Souvenirs: Badges, The Lowry, Salford Quays, Manchester, c.2002.

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Art, Art Galleries., badges, Greater Manchester, LS Lowry, Public Transport, Salford, Salford Quays, Souvenirs, Ted, The Imperial War Museum North, The Lowry, Trams

I purchased these badges back when I thought my memory would be infallible for ever I’d never have to commit anything to writing, consequently this won’t be a very detailed description of my visit to The Lowry, but these souvenirs do bring back memories.

I arrived at Salford Quays on the tram, which was a first, despite being a regular visitor to Manchester. The trams were something of a mystery to me up to that point, so it was very exciting to see Manchester from a relatively comfortable seat, letting the tram take the strain rather!

I remember Salford looking very new and having something of a buzz about it. The Imperial War Museum’s newest branch, The Imperial War Museum North, in a shiny me building designed by architect Daniel Libeskind had recent opened opposite The Quays in Stratford for example and The Lowry had only been open two years at this point.

Most importantly, it reminds me of the works of LS Lowry, although time has left me with only a general impression of the gallery. The matchstick men plodding across urban, industrial, landscapes are there, but I also recall the landscapes, seascapes and portraits that I hadn’t seen before; his 1936 landscape “A Landmark” was a particular revelation. I seem to recall finding his 1949 work “The Cripples” rather distressing at the time, but I have subsequently come to view it as quite a striking portrayal of people who have traditionally been under-represented in art, but that’s youth for you. When I was seventeen it was relatively easy to see myself plodding across across some of Lowry’s other works, but it would take me another decade to see “The Cripples” in a different light.

Photo Archive: “Inspired By Warhol”, Ferens Art Gallery, Little Queen Street, Hull, 2012.

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Andy Warhol, Art, Art Galleries., bubble car, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, Hull City of Culture 2017, Museums and Galleries, poster

Photo Archive: “Cornucopia” by Graeme Wilson, Leeds, 20/12/14.

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Art, commerce, Cornucopia, Cornucopia by Graeme Wilson, flat caps, Graeme Wilson, head wear, industry, Leeds, Leeds Corn Exchange, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Mural, public art

I don’t know a lot about this mural, but it is a regular sight on my walks around Leeds and it always makes me stop and look up, despite it being in a rather busy corner of the city between Leeds Corn Exchange and Leeds Kirkgate Market where you’re liable to get run over if you’re not too careful! As an enthusiastic head wear advocate, who is rarely seen on the streets of Leeds without a flat cap, my eyes are always drawn to the chap in the centre, stretching out his arms.

Souvenirs: Programme and Leaflet, Sand Sculpture Festival, Weston-Super-Mare, 2014.

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Art, Coast, fairy tales, Gulliver's Travels, Paddington Bear, Sand Sculpture Festival Weston-Super-Mare, Sand Sculptures, sculpture, Seaside., Souvenirs, Ted, Weston, Weston-Super-Mare

To quote from the programme, “The success of the festival is down to a combination of world champion sculptors, a great team of planners and designers, an unbeatable technical crew and of course the very special Weston sand”. This was my first sand sculpture festival and I was suitably impressed.

“Gulliver’s Travels” by Radek Zivny, “a skilled carver he has produced interesting work all over the world, receiving awards for his craft in Vancouver, Moscow and Spain”.

The sand sculptures were obscured from view, from the promenade and the beach, by a blue fence that gives very little away. Armed with my 50p off leaflet I took a gamble and paid £3 to a chap in an orange t-shirt who offered me a pair of protective glasses to keep the sand out of my eyes [something I had not considered]. Also stationed at the entrance was an adorable Paddington Bear created by Rachel Stubbs, which was one of my favourites.

“Paddington Bear” by Rachel Stubbs.

“The Brothers Grimm Fairytales” by Laura Scavuzzo and Susanne Paucker.

What can be done with sand is absolutely astounding. “The Brothers Grimm Fairytales” fairy tale castle, was one of the most remarkable, in terms of scale; it literally towered over one. I don’t think I noted all the fairy tales incorporated into the design, but I certainly spotted Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.

If you want to know more about the festival have a look at their website:

http://www.westonsandsculpture.co.uk/

Souvenirs: Postcard, “La Parisienne” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, National Museum Cardiff, 2013.

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Art, Cardiff, Impressionism, La Parisienne, Museums and Galleries, National Museum Cardiff, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Post-Impressionism, Postcard, Souvenirs, Ted

It’s not the best reproduction of the work in question, but I had to take something away as a souvenir; “Le Parisienne” being one of my favourites [you can get a better view of it on the National Museum’s website, where the blue is described as “heavenly“]. I fell The Parisian Girl on my first visit to the National Museum back in 2012 [when I bought the souvenir mug featured previously in this section of my blog] and I would recommend the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Galleries to any art lover. The National Museum Cardiff does not charge an admissions fee, so on all my subsequent visits to the city I have made time, however busy my schedule is [and what ever the weather], to sit down in front of this Renoir. I recommend that you look at some of the other paintings to, if you’ve got the time, because the gallery attendants might well raise an eyebrow if you rush in, ignoring all the other works, sit down in front of one and then walk away! The painting forms part of The Davies Sisters Collection, which includes, “Renoir’s famous Blue Lady, La Parisienne, Monet’s Rouen Cathedral, three of his Venetian views, Rodin’s The Kiss and other works by Manet and Pissarro“, so there is plenty to see.

Souvenirs: Postcard, “Terence Donovan: The Eye That Never Sleeps”, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 2002.

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Art, Art Galleries., black and white, exhibition, fashion photography, photographers, Photography, Postcard, Sheffield, Souvenirs, Ted, Terence Donovan, Terence Donovan: The Eye That Never Sleeps, The Graves Art Gallery Sheffield, Thermodynamic

I can’t recall if I read about this exhibition in BBC History Magazine, set my heart on going and then went to Sheffield to see it or if I visited in my free time during a college outing to Sheffield Hallam University, which is only a short walk from the Graves. Perhaps I read about it and then used the college trip as a pretext to get to Sheffield and see it [I certainly had no intention of enrolling at Sheffield Hallam or any other university at that time of my life]. Either way, it was the first exhibition I ever planned to visit and subsequently visited.

The post card features one of Terence Donovan’s iconic photographs, “Thermodynamic“, which is one of my favourites.

Photo Archive: “Bottle of Notes”, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, 2010.

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Art, blue skies, Bottle of Notes, Captain James Cook, Claes Oldenbrough, Coosje Van Bruggen, journal, message in a bottle, Middlesbrough, MIMA, public art, sculpture, sky, words, writing

That’s the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) in the background.

This monumental work by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen was inspired by the writings of Middlesbrough born explorer Captain James Cook RN. According to an article I’ve found on the BBC News website the words that form the distinctive bottle shape are taken from Captain Cook’s journal from his first voyage on HMS. Endeavour and read, “We had every advantage we could desire in observing the whole of the passage of the Planet Venus over the Sun’s disc“.

A close up.

To quote the BBC News article again, “Now said to be “part of the landscape”, the sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen still arouses intrigue from visitors and is often used as a climbing frame“.

Viewed from the roof of MIMA.

Photo Archive: Charlie Chaplin, Gloucester Road, Cheltenham, c.2009.

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Art, black and white, bowler hat, Charlie Chaplin, Cheltenham, Cheltenham Spa, Gloucestershire Echo, Mural, paint, painting, Stephen Cowlishaw, Street Art, The Little Tramp

The Little Tramp.

The Gloucestershire Echo informs me that this portrait of Charlie Chaplin, which is part of a larger mural, was the work of community art teacher Stephen Cowlishaw and some local school children and dates from 1994. It appears to have fallen into disrepair since I photographed it in 2009 and the local newspapers seem to indicate that the mural is either in a worst state than it was then or restored to its former glory or it has been replaced with something completely different! The link to the Gloucestershire Echo above, which is from the 16th September 2014, is the latest reference to the mural I can find. I wonder if any decision has been made yet?

Souvenirs: Flyer, “Come And Be Riveted”, Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, 2004.

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Art, Imperial War Museum, Imperial War Museum North, Manchester, Second World War, shipbuilding, Shipbuilding on the Clyde, Souvenirs, Stanley Spencer, World War Two

I discovered the works of Sir Stanley Spencer back in 2001, via my Art College’s library no doubt, but I didn’t become aware of his series of works entitled “Shipbuilding on the Clyde“. I seem to think the art reference books I studied at College concentrated on Spencer’s Biblical works set in and around Cookham, which I love, and that it was through the pages of BBC History Magazine that I found out about this exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North. This was my second visit to the museum, which opened in 2002, but it was all still very new to me and most visitors, I expect. There is a very good article on the Art Fund’s website about “Spencer’s War“, which features some of the same works as the exhibition and describes the “Shipbuilding on the Clyde” collection as “one of the most remarkable artistic records of the Second World War“. When I visited the newly reopened Imperial War Museum London last year I’m sure they had some of these works on display, but I can’t recall which ones.

pS. …and note the flyer for the Auld Tram in the background; a souvenir from Dundee.

Souvenirs: Mug, Life and Death: Pompeii and Herculaneum Exhibition, British Museum, 2013.

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Art, Art History, British Museum, Fresco portrait of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife, Herculaneum, Life and Death, Mug, Museums, Pompeii, Pompeii and Herculaneum Exhibition, Souvenirs, Ted

The “Fresco portrait of the baker Terentius Neo and his wife” has been one of favourite works of since I first laid eyes on it in a book called, simply, “History of Art“, published by Parragon back in 2002, where it is described as “THE BAKER AND HIS WIFE” (the book suggests the chaps name is Paquius Proculous, but I’ll leave that one for the academics to sort out). Why do I like it? Perhaps it is because the fresco depicts a marriage of equals, a partnership in which Terentius isn’t afraid to seen standing beside wife bearing the trappings of education together (Mrs. Neo holding the writing tablet and Terentius holding a scroll). Of course back in 2002, as a 22 year old art college drop-out looking for romance, and now, as a hard working bachelor fast approaching 30, it is very easy to idealise married life. Bachelorhood does have one or two advantages though; you can clutter the house up with mugs you never use for starters!