I don’t like going out especially when its cold, I can’t drive to my destination or I am tired, which is very much me everyday, I need to get to the Riverside Gallery in Richmond, London to see works on exhibit by Stephen Wiltshire before it ends on March 11, lets hope the weather warms up soon.  British born West Indian phenomena, a successful artist who happens to be autistic, or is it an autistic man who happens to be artistic, chicken egg, whatever.

His work is not my cup of tea however I can recognise genius, having said that if some one offered me one of his panoramic works I wouldn’t say no and I am slightly partial to his “at night” works.

I do however like the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I recognize places in London in his pieces..”oh I know where that is” or ” he must have been standing round about blah” etc etc! kinda of how people annoy you when they are watching a film and point out actors and name the other things they have been in and you’re really not interested.

He started drawing from the age of eight and has been the subject of many a documentary, he received an MBE for services to art in June 2006. The fascinating thing is he draws landscapes from memory, one visit is all he needs and he produces masterpieces of great detail, hence the human camera moniker.
Visit Stephen Wiltshire watch him work and check out his originals and prints for sale.

It is cold outside, so instead of getting off my butt and doing the weekly shop, I sent my unwilling partner to get some bread the staple of any healthy diet, well the other option was to help me clear out a bedroom which currently looks like a store, faced with those options, the shop won. So I decided in the mean time to visit The National Museum of African Art, online, well it is in Washington and I am based in London. I chose a contemporary exhibition; African Art Now, Master Pieces from the Jean Pigozzi Collection, the collection formerly known as the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) curated by Andre Magnin, I knew the names were familiar, they are the same guy’s Seydou Keita accused of “mismanaging” his authorisation to reproduce his photographs, it seems that Mr Pigozzi and Mr Magnin have important roles in my art journey. I do not know if this is purely coincidence but when I visited there was no image available on Seydou’s page, implying the legal battle continues or am I just an alarmist? I wonder how many other African artist felt that they were short changed.

The collection boasts 28 different artist from 15 African countries, the online exhibition is an amazing resource for anyone interested in African Art, maybe I am stating the obvious it is the National Museum of African Art after all. I cut my visit short to go to the CAAC site instead as they have more pictures by each artist.
There are a lot of sculptures in this exhibition my love of art is more for the 2 dimensional kind,  I am a minimalist and do not like things to intrude on my space unless functional.

If I could I would:-

George Di Nyama Lilanga (Tanzania) “Different Things That Concern Families” 2000 Acrylic on Canvas  (top picture). It reminds me of a certain type of claustrophobia experienced by the extended African family interfering in your business, a duty perceived as a right and not an intrusion.

Just what the world needs concrete teddys….definately not for your child.

This one is definately not for your child’s bedroom, an eerily beautiful skeletal  portrait

A close up of one of the masters or scoundrels dependant on your perspective, this could be at home in the kiddies bedroom, if you are loaded! a close up of Damien Hirst’s Faithlessness, I didn’t get it ??!! until realisation dawned, they are real wings, I guess his love for the sadistic lives on, this is a good reason not to find your child’s affinity for torturing small insects cute, unless you are materially motivated.

Eye Catching, David Mach collage made of postcards, I would love to know how much time this took see more of his work at The Jill George Gallery

I went to my first exhibition of the year, inspired by my blog and the desire to start an art collection. 4 hours later no purchases, my visa balance will not support purchases in the thousands. It was a worthwhile venture as I found 3 artist I would love to collect, one print was actually in my price range and the artist was actually there but was being monopolised by one of those sloane types,  I am quite shy and did not want to come across as stoopid, I really wanted to ask “are you going to produce prints of other works on exhibit” as an art philistine I don’t know if this is an appropriate question to ask an artist??!!

The artist I have fallen for are

Michele Fletcher (top picture Leaving Shadows)

Matthew Small @ Leonard Street Gallery a close up below

Gordon Cheung

Above Coliseum by Gordon Cheung  cropped to capture detail.

As you can see I took pictures, the one Matthew Small picture I really wanted was out of focus, the pictures in most cases do not represent the pictures accurately due to the light reflected, cropping, dodging peoples bodies and distorted perspective, anyhow enjoy.

London Art Fair