The (other) Horse Show

It’s easy to be romantic about horses. To be poetic and sentimental, to extoll their nobility, their grace, their courage. For that, see Warhorse (in cinemas now). For a refreshing and realistic view of the relationship between humans, horses, and art, go to current RHA exhibition The Horse Show. 

 At some point, it seems that most artists will be drawn to depicting a horse in some way - the sinews, the muscles, the bones - it's like life drawing, on steroids. The most striking thing about the work is the inescapable feeling of the sheer power of the animal, the muscular bulk filling the space. It reminds us of the constantly remarkable fact that they allow us to treat them like pets, though they can fell us with the flick of a hind leg. 

I was wary of this exhibition, because I am a life-long lover of horses and of 'classical' paintings of them. This, I feared, would involve a lot of post-whatever disassembling and dissecting and uglifying of something that is only ever beautiful. But it doesn't. It's a collection of work that seems always honest in its portrayal of the horse and indicative of each artist's relationship, whether deep or fleeting, with the animal.

The Horse Show at RHA Galleries II & III until March 25th.

 

First published here.

Whose Hair?

London based illustrator Christina Christoforou has just released her first book. Whose Hair? contains over 200 original hand-drawn illustrations of celebrities hair. The faces are not included, so you the reader have to guess who they are. The illustrations are quite amusing, especially Russel Brand's crows nest and Andy Warhole's wig. It is a novel take on celebrity culture and perfect for any coffee table. Here are some of my favourite hairstyles.

O Irish Bank

Workmen dismantling the sign on the former Anglo Irish Bank

We happened to be walking past the former Anglo Irish Bank building on Stephen's Green yesterday as the sign was being slightly ceremoniously taken down. There was a small gaggle of photographers and a news crew and some official looking men (NA-men?) as well as the two men pictured who were performing the historic task. Our economic woes seem to have been somewhat forgotten with the impending bank holiday fever and a long stretch of summer like weather. It was an interesting sight to see.

Pennie Smith.

Pennie Smith is probably the greatest music photographer of all time. Most of her work is shot in black and white. Her first major photographic commission was to photograph Led Zeppelin's 1970's tour for NME magazine. Since then she has photographed some of the biggest names in rock music and taken some of it's most iconic shots. Her shot of Clash bassist Paul Simonon smashing his bass in New York in 1979 became the cover of the bands album London Calling and in 2002 was voted the greatest rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine. She is based in London and still works to this day. But enough of what I have to say, look at the photos.

Paul Weller

Jimmy Page

The Strokes

Morrissey

Paul Simonon

Lovely Penguin covers

Does Coralie Bickford-Smith have one of the nicest jobs around? She's a 'senior cover designer' at Penguin, a publishing house with a knack for producing covers so good they've become modern icons. Her cover designs for their recently released series of F. Scott Fitzgerald books seem to perfectly interpret the early twentieth century aesthetic and lifestyle that Fitzgerald's writing is famous for. I have copies of most of these books but I now want to own them in these editions. There is something lovely about reading your favourite books beautifully bound. I suppose that makes a great cover design - something that captures the imagination of the reader and will encourage them to buy the book again, just to have it in that form.

More great cover design here and here.

David Pearson's cover design for Penguin's Great Minds series. (via cosstores.com)

Rocco's Weird Stuff: Taxidermied bird diorama

This curio hangs on the wall of Rocco's studio. Initially he was painting the portrait of one of the birds, but now I believe he regards them as companions, curiously characterful as they are. For those interested in other unusual applications of taxidermied creatures see this at once hideous and hilarious guinea pig hair comb by Reid Peppard - see more of Reid's fascinating work here.

Five Album Covers I Like

I was recently talking to a friend about album covers that we liked and why we liked them. It made me think of cover art and how peoples taste in it differs, even if they have similar tastes in music. Here are just five album covers I particularly like.

Buzz Cats Love The RHA.

Going to the I Love The RHA fundraiser tonight. Set to be a fun night with dj's, drinks, pop up shops and raffles for art. It's twenty euro in and best of all, if you're in your twenties this get's you a years friends membership with the RHA. Not too shabby.

All hail democracy

In honour of our general election tomorrow we photographed some of the defaced posters around where we live. 

He actually looks better with the moustache.

The classic missing tooth.

Lots of these were defaced, the rebuttal nailed on top is just priceless.

My mother was a fashion illustrator...

And she was one of a very few working in Dublin in the seventies and eighties. She illustrated ads for Dublin department stores such as Switzers and Boyers and perhaps most interestingly for Penny's who had just opened and were as cheap as ever. I've been digging through her old portfolios and drawing books and found some that I thought were lovely...

Lucy Nuzum and the pictures she takes

She has a lovely way of capturing the light, movement and a sense of beautiful surreality.

See more here...

http://www.facebook.com/lucynuzumphotography

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutr

Electric Dylan

Some excellent images of Bob Dylan during his visit to England in the sixties. Just on the brink of going electric, he arrived in England and caused a stir with his new dark enigmatic look. This tour is documented in the film No Direction Home. It is said that Dylan at this time set the template for how a rock star should dress,especially the dark sunglasses. One reporter said "Even when he took them off it looked like he was still wearing them". A snapshot of an artist at his creative peak,very aware of the power of his image.

Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier - French ex-patriate, wearer of men's coats, Chicago nanny, world traveller and fascinating street photographer.

http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com