She’s a painter in London, working to interpret animals the way we were meant to see them: as sacred beings each granted with an important, specific purpose. In this amazing time-lapse video Louise McNaught documents the creation of an acrylic work that’s plated in a background of gold leaf and decorated in detail with pencil. The video was created in conjunction with her current residency at DegreeArt, and her inaugural show, titled Supernatural, will be on view at the London gallery until the end of this week!
On her Facebook page Louise writes,
“In my world the animals are God-like, sublime and ethereal in their luminescence. My soft style suggests a delicate relationship between nature and ourselves, making a clear point about man’s destruction of nature, which flutters jewel-like in the balance….
The animals that occur in my work predominantly have a connection to Celtic mythology, such as deer, bees, owls, rabbits and butterflies, with otherworldly creatures such as hummingbirds making an entrance from time to time…”
Louise with her piece, ‘Wild-Life’, Size (H x W x D): 91.5 x 183 x 5 cm Acrylic, spray paint and pencil on canvas (2013). From the artist’s Facebook.
Louise on this piece, ‘Wild-Life’:
“This piece is from my ‘wild’ series, which are about nature wearing the colours of man like war paint, trying to adapt to man’s intervention. The fluorescent paint also looks like energy radiating from the animal, as it is painted on the places I find most intense, usually around the eyes, radiating down the neck – wherever there is tension. I use a lot of hummingbirds in my work as I find them magical and otherworldly, they are so tiny and beautiful they almost seem as they are not part off this world, like they exist on another dimension. Here they are forming the figure 8 on its side, which is the symbol for life, eternity and reincarnation. The hummingbird also flys in this formation as it is the only bird that can fly backwards. The colours are moving through the formation to show they are all part of the same flow of energy…..”
German photographer Candida Höfer brought a little Renaissance greatness to London in her series A Return to Italy. The photos were shot over the past two years, and take you through some of Italy’s most sacred stages for art of all kinds.
Candida Höfer Palazzo Ducale Mantova I 2011
Candida Höfer Teatro Comunale di Carpi I 2011
The series was exhibited this past spring at Ben Brown Fine Arts in London – thirteen large prints hung symmetrically to match the balanced scenes pictured within them. The gallery writes,
“The interiors of palaces, opera houses, libraries and theatres, which Höfer captures with incredible skill, are part of her meticulous documentation of public spaces – places of culture, knowledge, communication and exchange with a rich history and clear functionality.
Having rarely visited the Northern region, Höfer was particularly touched by the naturalness and ease with which the local people there accepted this extraordinary architecture as a part of their daily lives.”
Candida Höfer Teatro La Fenice di Venezia III 2011
Candida Höfer Teatro La Fenice di Venezia V 2011
Candida Höfer Museo Civico Di Palazzo Te Mantova IV 2010
A silver hand stretches from the sky, cut off just below the elbow and grabbing hold of an older black Fiat 500, stopping the car in its tracks. But there’s no driver in the car, so perhaps before it wasn’t moving. After all, the hand’s grip is loose and casual, long thick silver fingers folded over windows – fingers the size of legs, like they belong to a five-footed monster with no face.
It’s not a monster, but a child’s hand, holding the car like a toy, playing with it along our teeny tiny streets. The name comes from what most children say while they play with toy cars: “vroom vroom,” evocative of the way we all sort of speak our lives into existence, validating with words that end up being just as small as we are.
Because how much control do we really have anyway? If our brakes fail and smash us into a building, how much difference would it make knowing that a giant metal baby was in charge of all the chaos? Would you trust the baby more than a bearded prophet with surviving stories?
Lorenzo Quinn uses his sculpture as a visual facility for communication, all with the goal of helping viewers develop values like understanding, tolerance, and harmony. A Roman-born artist who studied at the American Academy of Fine Arts in New York with the intention of becoming a surrealist painter, Quinn discovered his passion for sculpture at 21 and moved to Spain after the birth of his first child. Now at 47 Quinn’s sculptural works have become enormously successful, shown all over Europe since the late 80s.
“I make art for myself and for people who want to join me on a walk through my dreams,” Quinn said, “The way we live our own lives, is paramount. That is why most of my work has to do with values and emotions. ”
“Vroom Vroom” was initially presented at the Institute of Modern Art in Valencia, Spain in the summer of 2010, and appeared that same year at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair. In January 2011 the sculpture was settled in Park Lane, London as part of the Westminister City Council’s sculpture festival.
The nearly 15 feet high sculpture creates an open dialogue about our place in the world, the child’s hand indicating the littleness of it all and the title opening all sorts of other discussions about reality, awareness, and language – what does it mean to you?
