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Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport

City: Caracas
Country: Venezuela

Simon Bolivar International Airport serves the capital of Venezuela, Caracas, and is the busiest airport and main gateway to the country. The airport is located on the coast in Maiquetia and is also known as Maiquetia Airport. National carrier Conviasa, Aeropostal and Aserca Airlines have their hubs at Simon Bolivar. All major North American and Latin American carriers serve the airport, while Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, Lufthansa and TAP Portugal serve European destinations, in addition to Conviasa’s Madrid service. The airport is operated by state-owned Instituto Autónomo del Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetía (IAIM).

  • 3,000m × 60m
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Other airports in Caracas

Ground/Cargo Handlers servicing Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport

Fuel & Oil Suppliers servicing Caracas Simon Bolivar International Airport

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It’s ideal for industry analysts, managers and executives who need a snapshot of the latest news, analysis and data from our global team, with the ability to export or email PDF reports in one click.

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Archive for November, 2009

jay hervey strikes again….

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Take a step of Hope

In life are hopes and dreams take the best of us. What I mean that everyone in life has these hopes and dreams that maybe one day his/her life will be better and his/her dreams will come true whatever they may be. I believe in every person there is someone willing to see beyond today and tomorrow realizing that what is to become of them in the future and how each step they take today is changing their chances of tomorrow. I feel that most people realize that life is not as fun anymore as they age each and every day they are thinking about their dreams and goals and how are we going to conquer them. I am wondering if anyone has taken it even a step further and realized each day we live is one more day closer to our death and do you think that someone is really thinking about what impression am I going to make myself on others on the day that you or I die.  I want to test all the readers that look at this if you are willing to do this you will help the world to be a better place. My test is that I want you to help a family member, a friend, or even a stranger in desperate need. You can make a change today if you take a step of hope. A step of hope for that when you die everyone will remember you for being the most altruistic person in your group of friends, family, or the world.

On a side note I felt like writing a poem. Because I have been watching too much Def Poetry which is so real.

Title: Obsession
Life is objective. So subjective to the changes of our goals
that of which are desires to make changes to are certain roles.
we affect others each and every day
that life is this silly game we play
some people have this obsession
they believe we can get ourselves out of this great depression
this state of mind
gives us time to rewind
and think of tomorrow
let me give you hope that tomorrow won’t bring you sorrow
for it is a new day
where we can sit around or play
let me say a few words
I have an obsession
with depression
why because these real eyes realize the real lies
that everyone holds within themselves when time flies
all the people around them disappear
only to reappear
when they are needed
that can be seeded
in everyone of us.
Let me say a few words
I have this obsession
with not depression but aggression
that I bottle up inside of me
so no one has to see
that side of me but only see the light
when darkness comes I’m out of sight
to change into someones super hero
that in reality may only be a zero
but is willing to make changes.
Let me say a few words
I have an obsession
this time its not aggression or depression but progression
what does the future hold for you or I
is it something to past the time before you die
let me change your perspective
this is not a course its an elective
the future is the choices you make today
whether it be drugs, love, money or whatever you might say
Remember this that you are not alone
because this obsession with whatever it may be can be changed, something to hone
So, don’t worry about these obsessions
For these are only my confessions.

Written by: Jay Hervey

thank you jay hervey…

too funny…

1 Comment

at it again.

True Love.

This Is How We Do.

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unexpected heartbreak.

First, let me say that this post is not what you might think, its not about the heartbreak from a relationship with, but rather with someone that you and even i would have never expected.  From what i have written in the past you would believe that i hate all the customers that step into Ralphs, however that is not the case.  Occasionally there will be people that come through my line that are just a pleasure to have, people that intrigue me, people that have a story to tell or an experience to share (maybe those are the same things), and last but not least people that are just able to change your outlook on life (positively of course) just by being themselves.  For the most part, i could care less about what customers think about me, or whether or not they have a favorite cashier to go through every time they come to the store, but when you have a complete stranger/customer tell you that they enjoy coming through your line or just talking to you its……. surprising.  From that moment on i would say that a friendship has started… from that point on every time they enter your store you pay special attention to them that you wouldn’t do with customers (maybe its wrong to give more attention but that is just the way it is).  I wouldn’t go as far to say that you look forward to seeing those customers, but rather you look forward to the next conversation with them.  However, you would never think that your next conversation would deal with one of you dying…. and im not talking about me.  This lady that i have been talking to the passed two months or so has just told me that she has cancer.  When i first heard the news i didn’t know what to say but “im sorry” i was so shocked that i just wanted to change the subject and not think about it.  As she left the store it was all i could think about.  The lady that was once full of life now looks frail and beaten, and it breaks my heart to know that i can do nothing about it.  Its flattering (probably the wrong word to use) to know that someone you barely started to know can tell you something that is so personal,  you begin to think that what if one day they stop coming in… it wouldn’t be because they had a bad experience and that they would start shopping somewhere else, but because that they are no longer with us.  I know that death is a part of life, but i would never wish for someone to go out this way.  I hope that she still has some fight left in her because its not over until its over (i know… cliche) and I don’t know the specifics of her situation and im not sure if i even want to know. From now on i will hope to see her again, to have another conversation with her because it might just be our last one.

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The Responsibilities in Life

As everyone passes through his/her life people start to realize the responsibilities they have to maintain that dream he/she desires. Let me tell you that these responsibilities grow  day after day and the longer a person takes to realize that they have these certain obligations and responsibilities they start to regret that maybe they shouldn’t have done those certain drugs or got into that certain gang or even changed from they way they used to be. I have realized that the saying “Live everyday like it’s your last” isn’t the smartest way to live by. For if you are only always thinking about now or this moment you fail to realize what the future may hold for us with the choices we make today. Everyone needs to re-think what they do today… because is it what is best for you even if it was your last day to live.  I believe the choices we make today do affect the future we want to have and if you want to go places in your life not like taking out the trash… or even going to friends place… like going somewhere where you are completely satisfied with your life and living each day like you don’t have those responsibilities any longer.  I know if you Believe in Yourself, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to with enough perseverance anything is possible.

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Genre: Emotional Ambient

CFM054 / Various Artists / Apr 19, 2014

Light Clouds has been in the works almost since the start of Cold Fiction Music in some form or another. We finally are able to bring 11 tracks of Ambient from 10 great artists. The styles are quite varied on the album including Drone, Space Ambient, Dark Ambient and Piano music. We hope there is something for all Ambient lovers.


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Project TRUE Field Research Mentor Award for Fordham Undergraduates

Fordham University and the Wildlife Conservation Society are recruiting current Fordham undergraduate students for summer 2018 to be part of Project TRUE (Teens Researching Urban Ecology).  Project TRUE provides high school students an opportunity to engage in hands-on field research under the mentorship of an undergraduate Field Research Mentor.  Field Research Mentors will be trained on research methods and effective mentoring practices and will develop independent research projects.

Application Deadline is Feb 23rd

Project TRUE webpage


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811 Carrall Street

Here’s the third rezoning proposal for Northeast False Creek. This one is only able to be submitted now, once the decision to remove the viaducts has allowed an initial idea for site configuration (and the initial design for the newly enlarged Creekside Park) to be suggested. (It was first addressed as Pacific Boulevard, but has now adopted a Carrall address).

The Concord Pacific lands will see a variety of buildings with heights up to 41 storeys including commercial uses, residential uses including social housing and a public plaza at the foot of Georgia Street, with delivery of the Creekside Park Extension.

Urban Designers and architects Civitas (working with Dialog) have shown an initial site arrangement of nine buildings, with two towers to the western side close to the stadium (and the Pavco tower) and the remaining area with a more consistent 20-storey set of buildings (that we suspect are ‘build to the view cone’ designs). The City’s guidance is that there should be 2.1 million sq ft of development here, with at least 220,000 in non-residential uses, but we think this initial scheme exceeds that limit. It’s not clear if different architects will design the buildings here; Concord have widened their architectural net in recent years, so the implied sameness that this initial set of images shows might be quite different once the project evolves and detailed designs are submitted.

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750 Pacific Boulevard (Plaza of Nations)

It may be officially 750 Pacific, but it’s the Plaza of Nations to everyone in the city. Or at least, it was – this rezoning will presumably see it getting a new name. The initial proposal for the site was submitted in 2012 and proposed up to 2,000 apartments with 350,000 sq ft of commercial space including a hotel and retail. It also included a new practice arena for the Canucks which would be a public skating rink the rest of the time.

The most striking gesture was James Cheng’s proposed ‘grand arch’ tower (seen on the right). Now that design is history, and a different concept has emerged with terraced forms creating a frame for a view of the stadium.

There are no unit numbers yet, and the design is still conceptual, but there would be around 1,350,000 sq ft of residential space and 350,000 of non-residential, as in the first proposal. The rezoning showed a block massing (left) which has now been refined into the more detailed model (seen at the recent open house, above), although the design of individual buildings is still not in any way accurate.

The project includes social housing, civic facilities, including a community centre, ice rink and a 69-space childcare facility; and a new community plaza and seawall. It looks as if the final vestige of Expo (other than Science World) will be the small grove of evergreen trees on a promontory.

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5 Responses to 750 Pacific Boulevard (Plaza of Nations)

  1. Rico says:

    Hopefully just a trial balloon. Very uninspiring (except in the render from the water). The pedestrian realm will suck, the seawall pathway alone along the water going through a large sterile plaza…should be much better….can’t see it passing the urban design panel (nor should it).

  2. Rob says:

    Someone please tell me that this was a very early concept that was not meant for public consumption.
    This seems like it was done in about 20mins using Photoshop. The buildings are essentially blocks that appear to have no outside balcony space for residents nor any discernible retail space facing the main open plaza. The blank flat roofs are boring and are misleading as I’m sure they would be cluttered with fans, exhausts, window cleaning equipment etc…
    Really quite awful…

  3. Warren Allan says:

    Playing with shapes that have no relationship to each other let alone their environment or surrounding development. Go home…

  4. Andrew Browne says:

    Looks a bit Toronto. Not sure about the large plaza. Looks destined to be empty, especially as it doesn’t seem connected to much of anything (excepting the seawall). I’m ignoring the architecture for now as it obviously has not been fleshed out, but the massing is not inspiring.

  5. Tim B says:

    A late April Fools joke perhaps? Hopefully?

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Research & Your Health

Research & Your Health is a series of articles written in accessible, everyday language, focused on the latest scientific research of natural health products.

Fibre and Saturated Fat Are Associated With Sleep Arousals and Slow Wave Sleep

On May 20, 2016

Background: There is a large body of research suggesting that reduced sleep duration has been linked to negative health behaviours, such as unhealthy food consumption and weight gain, suggesting that sleep restriction may affect dietary intake. Interestingly, recent research has also indicated that diet may affect sleep as well. However, very few studies have properly assessed this potential causal relationship.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess whether sleep quality was different following a controlled or ad libitum (i.e. self-administered and based on participant preference) diet, and to see whether the contents of the ad libitum diet affected sleep.

Methods: 26 healthy adults (13 men and 13 women aged 30-45) took part in a six-day inpatient study. Participants spent nine hours in bed each night, and were provided with a controlled diet for the first four days, with the final two days as an ad libitum diet. During the controlled-diet phase, participants were provided with individualized meals (based on energy requirement calculations) at specific times during the day, with specific macronutrient composition (approximately 31 per cent, 53 per cent, and 17 per cent energy from fat, carbohydrates, and protein, respectively). On the remaining two days, participants were provided with $25 to buy their own food to eat in the lab, with no restrictions on when participants ate or the macronutrient content of the meals. The nutritional composition of the food was analyzed before the participants consumed their meals during the ad libitum diet days. Sleep quality and content was assessed on night three (after the controlled diet) and night five (after the ad libitum diet).

Results: Night five (measurements taken after the ad libitum diet) was associated with reduced slow wave sleep (SWS, the state of sleep where the body is in a deep and restful sleep state) and delayed time to falling asleep. Total sleep time, and time spent in sleep stages and rapid eye movement (REM, deep sleep where dreaming occurs) were not different between nights three and five. While diet did not predict total sleep time on night five, increased fibre consumption was related to reduced time in stage one sleep and greater time in SWS. On the other hand, increased saturated fat consumption was related to reduced time in SWS. Percentage of energy from sugar consumption and non-sugar/non-fibre carbohydrate consumption were all related to increased sleep arousal on night five.

Conclusion: More saturated fat and less fibre intake was associated with less and lighter sleep, and more sugar and non-sugar/non-fibre carbohydrate consumption was also related to less restful sleep, in a laboratory study with healthy adults.

Findings and Perspectives: This study points to the importance of diet on sleep quality and length, particularly in regards to saturated fat, fibre, and carbohydrate intake. More research should be done outside of the laboratory to understand the effects of diet on sleep in the "real world," potentially with larger sample sizes.

St-Onge, M. P., Roberts, A., Shechter, A., & Choudhury, A. R. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (2016): 12:1


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Biocultural Conservation Editorial Line | Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program

Biocultural Conservation Editorial Line

The Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program editorial line seeks to enhance the dynamic relationship between a network of collaborators. A creative methodological approach for students is developed as they work to translate texts. There is the creation of an interregional dialogue between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The integrated relationship of biological and cultural aspects of environments is made explicit in discourse and discussion. The books are interdisciplinary texts useful for students and researchers, but also for readers unfamiliar with the region and the research. Each book invites the reader to enhance their biological and cultural knowledge, but also excites their imaginations with vivid images and beautiful stories.

In addition to the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation editorial line, The Center for Environmental Philosophy published a special issue of Environmental Ethics and occasional papers on South American Environmental Philosophy.

The Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Series

The Multi-Ethnic Bird Guide, published in 2010, describes the sub-Antarctic magellanic bird species' ecological and cultural contexts. It describes their physical appearances, typical habitats, and conservation status, but also describes the cultural relationships of the birds to the human inhabitants of the region. The Yahgan, Mapuche, Spanish, English, and scientific names are provided for each bird, and cultural stories about each bird are shared. The book comes with CDs to provide an audio experience of the bird calls and recitation of traditional stories about the birds. This is available in either Spanish or English.

Miniature Forests of Cape Horn, published in 2012, investigates a way to approach the bryophytes and lichens of the sub-Antarctic region. Cape Horn is a hot spot for bryophyte diversity; 5% of the world's bryophytes are found in less than 0.01% of the planet's terrestrial surface. Ecotourism with a hand lens teaches visitors to rest in the forest and pause to investigate the aesthetic, ethical, and biocultural elements of the miniature world within the larger forest. The text provides information on the biology of lichens and mosses of the sub-Antarctic forests, accompanied by a multitude of high-definition photographs of the bryophytes. This book is bilingual with both Spanish and English.

Ecotourism with a Hand Lens assembles a series of artistic renderings to understand the Miniature Forests of Cape Horn. The readers investigate the miniature forests through four conceptual hand lenses (economic, ethical, aesthetic, and biocultural). The relationship between art and science is illustrated through an in-depth investigation into the natural forms within Cape Horn's lichens and mosses. This is available in either Spanish or English.

Sub-Antarctic Magellanic Ornithology compiles the diverse studies from 10 years of ornithological research by the sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program researchers between 2004 - 2014. The long-term ornithological studies at the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve is composed of an interdisciplinary team practicing systematic research to gather knowledge of the seasonal variations in diversity and abundance, natural history, and ecology of the magellanic bird species. This book seeks to contribute to the knowledge of the birds and the protection of the habitats we share with them. This is available in either Spanish or English.

The Ecology and Ethics Series

Ecology and Ethics is a series is devoted to continuing research at the interfaces of ecology and ethics (embedded in the multiple fields of philosophy and ecology) to broaden our conceptual and practical frameworks in this transdisciplinary field. Confronted with global environmental change, the academic community still labors under a tradition of strong disciplinary dissociation that hinders the integration of ecological understanding and ethical values to comprehensively address the complexities of current socio-ecological problems. During the 1990s and 2000s, a transdisciplinary integration of ecology with social disciplines, especially economics, has been institutionalized via interdisciplinary societies, research programs, and mainstream journals. Work at this interface has produced novel techniques and protocols for assessing monetary values of biodiversity and ecosystem services, as illustrated by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World: Values, Philosophy, and Action is a collaborative work published in 2014. The book investigates the possibilities to integrate philosophy and ecology during an era of globalization, climate change, and biocultural diversity loss. Alternative worldviews and concepts of conservation are investigated, environmental philosophy is discussed, and contemporary ecosystem theories are evaluated. The book calls for and contributes to environmental ethics literacy; it begins to bridge the gaps between ecology and ethics through its collaborative efforts.

Earth Stewardship implies a paradigm shift that links facts and values, multiple forms of ecological knowledge and practices, and broadens the mission of the ecological sciences. To confront global environmental change it is necessary, but not sufficient, to conduct long-term socio-ecological research. It is also necessary to act. Earth stewardship calls on ecologists to engage not only in the production of knowledge, but also in public discourse, decision making, education, and governance. As a means of engaging science and society in rapidly reducing current rates of anthropogenic damage to the biosphere, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) launched the Earth Stewardship Initiative in 2009. Since then, this call for action has been appealing not only to ecologists, but also to anthropologists, sociologists, engineers, economists, religion scholars, philosophers, conservation biologists, other professionals, decision makers, and citizens interested in environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

Book Summaries written by Rachel Weaver

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Baby on Board

These past few days back at home have been simply delightful-because not only did I get to see my family, but I had the pleasure of meeting my baby nephew for the first time!

The day I arrived in London was the first time I met him. I didn’t really do too much as soon as I got home-it was more about grocery shopping with my dad, unpacking the suitcase and relaxing from the journey. However later that afternoon when my sister was a little more free (as can be) and my brother-in-law returned from work, we headed over and I gleaned over the little bundle of joy for the first time-he was just over two weeks old!

I’m not all for putting up baby pictures on the Internet, but seeing as this photo shows the first time I ever met my only nephew, I couldn’t help it :p My sister may not be the best photographer (see how bits of our heads are missing?) but it’s still as special to me 🙂

The rest of the bank holiday weekend was filled with good eats and baby feels, whether it was hitting the high street and IKEA with my parents (standard) or hanging out at my sisters on baby duty (there were many :D). It was a very productive and happy few days, and I’m so chuffed that I’m now officially an aunty. Have a good bank holiday weekend!

As usual, a little snapshot of the things I purchased this weekend. Every time I see a nice photo frame I like, I buy it. It’s not too fancy but it grabbed my attention compared to some of the others…I may even put the above photo in it. PS guess which item came from IKEA? :p

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Archive | Hauser & Wirth RSS feed for this section

Schwitters the Chamaeleon

5 Feb

I thought I knew Schwitters.  That is until I walked around Tate Britain’s latest exhibition.

It is said of so many people that they are forerunners of their time but Schwitters really was and his incredible multi-disciplinary practice brought together not only collage, assemblage, painting, sculpture and installation but also performance – sound poem Ursonate is screaming from room 4.

Kurt Schwitters, Dancer, 1943. Own photograph.

This exhibition asks us to re-consider many of Schwitters’ later works.  After fleeing Hanover, he emigrated to Norway and, two years later, he boarded the last ship to leave before the Nazi occupation.  In Edinburgh, he was detained as an ‘enemy alien’ and interned until 1941 at the Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man with a significant number of artists and intellectuals with whom he became friends.  His creativity increased during captivity and he produced over 200 works during his 16 month internment.  On his release, he moved to London where he remained until the end of the war when he moved to the Lake District.  His was not an easy life; he suffered from misfortune, hardship and, in his latter years, extreme ill health.

Kurt Schwitters, Picture of Spatial Growths/Picture with Two Small Dogs, 1920 and 1939. Own photograph.

His determination to make art meant he used whatever was to hand.  His works are shaped and influenced by location and the materials he was able to find, and it’s fascinating to trace the changes in his environment through his work.  His unique concept of Merz includes three-dimensional, everyday objects, discarded packaging and ephemera forming collages that used the detritus of everyday.  The compositions are considered and controlled but filled with emotional poignancy about Schwitters’ constant flight expressed through tickets, postage stamps, identity papers – the remnants of travel and upheaval.  His works from his period in London include such objects as sweet wrappers, bus tickets, metal toys and even a scrubbing brush.

quality street

Kurt Schwitters, Untitled (Quality Street), 1943. Own photograph.

The first room, looking at his earlier years in Germany is stunning, and contains the crème de la crème of the exhibition.

His portraits are fascinating and are a part of his oeuvre of which I was not at all aware.  Not all were commissions, although those that were enabled him to earn a small living for his art.  They are also wonderful works in their own right, allowing us an insight into the people who surrounded him – his German and Austrian friends and his fellow internees.

Portraits in the exhibition. Own photograph.

The room focusing on the Merzbarn lends itself to sober thoughtfulness – Schwitters had been forced to abandon this installation in Germany and it was later destroyed by bombing; he had only just begun to rebuild the piece in Cumbria – the biomorphic abstract plaster relief extended from the interior wall with embedded objects such as twigs and stones – when 6 months into the project he died, aged 60, never able to realise his aspirations.  Although born in Germany and having previously gained Norwegian citizenship, he was only offered British citizenship on the day before his death.

Fragments from the Merzbarn with slides by Richard Hamilton. Own photograph.

Tate has also commissioned young artists, Adam Chodzko and Laure Prouvost, to think about what Schwitters means in current times and the final two rooms of the exhibition are devoted to their new pieces.

new works

Responding to Schwitters. Own photograph.

My only criticism of this show (and regular readers of Artista will probably know what’s coming) is that Tate have whipped out their store of grey paint.  I have to say it’s not quite as bad as usual but for works on paper that have no doubt faded quite dramatically with time, a dull grey would not have been my chosen colour on which to represent such an exciting artist.

This is Tate’s second Schwitters’ retrospective – the last one was in 1985.  He had an amazing but tragic life that’s further outlined in the fabulous exhibition catalogue through which I’m slowly working my way.  By bringing together all these works, Tate has succeeded in showing how Schwitters’ figurative works move into abstraction and vice versa.

Tate grey. Own photograph.

This is a big exhibition covering an incredibly varied output.  Schwitters never gave up and his drive and enthusiasm is excellently applauded by Tate.  Here, we see his interaction with British art and culture and the profound effects his locations had on him throughout his life.  Like a chamaeleon, Schwitters always adapted to his surroundings!

The following day, I popped in to the opening of Hauser & Wirth’s three new exhibitions.  Philippe Vandenberg takes over the space in Piccadilly, presenting strongly textured and powerful works that are explorations of his own psyche.  His visceral and tormented works help him to overcome his demons as he mutilates the canvas as much as he does the figures he depicts.  The feeling is immense but the works didn’t scream out to me in the way I had hoped – the inner turmoil remained stuck within the canvas.

Philippe Vandenberg, Now Patience Is Flowering Into Death 2, 1980-1990-1999.  Image via

Savile Row hosts two very different shows.  In one gallery is an exhibition of works by Eva Hesse from 1965 when, with her then husband, she unhappily spent a year working in a former textile mill in her native Germany; when she was two, she and her sister were sent by Kindertransport to Holland because of the Nazi threat.  This period of time in the factory marked a significant transformation in Hesse’s practice where she re-assessed her approach to colour and materials and began to move towards sculpture.  Like Schwitters, she was inspired by her surroundings.  It’s a must-see show for any Hesse fan.  I may well have to go back as the opening was too crowded for words and I was heading off on a shoe shopping mission that was sadly unsuccessful but I’ll be going back to that too.

Eva Hesse in 1965. Image via

Next door, in a small survey exhibition, there are five enormous Bruce Nauman pieces that easily fill the gallery – you have to be dazzled by Nauman.  The exhibition concentrates on his iconic neon sculptures and installations.  The ‘flashy works’ aren’t what won me over.  Instead, it was his Untitled (Helman Gallery Parallelogram) where you have to hunt out the work, pushing your way through a narrow entrance until you’re absorbed by his green fluorescents.

Bruce Nauman, Untitled (Helman Gallery Parallelogram), 1971.  Image via

The lights inspired me and reminded me that I must get over to the Hayward Light Show as soon as I have the time – though who knows when that may be.

Schwitters in Britain is at Tate Britain until 12th May 2013,  Philippe Vandenberg: Selected Works is at Hauser & Wirth Piccadilly until 13th April 2013, www.hauserwirth.comEve Hesse 1965 and Bruce Nauman / mindfuck are at Hauser & Wirth Savile Row until 9th March 2013,

Frieze Fever and Frenzy: Too Many Galleries to Count

14 Oct

The week just gone is affectionately known by the art world as Frieze week – it is when Frieze (and this year Frieze Masters) takes over Regent’s Park and art lovers flock to London from across the world.  Frieze is accompanied by a host of other fairs (my favourite, and the most stylish, being PAD) as well as gallery openings that compete with each other on every night of the week.

Monday night saw the opening of PAD – the most chic and classy fair by far.  As I don’t ever write about fairs all I will say is that, although we were there for a considerable amount of time, I felt I needed to go back.  I also fell in love with numerous pieces including a Gerrit Rietveld Billet Chair from 1927.

Gerrit Rietveld, Billet Chair, 1927.  Image via

From PAD, we strolled out the square planning to go to Gagosian.  But the opening was at Britannia Street not Davies Street.  Oops!  Peering through the window we could see the Penone exhibition but not get near the works.  One black cross for me.  Next we tried Ordovas which my Frieze companion assured me was open.  One black cross for him.

Post PAD… Own photograph.

So, with very tired feet (well mine were already and it was only Monday) we went to Stephen Friedman who are exhibiting works by Tom Friedman (no relation).  Friedman’s work explores everyday objects, elevating the mundane beyond its original purpose to extraordinary new forms.  He deconstructs ideas and materials, rebuilding them into sculptural or artistic forms with a new level of genius.  What we think we see and what we actually see are very different things.

Tom Friedman at Stephen Freidman Gallery.  Image via

The main gallery space holds the biggest and the best work in this exhibition – a mass of tangled wires that take over the entire room.  As we move around the installation, we can see the hidden silhouettes of human figures and faces trapped within the forms, interlocked within the wires, emerging and evaporating depending on our position.  Friedman is obsessive and, for every piece, he distils each material back to its essence and rebuilds it, presenting a new structure that crosses between the mundane and the magical.

Tom Friedman at Stephen Freidman Gallery.  Image via

Everyone is opening a blockbuster this week (which makes this time of year both amazing and horrendous) and the National Gallery has gone for Richard Hamilton who was still planning this exhibition days before his death last year.  The painted white walls present a very modern space in the middle of this traditional gallery.  Previewing on Tuesday, the same day as Frieze, the exhibition is a powerful statement of intent – this is Hamilton challenging the art world.  It traces several themes of Hamilton’s career from the 1980s until his death, showing how he was moving towards a more traditional iconography at the end of his life.

The exhibition allows us to study his engagement with Marcel Duchamp, particularly in his works looking at the nude descending the staircase (addressed here in two works).   The works are perfectly executed but have a sense of disquiet; they are quite hard to read, it is often very ambiguous as to what we are looking at.

Richard Hamilton exhibition at the National Gallery. Own photograph.

Hamilton was one of the great experimenters with the computer, creating images that were entirely new, clean and crisp.  This exhibition of his work shows areas of interest that had obsessed him for so long.  One series of works remained unfinished at the time of Hamilton’s death – a trio of inket prints that visualise a moment from Balzac’s The Unknown Masterpiece, telling the story of a painter who loses his mind trying to achieve the perfect nude.   Hamilton knew he would not live to finish the work and made the decision that the exhibition would culminate in the initial presentation of these three large-scale variations.  We will never really know what Hamilton intended and this makes us sombre and reflective.  Each work features Courbet, Poussin and Titian contemplating a reclining female nude.  For me, these works would still be mysterious even if they were finished but, in this state, they just leave us to wonder.

Richard Hamilton exhibition at the National Gallery. Own photograph.

These later paintings aren’t my favourite Hamiltons – they are quite clinical in parts – but there is no denying that this is a beautiful, and surprisingly moving, exhibition.  Seemingly simple, there is so much going on; the paintings lead into one another, as the ideas progress from work to work.

Next, I headed down the road to Hauser & Wirth Piccadilly who are showing Fire by Days – paintings by the New York-based Rita Ackermann.  The idea for these resulted from an accident, a paint spillage on the floor of her studio that she was hastily forced to clean.  It was through these splurges of paint that she began to see suggestions of forms, abstracted but also figurative.  The works are very striking in this space, their strong and vibrant colours complementing the style of the room.  The pages from Ackermann’s sketchbooks, upstairs on the wood panelling of the American Room, look as if they have always been there.  There is nothing wrong with this exhibition but it failed to move me or make enough of an impact (rather like several things recently).

Rita Ackermann at Hauser & Wirth.  Image via

Continuing down Piccadilly to White Cube Mason’s Yard, I popped in to see Magnus Plessen – another artist who oscillates between abstraction and figuration.  Figurative elements cry out to us but they are juxtaposed with abstract passages that seek to disorientate the viewer.  Plessen’s techniques are the most interesting aspect of his work – he often physically turns the canvas to reposition and confound the arrangement of the piece.  It appears that he has scraped away the paint in parts using gestural washes of colour over heavier oils to muddle the picture planes.  With psychedelic acid yellows and hot pinks, there is often too much going to fully understand his intentions.  The show is well-curated and the works are afforded a lot of space – they need a white cube to shine which is exactly what has been allowed to happen here.

Magnus Plessen upstairs at White Cube.  Own photograph.

My list was looking daunting as the day hurried by and I headed up to Pace, the newly opened New York gallery which is now housed in the west wing of the Royal Academy’s Burlington Gardens’ space.  They have juxtaposed the paintings of Mark Rothko with the seascape photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto.  The eight Rothkos included here make use of a limited palette of predominantly black and grey while the Sugimoto’s use a similar grey-scale colour scheme.  The artists form an aesthetic and quite superficial dialogue that, at times, becomes more of a battle.  It is a stunning exhibition that prompts interesting comparisons – another simple show that achieves its aims stylishly without any fuss.  Pace claim not to have opened in London sooner as they hadn’t found the right person to run the gallery or the right space – well they certainly seem to have hit the nail on the head here and I’m sure they will prove themselves during their four-year tenure.

Pace London. Image via

After visiting a few shops on Regent Street (to give my brain a well-needed art break), I headed to Savile Row where Thomas Houseago has taken over both of Hauser & Wirth’s gallery spaces there.

Heading to Hauser. Own photograph.

He has chosen not just to split the works between the two galleries but also to give the two spaces different titles: I‘ll be Your Sister (in the North Gallery) comes from a very raw Motorhead song while Special Brew is a strong beer that Houseago used to drink every day before school, getting drunk and avoiding normal school-time activities.  It allowed him to step outside the box.  The North Gallery presents his monumental sculptures, intentionally big and messy, these works have the wow-factor.  His works are brutally straightforward but still manage to appear mysterious and unworldly.  Houseago spends a lot of time drawing and planning the process of his work and this is evident in the highly-textured surfaces that resemble sketching.  The scale in the North Gallery is far more impactful than that in the South and the works are actually causing passers-by to stop and gape.

Thomas Houseago’s I’ll be Your Sister. Own photograph.

By nature of the sheer overload that is Frieze week, I’m having to be brief in my descriptions.  Most of these exhibitions deserve more time and attention but this overview of my mad run around London should give you a taster.

Just over the road, Ordovas are presenting Painting from Life: Carracci Freud, a tiny exhibition that brings together a group of head studies by Annibale Carracci and Lucian Freud.  This is a beautiful juxtaposition – intimate, simple and stunning.  Ordovas knows how to get their shows right and this rare collaboration between them and a public art collection (Dulwich Picture Gallery has loaned a work) shows the esteem in which this gallery is held.  The connections between Freud and Carracci have never before been explored but comparisons reveal intriguing affinities in technique, style, viewpoint and subject.  This isn’t the gallery’s first show of this type as they previously juxtaposed Bacon and Rembrandt and attracted over 10,000 visitors in their first month alone!

Ordovas. Image via

The second of three New York galleries to open in London is David Zwirner (I’ve still not managed to pop into Michael Werner but hope to do so next week).  The gallery has certainly chosen a statement show of Luc Tuymans’ work with which to open their 18th century Grafton Street townhouse.  What a way to inaugurate this space.  Again, the gallery knows how to keep it simple, allowing the paintings space to breathe and space to be viewed.  Tuymans has lacked a proper presence in London since his 2004 Tate Modern retrospective but things are changing.  Allo! is inspired by The Moon and Sixpence, a film loosely based on the life of Paul Gauguin.  But Tuymans’ interest in this topic has to do with a general negation of modernism and Hollywood’s long-standing idealisation of the artist as a romantic savage.  This gallery adds a frisson of excitement to the already vibrant area – Dover Street and Grafton Street only continue to improve.

Luc Tuymans’ exhibition at David Zwirner’s new gallery.  Image via

After a very late lunch, I headed to Gagosian Gallery on Davies Street to see the Giuseppe Penone exhibition I’d planned to see on Monday night.  I seem to have seen a lot of Penone recently.  Here, he has engaged with the long narrow space of the Davies Street gallery, filling it with Pelle di foglie—sguardo incrociato, a large-scale standing sculpture comprised of delicately arranged tree branches and leaves defined in bronze.  Positioned to conceal a human face, two long branches jut outwards in place of the eyes in a projective act of looking, recalling Penone’s long-held fascination with the process of seeing.  It’s only a small show but, if you like Penone, then it’s worth popping in.

Gisueppe Penone, detail of Pelle di foglie—sguardo incrociato.  Image via

Further along the road at Gimpel Fils is Shana Moulton’s Preventation, a series of news videos in the on-going saga of Cynthia, her alter-ego.  The films are accompanied by a number of the artworks that feature in her films.

I was nearly all art-ed out for the day but had a final stop for the opening of Tess Jaray’s Mapping the Unseeable at The Piper Gallery.  This exhibition is definitely worth a visit partly to see how paintings need to be appreciated first-hand for the full experience.  Jaray has always maintained a fascination with geometry, pattern, colour and repetition culminating in her distinctive, subtle yet penetrating works.  As with many of the works I saw on Tuesday, Jaray plays with a carefully wrought tension between opposites: serenity and intensity, silence and sound, stasis and motion and two and three dimensions.  The exhibition includes over twenty identically-sized works from Jaray’s recent series, After Malevich; inspired by Malevich’s Red Square, they have an energy and intensity that grabs you as soon as you enter.  Despite the vast number of openings on Tuesday night, the gallery was packed!

Peaking into Tess Jaray’s Mapping the Unseeable.  Image via

Wednesday was my fairs day and, as well as a return trip to PAD, I spent time at Frieze and Frieze Masters which took up most of the day and evening.  But, I did make a small window to pop to The Courtauld for a private tour of their Peter Lely exhibition.  Lely is an important artist in British history but I don’t actually think very many people are familiar with, or excited by, his work so this is a brave choice of exhibition from The Courtauld.  Lely was appointed Principal Painter to Charles II in 1661 and his paintings define the glamour and debauchery of the period.  The works in this exhibition, however, concentrate on the period in the 1640s and 1650s when he was working in England, painting pastoral landscapes and large-scale narratives.  The exhibition is organised around The Courtauld’s own unfinished The Concert – originally thought to depict Lely and his family, it seems to be a highly personal and allegorical interpretation of Music in the service of Beauty.  This particular piece hasn’t been on display for a while and it’s nice to have the opportunity to view it in the context of other similar works.

Peter Lely, detail of The Concert. Own photograph.

The Courtauld is making the most of this exhibition with a Lely-fest; two other Lely’s are on show downstairs and room 12 boasts a display of drawings from Lely’s own celebrated and rare collection.

What this week has proved is how effective simple exhibitions can be.  Exhibited on putty-coloured walls with beautifully focused lighting, this exhibition gets it right.  Lely is a confusing artist with a mixture of styles that often betray his Flemish origins.  The paintings on show here are far more powerful than his Court portraiture of later years and this is another winner from The Courtauld.

Lely exhibition at The Courtauld. Own photograph.

Thursday was my final day of rushing round fairs and exhibitions and the evening saw two conveniently close openings on Riding House Street.  You may remember that I wrote about visiting Nick Goss’s studio a while ago.  I popped back a couple of weeks ago to see his new works and, as a result, was ridiculously excited by the prospect this exhibition.  The works here concentrate on portrayals of two different kinds of space – rehearsal spaces and the artist’s studio – where Goss seeks to investigate the detritus associated with the spaces used when playing in a band.  Cheap and simple, the limitations of these rooms allow creativity to flourish which promulgates the development of musical ideas.  Yet, devoid of players and instruments, the spaces have an uncharacteristic, melancholic atmosphere.  Goss has developed the theme of the shabby rehearsal space in a study of fakery and idealisation, filled with a sense of nostalgia and an elusive sensibility.  His are beautiful works, subtle paintings that pull you into his unique world.

Nick Goss’s new works at Josh Lilley. Image via

Over the road at TJ Boulting is an exhibition by Juliana Leite; her new work stems from consistent investigations into the physical action of her own body in space.  The centrepiece is a large sculpture, of two separate latex forms joined in the centre; describing the artist’s movement up and down a staircase, the piece strikes a resonance with Marcel Duchamp’s Nude descending a staircase (a common theme this week).  The two parts were cast from a large mould composed of a set of stairs covered with a wooden tunnel, slowly lined with clay.  The work is immense and we are drawn to walk around it, exploring its textures and crevices several times before we feel we have understood its form.

Juliana Leite’s impressive new sculpture.  Image via

Even thinking about the week just gone slightly exhausts me.  I have seen such a wealth of incredible art (some not so incredible too) and I have the sorest feet to show for it.  I still have 12 exhibitions to cover that I didn’t manage to have the time for, I’d have loved to get to the other art fairs and I would have relished more time at the fairs I did explore.  But, there are only a set number of hours in the week and I think I didn’t do badly!

Tom Friedman is at Stephen Friedman Gallery until 10th November 2012, www.stephenfriedman.comRichard Hamilton: The Late Works is at the National Gallery until 13th January 2013, www.nationalgallery,org.ukRita Ackermann: Fire by Days is at Hauser & Wirth Piccadilly until 3rd November 2012, www.hauserwirth.comMagnus Plessen: Riding the Image is at White Cube Mason’s Yard until 10th November 2012, www.whitecube.comRothko/Suginoto: Dark Paintings and Secrets is at Pace London until 17th November 2012, www.pacegallery.comThomas Houseago: I’ll be Your Sister and Special Brew are at Hauser & Wirth Savile Row until 27th October 2012, www.hauserwirth.comPainting from Life: Carracci Freud is at Odovas until 15th December 2012, www.ordovasart.comLuc Tuymans: Allo! Is at David Zwirner until 17th November, www.davidzwirner.comGiuseppe Penone: Intersecting Gaze / Sguardo Incrociato is at Gagosian Davies Street until 24th November 2012, www.gagosian.comShana Moulton: Prevention is at Gimpel Fils until 17th November 2012, www.gimpelfils.comTess Jaray – Mapping the Unseeable is at The Piper Gallery until Friday 9th November 2012, www.thepipergallery.comPeter Lely: A Lyrical Vision is at The Courtauld Gallery until 13th January 2012, Goss – Tin Drum is at Josh Lilley Gallery until Friday 23rd November 2012, www.joshlilleygallery.comJuliana Cerqueira Leite: Portmanteau is at TJ Boulting until 10th November 2012,

Concepts Greater than Works – Haunch and Hauser

20 Apr

Jamie Shovlin’s latest exhibition at Haunch is based around the cover designs of the Fontana Modern Master series – pocket guides from 1970-95 on eminent writers, scientists and philosophers.  The covers are iconic, instantly recognisable with their bright colours and abstract geometric shapes.

Shovlin has painted a series of works that represent titles scheduled to be published that, for reasons unknown, never appeared on the market.

Jamie Shovlin’s Fontana Modern Master covers. Own photograph.

The actual cover designs, of course, remain unknown but Shovlin has used a process of deduction to imagine the designs, assuming the cover would reflect attributes of the subject.  Although his criteria are somewhat spurious, Shovlin stuck to his guns and his methodology is seen in the works in the first gallery where Colour Wheel illustrates the determining factors of his formula and Colour Reference shows the process of colour matching to the original inner pages of the Fontana Modern Masters.

The first gallery with Jamie Shovlin’s works at Haunch of Venison. Own photograph.

These works recall Harland Miller’s paintings based on the dust jackets of Penguin books.  Although Miller uses the book covers as an often humorous method to include his own comments, they marry Pop Art with abstraction and figurative painting.

The series reflects Shovlin’s on-going interest in typography and graphic design.  The works are a commercial gallery’s dream – a coherent solid idea that has resulted in a large-scale series.  The system of creating the works and Shovlin’s Fontana formula is clever but the resulting canvases lack any excitement or dynamism.  The idea and the practice are more energising than the works.

Jamie Shovlin’s Fontana Modern Master covers. Own photograph.

The same day I headed over to Hauser for the opening night of their Ron Mueck show in their South Gallery.  It has been a while since there was a solo Mueck show in London – the press release reliably informed me that it has, in fact, been over a decade.  The precision and detail of his works has always amazed and startled visitors and these are no exception.

Ron Mueck, Youth, 2009. Own photograph.

The exhibition only includes four of Mueck’s contemporary sculptures, exploring traditional themes.  It is a staged exhibition where the works are shown individually, taking visitors on a journey of exploration.

Ron Mueck, Woman with sticks, 2008. Own photograph.

Youth shows a young boy in jeans and a blood-stained t-shirt that he lifts to reveal an open stab wound, reminiscent of St Thomas inspecting Christ’s wound.  It is here that we begin to see the themes that Mueck is playing with and images from the Stations of the Cross come to mind.  Woman with sticks recalls the carrying of the cross while Drift, positioned high on the gallery wall, shows a tanned man in swimming trunks on a lilo with his arms outstretched in cruciform fashion, questioning the brevity of life – the work references Christ on the crucifix.

Ron Mueck, Drift, 2009. Own photograph.

Finally, Still Life, a work with which most of us are already familiar, shows a dead chicken, plucked and hung by its bound feet from the ceiling, again recalling Christ’s bondage.

These themes of religion, piety and death are not new to Mueck but his works still generate strong reactions, making many feel uncomfortable and uneasy.  The messages are discreet and leave you pondering while the pieces are beautifully crafted showing sensitivity and skill.  But, as with so many artists, we’ve seen this before and while the works may conceptually be strong they didn’t move me in the way I hoped they would, in the way his earlier works have done.

Ron Mueck, Still Life, 2009. Own photograph.

Further down the street in the North Gallery is Medley Tour London.  Since 2010, artist Andreas Hofer has used the name Andy Hope 1930 and this is a display of his latest work, merging the worlds of comic books, science fiction and mythology with history, pop culture and literature.

Medley Tour London by Andy Hope 1930. Own photograph.

I fear I’m sounding like a broken record but yet again the concepts are more interesting than the works themselves.   Conceptually all these exhibitions were very good but in actuality they just weren’t great shows…again!

Jamie Shovlin: Various Arrangements is at Haunch of Venison until 26th May 2012, www.haunchofvenison.comRon Mueck and Medley Tour London by Andy Hope 1930 is at Hauser & Wirth until 26th May 2012,

Rocking and Rolling: the fourth plinth, Hauser & Wirth and Sadie Coles

26 Feb

I didn’t manage to make it to Trafalgar Square for the 9am unveiling of Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 last Thursday but I did amble along in the afternoon while they were clearing away from the pomp and circumstance of the morning.  Tourists were giving the work a casual glance as if it had been there for years, nobody seemed too perturbed by the latest fourth plinth sculpture, shining resplendent in the sun.

This, the 8th commission, by artists Elmgreen & Dragset, is a 4.1m high, golden bronze sculpture of a boy astride a rocking horse.

Elmgreen & Dragset, Powerless Structures, Fig. 101, 2011. Own photograph.

The fourth plinth was originally intended for a bronze equestrian statue and the installation of this new work directly engages with the history of the plinth itself, taking it back to its roots.  The planned sculpture in the 1840s was of King William IV but now a child has been elevated to the status of the other heroes honoured in Trafalgar Square.  The work celebrates heroism – the heroism of youth and of growing up, asking us to look at events in our life that we often skip over without due reflection.  The child plays on his horse, conquering the world and leading his imaginary army to victory.

Elmgreen & Dragset, Powerless Structures, Fig. 101, 2011. Own photograph.

I don’t think the designers of the fourth plinth ever envisaged an equestrian statue like this.  Elmgreen & Dragset are gently mocking tradition but, at the same time, they have modernised it without being patronising, successfully engaging with past purpose and intention.  The monument cannot honour the figure’s history as he is only a child so it honours his future.  Cheeky?  Yes.  Derogatory?  No.  With a raised arm referencing classical works of the past, the work is both contemporary and historical.

Trafalgar Square. Own photograph.

It’s not my favourite piece to adorn the plinth and I do now rather miss Yinka’s boat but Powerless Structures is not offensive and I see why the Mayor’s Office may have wanted a relatively tame piece up for the Olympics.  The public are able to instantly engage with this work.  It’s obvious, it’s eye-catching, it’s pretty.

After a refreshing cup of tea, I headed over to Hauser & Wirth to catch their two new exhibitions, the openings of which I had missed a couple of nights previously but I hear that their brass band caused quite a stir and a distraction.

Michael Raedecker, pretence, 2012. Own photograph.

The North Gallery is showing a selection of works by Michael Raedecker who pushes the boundaries of his medium, exploiting texture using embroidery interwoven with the painted canvas.  The subject matter isn’t the most exciting – abstracted scenes of suburban architecture and everyday domesticity such as chandeliers and curtains – but the paintings explore the combination of fine art and craft, of a male painter enlivening a feminine craft.  There is something melancholic and unsettling about some of his scenes, shimmering worlds on distressed, punctured canvases where his use of silver paint adds a new dimension to the works.  The paintings seek to evade a specific interpretation or genre; they pull you in but they don’t quite have the required emotional intensity to keep you there.

Michael Raedecker, detail of strip, 2012. Own photograph.

People seemed to be using Hauser as a resting place and, at times, the window ledge was busier than the gallery.

Hauser & Wirth’s window ledge. Own photograph.

In Hauser’s South Gallery are works by Mary Heilmann – paintings, ceramics and her distinctive chairs.  Heilmann’s paintings conjure a diverse range of moods and atmospheres; they tell her on-going life story, recalling long road-trips or her visits to the sea, watching the wild waves break on the shore.  Rather than seeing her works as individual entities, Heilmann views the entire show as an installation piece and visitors are incorporated in the work.  This explains the chairs!  Ironically, no-one had stopped for a rest in these.  Heilmann wants people to sit down, relax and enjoy the work but the chairs didn’t look particularly stable and, although the security guards encouraged me to do so (with wry smiles) I didn’t fancy the chances of lowering myself into them wearing these boots; I had visions of rolling across the entire gallery.

Mary Heilmann at Hauser & Wirth. Own photograph.

Neither of these Hauser exhibitions has that ‘je ne sais quoi’ to keep me in the galleries very long.  I headed further down Savile Row to Situation, a new gallery at Sadie Coles HQ.  Devoted to the work of Sarah Lucas, Situation (just above the normal gallery space but accessed through a separate door) will show her new installations in February, May, August and November of this year.  The space is intentionally shabby – a disused office that has been transformed.

Entering Situation. Own photograph.

The opening exhibition is signature Lucas and recalls her once highly provocative works from the 1990s – sculptures using found domestic objects where fried eggs and a chicken reference her early works about sexual stereotyping.

Sarah Lucas at Situation. Own photograph.

Her new works use the same things we’re used to and stuffed tights play a strong role in Viz. Nice Tits where concrete casts of thigh-high boots stand on the floor.  Above them hangs a metal grill filled with stuffed tights in the shape of boobs and phalluses.

Sarah Lucas, Viz. Nice Tits, 2011. Own photograph.

The space is only small but I get the feeling Lucas is reeling us in and will expand over the year.  What will she do in May?  Make a bigger bang, I imagine.

Sarah Lucas in MumMum, 2012. Courtesy of Ben Springett.

In the conventional gallery space, there is an exhibition of new glazed ceramics by Paloma Varga Weisz.  Upstairs is quite calm and the works are small, muted and could be mistaken for decorative whereas downstairs is more overt.  Mother shows a figure in a shroud lying on a table, captured ambiguously in sleep or death, either emerging from or receding into the slab beneath.

Paloma Varga Weisz, Mother, 2011. Own photograph.

I had hoped for some more excitement but nothing that afternoon really enlivened me.  My sore feet needed a taxi to carry on to the tunnels for week three of VAULT.

Michael Raedecker: volume and Mary Heilmann: Visions, Waves and Roads  are both at Hauser & Wirth, Savile Row until 5th April 2012,  Situation is on the first floor of 4 New Burlington Place for all of 2012, www.sadiecoles.comPaloma Varga Weisz is at Sadie Coles HQ until 25th February 2012,

Tuesday is the new Thursday – Paul McCarthy at Hauser & Wirth and more…

15 Nov

Winter has certainly arrived and, after a quick amaretto latte at Caffè Nero (my winter essential), I was grateful to take refuge inside the first gallery of the evening. Tuesday seems to be the new Thursday and with openings all across London, I selected four within easy walking distance of each other.

I began at Hauser & Wirth on Piccadilly to see one part of their current Paul McCarthy exhibition which is spread over both their gallery spaces and St James’s Square.  Not Paul McCartney – this is an art blog!  As everyone will know, Paul McCarthy, is, of course, one of the world’s most celebrated living artists.  Jonathan Jones of the Guardian recently travelled to Los Angeles to visit McCarthy and was overwhelmed by the vastness of his studio – the size of the operation is not just a Hollywood essential but is vital to his work as the exhibition fills three spaces (four if you count the Savile Row split) with huge ambitious pieces.  He’s also currently showing in their New York gallery and his daughter, Mara, has curated their Zurich exhibition – Hauser seem to like keeping it in the family.

Paul McCarthy, The King, 2006-2011.  Copyright to, and courtesy of, the artist and via Hauser & Wirth,

Presiding over the ground floor at the Piccadilly space is McCarthy’s The King, a monumental installation raised on a platform and surrounded by large-scale airbrush paintings, supposedly created on the easel which stands on the said platform.  The main focus here is a silicone model of the artist – naked.  Slumped on a wooden throne, wearing a long blond wig, his limbs are partly severed, his eyes are closed (possibly in pain).  He is grotesque.  And, as is so often the case, we cannot help but look.  Church pews have been arranged in front of the piece so that the space becomes a chapel where visitors can worship at the shrine of the artist.  Incredibly, this created an almost holy hush across the gallery particularly noticeable to regular Hauser PV guests.  The King had cast an intense spell and everyone seemed intoxicated by his power.  There are other works in the vault rooms downstairs and the gallery spaces on the top floor but they didn’t have quite the same impact as the resonance of the initial piece. Neither, was it easy to access them; ascending or descending the stairs involved getting far too ‘up close and personal’ with the other guests.

Paul McCarthy, Mad House Jr., 2011.  Copyright to, and courtesy of, the artist and via Hauser & Wirth,

Next, I wandered along Piccadilly to Beaux Arts who have an exhibition of paintings by Jonathan Leaman.  There is no doubt that his skill as an artist is exemplary and the paintings are good but, for me, they were not sensational (maybe this is unfair considering the act they had to follow).

Jonathan Leaman, The Great Pipe, 2006-2011.  Own photograph.

Leaman is visibly inspired by narrative works from the 17th and 18th centuries and he saturates his works with meanings and emotional incidents.  Beaux Arts had one particularly special visitor in the gallery, intent on cleaning his paws whilst offering the occasional greeting to anyone who intruded on his space by the bar.

Beaux Arts’ dog and the first dog in the blog. Own photograph.

Cork Street was awash with visitors and I passed at least five other tempting openings as I headed to my number three.  But, alas, there was no time.  Well, I say that but an enticing display of shoes distracted us for at least ten minutes.  Research for Artista, of course!

Kurt Geiger. Own photograph.

TAG Fine Arts have taken over the Air Gallery on Dover Street with an exhibition of maps.  Map-making is an ancient art form that has helped to form a coherent geographical image of the world.  But, maps are no longer merely useful objects to be used for navigation and this is often the last thing on the mind of the cartographer.  This exhibition shows how traditional topography has evolved into territory for imaginative exploration.  These are not just two-dimensional pieces but windows into imagined lands.

The Art of Mapping at the Air Gallery, Dover Street. Own photograph.

The Art of Mapping celebrates cartography as an art form in which artists use maps to respond to their environments, creatively register ideologies, emotions and ideas and present selective records of real or fictitious worlds.  Highlights are new works by Stephen Walter and Rob Ryan but the exhibition showcases a number of contemporary artists concentrating on these themes including a range of new works as well as old favourites like Simon Patterson’s The Great Bear.  From Google’s controversial Street View project, to the British Library’s Magnificent Maps exhibition, cartography is increasingly in the public eye.  One vodka tonic and lots of chatting later and time seemed to be running away with me…again!

Simon Patterson, The Great Bear, 1992. Own photograph.

My final stop was part two of the McCarthy exhibition at Hauser & Wirth on Savile Row.  The North Gallery is taken over by Pig Island, a work that took seven years to complete, filling McCarthy’s studio, blurring the boundaries between a work and the workplace.

Paul McCarthy, Pig Island, 2003-2010. Own photograph from the viewing ladder.

The sculpture combines political and popular figures, placing them in a morally deviant world overrun with images of reckless abandon.  Constructed and raised on blocks of polystyrene, the work is littered with wood, cast body parts, clay, spray paint and old fast-food containers.

Paul McCarthy, Pig Island, 2003-2010. Copyright to, and courtesy of, the artist and via Hauser & Wirth,

Pig Island looks intentionally unfinished – a raw and never-ending work that could expand into infinity.  There is something in every nook and cranny but the state of the piece means we can see McCarthy’s thinking and the development of his skewed ideas.  Stepladders are placed around the work to allow visitors a better view of the piece.  But, stilettos and a short dress meant I didn’t dare embark on this particular climb.  Instead, my loyal friend ventured up the ladder for me (and for you) with the camera and somehow managed not to fall headfirst into the island.

The ladders/viewing platforms for Pig Island. Own photograph.

The South Gallery presents some of the offspring of Pig Island which McCarthy himself has described as a sculpture machine.  Train, Mechanical shows two pot-bellied caricatures of George W. Bush, sodomising two pigs.

Paul McCarthy, Train, Mechanical, 2003-2009. Own photograph.

As perverse as it sounds, once again, it was impossible not to stop and stare.  The sculpture was intriguing and the audience were in no hurry to move away.  The work certainly brings out the voyeur in everyone.  I dare you not to stare at the rhythmic motion of the arses of presidents and pigs alike.

Paul McCarthy, detail of Train, Mechanical, 2003-2009. Own photograph.

Round the corner of the gallery, I gave in and changed into flats for my journey home.

Regent Street.

Walking down Regent Street, I had my first glimpse of this year’s Arthur Christmas Christmas lights – the countdown has truly begun.

Paul McCarthy: The King, The Island, The Train, The House, The Ship is at Hauser & Wirth Savile Row, Piccadilly and St James’s Square until 14th January 2012 (Paul McCarthy’s outdoor sculpture Ship Adrift, Ship of Fools will be on view until 15 February at St James’s Square),  Jonathan Leaman: As Above So Below, 5 Years in the Making is at Beaux Arts until 17th December 2011, Art of Mapping is at The Air Gallery until 26th November 2011,

From West to East and a Walk in the Park – Thursday of Frieze Week

14 Oct

Thursday of Frieze week and I was already exhausted with so many things yet to see.

Walking down Savile Row, I decided to pop into a new gallery and I’m pleased I did. Pilar Ordovas made headlines earlier this year when she announced plans to open her own gallery space. She was already well-known among the art world elite, partly for organising the famous, record-breaking sale of Lucian Freud’s Benefits Supervisor Sleeping. She isn’t shy of press. Having worked at Christie’s and managed London’s Gagosian, Ordovas decided to go it alone. One of the things that will make this space successful, other than Ordovas’ skill and vision, is her access to, and unique relationships with, artists. This first exhibition perfectly highlights her past experience. Having managed the estate of Valerie Beston (the private director of the Marlborough Gallery to whom Bacon bequeathed an astonishing collection of his works) in 2006, Ordovas was able to conceive this exhibition.

Ordovas on Savile Row. Image via

Irrational marks: Bacon and Rembrandt is a museum-quality, academic exhibition, hidden within the walls of a commercial gallery. This will be the first show to explore the connections and influences of Rembrandt’s late self-portraits and Bacon’s own self-portraits. The creative dialogue between the two artists is extraordinary. The exhibition also displays a number of working documents, found in Bacon’s studio after his death, splattered with paint, discarded after they had inspired the great artist. They are absolutely fascinating. Ordovas is certainly doing something new.

Downstairs at Ordovas on Savile Row. Image via

An art history professor friend once asked me if I’m conservative (I don’t think he meant in the political sense). ‘Yes’, I replied. ‘And, do you like Francis Bacon?’ he asked. ‘No, I love Francis Bacon’ was my response. ‘Well, then you are definitely not conservative’. Many years on, having seen people’s often extreme reactions to Bacon’s work I more fully understand what he meant but, to me, Bacon’s works are exquisite. The style may often be grotesque but they are sublime.

25 Savile Row is a beautiful space although the ‘frosting’ in the window actually looks as if they have not finished unpacking and we were unsure if they were actually open. Directly opposite Hauser & Wirth, I don’t think the galleries will conflict with one another as they are so different. Pilar Ordovas is helping to create a new arts hub in the heart of Mayfair.

Ordovas. Own photograph.

After lunch, I headed over to Frieze which, this year, felt like a chore. With more galleries than ever before, I thought the fair was remarkably bland. Still obviously feeling the effects of this long drawn-out recession, no-one had taken any risks. The VIP day having passed, most of the gallerists weren’t that bothered by the ‘general public’ bustling past their stands. Desks piled high with coffee cups and ipads (normally about three per stand) were far more amusing than the art and I couldn’t resist capturing the ennui.

Fed up at Frieze. Own photograph.

When we finished the long trek and my fellow fair-goer said his feet were hurting, I knew my moaning was justified. My legs ached. My stilettos clacked with less vigour than usual.

With no cabs to be found, I hobbled to Haunch craving the glass of wine that awaited me. This exhibition at least perked me up again – or was that the wine? Ahmed Alsouandi is an Iraqi artist who lives in New York. He uses the grotesque to explore war and conflict and the consequences of these atrocities. His deformed figures rework, and are inspired by, greats such as Goya and Bacon.

Ahmed Alsouandi at Haunch of Venison. Own photograph.

His vivid, over-saturated, palette both enhances the horror and detracts from the subject matter in an ironically joyous tone. Whilst his many influences are apparent, his work is certainly unique and his style his own. The turbulence and disfiguration are more a comment on general human conflict and physical disruption than specific warfare. From a distance, they could be mistaken for bright abstract patterns. Get closer, and you see tortured bodies, dismembered limbs and even a lone eyeball.

I’d forgotten how great the floor here is – a wonderful dark wood that works so well with whatever they hang. My signature photo would have shown this but my friend refused to squat on the floor of one of London’s major galleries to photograph my feet. The gallery was buzzing and, considering the competition this week, that is a mark of how good this show is.

Ahmed Alsouandi at Haunch of Venison. Own photograph.

Next on my list was Flowers Gallery – not the one in Mayfair unfortunately, I like to make my life difficult. Nicola Hicks has long been recognised as an important British artist. Having exhibited with Flowers for many years now, this demonstrates how astute the gallery were in picking her as a major talent after her selection in 1984 by Elisabeth Frink for their annual Artist for the Day exhibition. Her latest exhibition, which takes over the downstairs galleries at Flowers on Kingsland Road, is a new series of plaster sculptures based on Aesop’s Fables, the well-known children’s’ stories supposedly written by a slave in Ancient Greece in the 5th century BC.

Nicola Hicks’ Aesop’s Fables at Flowers. Own photograph.

Don’t be mistaken and think Hicks is merely depicting the Fables in illustratory form, as you couldn’t be more wrong. Instead these stories act as a catalyst for her work, providing a creative springboard for her wonderful imagination. The detail is incredible – the loose, tactile nature of the plaster means these works need, and deserve, closer inspection.

Although Hicks’ works have developed over time, she has been interested in animal forms from day one. Always heartfelt, she is able to do extraordinary things to her materials and contorts plaster in fantastic ways.

All of the anthropomorphic characters from the Fables are present, frozen in time for us to admire. The creatures are loveable and endearing, a humble theme for a wonderful artist who here explores empathy and beauty in a stunning new series of work. I have always loved Hicks’ sculpture so this exhibition was a treat for me. Who couldn’t fall for her dogs, gazing lovingly out with puppy dog eyes?

One of Hicks’ gorgeous dogs. Own photograph.

Upstairs is an exhibition by artist, Simon Roberts. Roberts is obviously a talented artist – he travelled across England in a motorhome for a year from 2007-2008 photographing England at leisure. His large horizons and country scenes play on a tradition of English landscape painting, studying our national identity in turn raising key social, economic and political issues. He finds beauty in the mundane but the photographs do not stand up to the brilliance of the exhibition downstairs.

Simon Roberts, Keynes Country Park Beach, Shornecote, Gloucestershire, 11th May 2008. Image via

I had planned to head to an exhibition at the Hospital Club but gossiping away over dinner next door and resting my weary limbs made me realise how tired I was. Or was that the wine too? Anyway, there was no chance I was going back into the West End again that night.

Irrational Marks: Bacon and Rembrandt is at Ordovas until 16th December 2011,  Ahmed Alsoudani is at Haunch of Venison Yard until 26th November 2011, Nicola Hicks: Aesop’s Fables and Simon Roberts: We English are both at Flowers, Kingsland Road, until 19th November 2011, For more of my Frieze photos, see

True or False? The Piccadilly Community Centre at Hauser & Wirth

1 Jun

With half an hour to spare I decided to explore Hauser & Wirth on Piccadilly which has been recently transformed into a fully-functioning community centre.  I have been to Hauser many times but as I approached the normally familiar space, I began to feel disorientated – a feeling that did not go away.  A ‘For Sale’ sign over the door makes you feel nervous about entering, a poster outside proclaims ‘Cheques cashed, payday loans’ and a charity collection box stands outside.  Hauser is no longer Hauser – it really has transformed itself and no-one would know that this is one of London’s top galleries.  The entrance hall is deserted – no one is manning the counter.  Was I meant to be here?

Own photograph.

‘The Piccadilly Community Centre’ is by artist Christoph Büchel, known for his overtly real installations.  The exhibition is in response to the Arts’ funding cuts yet, ironically, this is not a cheap installation – the scruffy exterior and faded posters, the fake walls and realistic installations have been expensive to produce.   At the top of the building is a squat – filthy, rancid and rather intimidating in its squalor.  It somehow seems almost too realistic to be believable.

The squat at Hauser & Wirth.  Image via

Hosting a daily schedule of wide-ranging classes, workshops and events, the gallery is unrecognisable.  You can go along to fence, sing, knit, try Brazilian Zouk dancing, take astrology classes…  You name it and you can probably do it there as organisations are flocking to participate in the programme.  Facilities include multifunctional spaces, a computer room, a non-denominational prayer room, an activity room, a community canteen, a community bar and a club.

Image via

The classes inside were in full swing – literally, in fact, as they did appear to be swing dancing.  But no, I wasn’t tempted (and didn’t have my dance shoes with me either)!  Every inch of wall is filled with notices advertising the schedule.  Many of the people using the community centre have no idea that it is a gallery.  They are unknowing participants in Büchel’s installation, benefitting from the facilities but oblivious to the fact they have become part of the artwork.  Like me, many of the usual ‘gallery-goers’ feel lost and displaced on entering.  There are clues around the centre that all is not as it seems – try to spot them if you can.

A policeman enjoying a class.  Image via

I felt lost – I went in and out a fair few times before being brave enough to explore the whole building.  Some people are making full use of the centre.  But, many of us are wandering around like headless chickens not really knowing what to do or where to go (in case you hadn’t realised I was in this category) and we, too, are part of the installation.

Whichever group you fit into it’s well worth a peek – don’t be scared, go and enjoy.

Piccadilly Community Centre is at Hauser & Wirth, Piccadilly until 30 July 2011 – or

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Chris Markiewicz's Blog
Every Monday – thoughts, observations and ideas that hold up a mirror to who & how we are

Posts Tagged ‘Older comedians

Nigel Roberts

August 31, 2015

“If you haven’t grown up by age 50, you don’t have to” (Recent Facebook meme) Last Monday evening I was performing my stand up routine at a club called The Hideaway, just down the Northern Line from me in Archway. I was there on my own as Ingrid had to tend to Murphy, our dog, […]


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Local Eats: Bamiyan Kabob

I often go for lunch in restaurants located in the mini-mall close to the office, but never had I gone to try out Bamiyan Kabob until now. It’s one of a handful of restaurants that have survived while others have come and gone. I was always deterred by the long lineups and thought that I would have to wait a while for my food to be prepared, and I was not wrong. After all, this is another kabob restaurant, and they’re all cooked over charcoal. This past Monday, I decided to check it out. One of the perks of having an early lunch is bypassing the crazy lineups. Upon entering, you can’t help but admire the colours and layout of the restaurant.

Bamiyan Kabob is an Afghani restaurant in the Greater Toronto Area with five locations, two of which are located in Mississauga. There are a number of other restaurants in the area that offer kabobs, but I’ve always wondered why they were always packed with customers. So I went to the counter to place my order. The young lady at the counter was friendly and apologized for taking too long to get back to her post after having attended to the customer ahead of me. I placed my order, and waited…

I ordered the Sultani Kabob dinner, which consisted of one Kofta Kabob, which is a skewer of lean ground beef marinated in spices; and one Barg Kabob, which are chunks of fillet mignon marinated in spices. The dinner plate includes brown basmati rice, salad, and freshly baked naan bread. The special house hot sauce that came with the meal had a nice kick to it, but not too much to ruin your pallet.

Both kabobs were cooked well done, but were very tender. The spices in the marinade gave it a nice flavour, and it brought me to the world of Afghani cuisine. The friendliness of the staff, and the layout of the restaurant, combined with the flavourful dishes the restaurant offers are what give customers the reason to come back. The Sultani Kabob set me back $12.49 + taxes, but it was worth it. The rest of their dishes are $10.99 or less, and for what you get on the plate, it is very reasonable.

If I may recommend, try the dough to compliment the meal. It is a yogurt based drink with cucumber and mint. It is very refreshing, not heavy, and goes perfectly with any of their kabobs. ‘Til then, happy eating!

Bamiyan Kabob
5120 Dixie Rd.
Mississauga, ON L4W4J7
Tel #: (905) 268-0848
URL: www.bamiyankabob.com

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