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! :)