WIMBLEDON NEW THEATRE PANTO, DICK WHITTINGTON

DAME EDNA EVERAGE IN HER FIRST PANTO!

We went along last night, a miserable rainy night in South London, but the Wimbledon Theatre is a jolly place, and there were lots of happy children there.

Dame Edna Everage made her entrance in a flying possum carrier, from the right of the Circle.

I did a couple of pencil sketches, this  is of the Circle waiting for the performance to begin.

Wimbledon New Theatre Circle

Our 'Fairy', Dame Edna, had a lot of lovely ad-libs, but I think it was mostly scripted.  She said she always travelled by Wombat Air, for instance!

I rate her highly, its the second time I have seen her 'live' and she really makes me laugh.  Its partly that her humour is balancing on a fine line just not cruelty, but sometimes pretty near.

The whole performance was great, all the cast good, the sets and costumes first-rate.  Highly recommended for a unique evening.  You come out of the theatre with a smile still on your face, in the rain.

Dame Edna makes her first appearance wearing a flag

PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY - EDWARD BURRA

EDWARD BURRA MAJOR SHOW UNTIL 21 FEBRUARY 2012

Chichester, Sussex is where you can see a fantastic exhibition of the watercolour works of Edward Burra.

First, though, remember it is a very sloooooow train journey to Chichester from London, Victoria.  Maybe go by car?  But then you probably cannot park.

Anyway, we got there by lunchtime and had a job to find Pallant House Gallery, it is in North Pallant, down a little street called West Pallant, off South Street.  Apparently there is a very good restaurant there, called Field and Fork, but we did not try it out. No time.

 Field and Fork Restaurant

CAFE ROUGE

Instead we went to Cafe Rouge and I did this pencil sketch, where the figure in the foreground reminded me of drawings of Mr Pickwick.

Chichester, Cafe Rouge diners

THE GALLERY

Pallant House Gallery 

It is new, and next to an 18th century house where the gallery was based originally. The Edward Burra show is upstairs and in galleries with low light because the paintings are watercolour.  

You are probably aware of the kinds of paintings you will see.  There are some very large ones, on papers stuck together.

 The first gallery has smaller work, and includes some of my favourites, of the bars and streets of Harlem and London.  Burra visited cities from his family home near Rye, Sussex and it seems he loved to travel.  The earlier works dated from the 1920s so presumably he went by train and sea.  Probably he liked to draw the dockhands and sailors en route.

EDWARD BURRA, ZOOT SUITS

SIMON MARTIN - CURATOR

I was pleased to overhear the start of a talk, when arriving in the first gallery, from Simon Martin, Head of Curatorial Services.  Mr Martin addressed a small group of ladies, who kept giving us daggers looks because we dared to overhear the remarks.  Maybe they expected us to put our hands over our ears so we could not hear what he said!

HAMMER HORROR

There were some good information labels in the galleries. I did not realize that Burra liked films so much, apparently he tried to go to the cinema two or three times a week.  One painting was of Mae West.  He also liked Hammer Horror films.  The later paintings are very strange and rather frightening, and sometimes show skeletons, skulls and figures with birds heads.

FLOWER PAINTING

I saw one flower painting, which was itself very eerie and disturbing, with garish yellows.  Not your usual pretty, pretty flower stuff at all.

LORRIES

The later works often included views of rolling hills and motorways crossing moorlands and downs.  The lorries and cars were painted in almost a naive way.  Once again, these dark, brooding images were something you might find rather disturbing.  They were a far cry from the earlier works showing people enjoying life, in theatres, cafes, dance halls and streets.

PAUL NASH

Apparently Burra kept very close, lifelong friendships with the people he knew when a student at Chelsea Polytechnic and the Royal College.  He also knew Paul Nash, mainly because he lived quite near, and discussed art with him but I think I read that he did not liked Nash's work.  Other painters who he admired include Gustave Moreau, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Max Beckman, Goya, Leger and Hogarth.

He was briefly associated with Surrealism.  But moved away from this.

TOURIST POSTCARDS

According to the information in the gallery, Burra sometimes used postcards when painting, he also probably used his own photographs, some of which were on show in the gallery.  Hastings Harbour in the exhibition an example of his use of postcards. 

He had an amazing visual memory, though and towards the end of his working life, liked to go out with his sister in her car, after which he could start a landscape painting from memory. That was his preferred method of working.

EYES

You might notice that the eyes of a lot of the figures, have a sideways look;  the pupils are right at the corner of the eye, as if his people cannot look anybody straight in the face.

WORKS ON DISPLAY IN THE EXHIBITION

There is a small selection of Burra's main works here on display.  Obviously there is a lot more to be seen dotted around the world, and it is unfortunate that watercolour is such a transient medium; maybe that is why major galleries cannot put more on display.  

One thing I did miss seeing was more sketches.  There were a few pencil and pen sketches on show.

BOOK:  EDWARD BURRA,  Simon Martin

I bought this book, even though at £25 it is more than I like to pay!  But have started reading it and find it excellent, and very funny in places, where it quotes his letters which are really bitchy and witty.

GRAYSON PERRY - BRITISH MUSEUM EXHIBITION

GRAYSON PERRY - THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN CRAFTSMAN

This exhibition is at the British Museum until 19 February 2012.  Open late Fridays.

This is definitely one of the best exhibitions I have seen this year in London.

Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman - pencil sketch

I know very little about Grayson Perry, except from his very public persona in the media.

 

TURNER PRIZE

He is a Turner Prize winner and at the time of the win, he appeared at Tate Modern wearing women's clothing, which did give an impression of somebody who would do anything for publicity!

Now I have seen his work, for the first time, I do think he is very skillful and creative, also quite brave and thoughtful in the comments which are displayed as text alongside the exhibits.

There are many engaging and thought-provoking items in the exhibition, from the British Museum's own collection.  Some of them are ancient and some quite new, such as little skeleton figures from Mexico.

I did a drawing of one of the main pieces, a sculpture in cast iron called The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman.  This is an impressive structure with items impressed, or rather, cast, from pieces which Perry has made, or which are already in the British Museum, such as a Benin head.  

Perry's point is that the workers who made the pieces in the Museum, and all 'Unknown Craftsmen' and that all the pieces were at one time contemporary.

Here is a link to the Museum, which gives information about visiting times and location

The British Museum in Great Russell Street

and here is a link to the piece about Grayson Perry on the British Museum's website, with a video and other images 

Grayson Perry images and video

ATKINSON GRIMSHAW AT THE GUILDHALL ART GALLERY

ATKINSON GRIMSHAW - PAINTER OF MOONLIGHT

This exhibition is at present in the excellent Guildhall Art Gallery, in the City of London, until 15 January 2012

Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London 

Atkinson Grimshaw oil painting

This gallery has an excellent permanent collection of art, particularly Victorian, and you should definitely go there if in London, it is quiet, inexpensive and a real gem of a place.

Atkinson Grimshaw is a Victorian painter, whose work I have only seen reproduced on cards up to now.

There was a lot to learn about him.  Good information about artist, his work and his background was provided on the walls of the galliers.

The work varied somewhat, the earlier paintings rather brightly coloured, showing landscapes with vivid greens, and greenish/blue skies.

LEEDS ART GALLERY

Later he had the inspiration of painting the locality of Leeds and the North West at the time when the industrial revolution was at its height.

Apparently there were many wealthy industrialist who had large mansions and liked the work of Grimshaw to hang on their stately walls.

There were several rooms full of work and he was obviously prolific, since he died quite young, in 1893 aged 57.

Particularly I admired the townscapes, painted when the light was fading and the gas street lights glimmered.

REFLECTIONS OF LIGHT

Often he painted relections of these lights, in wet pavements and in harbours or canals.  It is for these lighting effects that I believe he is chiefly known.

The majority of his work is from the North of England, in places such as the Leeds City Art Gallery, which is why it is difficult to see them if you live in the south of England.

Here is a link to some more information about Atkinson Grimshaw

Atkinson Grimshaw