Why oh why does time seem to (or does it actually) fly? I can can almost see Time taunting me and mocking me as it whizzes past. And I have neglected by beloved Bubblegum POP blog... no pics uploaded.. no short little anecdotes nada de nada...

The joys of being busy I guess... all my good intentions to write something every day (OK maybe every other day) have gone down the drain... but in my defense there isn't much at the moment which is tickling my fancy - not in Malta at least!

There are quite an impressive number of exhibitions up and running at the moment... but are they worth a visit? Are they worth your while... eh... not really. I haven't been to see Survivors yet - in Birgu - what am I waiting for you might ask, and I could answer, an invite I guess. Just because I write in the paper and get to visit most shows anyways doesn't mean that I do not enjoy receiving invites... sometimes I think I am purposely not invited - fear of a bad review perhaps?

I do want to go view Peter Quinn's works at the Radisson... though hotels as venues for exhibitions are SO off-putting. I hardly ever manage to drag my sorry self there to view the works... I can't be bothered... hotels are such busy places and often overly ornate the works just automatically vanish in comparison.

But hope is here - that is if you feel like travelling to Munich - oh if only I had a bag of money... Austin Camilleri and Pawl Carbonaro are showing a collection of 16 pieces - all paintings at the Münchner Künstlerhaus a stone's throw away from some of the town's most impressive museums. I've had a sneak peak at the works and they are truly something. Don't want to give much away as I'm planning an article for next week.

For tomorrow I've written a feature on Patrick Fenech and his participation in a collective show in Hamburg. Love his Blister series...

In the meantime here are two works from the Camilleri/Carbonaro show:

Becoming Animal

Shame, shame, shame on me. I've been here for a whole 4 days and I haven't even uploaded a single image of Antony Micallef'f Becoming Animal show. But here they are!









My interview with Antony Micallef should be uploaded to timesofmalta.com soon(ish) will post a link when it happens.

*Photo of Antony Micallef by Ian Cox.

Pat Kurs

Pat Kurs... or as I prefer calling her... the Doll Lady.

So her expo has been open for a week and a half now.. well just about. And I've been thinking about her works, about her really, this persona she's built around her. Quite extraordinary. She's like the WonderWoman of dolls, tits and stuff... And she looks fab, definitely plays the part - dressing up to the nines (literally) - always in frills, super high heels which any normal woman would envy, at least because of her extraordinary capabilities at keeping balance, luminous red lipstick. She's quite a diva, and she could become a bit of an icon if the US didn't already have way too many of those.

Anyways... her works, well I must admit to finding them quite alluring, but I don't want to expand too much because I'm just about concluding a review which will be appearing on Thursday's Times (little inside yay for my second week with an art column. But she is quite fascinating, albeit a tad dark... but that's how we like 'em.

Anyways here's a couple of piccies to get the buzz flowing - not that there's much need cause there's already been SO much published about her! Thankfully nothing came in the form of a review... here's hoping I won't get the usual hate mail. Buuuut, who cares right?

New Art Column

So yesterday marked the beginning of a new art page in the Times. Now that the Weekender has been dead and buried... for a few weeks already...

All the culture pages, the reviews, previews etc., have been inserted into the daily paper... which I feel makes more sense... supplements don't have much allure, let's face it!

Anyways, I started off the weekly art column with a review/overview of the visual arts at this year's Notte Bianca. What I should have actually said was that I was bored. Bored, bored, bored. Hardly any new 'stuff' to see, and even less which gave me any sort of high. And why did everything die oh so abruptly by 1.30/2?? Couldn't even find a bloody ice cream! Believe it? Thank goodness for the gorgeous models at Tommy Hilfiger... they were practically the only aspect about the whole shebang about which I am still talking.

Today I had a chat with a friend of mine, who commented that my article was good and that he agreed with what I had to say about the overall event, but that I should have compared Malta's Notte Bianca to the situation abroad, where contemporary art is truly given importance. And alas, it is so true... there was so little of the contemporary! Which brings me to another question: Where have the START group gone to? The individual members seem to be doing their own thing and working less and less on group shows. Where it not for them we wouldn't have much contemporary art to go by! I just hope they're not giving up on the Maltese art scene.

Last year there was the Scent exhibition which was truly a bomb - Anton Grech, Austin Camilleri, Vince Briffa, Pawl Carbonaro and John Grima's paintings truly graced the walls of St John's (not James) Cavalier. And now Austin and Pawlu are showing their works in Munich next month... but here we refuse to invest in contemporary art and artists. Hopefully No. 68 will open soon - Alex, Nad we need you! - and then there's the 'new' MCA to look forward to at St James. I have my reservations... and I wonder, but I shan't comment for the time being.

Sigh.

I need visual and mental stimulation.

Exhibition line-up

I might be off to London in 8 days to interview Antony Micallef at Lazarides Gallery... but it just cannot stop there... There's LOTS but LOTS more to see...

Saatchi have, what looks like, a gorgeous exhibition titled: Abstract America: New Painting and Sculpture.

Unilever Series at the Tate Modern is featuring the work of Polish artist Miroslaw Balka who will undertake the tenth commission... opening just a day before my arrival AND there is also another expo called Pop Life: Art in the Material World which is essentially Pop from the 80s onwards. The work of Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami and Jeff Koons will be featured along with other big names. This show runs till January 17 2010.

There's also Eva Rothschild at the Tate Britain with one of her largest sculpture installations yet.

Gay Icons is showing at the National Portrait Gallery till October 18 - will just make it (I hope).

Then there's the Anish Kapoor solo show (Royal Academy), mentioned already in a previous post, together with the Frieze Art Fair.

Sadly there's nothing in both London Gagosians!

Am I leaving anything out??!

Happy Kitty

OK. So Lisa's a happy Kitty - as the title clearly denotes.

It's Monday, October 5. And in a mere 9 days I will be in London. I can't effing believe that I am going to London... and I've managed to secure an interview with Antony Micallef. Yes, you said it sista! Maybe I'm a tad too excited. But hey, at the rate I'm promoting his work - just out of the sheer love if it - then I have an itsy bitsy (yellow polka dot bikini?) right to have butterflies.

Interview's scheduled for October 15 late morning. And a week later the outcome of that interview should be published in the paper, with some extra details posted here.

Here's crossing fingers and toes that all goes well! While there I'm hoping to catch the Anish Kapoor show and the Frieze Art Fair too... it's gonna be a hell of a 4 days! :)

Anish Kapoor exhibition: Royal Academy, London

A major solo exhibition of the work
of the internationally acclaimed artist
Anish Kapoor,opened yesterday at The Royal
Academy of Arts in London.

The exhibition surveys Kapoor’s career to date
showcasing a number of new and previously
unseen works, including a select group of
Kapoor’s early pigment sculptures, beguiling
mirror-polished stainless-steel sculptures and
cement sculptures on display for the first time.

The exhibition also includes highlights such as
the monumental work Svayambh, the title of which
comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘self-generated’.
Emblematic of Kapoor’s interest in works of sculpture
that actively participate in their own creation, Svayambh
moves slowly through the galleries across the entire breadth
of Burlington House.

Another major exhibit is Shooting into the Corner, a work of extraordinary complexity and drama that builds up against the walls and floor of the gallery.

Tall tree and the eye, a major new sculpture, is on display in the Annenberg Courtyard. Infinitely repeating and reflecting its surroundings, like much of Kapoor’s work, this object both disorientates and distorts, challenging our traditional notion of form and space.

The exhibition runs till December 11.



NB The Royal Academy website also have this really cool live gallery webcam... Kapoor's 'Shooting into the Corner' fires regularly during exhibition opening times. Be patient... it's man-operated... totally interactive.

http:// www.royalacademy.org.uk

The Cartier Award 2010: Call for Entries

Frieze Art Fair announced today the call for entries to The Cartier Award 2010.

The Cartier Award is open to artists living outside of the UK, up to five years from graduating from an undergraduate or postgraduate degree or under thirty years of age. The Cartier Award is organised by Frieze Projects, sponsored by Cartier and presented in collaboration with Gasworks.

The recipient of the prize will have the unique opportunity to present their work at Frieze Art Fair 2010, guaranteeing a major international audience.

Additionally the prize will cover production costs of up to 10,000 (UK sterling) an artist's fee, per diems, travel expenses and a studio residency at Gasworks in London from Augustto October 2010.

For full details of the award and an application form visit: www.friezefoundation.org/cartier

Antony Micallef

YES...Antony Micallef... again. How can anyone ever get enough of this bloody brilliant artist. I just love his works. They give me a pure adrenaline rush!

I was just sent this excellent interview with Antony Micallef for Arrested Motion in lieu of his upcoming show: Becoming Animal

http://arrestedmotion.com

I'm including a couple of images which I'm pretty sure will tickle your fancy (click to enlarge).

Frieze Art Fair 2009 Sculpture Park details announced:

McCarthy's work to remain in Regent's Park for 6 months

The Frieze Art Fair 2009 is happening between October 15-18, in London. It features over 150 of the most exciting contemporary art galleries in the world. The fair also includes specially commissioned artists’ projects, a prestigious talks programme and an artist-led education schedule.

Frieze Art Fair have announced the works to be installed in its Sculpture Park, which will be presented in the wonderful setting of the English Gardens of Regent’s Park, located a short walk to the east of the entrance to the fair. Entry to the Sculpture Park is free. This year’s Sculpture Park, again sponsored by Heath Lambert, presents work by a strong and broad spectrum of artists, including some of the most acclaimed international sculptors working today, and a number of unseen pieces.

These include Louise Bourgeois, whose selected work, The Couple, 2003, is the largest in a series of hanging aluminium sculptures by the artist. Eva Rothschild, whose work has just been seen as the most recent Duveens’ commission at Tate Britain, will show a new work created specially for Frieze Art Fair, Someone and Someone, 2009. Artist Graham Hudson will make history at Frieze Art Fair this year. Edward VIII remains the only monarch since Elizabeth I not to have a statue or monument of commemoration in England; Hudson’s sculpture changes that.

Visit: www.friezeartfair.com for more details.

Antony Micallef

OK. So it's really no secret that I'm a huge Antony Micallef fan. So naturally I'd want to share anything new regarding this artist. I just received this today:

Lazarides is proud to introduce Antony Micallef's new solo show, 'Becoming Animal'.

Exhibition dates: 25th September – 22nd October 2009.
Gallery open: Tuesday to Friday 11am – 7pm. Saturday 12 noon – 5pm.

Lazarides, Rathbone Place, London. W1T 1HR.

www.antonymicallef.com
www.lazinc.com

So what do I do? How on earth am I going to get my sorry arse up to London to see this show? Especially when they also send a teaser (below)... any crazy ideas are welcome!

New blog!

I've been fed up with the msn space for a while now... time to start afresh... time to get serious. I'm hoping to be able to put all random art-related stuff here... and NOT only that which is related to our tiny rock.

I'd love to create some form of healthy discussion... who knows... depends whether I get the hang of it and depends whether I manage to keep this comittment!!

Anyways, here goes nothing! :)

L