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Working men’s clubs and pubs

An unusual spot of influence to the visual imagery depicted in the contemporary paintings has come from the post’s eponymous title.

The recent exhibition visit to the UKs capital hubbub for culture and arts has invigorated the desire to paint with purpose and for pleasure. The main seismic force behind this revelation has been to continue the much-loved practice of painting, whilst continuing to search for the answers to questions relating to the medium such as “what is its place in the future?”, “how is it different today from the last decade?” and more. These queries are not necessarily the result of searching for further tutelage in the form of an extensive painting course or Masters further education, but predominantly from the mindset of choosing ones bed and laying in it.

In the eponymous posts venues there can be found multitudes of alcoholic beverage glasses, gambling machines, dart boards and much more down-to-earth working class icons that symbolise nostalgia and reality. In these locations the last remnants of the dinosaurs that once ruled the earth exist as mobile exhibits in museums that testify to their ancestors.

In this respect the paintings’ consistent theme of nationalism is always present and much like society today that has graduated from the Y2K scare, everything is constantly changing, and adapting. One day; and most of us hope it will not come; the dictionary will only be available electronically and several editions of paper publications will become the fabled tablets that have been introduced and slowly imposed upon this hemisphere.

Despite giving a mixed review of last year’s first film in a new teenie franchise THE HUNGER GAMES, directed and co-adapted by Gary Ross (SEABISCUIT, 2003 and PLEASANTVILLE, 1998 fame), the film was perhaps the most realistic portrayal of life in the future-to-be where technology culture and liberal fashions have become standard against morally upright behaviour. Unfortunately the film still missed key moments to contribute provoking thought to social climates and poltical engagements. However this is not a review blog or entry, and the films relation to this conversation’s topic is to present an example of the troubles that should be exhaled from our lungs, replaced by breathable culture and philosophic discussion.

It seems nostalgia is still the petrol which fuels this blogs alienation to the greater society we are living in today, and whether it deserves to be deemed a world fit to raise your children or start a family.

Luckily there are some aspects to culture and the arts that make the world not ending in 2012 sweet and charming such as the long-standing paintings of Old Masters like Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), Fransisco Goya (1796-1828) and Modern Masters such as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Philip Guston (1913-1980).

Just being surrounded by like-minded people in a friendly yet challenging environment with minimal violence but maximum competance like a pub allows one to appreciate their home-grown roots and current national identity.

These situations seem to produce revolutionary images of objects utilised to everyday means and becoming synonymous with status such as smoking pipes, moustaches, dart boards and more. With the passage of time, some of these idiosyncratic objects have entered the canvases of some of the best contemporary painters working today that serve as influence such as Ryan Mosley (b. 1980).

When it appears as though there are few reasons worth living in a time period where a nine year-old girl gives birth to a child whose father is seventeen years old, contemporary painting revitalises that feeling of imagination and a creative impulse that has beautifully crossed-over from previous centuries to the present day.

Let the arts no longer be liberal but belong to the left or the right, because you do not paint with your torso but your hand.


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End of Graduate Residency

The conclusion of this 6-month Graduate Artist Residency here at AirSpace Gallery from September 2012 to February 2013 resulted in the cultivation of a debut solo show that will forever be listed on the curriculum vitae, and records.

The affectionately titled GRANDFATHER solo exhibition was (without displaying bias) a triumph of communal involvement. Along with the Residency programme, the time spent at Stoke-on-Trent’s premier venue for contemporary art has taught lessons in writing and achieving life goals that will hopefully carry into the future. With that in mind, regular submissions and art prizes previously avoided should be expecting another plus one applicant in attendance to their respective events.

Be it may a poster, or a gavel the trick to enforcing justice is a marketing tool that grabs attention. (tweet from twitter.com/adamkellyeu, 2013)

Response from visitors has been positive, with some feeling the work expresses unique qualities to contemporary painting, whilst others express a lukewarm invitation to the exhibit via the cloaked figure in the window [Survived Socialism #1 (version two) see image].

Based in the Hanley city centre of Stoke-on-Trent, AirSpace has a pleasant atmosphere as an ambassador to contemporary art, protected by SoT Police Station Headquarters (five minutes walk), critically evaluated by the City Central Library (five minutes walk), and historically aligned with the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (two minutes walk).

Even without the studio and mentored support of AirSpace and its resident artists, the blog will carry on its course, noting interests, fascinations and updates in the world of contemporary art.

GRANDFATHER at AirSpace Gallery ends tomorrow, with impressive visitor numbers spanning it’s run from 25 January to 2 February, and becoming the organisation’s second exhibition of the new year.


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Weather Affliction and Contemporary Art

The opening of a long-awaited debut solo show GRANDFATHER at AirSpace Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent has seen the whole area swept by heavy snow, converting it into a blank canvas begging for painting.

This has caused a probable decrease in expected numbers of attendance but nonetheless historical and personal records attached to several persons will indicate it’s existence and therefore an undeniable fact.

From the 25 January to 2 February 2013, the exhibition will run from 11am to 5pm everyday except Sunday and Monday when the venue is closed.

This learns another lesson about planning for weather conditions and their impact on contemporary art, and not just from visitor record numbers but also in how the presentation of the work might communicate with the socioeconomic pretenses. It is the same thinking that begs us to question the choice of venue, the selected arts practitioners etc etc.

In this context, the snow which is uniquely European, has almost re-created the atmosphere of a city held in the highest regard by the exhibits leading painter: Warsaw. During the most cherished memories of the capital of Poland, the city has been receptive to fiercely cold conditions that have ironically caused an increase in personal labour, resulting in more painters, sculptors etc to think, to question and to produce to heart’s content.

In a stunning turn of events, though visitor figures are affected, the increased dependency on imagination and consideration of life goals has only increased.

Whereas if this or any other residency was located in an environment with the harshest heat conditions that would naturally cause a desire to explore the world outside ones mind (external growth), the snow has caused an external growth, gathering friends, family, tutors etc together in the hopes of meeting an artistic stereotype: sitting and conversing the questions of the universe.


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New Contemporary Paintings

Although produced within the last weeks leading up to the debut solo show GRANDFATHER, the newly exhibited paintings show a depth to artistic control and determination, foreclosing theory and existential texts in favour of lifting a paintbrush and using it for it’s key purpose: to paint.

It would seem daunting to keep throwing around posts about creating new pieces of work which either have or have not fruition-ed but that is just one key lesson learned on this Graduate Residency, to be mentioned at the evaluation meeting soon.

Without applauding ones self, the paintings continue the Surrealist practice of automatic painting, commissioning the painter to imagine imagery out of the mind. Abstracted from real-life, and turning the inanimate animate or the blackly comic into colour has been an astounding experience, contemplating the ability to be in control of ones life and thus their practice.

Speculating the described image below in intentional, allowing for viewer’s to accumulate their own interpretation’s of it’s picture plane:

Painting: Polish Sausage (Kabanos) – see website

A grass green background accentuates two folded rectangles, one pink one purple. Accompanying the oddly abstracted currency notes are three brown saturated pieces of food (the eponymous sausages) that have spawned two eyes. To top the picture, a diluted aqua blue puddle shaped smile sits adjacent to the lower right corner of the piece, producing an overall face that is shadowed by hints of a darker shade of green.

Without penalising or mocking the visually impaired, this description hopefully makes a point that without describing the context of the image, and without producing a photograph of the titular painting, the viewer can imagine it in much the same way as the artist has imagined its improvised production.

For actual images of the work included in GRANDFATHER, please visit the author’s web-link at www.adam-kelly.com


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Grandfather

With the opening of the long-awaited debut solo show, GRANDFATHER, one is found with pride and conviction of their actions that have led the beginning to the end of the Graduate Residency a success.

Changes were made, thought processes were visualised, and goals were achieved with thank yous pointed out toward the gallery administrators for their continued support and encouragement.

Officially this blog will not be concluded, and all posts ascertaining to the partnership with the gallery will be maintained respectively. However the residency will officially conclude with the show’s conclusion on Saturday 2 February 2013.

Without providing a spolier alert to viewers, GRANDFATHER has included both previously existing and newly made work, including two sculptures (one temporary).

This residency or any in a general sense can be encourage to those pondering a future in contemporary arts, much like the Professional Futures module of study (known by variable names) at University BA courses. Seeking temporary or permanent employment during the module generated decisive behaviour which would allow the person to consider their prospects. In comparison, a residency also teaches the practice of setting life goals; and without falling into a Nietzsche-esque depression; question the fabric of the subject’s wants and needs.

Now is the time to browse the Degree Shows of 2013 and discover graduates whom are determined and autonomous. Because if there is one underlying concept evident in the title exhibition it is “to keep being creative”.


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