Thursday 12 August '10

Sandwich my Compliment

Our boys Juneau Projects have put our Eastside Projects (Birmingham) Decent Proposal The Musical online here for you audio fans. Karen's microphone's a bit indistinct but it's all good fun. Also features Bedwyr Williams....

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 12/08/10 at 16:18 1 Comment

Monday 19 July '10

Bronstein's column comes down...

Spanish artist Fernando Garcia Dory assists Adam

Pablo Bronstein's chicken coop column enjoyed a day up for the NGS Open Garden...

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 19/07/10 at 11:25 0 Comments

Topics: 'Fernando Garcia Dory' 'Pablo Bronstein' 'post-modernism'

Saturday 22 May '10

Manager post @ Florence Centre, Egremont

A great job has come up, originating in our 'Creative Egremont' project a few years back - managing the new arts programme at the Florence Centre in the former mining buildings of Egremont.

See job details here - deadline Friday 11th June

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 22/05/10 at 19:24 0 Comments

Topics: 'Egremont'

Tuesday 22 December '09

Li Yuan Chia in Cumbria - BBC radio doc

Just in from David Gaffney:

Dear all,

You might like to listen to this programme about Chinese artist Li Yuan-Chia who lived in Cumbria for a time and set up a gallery.

When Taiwan's first abstract artist settled in a Cumbrian farmhouse, his life changed. Deriving inspiration from landscape and local people, he encouraged new British artists and anticipated the success of contemporary Chinese visual art.

Li Yuan Chia was one of the first significant Chinese abstract artists of the 20th century. This programme, presented by Sally Lai, the director of Manchester's Chinese Arts Centre, examines his career from the place he spent the last 28 years of his life: a stone farmhouse, built next to Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria.

Listen to the programme here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pcf5j

Li Yuan-Chia

Born in China in 1929, Li was educated in Taiwan. He worked and exhibited in Italy before moving toLondon in 1963. Here, Li's reputation was established with monochrome paintings and scrolls marked with a tiny, isolated dot.

But Li came to dislike the fashionable metropolitan art world of the mid-1960s. In 1968 he met Cumbrian painter Winifred Nicholson, who pursuaded Li to move away from the busy capital to a far more remote location, near her own home. With his own hands Li then set about converting a farm building, the Banks, at Brampton, where he built a gallery, library, theatre, printing press, children's art room and photographic darkroom, and opened it to the public. It became a popular attraction for local people, art afficianados and tourists walking Hadrian's Wall.

Over the next ten years over 300 artists exhibited at the Banks, which was also the base from which Li's organisation, the LYC Foundation, was able to commission work by young British artists, some of whom became very successful later, including sculptors and land artists Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and Bill Woodrow.

Li's own work moved into abstract sculpture, using magnets, gold leaf, plastic discs suspended on plastic thread and additional text. The landscape also affected him, and he began to explore photography and environmental art. Always, he wrote poetry.

But after Arts Council funding became increasingly limited, (Is this right? That can't be right, DG) the LYC Foundation had to struggle to survive. Li continued to produce art, which became increasingly contemplative. He fell ill with cancer and died in 1994. Art historians now acknowledge Li Yuan Chia as having paved the way for the current expansion of Chinese contemporary art. But his former home in Cumbria is derelict.

http://www.lycfoundation.org/poems/

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 22/12/09 at 20:39 0 Comments

Monday 14 December '09

The Dictatorship of Art - a Jonathan Meese inspired discussion

Today we shot a lively discussion at the Lawson Park TV studio, on naughty German artist Jonathan Meese's work and idealogy...

Pictured left to right is GA's Alistair Hudson, critic and Meese-o-phile Robert Eikmeyer, academic and writer Charlie Gere and academic John Byrne.

The final film will be up and online in early 2010.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 14/12/09 at 23:42 0 Comments

Topics: 'Jonathan Meese' 'Nazi' 'TV'

Thursday 10 December '09

The Art Handling Olympics

Liking this on Youtube...

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 10/12/09 at 09:29 3 Comments

Monday 7 December '09

St Peters (Glasgow not Rome)

Angus Farquhar of NVA in Glasgow recently invited Karen & Adam to share an inspirational but very wet (just like home then) tour of the unique St Peter's seminary just outside Glasgow. abandoned now but a rare example thereabouts of an architectural icon of the 1970's and now justly listed. NVA are bravely engaging in the battle to reclaim the building and surrounding landscape from the jaws of Nature - the grounds include an immense range of historic buildings from the 15th / 16th century onwards, and a landscape to match.

A good array of images of the incredible site can be seen on Flickr here, and you can read about Historic Scotland's detailed report on the building its significance and possible future here.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 07/12/09 at 17:56 0 Comments

Topics: 'Glasgow' 'St Peter's seminary'

Monday 16 November '09

All aboard the Lawson Park Library launch

Charles Bainbridge reads poems by Frank O'Hara

Jack Maynard plays

On Sat. 14th November, Guestroom launched their new Lawson Park Library with a Coniston Institute film screening with Oxen Park Cinema Club and a cruise on the solar powered Ruskin Launch on Coniston Water.

Sailors pictured above (left to right) Rob Little (UCLAN), Glenn Boulter (Musician / artist & GA intern), Adam Sutherland (GA director), Maria Benjamin (Guestroom), Dorian Moore (GA technologist and tall person) & musician Jack Maynard.

Thanks to everyone who attended and took part.

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 16/11/09 at 13:08 0 Comments

Topics: 'Coniston Institute' 'Coniston Water' 'film screening'

Wednesday 9 September '09

Depressing innit?

On last night's telly, following Jamie Oliver in the culinary desert that is the USA, we heard these immortal words as he squeezed into chaps in a rain shower:

"It's like the Lake District, really depressing"

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 09/09/09 at 20:23 0 Comments

Tuesday 18 August '09

Folk Float on the streets of London

Pic c/o public works

The Folk Float produced by public works for Creative Egremont (a public art programme we managed) is out and about in central London - great to see after too long in the garage!

See www.diyregeneration.net for more on the project

Posted by Karen Guthrie on 18/08/09 at 13:10 1 Comment