Frank Stella - Haunch of Venison

Frank Stella, Delta, 1958

My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen there is there. It really is an object... If the painting were lean enough, accurate enough or right enough, you would just be able to look at it. All I want anyone to get out of my paintings, and all I ever get out of them, is the fact that you can see the whole idea without any confusion...What you see is what you see. 

Frank Stella in Glaser, B. and Lippard, L. R. (1966) "Questions to Stella and Judd", Art News, September, (discussion originally broadcast on WBAI-FM, New York, February 1964 as "New Nihilism or New Art?"), reprinted in Battcock, Gregory ed. (1968) Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology, London: Studio Vista, pp157-8

A rare exhibition of work by Frank Stella, one of my very favourite artists, is at Haunch of Venison from 30 September to 19 November. Read an article about Stella by Alastair Sooke and see his interview on The Culture Show (BBC2).

Frank Stella, Grape Island, 1958

Frank Stella, Sidney Guberman, 1964

Frank Stella, Les Indes Galantes, 1962

Frank Stella, Basra Gate I, 1968

Frank Stella, Gkinne II, 1972

I wanted to get the paint out of the can and onto the canvas. I knew a wise guy who used to make fun of my painting, but he didn't like the Abstract Expressionists either. He said they would be good painters if they could only keep the paint as good as it is in the can. And that's what I tried to do. I tried to keep the paint as good as it was in the can.

Frank Stella in Glaser, B, and Lippard, L. R. (1966) "Questions to Stella and Judd", Art News, September, (discussion originally broadcast on WBAI-FM, New York, February 1964 as "New Nihilism or New Art?"), reprinted in Battcock, Gregory ed. (1968) Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology, London: Studio Vista, p157.

Pipilotti Rist - Hayward Gallery

The first British survey show of Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist has opened at the Hayward Gallery and continues until 8 January 2012.

In his review of the exhibition, Adrian Searle, quotes Rist describing humans as "permanently juicy machines"! He describes her multimedia work - including a chandelier made of underpants ("temples of the abdomen" - in Rist's words) and a video of her singing and dancing (topless) like Minnie Mouse (see below) as "a shout for bodily pleasures and sensuality". What's not to like? (Find out in Laura Cumming's review!) See also: "Caressing Space: Pipilotti Rist interviewed by Patricia Bickers", in Art Monthly (2011), October 2011, No.350, pp1-4.

Pipilotti Rist, still from I'm Not The Girl Who Misses Much, 1986 - watch the video here.

Pipilotti Rist, still from Selbstlos in Lavabad (Selfless in the Bath of Lava), - watch video here.

Pipilotti Rist, Massachusetts Chandelier

Barry Flanagan - Tate Britain

Barry Flanagan, 4 casb 2 '67, 1967 (Tate Collection)

Barry Flanagan: Early Works 1965-1982 is at Tate Britain until 2 January 2012. Read Barry Flanagan: Hare Today, but Not gone Tomorrow, by Richard McNeff and his 2009 obituary by Catherine Lampert and review by Laura Cumming.

Barry Flanagan, aaing j gni aa, 1965 (Tate Collection)

Barry Flanagan, Pdreeoo, 1965

Barry Flanagan, ringn '66, 1966 (Tate Collection)

Barry Flanagan, Light on Light on Sacks, 1969

Barry Flanagan, Leaping Hare embellished, 2/3 Jan '80 , 1980 (Tate Collection)

Weavels - Xposed Club at Meantime, Cheltenham

Xposed Club returns with performances by Weavels and Flying Down Trio at Meantime, on Saturday, 1st October 2012.

Poster by Mark Unsworth

Weavels, with Chris Cundy on bass clarinet, Mick Beck on bassoon and whistles and Alex Ward on guitar, are a trio who formed in 2006 playing gigs in London and Sheffield, where their new album ‘At Nether Edge’ was recorded for the Discus label.

Flying Down Trio, with Mike Adcock on piano/accordion and percussion, Mark Unsworth on keyboard/synths and Stuart Wilding on percussion, play music which is rooted in free improvisation. Mike, Mark and Stuart, all based in Cheltenham, are part of the Cheltenham Improvisers Orchestra and have played together in different contexts over the last few years. Stuart featured on Mike’s 2009 CD 'In the Case of Darkness' (33 Records) and Mark and Stuart have recently performed as the duo ‘Warp and Weft’ appearing at the 2010 Linien Festival in Germany.

Xposed Club at Meantime, Oxford Passage, off St Margaret's Road, Cheltenham on Saturday 1st Ocrober. £4.00 on the door, starts 8.00pm. 

Picture Editors' Guild Awards 2011

  Matt Dunham, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall react as their car is attacked by protesters in Regent Street, London, 9 December, 2010

Matt Dunham is the SABMiller Photographer of the Year, 2011 in the The UK Picture Editors' Guild Awards 2011 See all the category winners and commended entries here. 

Postmodernism - V&A

i-D, no 28. The Art Issue, August 1985. Styled by William Faulkner, design by Terry Jones, photograph by Nick Knight, featuring Lizzy Tear

 Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990 will be at the V&A 24 September 2011-15 January 2012.
Postmodernism, notoriously tricky to define, can be understood as a 'cultural condition' which arguably affected (infected?) every area of life from popular culture to philosophy, from identity politics to literature;  understandably, this exhibition takes a narrower perspective on the phenomenon, focusing in particular on architecture, design and popular culture, but including some examples of fine art, too. (Though it is, perhaps, ironic to make such a distinction: There are no longer any agreed and inviolable criteria which can serve to differentiate art from popular culture. - Strinati, D. (1995) "An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture", Routledge, p225. Discuss.)

The exhibition has provoked a flurry of articles and reviews including, review by Adrian Searle, Postmodernism: the 10 key moments in the birth of a movement, by Stuart Jeffries, Postmodernism is dead, by Edward Docx, All style, hidden content by Patrick Hannay, and Has postmodernist design eaten itself?, by Justin McGuirk. See also Neon Light, a short video in which Sarfraz Manzoor visits the exhibition and taks to the curators.
Below is a selection of examples believed to be included in the exhibition.

The demolition of Pruitt-Igoe mass houing complex in St Louis in 1972, which Charles Jencks cited as the moment at which Modernism died and which thus heralded Postmodernism. Film of the demolition is included in Godfrey Reggio's 1982 'postmodern' film (with soundtrack by Philip Glass), Koyaanisqatsi, which is featured in the exhibition.

Bill Woodrow, Twin-Tub with Guitar, 1981 (Tate Collection)

April Greiman and Jayme Odgers, Wet magazine

Michael Graves (for Alessi),  Kettle, 1983

Haim Steinbach, Supremely Black, 1985

Jenny Holzer, Protect Me From What I Want, (Times Square Spectro Billboard) 1982

Martin Parr - M Shed

Bristol and West: Photographs by Martin Parr is currently showing at M Shed, Bristol's new museum (opened June 2011). The exhibition continues until 27 November.

Martin Parr, Couple outside prefab house,1994

Martin Parr, Royal Commonwealth Society 'function for a summer evening'. From 'The Cost of Living'. 1986-9.

Martin Parr, [Swimming in Clevedon], 2009

Martin Parr, St Paul's Carnival, 2009

Martin Parr, Girls at the Badminton Horse Trails, 1988

MA Fine Art - University of Gloucestershire

The 2011 University of Gloucestershire MA Fine Art show, The Last Picture Show, will  be in the East Wing Studios on the Pittville Campus, Cheltenham from 21-30 September. See examples, below,  of work by the graduating artists: Yvonne Browne, Peter Goggins, Michael Mark, Sue Rigby, Dan Roach, Sara Strong and Caroline Silverwood-Taylor.

Michael Mark

Yvonne Browne

Pete Goggins

Sue Rigby

Dan Roach

Caroline Silverwood Taylor

Sara Strong

John Martin - Tate Britain

John Martin, Belshazzar's Feast, 1820

John Martin: Apocalypse opens at Tate Britain on 21 September and runs until 15 January, 2012. Read William Feaver's article about Martin's interesting life and family - his brother, Jonathan, set fire to York Minster! Read Laura Cumming's review.

Below is Martin's triptych of Judgement Pictures inspired by St John the Divine's account of the Last Judgement in the Book of Revelation.

John Martin, The Great Day of His Wrath, 1851-3

John Martin, The Plains of Heaven,  1851-3

John Martin, The Last Judgement,  1853

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

Edgar Degas, Dancer Adjusting her Shoulder Strap, c1895-6. Modern print from gelatin dry plate negative. 180 x 130 mm. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. Image © Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement is showing at the Royal Academy until 11 December. Read reviews by  Adrian Searle and Laura Cumming and article by James Davidson.

Edgar Degas, Two Dancers on the Stage, c 1874

Edweard Muybridge, Woman Dancing (Fancy), plate 187 of “Animal Locomotion”, 1884-86. Collotype on white wove paper. Royal Academy of Arts/Prudence Cuming

Nothing in the World but Youth - Margate

Sarah Lucas,  Eating a Banana, from Self-Portraits 1990-98. (Tate Collection)

Nothing in the World but Youth is the new exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate, 17 September 2011 - 8 January 2012. The gallery states that the exhibition "will explore how youth experience has been reflected in art, culture and the media since the late nineteenth century, when adolescence emerged in cultural consciousness as a distinct phase of life, between childhood and adulthood".

The exhibition will feature no less than 94 artists, including: Diane Arbus / Peter Blake / David Bowie /  Glenn Brown / Henri Cartier-Bresson /  Michael Craig-Martin / Bruce Davidson / Corinne Day / Rineke Dijkstra / Richard Hamilton /  Lewis Hine / David Hockney / Chris Killip /  Sarah Lucas / Roger Mayne / Don McCullin / Jacob Riis /  George Shaw / Chris Steele-Perkins / Mitra Tabrizian / Juergen Teller / JMW Turner / Jeff Wall / Andy Warhol / Francesca Woodman. See here for the full list.

David Hockney,  We Two Boys Together Clinging, 1961 (Arts Council Collection)

Peter Blake, Self-Portrait with Badges, 1961 (Tate Collection)