Studio notes from the contemporary painter Gregg Chadwick
R.B. Kitaj: London to Los Angeles
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
"R.B. Kitaj was one of the pre-eminent figure painters working in post-war London. Despite the acclaim he achieved in his lifetime, since his death in 2007 he has not been widely exhibited in London and many areas of art historical research into his work await exploration. His paintings and drawings, especially those made in his Los Angeles period between 1997 and 2007, warrant more detailed appraisal than they have yet received. Outstanding research topics reach far beyond a consideration of his source materials and include his ambiguous interposition between modernity and post-modernity, his self-conscious use of eclectic styles as a vehicle for meaning, and the varied networks he connected with, from the swinging London of his friends David Hockney and Mick Jagger to the Beat scene of California. In short, Kitaj and his work are long overdue for reconsideration.
In collaboration with Piano Nobile, the Courtauld Research Forum will contribute to that process of reconsideration. Coinciding with Piano Nobile’s exhibition R.B. Kitaj: London to Los Angeles the event will include a screening of Colin Wiggins’s film about Kitaj, made in 2001 to accompany the National Gallery exhibition Kitaj in the Aura of Cézanne and Other Masters. The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Colin Wiggins, former Special Projects Curator at the National Gallery; Jennifer Ramkalawon, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Nordic Graphic Art at the British Museum and author of Kitaj Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné; and Marinka Ellidge, one of the artist’s sitters.
Colin Wiggins worked for over thirty years as Head of Education and Special Projects Curator at the National Gallery. He was responsible for the Associate Artist scheme and in 2001 he curated the exhibition Kitaj in the Aura of Cézanne and Other Masters.
Marinka Ellidge was a friend of R.B. Kitaj’s and one of his life models in the seventies and early eighties.
Jennifer Ramkalawon is Curator of Modern and Contemporary Nordic Graphic Art at the British Museum and author of Kitaj Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné.
Luke Farey, who will moderate the discussion, is a specialist in twentieth-century British art and has been Piano Nobile’s Researcher since 2018.
This event is organised in collaboration between Piano Nobile, the East Wing Biennial and their exhibition VS1: Embodiment, and The Courtauld Research Forum."
Frida Kahlo Viva la Vida 59 x 50.7 cm. oil on masonite 1954 Frida Kahlo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico. Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin, was inspired by the life and art of the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, while recording Coldplay's latest album: Viva la Vida . Martin was struck by the appeal to life gouged into the watermelon in the foreground of Frida's Viva la Vida which he viewed on a visit to the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City, Both Frida Kahlo and her husband Diego Rivera were involved in revolutionary politics in the Americas. Both artists felt it was their responsibility to point out and help change the injustices in society. But the band has used another painter's work to stand in for their inspiration. Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People graces the cover of Coldplay's new album. Though, the painting has been tagged by Frida, Chris, Banksy or perhaps Ricky Martin in white paint with the phrase "Long Live Life!" The undamage...
Update; January 26, 2010 The statue is of Tawaret the goddess of protection during pregnancy and childbirth. Temple of Haroeris and Sobek, Kom Ombo , copyright by Gary Jones . The Egyptian god Sobek seems to be the inspiration for the giant statue on LOST. I was leaning towards Anubis but the crocodilian snout gives it away. (Anubis was probably a bit too close to Stargate anyway.) Gary Jones' masterful photo of the Temple of Haroeris and Sobek in Egypt shows Sobek in detail. The light in Jones' photo is stunning - mysterious and beckoning. Caroline Seawright writes of Sobek: "Having the form of a crocodile, the Egyptians believed that he also had the nature of a crocodile. He could be the strong, powerful symbol of the pharaoh, showing the ruler's might. He could use this force to protect the justified dead in their after life, and be the protector and rescuer of the other gods... yet he could also use that power to savage his enemies and the sinful decease...
by Gregg Chadwick While glancing at the schedule for this week’s National Critics Conference (May 25-28, 2005) at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles, I came across the description for Elizabeth Zimmer's "Kamikaze Writing Workshop." Obviously the word "kamikaze" has shifted in tone and meaning since it first entered the American vocabulary during the last years of WWII. I doubt that Zimmer’s criticism class will make a fiery plunge into the conference hall as a final project. But I was reminded of the important work being done in the fields of aesthetics and history by Emiko Ohnuki – Tierney at the University of Wisconsin. Cherry blossom send off. Kamikaze means "divine wind" in Japanese, and originally referred to a miraculous typhoon that saved Japan from a Mongolian invasion force in the 13th century. The Japanese Navy used this term to describe their suicide attack planes. In America, the word "kamikaze" describes actions that are...
Comments