Exhibition: National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers

The National Society of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers was formed in 1930 to meet a growing desire among artists of every creed and outlook for an annual exhibition in London, which would embrace all aspects of art under one roof, without prejudice or favour to anyone. This legacy has continued as a guide and inspiration to creative artists ever since, with only a short break between 1940 - 1945. The freedom to experiment and explore new media or techniques has created a society that is very professional while allowing the individual artists to realise their full potential.

To name only a few who have gained worldwide fame: Mark Gertler • Jack B Yeats • L S Lowry • David Bomberg • W Russell Flint • Henry Moore • Bernard Meninsky • William Nicholson • Graham Sutherland • C R W Nevinson • Frank Dobson • Charles Cundall • Bernard Adams. Some of the above artists' highly acclaimed works were first shown in the National Society's Annual Exhibition, and current members now exhibiting may well gain similar recognition in future years.

The National Society is, therefore, a society that offers a challenge to all creative artists of the highest ability from any school of thought. By its very nature it strives to communicate with the widest possible audience, to excite interest and involve the public by showing a broad spectrum of contemporary and innovative painting, sculpture and printmaking.

The National Society is self-supporting and democratic, with officers and council elected from the membership.

The National Society is holding it's second exhibition at St Stephen Walbrook. The exhibition continues until December 2nd. Open weekdays Mon - Fri, 10 am - 4 pm (Weds 11 am - 3 pm).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jon Foreman - You Don't Know How Beautiful You Are.

Dialectical Materialism

In Dialectical Materialism, the current exhibition at ArtMoorHouse, three artists are showing, each of whom 'approach their work from different directions - intention towards intuitive form, light balanced with matter, representation of an abstract idea - but ultimately can find common ground.' Their focus in this exhibition is on dialogues - between the artists and their material, between the artists and the external world, or Nature, and also between the works shown - in order to 'give rise to new syntheses, new forms, new ideas.'

David Degreef-Mounier 'uses materials for their ability to be transformed, for their malleability and their metamorphic properties, in order to explore new landscape of the mind.' 'His research revolves around a Lacan quotation: "I think where I am not, therefore I am where I do not think". It translates in his work by a series of ongoing experiments, where, by rejecting expectations and preconceptions, he is able to accept what is happening here and now. He states: "Art is not simply an object, nor does it exist solely in the mind. Rather it is the relationship between the two”.'

Phil Dobson has developed a 'technique of layering and sanding acrylic, building up relief and then eroding it; which acknowledges, in the resulting flatness, 'a schematic way of representing the world.' His work combines 'amorphous form and precise delineation, the fluidity of paint with the rigour of geometry, the symbolic colour of maps with the luminosity of stained glass.'

Ileana Arnaoutou says that the stepping-stone of every work she creates 'is a walk, a treasure haunt in the city.' Discarded objects have always intrigued her creativity as, inspired by the culture of her country, she believes 'that every element has its own history and forms by that way its own character.' She feels she rescues 'objects and materials, bringing them back to life, by dismantling and combining them together, by lighting them up.' The ancient Egyptian ritual of weighing the heart has played a pivotal role in building up the conceptual aspect of her works. She says: 'Weighing the heart with a feather, for me is an amazing symbolic structure, which is mostly present in everything in life. My aim is to create and imagine scales, imagine the possible two sides, imagine their relationship.
My sculptures weight light and colour with matter, soul with human body. The "results” and combinations are infinite and that is what makes me want to create.'

The next exhibition at the Gallery will be Armageddon by Mariano Chelo, who 'has developed a surrealistic, abstract and cubistic oriented language to express his ... themes.' In 2003 he founded MAP, “Movimenti Artistici Periferici”, an art gallery/workshop where he exhibits personal and other artirts’ works from all over the world. Besides his painting production, his work includes: art installations, “action painting” performances and computerised art.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pēteris Vasks - The Fruit Of Silence.

still small voice: creating sacred space

My latest exhibition review for the Church Times is of still small voice at The Wilson in Cheltenham. The collection of British biblical art currently on show there 'begins with the Nazarene and Pre-Raphaelite styles of William Dobson and William Bell Scott, and continues, with Eric Gill as the bridge between Modernism and the earlier Arts and Crafts movement, through the inter-war period of the 1920s and 1930s, the Second World War, the post-war era, and the later 20th century, into the early 21st century.'

Included is a stunning Craigie Aitchison piece: 'Completed just a year before his death, Body of Christ (Red Background) is an example of the spiritual depths of modern art, with its full-on expressive use of colour combined with the stripped-back minimalism of its imagery. Christ is the cross, the cross is the wound at the heart of the canvas, and this gash in the blood-red background is the point at which light enters the space ...

this is art that creates sacred space by taking you "somewhere beyond yourself and outside of your own little world".'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Krzysztof Penderecki - St. Luke's Passion.

Redbridge Book and Media Festival: Thank you Nick

I've had an enjoyable evening at the last of the Redbridge Book and Media Festival events tonight. Our team came second in the quiz (losing out on top spot by one point), we said goodbye to the wonderful Nick Dobson the Festival's main organiser over its 10 year life (who is losing this role as a result of deep cuts in Redbridge's Library services), and we heard from Barbara Nadal, who had previously visited St John's for an International Crime Writer's Panel in an earlier Festival.
Newham-born Nadal spoke about Ashes to Ashes, a novel based around efforts to protect St Paul's Cathedral during the Blitz. As part of her research, she was shown around some of the less familiar part of the Cathedral. "Like Francis," she has said, "I explored the upper galleries (Whispering Gallery, Stone Gallery) and also like him I felt my legs go to jelly as I climbed up hundreds and hundreds of stairs in what felt like every tightening spirals."

St Paul's is where Nadal's hero Francis Hancock is sheltering from the onslaught. But the First World War veteran doesn't just have bombs to contend with on this night. A young girl, who was also sheltering in the cathedral, mysteriously goes missing. Then some of those charged with protecting the building are brutally murdered. Francis must face both his own demons and fears in his struggle to catch those responsible and bring them to justice.

Nick Dobson will be much missed in the borough having built the Redbridge Book & Media Festival over 10 years into one able to attract significant authors through a varied selection of genuinely interesting events. Thanks Nick for all you've contributed to the borough. We wish you well as you begin organising such events on a freelance basis.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Show of Hands - Are We Alright?