EVENTS – Page 2 – Letters from Athens

Wild Thing—a book review

Wild thing is a life of the artist Paul Gaugin. Sue Prideaux does her subject proud—she is a sympathetic and judicious biographer who writes like a novelist and has researched her subject from different angles.

The biography contains information which was new to me. Gaugin had an extremely varied and interesting life, knowing both riches and poverty.

I will not reveal too much detail because it is a book well worth reading. But did you know that Gauguin:

-Spent the first seven years of his life in Peru, which left indelible impressions of colour, heat and life in him? To my mind, this explains a lot about his palette and use of colour.

-That he then led a very bourgeois existence, working at the Bourse in Paris and becoming extremely wealthy? Even as he started painting and married, he lived luxuriously, spending without a thought for the future.

Then the Bourse failed in 1882 and for the rest of his life he was poor, living a hand to mouth existence, begging and borrowing from friends. He often did not have enough to eat.

-That he had a very complicated and close relationship with Vincent Van Gogh, which continued up to his death. Read the book to find out details of the famous ear-cutting episode.

-That Vincent’s brother, Theo Van Gogh, was Gauguin’s agent.

-That he was deeply affected by attending a public execution in Paris: the death by guillotine of a mysterious murderer.

-That he was greatly inspired by the colonial exhibits at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower, built for the celebration, soared heavenward, lit by electric light. Round its feet sprang recreations of the colonies and their treasures, from which he borrowed elements and incorporated them into his art. For this Camille Pissarro called him a bricoleur, a cobbler-together of second-hand ideas.

The book details his marriage and relationship to his children, and his friendships and dealings with prominent men of his world, such as André Gide, Pierre Loti, August Strindberg, Frederick Delius and others. One of his main supporters in hours of need was Edgar Degas. The biography is full of delicious anecdotes of this crowd of supremely talented men.

Finally we get an account of his latter years in Tahiti, where he ended up almost by chance. Gaugin’s life is one of the richest in the history of wester art, and Sue Prideaux does it full justice.

*Les ancêtres de Tehamana, 1893 (portrait of* *Tehura).*

Highly recommended.

Kerry James Marshall at the Royal Academy

On a flying visit to London I took the opportunity to see an outstanding exhibition of the work of American artist Kerry James Marshall.

*2009. Acrylic on PVC panel. Notice the painting by numbers on the wall?*

I had never before seen his paintings in person, and they are very powerful indeed.

*Untitled (Studio) 2014. I love the bright pots of paint—the yellow seems to have dripped onto the dog under the table.*

Marshall is an artist possessed of a vivid imagination, and his work is full of references which span art history, civil rights, comics, science fiction, his own memories and more.

There is a very wide range of work on display, and I cannot say I liked it all, but the large paintings—some just huge sheets of canvas pinned to the wall—were fascinating. They are vivid, acrylic works full of signage, collage and hidden references; they are realistic, but also contain allegory and symbolism.

Every painting tells a story—and every time you look, you notice another detail. Sheets of music, code numbers, letters and words, flowers and animals. There are references to historic events, especially concerning Black history and slavery, but he also celebrates daily life and imagines optimistic futures.

*This was an enormous roll of canvas pinned to the wall. I love the people’s postures and their bright clothes*

An artist and professor, Kerry James Marshall was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1955, and is probably one of the most influential painters working in America right now. In 2017, Marshall was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

*For some reason most of the photos I took were crooked, so I had to crop them before posting.*

His subject matter is African-American life and history. If you zoom in on the photos, you will notice a lot more detail.

*Untitled (Underpainting) 2018. Monochrome work (literally an underpainting) of Black kids on a museum trip*

Despite his often bleak subject matter, Marshall’s work is joyful and optimistic—due to his vivid palette, but also because his subjects appear to be enjoying themselves.

*Keeping the Culture, (2010, Oil on board) depicts an Afrofuturistic household where the future merges with the past.*

In a 1998 interview with Bomb Magazine, Marshall observed:

“Black people occupy a space, even mundane spaces, in the most fascinating ways. Style is such an integral part of what black people do that just walking is not a simple thing. You’ve got to walk with style. You’ve got to talk with a certain rhythm; you’ve got to do things with some flair. And so in the paintings I try to enact that same tendency toward the theatrical that seems to be so integral a part of the black cultural body.”

Sou Fujimoto – A fascinating architect

In more news of my trip to Japan, one afternoon we went to the Mori Art Museum expecting to see contemporary art, only to find there was an exhibition on the architect Sou Fujimoto.

This proved to be fascinating, because he was inspired by the shapes in nature to create buildings which are both avant garde and pleasing to the eye.

The exhibition consisted of maquettes of a variety of mostly public buildings, some of which had actually been built, while other had not, due to practical or financial considerations.

This is a plan (below) for an urban hub to be built along the Sava river in Belgrade, where ‘the building converts flows of people into architecture, creating a “cloud” of slopes that converge in a spiral.’ Pretty cool, no?

*Béton Hala Waterfront Center. 2011* *(conceptual) Belgrade*

There was one mock-up, The Grand Ring for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansas, which was impressive if one considered the scale.

A number of Fujimoto’s sketches on display gave insights into his thought processes, as did a video where he is interviewed and talks about his inspirations.

There was even a futuristic city made up of spherical units which ‘function as “breathing devices” rather than mere structures.’

‘In this future city, we define space not merely as a container, but rather a place where different values and life forms can meet and converse with each other.’ Perhaps we will have a need of cities like these when we have polluted our planet beyond redemption…

The art of Kintsugi

Meet Sanga, our overgrown and over enthusiastic puppy. In one day he ate my slippers, shredded my favourite pashmina and broke the lovely little plate above.

Having got over my extreme annoyance and digested the fact that both slippers and pashmina were shot, I thought it would be an opportunity to try something which has intrigued me for a while: the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi.

Kintsugi, which probably originated in the 15th century, is a method of repairing broken pottery by mending it with urushi lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. People became so enamored of the new art that some were accused of deliberately smashing valuable pottery so it could be repaired with the gold seams of kintsugi. Sometimes a pottery piece was chosen for deformities then deliberately broken and repaired, instead of being discarded.

Kintsugi means “to join with gold” and it serves as reminder to stay optimistic when things fall apart and to celebrate the flaws and missteps of life.

Kintsugi encompasses a profound meaning and philosophy beyond mere repair, namely the idea of embracing imperfection and impermanence and transforming them into something valuable. It reflects an aesthetic perspective on the way people live, since from this perspective our life is like a vessel.

A good Kintsugi vessel can be very expensive, because it requires months of intricate work. My plate was only broken neatly in two pieces, and I used glue mixed with gold powder (courtesy of YouTube) but I can assure you it is a messy and delicate procedure which ended in my kitchen looking as if a gold storm had hit it.

I am too impatient for the real thing, I’m afraid. Look at this:

And here’s an interesting video on the real thing

Preaching to fish

Noted by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history, being canonized less than a year after his death.

Born in Portugal of wealthy and noble parents, Anthony joined the Church early on and ended up in Italy after his ship was blown off course on a return journey from Morocco.

Although he died at 35, Anthony led a busy and varied life, preached in many places in Italy and France and performed many miracles. One can easily read about his life (there is a lengthy Wikipedia entry) but the reason I am writing about him is that I came, entirely by chance, upon this weird and wonderful detail of a mural in the Basilica di Sant’Antonio da Padova, of him preaching to a bunch of fish.

*Just look at the expressions on those fish faces. Priceless*

The story of Anthony “preaching to the fish” originated in Rimini, where he had gone to preach. When the Cathar heretics there treated him with contempt, Anthony was said to have gone to the shoreline, where he began to preach at the water’s edge until a great crowd of fish was seen gathered before him. The people of the town and even heretics flocked to see this marvelous thing and were moved to listen to Anthony’s preaching.

There are other paintings of this event, but this one has a special flavour to it.

More Easter Nonsense

In homage to Glen Baxter

Born in Leeds in 1944, Glen Baxter is an English draughtsman and artist, known for his absurdist drawings and a general ambience of literary nonsense.

I have always loved his insane and incongruous sense of humour and his old-fashioned drawing style, and own a few of his books.

Here is a sample, for those who have survived the excesses of the day and are in need of a laugh.

Should you enjoy this kind of thing, you can look him up on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/glenbaxterartist/

Happy Easter everyone!

This year, everyone celebrates Easter together.

Due to complicated calculations concerning the Vernal Equinox, the split between the Roman and Byzantine Empires and their different calendars and the division of the Christian Church into Orthodox and Catholic (look it up, people, I can’t be bothered to explain further) usually there are two Easters, one for each church. Sometimes, though, they coincide—and this year they do (the last time was in 2017).

Therefore I am in the happy position to wish you all a Happy Easter, wether you smash red eggs or wait for the Easter Bunny. Enjoy your lamb on the spit, your Hot Cross buns, your Easter Bonnet Parade (is that still a thing?), your egg hunts and your indigestion. Or anything else in your local or family traditions.

And a Happy New Year

What is it that makes the turn of the year fill us with hope? It is a totally fictitious concept. Nothing changes in reality—it is just another day. And yet…most of us think of it as a new start.

Looking at the year’s photos that are published around this time in the papers, there is not much to make the heart glad. Wars, poverty, natural catastrophes, displaced populations—the list never ends. But one could focus on this kind of thing every day of every year, or find images to lift the spirits. Wonderful landscape and wildlife photos, reminding us we live on a beautiful planet, very much worth preserving. Images of everyday life, music, art and performances. It always makes me hopeful for humankind when I see how many people enjoy going round exhibitions or pay good money to watch concerts and plays.

*A good time to go out with friends (pencil on paper WIP – detail)*

So let us take this opportunity to see a few good friends, spend time with family (if one can stand them, obvs!), perhaps make a donation somewhere, make a couple of (un-followable) resolutions, drink a glass of bubbly. Us Greeks will be baking or buying a Vassilopita, the traditional cake which we cut on New Year’s Day (or for months afterwards! – because one has to be eaten in every office, business, association or club as well as in every family) and devouring sugar-dusted kourabiedes or syrup-soaked melomakarona.

My Christmas wishes were very belated this year, due to a technical glitch, but they were heartfelt, and so are my wishes to all of you, for a wonderful 2025. Health, joy and may the world be a better place.

Merry Christmas!

My best wishes to all my bloggy friends, wherever you might be in the world.

An Intervention

Artist duo Elmgreen&Dragset were invited to exhibit their work in the iconic sculpture gallery of the Musée d’Orsay.

They called this installation, consisting of a number of boyish figures engaged in incongruous—in the context—pursuits, L’Addition.

Michael Elmgreen (born 1961 in Copenhagen, Denmark) and Ingar Dragset (born 1969 in Trodheim, Norway) have worked together as an artist duo since 1995, exploring the relationship between art, architecture and design.

Elmgreen&Dragset live and work in Berlin. They are known for art work that has wit and subversive humour, and also addresses social and cultural concern. Their work is too varied and prolific to be described in a short post, but anyone interested can look them up on Wikipedia—and they are, indeed, interesting.

For the first time in its history, the Musée d’Orsay invited someone to intervene in the museum’s permanent display of 19^th century sculpture, which has remained the same for nearly 40 years.

As quoted in the museum’s site: In a trans-historical encounter between past and present, L’Addition highlights themes of evolving masculinities, solitude, and the magic of everyday situations. There is a certain beauty to be found in each of the fleeting moments captured in the works, whether it is in the pause before jumping from a diving board, the split second before a drone is sent off from a child’s hand, or a glimpse through the lens of a camera.

The figures are made of bronze, stainless steel and laquer. Boys waiting to dive, taking pictures from the mezzanine, setting off drones or just lounging upside down on the ceiling. It was all pretty cool, and an extra treat combined with the Caillebotte exhibition.