local artist Rose Popay BA (Hons) Fie Art shared her unique insight into working with and for Damien Hirst. Her illustrations were beautiful, startling, amusing, insightful and provocative depending upon your viewpoint. His butterfly paintings provoked much discussion. Rose is a multi-talented artist who after graduating from Bretton Hall went to work with Hirst and stayed for 5 years. She is now based in Bristol and has made the brave step to concentrate on her own work which takes the form of painting, performance and ceramics

  THE REVEAL: BRLSI MEMBER’S EXHIBITION. June 18 – June 30 2007

Curated by Adrienne Horswill, this first exhibition showed the hidden skills and interests of 28 members of the Institution.. Entries included bookbinding displays, a model of a 60 year old flying boat, preliminary drawings, diaries, variations of genealogy charts, furniture, painted eggs and a very high standard of paintings, prints, photographs and sculpture. .

  THE END OF PAINTING AS WE KNOW IT Wednesday, 11 July 2007

The art of painting, has been declared dead on several occasions. After all the established tenets and hierarchies of modernism have been rounded up and outlawed, where does that leave art now? Roger Whelan BA (Hons) Fine Art, in his third talk of the season, examined the body of painting for signs of life, considering whether its death certificate was premature. Illstrations includes images from Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, David Salle, Julian Scnabel, Fiona Rae, Elizabeth Moreton, Laura Owens, Daniel Richter and Bernard Frize.