life model

I had two of the poem pictures I made of Suki's poems exhibited at the Domestic Cherry exhibition at the Artsite & The Post Modern Gallery in Swindon. I think this one is my favourite.

Swindon Literature Festival

Suki, Helen Peyton and I were in Swindon at the weekend for the Literature Festival. Suki and Helen toasted the weeked with a glass each of red wine before we set off with me driving. We stopped at a service station on the way and had a picnic off the bonnet of the car in the car park eating the red caviar sandwiches that Suki had packed - she said it was all she had in the fridge!

On Friday we went to a lively poetry night for the launch of Hilda Sheehan's poetry collection 'The Night My Sister Went To Hollywood'. Beforehand we made lots of new friends in a small Portuguese tapas bar. Afterwards we drank lots of champagne to celebrate at Lower Shaw Farm where we were staying - Suki particularly liked the champagne!

On Saturday we were busy setting up for a performance of Under The Gaze. Suki also read from her poetry collection Kunst. Suki and Helen were brilliant. The audience loved it and there was a lively discussion. There is a review of the event here. If you missed it then do try to get to Grassington Arts Festival where it will be repeated.

Hilda drew a lovely picture of Suki at the event. When her young daughter, Flo, saw it she must have decided it was rude as Suki was naked so kindly gave her some clothes.

I like it!

PS A big thank you to Michael Scott for all his help.

Dean Clough Life Room

Suki and my first LIFE ROOM was exhibited on a permanent loop at Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax, UK over the weekend. It can still be seen there on request - just ask at reception. I've now also put it online on my website here.

This picture is from that audio-visual presentation. It is of Doug Binder, Artist in Residence at Dean Clough, organiser of the life-drawing class there every Monday and curator of the current exhibition.

The First LIFE ROOM

The LIFE ROOM is an ongoing audio-visual and creative writing project between myself as a photographer and the poet and life model Suki.

We are gradually producing a series of three minute audio-visual pieces representing around twenty life-drawing groups plus the studios of some individual artists, mostly from around Yorkshire in the north of England.

The first audio-visual piece, 'THE LIFE ROOM I: Dean Clough' will be exhibited at Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax, UK, on Saturday (4th May 2013), where Douglas Binder is Artist in Residence. Doug organises a life-drawing class there every Monday (to which anyone is welcome: see details on Suki's site here - scroll to Halifax). Our piece will be projected in a room close to Reception - do ask if you cannot find it. It is a series of photographs of the artists drawing and painting Suki, accompanied by a jazz track chosen by Doug. The context for our piece being shown is the launch of an exhibition by Doug and his life drawing group, plus exhibitions of the work of all the Dean Clough Studio Artists.

I will upload 'THE LIFE ROOM I: Dean Clough' both on this blog and on my website next week. In the meantime, here is a photograph taken from it, of artist Keith Hanselman.

Chester

Feisty Fraulein J and Calm Nick invited Suki to accompany them on a visit to Chester and I went along for the ride. April weather - lovely sunshine and sharp showers. The showers drove us into the shops and galleries. Suki needed to buy a button. Then we went for a latte and cake.

 

Suki and I stood outside a gallery being critical of a large oil painting given central space in the window. It was a female nude, seductive and coy, breasts hidden by an arm, her hips draped in silk. Ok for a footballer's wife's bedroom perhaps who could afford the £5000 price tag. It was by Mark Spain. I cannot find a copy online of the particular painting we were looking at but it was similar to Morning Light on this page.

It seemed kitsch, soft art porn. Why did it seem like that to me? What makes this so different from the many images prduced by artists of Suki? Suki does not generally pose to be seductive and coy.

Blatant, open, challenging perhaps, but rarely coy.

The art work of Suki somehow has more character - but trying to identify why was difficult.

The painting in front of us had been created with some skill. What was missing from it? What was at fault? The pose, the model, the artist or were we just being downright snobs?