Something about Buildings and Food - Mostly Buildings (+ 2 cakes), Mostly Brutalist, Several in Birmingham

Birmingham Ziggurat Cupcake (2014). (The ziggurat of John Madin's Birmingham Central Library (1974) on a cake.)

John Madin, Birmingham Central Library, 1974

I had a great day in Birmingham on Saturday 28 June attending "Raw Beauty: A New Life for Brutalist Buildings" organised by the Twentieth Century Society and Friends of Birmingham Central Library. The venue for a series of interesting talks was The Birmingham and Midland Institute ("A right old mix-up of styles: red brick with gables, mullions, and banded Ionic columns and pilasters" - Pevsner (1966) Warwickshire, p125).

Cossins, Peacock & Bewlay, 1899: Birmingham & Midland Institute, Margaret St.

Joe Holyoak launched proceedings and introduced Barnabas Calder who gave an excellent talk Brutalism - why save it? which entertainingly contextualised the style and celebrated the local hero John Madin and the 'greatest' British Brutalist Denys Lasdun amongst others. Buildings highlighted included Madin's Birmingham Central Library, Lasdun's National Theatre ('spectacularly high-craft'), Chamberlin, Powell & Bon's University of Leeds and the 'sublime' Barbican (the concrete was given its 'finish' by abseiling workmen with power-hammers!) and (a personal favourite) the Hayward Gallery by Norman Engleback et al.

Denys Lasdun, National Theatre, 1967-76

Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, The Roger Stevens Building, University of Leeds, 1970

Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, Barbican complex, 1965-76

Norman Engleback, Ron Herron and Warren Chalk, Hayward Gallery, 1968

Ross Brown discussed the challenges of adapting redundant Brutalist buildings for new uses and Sally Stone and Christina Malathouni told the inspiring story of Gate 81 the group which has triumphantly changed local perceptions of the fabulous Preston Bus Station from the 'most hated' building in Preston to the 'most loved' (as polled in the Lancashire Evening Post) and been instrumental in achieving listed status for the building. Malathouni noted that the 3 representatives of British Brutalism on the World Monuments 'Watch List' are the South Bank Complex, Preston Bus Station and Birmingham Central Library. Time is running out, however, to save Birmingham Library which is scheduled for imminent demolition.

Building Design Partnership, Preston Bus Station, 1968-9

Andy Foster, an architectural historian trained (in his own words) by 'old fogeys' with a classical bent and no fondness for the Brutalist extremes of Modernism, but who, nevertheless, found a love for Birmingham Central Library, enthused about the building's internal flow of space and offered a (fanciful?) 'reading' of the building's form as a playful variation on classical themes exemplified in buildings such as William Winde's seventeenth century Ashdown House in Berkshire!

William Winde (attrib.), Ashdown House, Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire), C17

A guided lunchtime walk - with ziggurat cakes - provided the opportunity to visit Paradise Place, circumnavigate the Central Library and take in a view of Richard Seifert's Alpha Tower. My group was ably guided by Alan Clawley author of a monograph on John Madin the library's architect.

John Madin, Birmingham Central Library, 1974

Paradise Place, the site of Birmingham Central Library

Reflection of the Central Library in abandoned water feature, Paradise Place

John Madin, Birmingham Central Library, 1974

John Madin, Birmingham Central Library, 1974

John Madin, Birmingham Central Library, 1974

Staff celebrate the Central Library's tenth birthday in June 1983 (photo from Birmingham Post)

Richard Seifert, Alpha Tower, Birmingham, 1969-73

Dr Roger Bowdler of English Heritage gave an interesting talk about the successes and failures of getting buildings listed - English Heritage makes recommendations to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport where the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries (currently Ed Vaizey) makes the final decision. Modern buildings must demonstrate exceptional importance above and beyond 'special interest'.
The day concluded with an interesting talk by Catherine Croft (author of Concrete Architecture) who told us everything anyone had ever wanted to know about concrete but was afraid to ask, in particular the challenges of repair and restoration. Catherine recommeded viewing Adam Curtis' film Inquiry: The Great British Housing Disaster (1984) and reading Concrete Quarterly (free online!).
The only disappointment of the day was that Owen Hatherley (A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain) was not able to be present for  the guided walk; however, he generously supplied a text copy of A walk aound the modern architecture of Birmingham City Centre which will be my guide on my next visit to the city, taking in John Madin's Nat West Tower ("futuristic concrete exressionism, a praying mantis in in brown concrete and purple engineering brick, throwing up its antennae as if against an opponent" and Bicknell and Hamilton's New Street signal box ("a utilitarian little building whose compacted concrete Vorticism shames most of the self-conscious, self-displaying architecture around it.")
A great day - thanks to all concerned.

John Madin, Nat West Tower (now 103 Colmore Row), Birmingham, 1973-6

Bicknell and Hamilton, New Street Station Signal Box, Birmingham, 1965

Sean Scully: Kind of Red - Timothy Taylor Gallery

Sean Scully, Kind of Red, 2013 (detail of 5-part piece - see below)

Sean Scully: Kind of Red is at Timothy Taylor Gallery until 12 July 2014.
Scully is, I think, my new favourite artist. I have always been an admirer but actually have seen relatively little work in the 'flesh'; having been knocked out by Doric Night in the RA Summer Show (see below) I visited this exhibition and was impressed.The focal work here is a 2013 suite of 5 paintings on aluminium - bare metal remains exposed beyond the edges of the painted areas. I like his work because it combines a forceful, muscular presence with a nuanced, poetic sensibility - the blocks of colour are rich and subtle and the total effect is beautiful, powerful and mysterious.
The exhibition also includes some blue and grey toned paintings from the Landline series. A terrific show.
Watch a short video of Scully talking about his work: "There are no certainties in my paintings", and read the gallery exhibition blurb; see also a 2009 review of Scully's paintings from the 1980s by Laura Cumming.

Sean Scully, Kind of Red, 2013

Sean Scully, Kind of Red, 2013

Sean Scully, Landline Blue, 2014

Sean Scully, Landline Grey, 2014

Sean Scully, Landline Grey Grey, 2014

Royal Academy Summer Show 2014 - Top Ten

Sean Scully, Doric Night

I have visited the Royal Academy Summer Show for the first time in – ooh, a good couple of decades. It has clearly come on in that time. From my own perspective, what is notable is that many of the Young (and youngish) British Artists I was interested in 20 or so years ago now sport ARA after their names and are amongst the great and the good (and not so good) on the walls of the Academy: they are now the establishment.

The Summer Show – once a byword for conservatism and stuffiness – has tried to reinvent itself as a much more vigorous contemporary art exhibition while retaining its famously democratic principles. The exhibition is, indeed, stuffed with well-known names from the world of British art (and beyond – with guest appearance from Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, Ed Ruscha and James Turrell) and has been organized as a series of curated rooms – some more successful than others.

I enjoyed the rooms curated by Hughie O’Donoghue  (which contained, to mind, the best works in the show) and Cornelia Parker – her black and white theme was engaging and entertaining. However, I was disappointed by John Maine’s room – it broadly sported a Constructivist theme (to which I am highly sympathetic) and might have been expected to be clean and cool, but instead felt fussy and cluttered.

The scale of the show is overwhelming and one can’t hope to take in more than a fraction of the work on display. Although many of my favourite artists were represented it wasn’t always by their best work. My top ten art works are listed below. (Unfortunately I can’t find images for all of them.) 

Watch a video about the show and read reviews by Mark Hudson and Zoe Pilger.

1. Sean Scully, Doric Night. (see above). Far and away the best thing in the show for me - this fabulous painting occupies the prime space in the first major room curated by O'Donoghue. (NB see also blog entry for Scully's concurrent show Kind of Red)
2. Mitra Tabrizian, Leicestershire. This photograph of a derelict industrial site is from a series about ‘cultural and political displacement’ but ironically conveys considerable formal beauty.

   

   Mitra Tabrizian, Leicestershire

3. Frank Bowling: 4 grand paintings by Bowling dominate the second of the rooms curated by O'Donoghue.

   

   Frank Bowling, Buttoned It Up Again For Barney and Marco

4. David Nash, Tumble Block.

   

   David Nash, Tumble Block

5. In joint 5th place and getting my prize for curatorial juxtaposition are Phil Shaw and Glen Baxter. The former's 'Mondrian' print of bookshelves of books on Mondrian is next to the latter's drawing, A Recently Discovered 'Lost' Mondrian Receives Authentication From Two Leading Experts In Dutch Paintings Prior To Auction In New York. (No image available.)

   

   Phil Shaw,  For Piet's Sake II

6. (see 5)
7. Richard Wentworth, Not Now. (Books, steel cable and bricks - no image available.)
8. Geoff Hodgson, Shelter at Twilight. I was delighted to see this beautiful photograph by Geoff Hodgson - an alumnus of the BA Fine Art Photography course at University of Gloucestershire (2005-8).

   

   Geoff Hodgson, Shelter at Twilight

9. Anselm Kiefer, Kranke Kunst. (No image available.)
10. Basil Beattie, Top Up.

    

    Basil Beattie, Top Up