Monthly Archives: May 2012

Top Art Fairs

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If you love art you are probably going to want to go to as many exhibitions and art fairs as possible. The more art you see, the better your ‘eye’ will get and the more you will learn. There is so much art out there it’s hard to know where to begin.

If you really love art it’s worth taking a trip to London. October in London is art season. Art fair after art fair happens. I have visited Art London every year for the past four years, ditto with the Frieze Art Fair. Champagne, art, people watching. So much fun to be had. There is also the and that is just scratching the surface. You are spoilt for choice in London.

Frieze. Established in 2003. It takes place in London’s Regent Park every October. Frieze also has it’s own magazine There is also the Frieze in New York which will feature art from approximately 170 of the most exciting contemporary art galleries. It is massive. Almost impossible to do all in one day. Unless you make a day of it and have lunch there.

British Art Fair runs 12 – 16 September at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London. Champions Modern British art.

London Art Fair takes place 18-22 of January every year (all of the art fairs are every year, sometimes twice.)

Art London runs 6-10th of October. Art London is at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. I thoroughly recommend it. It is a brilliant art fair. The experience starts before you even step into the marque and there is also free champagne on the first night.

The Affordable Art Fair travels all around the globe.

And two that are not in London:

Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Runs June 14th-17th

The Armory Show, New York

Founded in 2000. Runs March 8-11.

100 Films That Have Stood The Test of Time.

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Films stand the test of time for a reason. Most of the films that do have a brilliant script and superb acting. So get some popcorn, here is my top 100 films. Disagree? Let us know what films you would choose.

girl-interrupted

1. Citizen Kane (1941) (Obvious but brilliant)
2. All About Eve (1950)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. The Godfather II (1974)
5. Shawshank Redemption (1994)
6. 12 Angry Men (1957)
7. Ben Hur (1959)
8. The Lion King (1994)
9. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. (1937)
10. The Breakfast Club (1985)
11. Jaws (1975)
12. Die Hard (1988)
13. Casablanca (1952)
14. The Jungle Book. (1967)
15. Dr Strangelove, Or How I learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb. (1964)
16. Caddyshack (1980)
17. Lawrence Of Arabia. (1962) This is Steven Spielberg’s favourite film, and for good reason.
18. The Life of Brian (1979)
19. Flight of The Phoenix (1965)
20. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
21. The Searchers. (1958)
22. Wizard of Oz (1939)
23. West Side Story (1961)
24. Girl Interrupted (1999)
25. On The Waterfront (1954)
26. Toy Story. (1995)
27. Dirty Dancing (1987)
28. Cleo From 5 to 7. (1962)
29. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
30. The Elephant Man (1980)
31. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
32. Annie Hall (1977)
33. Top Gun (1986)
34. The Big Sleep (1946)
35. Grease (1978)
36. Stand By Me (1986)
37. Rocky (1976)
38. Psycho (1960)
39. Goodfellas (1990)
40. The Omen (1976)
41. Raider’s of the Lost Ark. (1981)
42. Don’t Look Now (1973)
43. E.T. (1982)
44. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
45. To Kill a Mocking Bird. (1962)
46. Star Wars (1977)
47. American Beauty. (1999)
48. A Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
49. Rear Window (1954)
50. High Society (1956)
51. North By Northwest (1959)
52. Oliver (1968)
53. Sunset Boulevard (1950)
54. Mary Poppins (1964)
55. True Grit (1969)
56. The Sound of Music (1965)
57. A Bridge Over the River Kwai. (1957)
58. Alien (1979)
59. The Longest Day. (1962)
60. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. (1958)
61. Brief Encounter (1945)
62. Pretty Women (1990)
63. Some Like It Hot. (1959)
64. The Great Escape (1963)
65. Rebecca (1940)
66. Gone With The Wind (1939)
67. Sullivan’s Travels. (1941)
68. The Apartment. (1960)
69. The Philadelphia Story. (1940)
70. Home Alone (1990)
71. The African Queen. (1951)
72. To Catch a Thief (1955)
73. Double Indemnity (1944)
74. Badlands (1973)
75. A Room with a View (1985)
76. Back to the Future (1985)
77. Karate Kid. (1984)
78. Reservoir Dogs(1992)
79. East of Eden (1955)
80. Mystic River (2003)
81. Pulp Fiction (1994)
82. Saving Private Ryan (1994)
83. Ghostbusters (1984)
84. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
85. Sleepless In Seattle (1993)
86. The Goonies (1985)
87. One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest (1975)
88. Halloween (1978)
89. Blade Runner (1982)
90. Thelma and Louise (1991)
91. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
92. Schindler’s List (1993)
93. La Dolce Vita (1961)
94. Leon (1994)
95. His Girl Friday (1940)
96. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
97. My Fair Lady (1964)
98. The Unforgiven (1992) “It’s a hell of a thing to kill a man, you take everything he’s got, and everything he’ll ever have.”
99. Shenandoah (1965)
100. Apocalypse Now (1979) “I wanted a mission, and for my sins, they gave me one.”

 

 

Is It Art?

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Art can be controversial. With the comment ‘That’s not art’ a common thing, especially in the face of modern art. But is it a fair comment? Well, it’s a matter of taste but I now have a theory: If something makes you ask ‘Is it art?’, then it is art, because it made you ask the question, it made you think. It’s also different from saying ‘that’s NOT art’.

Modern artist don’t have to draw, paint or even (controversial thing) have talent. Sure, they will have imagination, but they can just put their unmade bed in a gallery or all the names of people they have slept with (Tracey Emin) or pickle a shark and cut it in half (Damien Hirst, incidentally worth over £100 million, financially, one of the most successful artists in history). They can take black dummies and dress them as the SS in Nazi uniforms, complete with swastikas. (Jake and Dino Chapman) I remember watching a documentary on the Chapman brothers a few years ago and one of them, Jake or Dino, who knows?, walked around an art gallery and contemptuously pointed out a drawing of Will Smith that a talented artist had done, as it takes a lot of talent to draw well, and sneered ‘What is the point of that?’. Well, what wasn’t the point? It was someone drawing a portrait of a famous people. That is what art mostly was for centuries. It was good and it was, without a doubt, art.

Now, although it may seem like it, I am not attacking Emin, Hirst or the Chapman’s. I think they do have talent. Hirst particularly. They are different, avant garde. But can you be an artist without the talent to draw or paint? Evidently you can. From Duchamp’s urinal to Jackson Pollack’s splatter paintings art opinion has always been divided.

But I still think it takes more than putting something in an art gallery to make it art. And more importantly, I think it takes talent to make it good, and that is what it really comes down to: good art.

Winston Churchill once said: ‘Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.’

UN Women UK comments on Queen’s Speech

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The Queen’s Speech on Wednesday 9th May caused quite a bit of controversy from quite a few sources. It also prompted UN Women to comment on flexible working practices.

Jan Grasty, President of the UK National Committee of UN Women, which focuses on encouraging economic empowerment for women as a route to education, career progression as well as benefitting society as a whole, comments on the recent Queen’s Speech:

“There are some welcome announcements from the Queen’s Speech, which offers opportunity for women to continue in their careers through moves to make parental leave more flexible. At the same time, we are seeing many employers in the UK taking steps to mitigate and challenge unconscious gender bias in the workplace, providing parents with greater flexibility in the workplace.

“These companies recognise the benefit of retaining staff – especially women – after they have children. Of these organisations, many have signed the CEO Statement of Support for the UN Women/UN Global Compact Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), launched in the UK last week. These principles offer businesses of all sizes a set of guidelines to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community with the goal of creating a better working environment for all and improving financial performance for the company.

There is still a long way to go however, and potential remains for both Governments and corporate thought-leaders to implement flexible parental leave policies, particularly within small and medium-sized organisations or those companies working in sectors which have historically been male-dominated. There are many reasons for wanting to take extended leave and return from it, raising children, caring for elderly or infirm relatives are just some of them, and all can apply for men and women.”

The Queen Looks as unamused with former President Bush as some were with the 2012 Queen's Speech.


1) Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality

2) Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination

3) Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers

4) Promote education, training and professional development for women

5) Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women

6) Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy

7) Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality

Have your say.

7-49 UP DVD

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Arguably the best documentary series ever made for British television and certainly the longest running factual programme in the history of UK TV, The release of 7-49 Up is now out on DVD. The flagship ITV series about children from different social backgrounds made between 1964 and 2005 as they evolve through life will be available to buy on DVD for the first time in the UK in a 6-disc set,

The first instalment of 7-UP was broadcast in 1964 as a one-off World in Action special, featuring children talking about their hopes and dreams for the future. As members of the generation who would be running the country by the year 2000, what did they think they would become? Inspired by World In Action founder editor Tim Hewat’s passionate interest in both the Jesuit saying: “Give me the child until he is seven and I will show you the man,” and the rigid class system of 1960s Britain, Seven Up set out to discover whether or not the children’s lives were pre-determined by their background.

This forward thinking television show – the very first example of a programme recording real people living real lives – and the follow-up documentaries – have won an array of accolades and awards. Director Michael Apted, who has since moved to Hollywood to direct films, has returned every seven years to chart the children’s progress through life. Over the past five decades, the series has documented the group as they have become adults and entered middle-age, dealing with everything life has thrown at them in between.

 

Body image concerns now start as young as 6

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Body image concerns now start as young as 6

Half of UK teenagers have body image and weight concerns, starting from as early as the age of six, according to a new study.

A survey by weight management company LighterLife has revealed that over 60% of British women are conscious of their weight before the age of 21 (61.2 per cent), with a shocking 15 per cent saying they first put their body under scrutiny when they were at primary school age, or even younger.

The study shows how body image and unhealthy behaviour around food is on the rise, impacting children as young as six. The key stages of this insecurity playing out are in our teenage years (33 per cent) and then again as a young adult just starting out in a career (19 per cent).

And it’s not just women, the study showed that 43% of men become concerned about their weight and body image under the age of 21, and 1 in 10 under the age of 12.

Mandy Cassidy, Psychological Director for LighterLife commented: “It is a concern that we are seeing a rise in young people worrying unnecessarily about their body image. Many experts will agree that having a positive attitude toward your own body is the best way to maintain a healthy relationship food”.

England has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe, with more than 60 per cent of adults and a third of 10 and 11 years overweight or obese. Those numbers are predicted to rise to over 50 per cent of adults and 25 per cent of children by 2050 if no action is taken. Mandy Cassidy continued:

“If body images issues like this occur at an early age, inevitably this will play out in adulthood and change the way a person behaves around food, which although is assumed to lead to under eating, can also lead to overeating.

“We know that addressing overeating and weight gain is not just about willpower or eating less and the earlier we can all encourage and support healthy approach to body image and weight the better. There is also a cycle – if parents are eating well and have a good relationship with food and body image they can impact positively on the family and encourage children to be more comfortable with who they are”.

 

When did you first start being conscious of your weight?

Females

Males

Very young – under 6

2.30%

2.40%

At primary school – 6 – 12

12.77%

8.82%

As a teenager – 13 – 18

32.63%

20.54%

Between 18 – 21

13.47%

11.62%

In my working life – over 21

18.56%

32.06%

Since becoming a parent

12.48%

8.12%

I have always been conscious

3.79%

8.82%

Since retiring

3.99%

7.62%

Dirty Projectors announce new single | Music News

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Dirty Projectors are to release ‘Gun Has No Trigger’ as the first single from their highly anticipated sixth album, ‘Swing Lo Magellan’. The track will be available in the UK on 2nd July via digital download and on a special edition 8” vinyl. The album will follow on 9th July.

Links:

Official Website

Facebook page

Kathryn Williams – Presents… The Pond | Music Review

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As someone who has kept an eye on Kathryn Williams’ career thus far I am still unable to truly call myself a fan. Or at least until this record came along. This album, The Pond, is a collaboration between Simon Edwards (formerly of Fairground Attraction) and Ginny Clee and represents a fresh sound for Kathryn and a chance to move her away from her folk rut.

It’s Kathryn, folks, but not as we know it! Not so folk. There’s a lot more going on – a whole level or two up in terms of excitement, at least two levels up in terms of what is going on. It’s a record punctuated by floating melodies, understated yet funky beats, ethereal vocals and a whole lot of excitement.

Opening song ‘Carved’ eases us gently into proceedings with a traditionally folk sound with some of those funky beats joining the party. ‘Circle Round The Tree’ sounds like Mint Royale dancing with Paul Simon at a wedding. ‘Bebop’ has a laid back country twang to it and has the added vocals of rapper Kirsch over the top. It’s ambitious and daring and it genuinely works. Country-rap could end up sounding like Kid Rock but it works. It’s enjoyable.

The Pond is a great and most welcome record to my collection. It may have taken her 13 years but Williams has shown that she can experiment and step away from her trademark folk sound and make splendid album. If she was preaching to the converted before then she most certainly won’t be, with this album certain to gain her a new following away from her cult.

 

‘The Pond’ is released on 28th May