Windows on the world (406)

 Soller, 2022

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The Welcome Wagon - Knocking On The Door Of Love. 

Windows on the world (403)

 Soller, 2022

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Thea Gilmore - Book Of Christmas.

Windows on the world (398)

 Soller, 2022

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Anthony D'Amato - Long Haul.

Artlyst: Holiday Snaps – End Of Summer Art Diary

My latest diary article for Artlyst is an additional summer diary based on a trip to Mallorca :

‘At the end of the nineteenth century and for much of the twentieth, art and economic development through the growth of tourism went hand-in-hand in Mallorca; one way, among many, in which reason and art became co-terminus. Art and land have had a longstanding symbiotic relation here, whether documenting Mallorcan life or marvelling at natural beauty. Yet despite the broadening of art in media and concept that began in the twentieth century and continues into the present, as these current exhibitions show art retains its connection with the land – never more urgently than in our climate emergency – and also continues to explore personal and societal reasons for existence creating spaces for contemplation, challenge and change.'

For other posts on my Mallorcan visits, past and present, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

My other pieces for Artlyst are:

Interviews -

• Grayson Perry Tapestries On Show At Salisbury Cathedral
• Sidney Nolan’s Africa: Interview With Andrew Turley
• Ilona Bossanyi: Tate’s Ervin Bossanyi Stained Glass Window Mothballed After 2011 Redevelopment
• Louis Carreon: Sampling Art History
• Modus Operandi - What Makes Successful Public Art: Vivien Lovell Interviewed
• Genesis Tramaine: A Queer Devotional Painter
• Lakwena Maciver: Review-Interview Hastings Contemporary
• Nicola Ravenscroft - Sculpture With A Peaceful Stillness
• Artist Hannah Rose Thomas – Tears of Gold – Interview
• Marcus Lyon: Human Atlas Explorations
• Elizabeth Kwant Interview
• Helaine Blumenfeld: Undulating Structures
• National Gallery Explores ‘Sin’ In New Exhibition – Interview Dr Joost Joustra Curator
• Betty Spackman: Posthumanism Debates
• Christopher Clack: Connecting The Material And Immaterial
• Peter Howson Artlyst Interview
• Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker On The Legacy Of ArtWay
• Alastair Gordon A Testament To His Faith
• Katrina Moss Chaiya Art Awards Interview: Where is God in our 21st century world?
• Apocalypse Now: Michael Takeo Magruder Interviewed
• Jonathan Anderson: Religious Inspirations Behind Modernism
• Caravan – An Interview With Rev Paul Gordon Chandler On Arts Peacebuilding
• Art Awakening Humanity Alexander de Cadenet Interviewed
• Michael Pendry New Installation Lights Up St Martin In The Fields
• Mark Dean Projects Stations of the Cross Videos On Henry Moore Altar

Articles -

• Heavenly Visions: Churches As Spaces For Contemporary Art
• In The Black Fantastic London’s Best Summer Exhibition
• Art Search: August 2022 Diary
• Re-imagining Essex July 2022 Diary
• Art Illuminating spirituality June 2022 Diary
• Hew Locke And The Christian Roots Of Carnival – Tate Britain
• Les Lalanne, Schütte And Gursky London Spring Exhibition Highlights
• Sensuous Sickert and Philpot Two Major UK Solo Exhibitions
• Venice To London May 2022 Diary
• Jacob Epstein, Louis Carreon, Titus Kaphar, Betty Spackman – April 2022 Diary
• Raphael The Human And Divine – National Gallery
• Damien Hirst The Visceral Reality Of Death
• Ali Cherri: Artist in Residence National Gallery
• Audrey Flack Carlo Crivelli And Robert Indiana – March Diary
• Surrealism Outside The Usual Story – Tate Modern
• Marcus Lyon Creates Fields of Vision At St Martin-in-the-Fields London
• My Art Diary And Other Thoughts February 2022
• Van Gogh Self Portraits The Infinite And The Ordinary
• Marvellous Icons: The London Jesuit Centre
• And On An Art Note: End Of Year Diary 2021
• Albrecht Dürer Travels Of A Renaissance Artist – National Gallery London
• Diasporan Identities: Life Between Islands Caribbean British Art – Tate Britain
• Isamu Noguchi: Socially Engaged Art – Barbican Centre
• Pablo Bronstein: A This-World Vision Of Hell
• Bosco Sodi: In The Beginning Of Wisdom
• George Condo Lockdown Works Hauser & Wirth
• Theaster Gates Clay As A Profound Metaphor
• Mark Rothko: Mesmerising And Intimate Works On Paper
• International Autumn Art Exhibition Reviews
• Roger Cecil: A Once In A Generation Welsh Painter
• Tino Sehgal: Location, Nature And Pandemic – Blenheim Palace
• Michael Armitage And The Power Of Art – Royal Academy
• Marie Raymond And Post-War Avant Garde Painting In Paris
• Rachel Kneebone: A Complex Tableau Of Organic And Geometric Forms
• Rodin: Suffering And Conflict – Tate Modern
• Barbara Hepworth: Symbols Of Art & Life – Hepworth Wakefield
• 20th Century Women Artists Challenging Conventions In Britain
• Chaiya Art Awards 2021 Gallery OXO
• Marc Chagall’s Exquisite Stained Glass Window Commissions
• George Gittoes Equal parts artist and warrior
• Keith Haring: Personal Spiritual Imagery
• Sean Scully: Philosophical Poetic Pastoral The 12 / Dark Windows
• Arthur Jafa: The Art Of Cutting And Pasting
• Blackpentecostal Breath: Spirit-Led Movement Jumps From Music To Visual Art
• Made in USA Ed Ruscha An American Perspective
• Robert Smithson: The Archetypal Nature Of Things
• If Jesus Is A Man Of Colour Why Did We Make Him Aryan?
• Cosmic Patches And Quilts Five Exhibitions
• Everyday Heroes: Southbank Exhibition Celebrates Low-paid Key Workers
• Entwining Spiritualism And Art – Three Shows
• Of Church And The Visual Arts
• Has The Word Master Reached Its Sell-By Date?
• The People Behind Community Is Kindness Billboard Campaign
• André Daughtry: Art, Rebellion And Racial Justice
• Salisbury Cathedral 800 Years Of Art And Spirit
• Home Alone Together Twenty Five Artists
• Botanical Mind Online: Art, Mysticism and the Cosmic Tree
• Salvador Dalí The Enigma of Faith
• Art And Faith A Time For Seeing
• Andy Warhol: Catholicism His Work, Faith And Legacy
• Kiki Smith: Embodied Art
• Art and Christianity Awards A Positive New Millennium Legacy
• Arnulf Rainer: 90th Birthday Exhibition Celebrated At Albertina Museum
• A Belonging Project And Exiles Loss and Displacement
• Robert Polidori: Fra Angelico Opus Operantis
• Art, Faith, Church Patronage and Modernity
• Contemplating the Spiritual in Contemporary Art
• Mat Collishaw Challenges Faith Perspectives With Ushaw Installation
• Waterloo Festival Launches At St. John’s Waterloo
• John Bellany Alan Davie Spiritual Joy and Magic
• RIFT Unites 17 Art and Science MA Graduates At Central St Martins
• Visionary Cities: Michael Takeo Magruder – British Library
• Van Gogh’s Religious Journey Around London
• William Congdon Holy Sites And The Kettle’s Yard Connection
• Mark Dean Premieres Pastiche Mass At Banqueting Hall Chelsea College of Arts
• John Kirby: The Torment
• Underlying The Civilised Facade
• Curating Spiritual Sensibilities In Changing Times
• Homeless Highlighted: New Beau Exhibition At St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Ken Currie: Protest Defeat And Victory
• Bosco Sodi: A Moment Of Genesis
• Bill Viola And The Art Of Contemplation
• Art In Churches 2018: Spiritual Combinations Explored
• Sister Wendy Beckett – A Reminiscence
• Guido Guidi: Per Strada Flowers Gallery London
• Peter Howson: The play is over – Flowers Gallery
• Camille Henrot: Scientific History And Creation Story Mash Up
• Nicola Green Explores Recent And Contemporary Religious Leaders – St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Art And The Consequences Of War Explored In Two Exhibitions
• Helaine Blumenfeld Translating Her Vision
• Sam Ivin: Physically Scratched Portraits Of Asylum Seekers Exhibited
• Sacred Noise: Explores Religion, Faith And Divinity
• Bill Viola: Quiet Contemplative Video Installation St Cuthbert’s Church Edinburgh
• The ground-breaking work of Sister Corita Kent
• Picasso To Souza: The Crucifixion Imagery Rarely Exhibited
• Michael Takeo Magruder: De / coding the Apocalypse – Panacea Museum
• Giorgio Griffa: The Golden Ratio And Inexplicable Knowledge
• Arabella Dorman Unveils New Installation At St James Church Piccadilly
• Can Art Transform Society?
• Art Awakening Humanity Conference Report
• Central St Martins in the Fields Design Then And Now
• The Sacramental And Liturgical Nature Of Conceptual Art
• Polish Art In Britain: Centenary Marked At London’s Ben Uri Gallery
• Refugee Artists: Learning from The Lives Of Others
• The Religious Impulses Of Robert Rauschenberg
• The Christian Science Connection Within The British Modern Art Movement
• Artists Rebranding The Christmas Tree Tradition
• Art Impacted - A Radical Response To Radicalisation
• The Art of St Martin-in-the-Fields
• Was Caravaggio A Good Christian?

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James MacMillan - O Radiant Dawn. 

Can Prunera Museu Modernista, Sóller

Can Prunera Museu Modernista is located in an old art nouveau mansion built in the early 20th century. A combination of sinuous, natural and animal-like shapes welcome visitors to a museum which has become one of the features of the town of Sóller. Can Prunera, together with other buildings in Palma such as the Grand Hotel, Can Forteza Rey and Can Casasayas, belongs to a large set of buildings erected in Mallorca in the early 20th century following the models of Catalan Modernisme and French Art-nouveau. 

Can Prunera was restored through the joint efforts of the Sóller Railway company and the Serra Art Foundation who formed the Tren de l'Art Foundation to foster the cultural and artistic development of the Sóller valley. Two exhibition halls, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso, were created at Sóller railway station plus a Sculpture Park at the end of the tramway line that links Sóller and Port de Sóller. In Palma, at the Sóller Railway Station, there is also a hall showing “50 Landscapes of Majorca”. After almost three years of restoration and refurbishing, Can Prunera Museu Modernista was opened in August 2009. Since its creation, the Foundation has organized a large number of exhibitions, which have turned Sóller into an important meeting point for artistic creation.

The ground and main floor rooms contain some of the original furniture along with paintings and sculptures from the Collection. On the second floor, is the exhibition Del Modernisme al segle XXI [From art nouveau to the 21st century], a set of paintings belonging mainly to the Serra Art Collection. The collection’s masterpieces encompass works by important artists from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Miró, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Klee, Fernand Léger and Maurice Vlaminck. Alongside, are painters who were either born in Mallorca or have some link to the island and have reached international recognition, such as Rusiñol, Mir, Joan Fuster, Eliseu Meifrén, Ritch Miller and Miquel Barceló. The collection has been enlarged over the past few years with works donated by private owners and artists to the Tren de l’Art Foundation. On my visit I saw works by Helen Frankenthaler, Albert Gleizes, Rebecca Horn, Hermann Nitsch, Jaume Plensa, Diego Rivera, and Antoni Tàpies, among others.

In the basement, there are the rooms popularly known as botigues – the domestic service spaces and stores - which nowadays host temporary exhibitions and rooms devoted to Juli Ramis, a pioneer of materic abstract painting in Spain. In the 1960s Ramis achieved international recognition, with Time magazine including him in a list of the best one hundred painters in the world. He was friends and shared his atelier with Wilfredo Lam, Jean Fautrier, Serge Poliakoff and Nicolas de Staël. He also had friendships with Picasso, Juan Gris and Miró. As a result, he is the most internationally recognised Majorcan painter of the first half of the 20th century. The collection includes canvases from three of the most representative periods in his oeuvre: early years, Cubism and abstract works. Finally, in the garden, visitors can contemplate the Foundation’s collection of sculptures.

The current temporary exhibition Salva Ginard 20/20 presents 20 paintings from a 20-year project of painting human faces “as a secret, intimate and personal language, a partially veiled confession,” that lives in the “landscape of experiences” which “regrouped and forced to live together,” shape each face “in a sort of hallucinated and revealing cryptogram.” Across that 20-year period, Ginard moved from “absolute darkness”, scratching the surface until he could see “dull colours that drew out the map of a wounded heart” to vivid, pure, even brilliant colours sliding along the fringes combined with “partial or wholescale elimination of the image to take advantage of its echo to begin again.” In between, are figures that have been “deconstructed into layers, pieces or blotches of colour, even until their disappearance” - scratched, uprooted violently, in order to delve “deeper into the idea of destruction / reset, wounding / curing.”

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Peter Sheppard Skaerved - Telemann B-Minor Fantasie.

Mallorcan scenes

 

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Fryderyk Chopin - "Raindrop" Prelude in D flat Major, Op.28 No.15.