Archive for 2016
Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on December 18th 2016
I first became aware of Marcel Duchamp's work through art history lectures whilst at college between 1972 -76. These lectures were collectively entitled Climate of Ideas, looking back they provided a very appropriate context for discussing the works of artists and their art - not just narrow chronological life histories and similarly assessed paintings and sculptures examined in a linear way. These lectures embraced the time, place, technologies and politics etc in which artists worked.
Virtual Interiors & Exteriors
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on September 12th 2016
In recent months I have been exploring ways of developing compositions around a theme of interior and exterior spaces. These spaces are rather like stages on which characters and objects interact with each other... their meaning is largely left up to the viewer and their own interpretation... they are free to develop their own narrative for each work. These works are my attempt to find my own pictorial language.
Another Game of Marbles
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on August 20th 2016
The majority of artworks I have made over the past 18 months (600 works) might best be described as Art About Art with an autobiographical twist - 'the twist', more often than not, is that I add new elements to paintings and, in so doing, change the meaning of the original work. These changes of meaning often reflect my sense of humour and, on occasions, pose more serious questions. The body of work is diverse in approach and themes visit my 20 themed collections: http://www.coldwellandcoldwell.co.uk/gordon-collections
Do You Dream in Colour?
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 24th 2016
Over the past year a significant part of my work has evolved into creating virtually real (gallery like) spaces in which a range of images and objects - each with some autobiographical importance to me - are arranged and presented to the viewer as an encouragement to work out and/or make up their own narrative.
Art Now (& Then)
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 22nd 2016
The content of this post is not presented as some ART Now manifesto... but rather that it might spark some discussion as to what a relevant, new ART Now should be about. Following a very successful first exhibition (in terms of visitor numbers sales) of a diverse selection from the 450 artworks I've made over the past year I now have lots to reflect upon in terms of 'what next'.
Portraits of Caron
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 12th 2016
Caron and I married in 1980. We both make artworks - see 500+ at www.coldwellandcoldwell.co.uk I made a drawing/painting of Caron in 1980 called As the World Turns - the title taken from a 'B' side track on a Bryan Ferry record. Jump 35 years and, during the past year, I have made a number of other works in which Caron appears as the subject - see examples below. I would be interested in feedback.
"Oh... Mother of Pearl" - Art Icons
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 12th 2016
What makes an art icon like the Mona Lisa (Leonardo da Vinci)... why so extraordinarily special? See some of my attempts to play with the idea of her image in combination with others... more Art About Art I guess... what's the new meaning/message and even if new and different the 'key' or anchor always harks back to our collective cultural memory... a difficult one to ignore. It's all in the 'eye of the beholder'. My "Oh... Mother of Pearl" reference refers to a a Roxy Music (favourite band) track, that somehow feels appropriate.
Pop Birds & Animals
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 4th 2016
Last year I visited the beautiful Mauritshuis Museum/Art Gallery in The Hague (Holland). The museum is home to 2 of my favourite 17th century paintings: Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Carel Fabritious' Gold Finch.
Art About Art - Time Travel 3
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 4th 2016
In the first 2 parts of this set of Time Travel 3 posts... I shared revisited famous paintings in which I had transported my wife or Andy Pandy back in time to become new participants in e.g. Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and Rembrandt's Night Watch etc.
Art About Art - Time Travel 2
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on March 4th 2016
This is the second of 3 posts in a series called Art About Art - Time Travel: As you can see from my other posts, my artworks often make obvious or more subtle references to the art of other artists (a kind of ArtAboutArt-ism).
Art About Art - Time Travel 1
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on February 26th 2016
As you can see from my other posts, my artworks often make obvious or more subtle references to the art of other artists (a kind of ArtAboutArt-ism).
Richard Hamilton & My Art About Art
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on February 25th 2016
The artist Richard Hamilton has been an inspirational favourite of mine since seeing some of his work (as a 17 year old) on show at Newcastle University circa 1970. Following Hamilton's death in 2011, Tate Modern staged a comprehensive retrospective of his work in 2014.
Horses
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on February 24th 2016
When I was about 4 years old I imagined I had a secret horse that I kept hidden behind a settee. A love of the beauty of horses has stayed with me. The spark of interest probably dates back to early American B&W TV series like Champion the Wonder Horse and The Lone Ranger, then later Bonanza (especially Little Joe's Pinto) and Rawhide. Saturday Morning Kids Cinema in Gateshead always had Cowboys & Indians galloping on horseback across the big screen.
The Circus & Clowns
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on February 24th 2016
The circus, clowns and acrobats have long been the subjects of artists, famously Seurat, Picasso and Sir Peter Blake etc. The notion of a circus... its human and animal performers, its traditions, its routines and big top-circus ring entertainment arena seem at odds with how, for example, clowns are more often than not portrayed in the arts as melancholic, lost or freakish. Clowns even have their own phobia: Coulrophobia.
The Ladies of Armata - Art About Art
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on February 24th 2016
Readers of the posts I've written will be aware that I often make artworks that might be described as Art About Art - here is a related post. For years I've pondered making a happy, rejoicing and celebratory opposite to Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
Art About Art
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on February 21st 2016
I have a love of 17th Century art - I am half Dutch and as a teenager visited museums and galleries in Holland, I stared at in wonder and soaked up the work of e.g. Vermeer, Frans Hals and Rembrandt... even as an 11 year old there was something I identified with in their work... I felt like I could smell and taste the times they lived in.
Ilminster Arts Centre (Somerset) Exhibition
Posted by Gordon Coldwell on January 7th 2016
Two Tell Tales - An exhibition of artworks by Caron and Gordon Coldwell. Private View 5 -7pm, 29 Feb 2016.
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