"ATELIER PUBLIC is an exhibition that takes the form of a working artist studio – one that everyone is invited to come into, to make artworks there that will become part of the installation. The exhibition, in GoMA’s Gallery 3, will be a space for looking, thinking, exploring and making.
As well as extending an open invitation to the public, the exhibition’s curator has also asked particular artists, thinkers and makers who have a special interest in play, creativity and the imagination to engage with the space throughout the duration of the exhibition. These mini-residencies will help to shape and record what happens."
During the week, a friend and I decided to spend a day visiting some of Glasgow's modern art galleries, admittedly, contemporary art galleries are not something I would go out of my way to visit, but there's such a wealth of them here it would be a sin not to take full advantage!
One of the exhibits my friend was keen to see was Atelier Public, on the top floor of GoMA (Glasgow Museum of Modern Art). The exhibition has been running since November 10th, 2011 and finishes today.
I was interested to see how the exhibition space was presented and how the public had participated, considering it was within an official gallery framework (ie. GoMA). I had good fun wandering around, making my own contribution and taking pictures, which you can see below. It felt very informal and comfortable, like being in playschool again, taking part in something communal and far reaching.
Books for inspiration, much like you'd see in an artists studio.
Some more creative and dedicated folk had even crafted complex kinetic objects! They added more drama and interest to the space.
Irony found a space too.
Some people prefer to make a non-artistic contribution, but to participate in the exhibition.
Some additions were more thought out and symbolic.
My addition to the space, some clumsy celtic spirals.
When I first arrived I didn't know much about the exhibition or its concept at all. I haven't flexed my creative muscles in years so I was hesitant to get involved, preferring to admire everyone else's crafts. Soon however, the participatory and relaxed mood of the setting got me eager to get involved. My addition can be seen above! It was an amateur effort, like the majority of the exhibit itself, which was refreshing to see in a gallery setting. No preconceptions, no expectations, just an invitation to get involved!
The GoMA flickr stream for Atelier Public can be seen here.
Atelier Public is part of the Playable Spaces programme, and the curator has been documenting the project throughout its duration, making interesting observations along the way.
I'm trying out the cropped/tied shirt thing. I think I like it. I wore this at the end of December for a birthday lunch at my favourite eatery in Glasgow, Heavenly.
Dress, Topshop (2009). Shirt, Salvation Army. Necklace, Bad Passion. Pumps, Office (2009).
Over the Christmas, as a present to myself, I treated myself to Magnum Ireland, a beautiful compilation of photographs of Ireland, rural and urban, north and south, east and west, from the 1950s to the 2000s, as seen through the lenses of iconic Magnum photographers, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Elliott Erwitt, Josef Koudelka, Inge Morath, Erich Lessing, Eve Arnold, Martine Franck, Martin Parr, Bruce Gilden, Donovan Wylie, Stuart Franklin, and others. The international scope of the book enriches the pages.
Legendary photographer, Eve Arnold (1912 – 2012) passed away on Wednesday last, January 4th. Arnold was one of the first female photojournalists to join the prestigious Magnum Photography Agency in the 1950s. Her diverse body of work included not only portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich but poignant images of the West of Ireland in the mid-seventies, as the country and the West was rapidly changing, old ways of life modernising, old traditions being lost.
Eve Arnold, The daughter of the house makes soda bread, Aran Islands, 1974. (Copyright Magnum Photos).
Some more of Eve Arnold's images of Ireland can be seen here, and other images of Ireland taken by Magnum photographers, can be seen here at Slate.
There is a hint of the romance of "traditional" Ireland contained here, yet it lacks a picture postcard sentimentality. It speaks of something real, something dwindling. The contented faces of the characters are what I enjoy the most. As an outsider, Arnold is capable of capturing something of the last frontiers of tradition in a modernising world.
Happy Friday everyone!! Look what arrived for me today, a gift from my friend Aurélie!
I'm going to have many happy sleeps with this little fella!