Ten out of ten for Debbie Lawson and her excellent piece on the Observer/Guardian website today on the state of art in Cornwall today.

With its well known, rich history as an artists’ haven, Cornwall is still pushing the boundries of modern art. New galleries are opening and new festivals are bringing contemporary artists to the very tip of Cornwall.

The article, which is part of the Observer travel section, takes the reader through a catalogue of all that is new and happening in West Penwith and is one of those pieces that makes me want to sell up and return to life by the sea.

I lived in St Ives in my youth and holiday in Cornwall most years - and the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden is usually one of the first places I visit, but unlike Ms Lawson I tend to miss the newer stuff, so this article has been a major wake up call for my next visit there.
If you like Cornwall and art - read it now!

“On the crest of a new arts wave” here

Under the title A load of rot? Sarah Jane Checkland does a both serious and quirky/humorous piece in today’s Telegraph about modern art that decays with time.

With a whole range of materials used by artists over the years being susceptible  to rot, Checkland leads us through a tale of woe as conservation departments struggle to handle this fascinating phenomenon.

I must admit I’m on the fence about some of the art she dicusses, so take a little time to read the article for yourself - well worth the effort.

Article here

News in today’s Independent that Damien HIrst has a new exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery - showing more than 60 works from his private collection. The show, entitled In The Darkest Hour There May Be Light, features “a luminous coffin, a collage of topless models, coloured skulls and a series of Hoovers”.

Work by Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol includes Bacon’s A Study for a Figure at the Base of a Crucifixion and even a few pieces by Banksy the graffiti artist.

Quoting Michael Joo, a New York artist who has four installations in the exhibition, Arifa Akbar says “it would give an insight into Hirst’s mind.”

Until 28 January 2007

Independent story here 

After many months build up to the “Triumph of Stuckism” symposium in Liverpool, I was curious as to how the event went down. But I could find no review on the Stuckist website. So I used Google to search the site for the word triumph - this threw up eight results, one for Triumph of Stuckism and seven for Triumph of Painting, Charles Saatchi’s show.

No mention on Naive John’s website, the guy behind the symposium. No mention on Google News. No mention on John Moores University site.

Maybe it wasn’t a triumph…

News today from bloomberg.com that a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth set a new auction record when her piece Ultimate Form fetched $2.6m at Sotheby’s.

This is very exciting news for me as a devotee of Hepworth’s work to see her rising through the male-dominated world of sculpture.

Picture to follow.

Bloomberg News article here

Hepworth work here

The Guardian today runs a piece on highlights of the Liverpool capital of culture year revealing plans for a major exhibition of work by Gustav Klimt.

This will be the first exhibition in the UK devoted to Klimt and comprises over 100 works including “paintings, erotic drawings, jewellery and architectural models”

The exhibition is called, Gustav Klimt: Painting, Design and Modern Life in Vienna 1900 - it will run for three months at Tate Liverpool.

Guardian piece here

Klimt images here

The Guardian runs a story this morning that the New York Times reports that a Jackson Pollock picture, Number 5, was sold at auction by Sotheby’s for $140m this week. This amount sets a new world record breaking the previous record of $135m paid for Klimt’s portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

But the Guardian points out that “The prices all have to be heavily qualified because sales of fine art masters between private owners are among the most tightly controlled and secretive deals around.”

The painting of one of Pollock’s first drip paintings is a large 4′ x 8′ abstract piece in reds, yellows, blues and greys.

Guardian article here

Jackson Pollock pictures here