Otobong Nkanga and Mikhail Karikis at Tate St.Ives,

Otobong Nkanga and Mikhail Karikis at Tate St.Ives,

21st September 2019 to 5th January 2020



My heart sinks as I walk into the preview.

It's a big room and the work doesn't really visually dominate it. It reminds me of a town planning exhibit. Lots of photos, information, diagrams.

 The themes are very worthy, mining, colonialism, exploitation. There are some impressive tapestries in glowing colours with some glitter woven in and bold patterns.

I have read of occasions years ago when audiences derided Impressionism or rioted at the first performance of Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' Now the audience at a preview at Tate St.Ives are so quiet, respectful and loth to react spontaneously that they stand motionless, politely uncomplaining whilst the director and the artist Otobong Nkanga speak in a room so accoustically unsuited to enable people to hear that no one can have understood anything of what has been uttered.

Then they circulate examining everything quite carefully, not willing to commit themselves to an opinion other than that it's very interesting.

The artist has created something to do with the place and the mining of tin. It's not the first time we in St.Ives find the latest visiting artist has seized on this theme.

Otobong Nkanga has exhibited in prestigious places and does a lot of research. I feel she wants to say something heartfelt but her mode of expression is so dry, so unpoetic, so dull, that I can't stomach it. She is there, looking beautiful, wearing a sort of work person's jumpsuit and in bare feet, talking earnestly.

Her tapestries are remarkable, substantial and much the most enjoyable part of her show. Maybe as she goes on, now having got onto the global success circuit, she will find her way and make work that is not simply worthy but that sings.


On the way out I encounter the much less publicised work, a film 'Children of Unquiet' by Mikhail Karikis. It's 15 minutes long and shown in a room with only one short bench so I sit on the floor to get the back support of the wall. Despite these very unfavourable cinematic conditions people are watching rapt with attention. It's about a disused geothermal energy plant in an Italian village. This doesn't sound that promising a theme for poetic treatment but it turns out that every frame is beautiful and eloquent, every word of subtitle counts. There are lovely shots of steaming ground, dripping machinery, cooling towers and orchids. Children are choreographed to shout and stamp or they read out statements about bees or wasps and about love.

I am so very pleased to find something so visually stunning, so all of a piece, so full of meaning and contrasts, so worth rewatching.

Douglas Lyell at Redwing Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall, UK

Douglas Lyall at Redwing Gallery, September 2019, Cornwall, UK

St.Michael's Mount is a tourist landmark island off the Cornish coast, subject of many souvenirs and a book of photographs of it from many angles by Trevor Burston ' Floating World' 1995.

It is owned by a Lord and topped by a castle, legendary as having been thrown into place by a giant, and a place of pilgrimage situated on a ley line.

I never expected to be surprised by a painting of this subject but Douglas Lyall has produced a number of exciting images of it. These are wildly lacking in detail, fauvist in their unnaturalistic colour and energetically sloshed on the canvas with panache, leaving the drips.

The artist told me his vision is not A1 and he paints accordingly.

His self portrait at first seems indecipherable but there is a face, a crushed camera montaged onto the rough surface to form one of the eyes.

Douglas himself is an impressive figure and is widely read about art and ideas. His statement on the wall demands freedom and speaks of opposing fascism. He disconcertingly refers to himself in this statement as 'we' and refers to a fifth reich. I approached him with caution but he was ok to talk to.

I was uncertain why he chose a font for his titles that reminded me of German right wing posters in the 30's and of heavy metal musicians' tee shirts, a sort of heavy Gothic font. However the artist said it was chosen because people call him old fashioned in style. It's an old English font and also he is interested and perturbed by the current prevalence of tattoos, which often use this script.

The paintings are rough in surface texture, dramatic in their simplified energetic impact. They are memorable.

Prices all paintings £200 each.

Naked Attraction-poem inspired by this tv program.

Naked Attraction - a tv Programme

Crazy tv

6 men, 3 views,

Toes to hips

Then chest

Then face

The cheerful tv lady makes it sound ok

Young woman choosing

Doesn't like one's toes

What sort of scrotum?

Not those balls

Oddly not shown his bottom

Until, dismissed, he goes.

Whittled down, she meets one man for dinner

The one with the smile I like is not her winner

And then they part

He says no spark

With all revealed

Their sad lost souls are not concealed

They look more human clothed

Maybe there is a reason

We traditionally remove clothes

In less public places

And start with faces.

MA Illustration Falmouth 2019

MA  Illustration authorial practice. 

Falmouth 2019 September

The show looked quiet visually. I needed to slow down to take it in, sit down to read things and enjoy meeting some of the artists - Illustration being a refuge for those who can draw and have things to say.

There were several who spoke of dementia in their work. 

Everything was done with attention to detail and well displayed although rather too small a font chosen for some notices for my eyes.

Alia Sinha, from Delhi, had designed her own tarot cards which were attractive and colourful and she invited visitors to do their own private 3 card  reading and consult her booklet about the images. 

She also offered a choice of masks to don and view in a mirror with significance ascribed to each that was only visible when you removed the mask from the wall. 

I was gratified to have selected 'art'. She explained her objective was to stimulate in a playful way and engage her audience. I was tempted to buy a set of her tarot but also to make my own.

Kristine Sundsdal, from Norway, 

had been flaneuring around Penryn and made dark brooding and complex images.

I was very happy as a fellow flaneur to discuss this phenomena with her. She has ambitious hopes to form an art collective in future to encourage artists and be inclusive and make a contribution to Norwegian culture.

Nigel Baines' images were bold and clear and he had made a book about life, his working class family and the impact of dementia.

 He also provided a comfortable chair and I found the book so interesting and such a fascinating combination of words and images that I decided to buy one for further enjoyment.

All the other students had very personal and expressive projects that were impressively thought provoking and made me glad this MA  has survived the lamentable cull of courses at Falmouth and continues to thrive with Steve Braund in charge.