Where were we? Repeating ourselves whilst under stress? I wish you were here to see it, the more I look at it the more I like it, I do think it good, no matter how closely I study it, however much I take it apart, it remains consistent, constant, I really do wish you were here to see it, of course I do, I do remember one thing, I tend to repeat myself when understress and like we did say last time or maybe the time before that? Like we said last time the thing we’re really missing right now is the underground artist-led shows, the gatherings in the back streets and broken buildings (the few that were left in the time befroe covid, Art BC as we call now), the broken buildings of East London or South of the river, butt we did say all that last week and well while the establishment galleries are able to set up shows and photograph them and film then and take them on line, to hang art on their walls for on-line presentations, the artist-led collectives, the things that tend to happen in empty shops and spaces hired for a week or two, we’re missing that entire layer, those vital breeding grounds, that whole underground word of mouth network where the really excite new art emerges, where artists meet and plot, the basement spaces, the learning places, the cutting edge backrooms that the establishment art world has little appetite for, the places and the shows that really do excite. It will be interesting to see what come out on the other side of all this…
And well, we could do it again, we could? Shall we? The Five Art Things thing? We said all this last week didn’t we? And the week before. Other than things happening on-line, we rather obviously can’t really feature or preview forthcoming shows at the moment – we did say all this last week with the previous Five Art Things post and all the “oh, I don’t know, this five art things to go check out feature is kind of shot to pieces now. The regular feature was supposed to be about five upcoming art shows that we were excited about, five recommended art exhibitions that are about to open, a selection of the five most exciting openings selected from the many (many) coming up….”
And so, as we said last week (and the week before), for now it has to mostly be about art events happening on line, and here, in no particular order are five on-line art shows that have caught our eye (andwe are looking at lots of things, clicking a lot of links). Once again we’re not talking a “top five” or anything like that, What we have here are five art things that have caught our eye , five art things, in no particular order, five thing that we that we recommend…
1: Tonight the Air is Warm at Kristin Hjellegjerde’s London Bridge gallery brings together a collection of vibrant and diverse photography, print and video works by eight established, mid-career and emerging artists from Southeast Asia. Curated by Tolla Duke Sloane, the show will occupy both the main and speakeasy space at the London Bridge gallery, providing audiences the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the region’s artistic landscape. From the tropical gothic to the surrealism of dreams and folklore, and the reimagining of historical narratives, the artists’ reflect on universal issues relating to identity and belonging, whilst also providing heightened and imaginative insights into the cultural specifics of their geographical locations. Tonight the Air is Warm features the art of Manit Sriwanichpoom, Yee I-Lann, Sarah Choo Jing, Budi Agung Kuswara, Nicole Coson, Wawi Navarozza, Jo Ngo and Genevieve Chua. For now it is just on line, wel worth exploring though and this link will update you head to the viewing room to explore the art and artists
Meanwhile explore previous Organ coverage of Nicole Coson – ORGAN THING: Cacotopia 04 off to a compelling start at Annka Kultys with the lush layers of Nicole Coson…
It goes without saying that all this art that we;re coving is only just scratching the surface and the more you surt the more you find. it goes nowhere near making up for the lack of physical galleries and gatherings and people and the rest of it but on we go…
2: Lennie Lee – Visions of Mortality – on line until February 28th via Our Wonderful Culture. Lennie Lee is a rather colourful East London artist who’s featured both on these fractures Organ pages and as part of a number of our Cultivate Gallery shows, that terraced house solo show Lennie did a couple of years back was a particular stand out – ORGAN THING: Lennie Lee’s Broken Heart, a really must see art show in an Edwardian flat in East London….
The current Lennie Lee show, Visions of Mortality, exhibited in a new 2000 square foot gallery space in London’s Covent Garden, a show curated by fellow artist Hercules Fishermen, is, as with all things right now, an on-line only thing. The show can currently be explore virtually in 3d, it features fifteen or so of Lennie Lee’s large-scale figurative paintings alongside other works and yes I know, flying around 3d online show can at times be annoying (I much prefer our simple Cultivate slideshow formats) but Lennie’s work is always worth exploring, there maybe a lot of death in there and he may have has one or two close calls himself but his work is always brightly uplifting and full of life, lennie Lee is alive with colour. Explore the virtual 360 degrees online show here
3: Philip Gerald – PUBLIC Gallery, presents how to be a artist, the debut UK solo exhibition of Dublin-based artist Philip Gerald. “Alongside a series of new paintings, Gerald provides an enthusiastic step by step ‘masterclass’ in the form of video and written lessons displayed throughout the online exhibition, sharing deep insights and a wealth of information for those looking to emulate his successful career”.
The exhibition is due to run 8 February – 3 March 2021, more information about which can be accessed on the PUBLIC Gallery website. They insist on capital letters, I guess that’s their thing. The Public galllert people had a hissyfit last time we said something about the gallery, they didn’t like us questioning the East London’s gallery attitude in terms of London-based artists, we do like Public though, whatever they may think of us, we did see some good shows at their old space back in the days before the various lockdowns kicked in, we might not have got to their new space yet but then nodody has had their galleries open and hey, on line is what it has to be right now.
Meanwhile…
4: Rosaleen Norton – Now if, and things like this always come with a big if, if this is done in the right way it could be rather good. We’ve only seen the trailer so far – “Discover the intoxicating story of bohemian artist Rosaleen Norton, who advocated a pantheist vision of witchcraft, and a sexual magic freed from religious and moral rules”. More details
“nspired by the work of Aleister Crowley, bohemian artist Rosaleen Norton advocated a pantheist vision of witchcraft, and a sexual magic freed from religious and moral rules. Eventually the relentless scandals led to the downfall of her high society lover. Told ‘in her own words’, the film weaves stylized drama and erotic dancers with never before seen artworks, diaries and scrapbooks. The Witch of Kings Cross is the fascinating portrait of a fearless woman outlaw railing against fearful conservative forces and an insight into the work of an uncelebrated genius. In today’s new wave of feminism, Rosaleen’s story has never been more pertinent”.
“Rosaleen Miriam Norton (2 October 1917 – 5 December 1979), who used the name of Thorn, was a New Zealand-born Australian artist and occultist, in the latter capacity adhering to a form of pantheistic / Neopagan Witchcraft largely devoted to the mythological Greek god Pan. She lived much of her later life in the bohemian area of Kings Cross, Sydney, leading her to be termed the “Witch of Kings Cross” in some of the tabloids,[ and from where she led her own coven of Witches.
Her paintings, which have been compared to those of British occult artist Austin Osman Spare, often depicted images of supernatural entities such as pagan gods and demons, sometimes involved in sexual acts. These caused particular controversy in Australia during the 1940s and 50s, when the country “was both socially and politically conservative” with Christianity as the dominant faith and at a time when the government “promoted a harsh stance on censorship.” For this reason the authorities dealt with her work harshly, with the police removing some of her work from exhibitions, confiscating books that contained her images, and attempting to prosecute her for public obscenity on a number of occasions.
According to her later biographer, Nevill Drury, “Norton’s esoteric beliefs, cosmology and visionary art are all closely intertwined – and reflect her unique approach to the magical universe.” She was inspired by “the ‘night’ side of magic”, emphasising darkness and studying the Qliphoth, alongside forms of sex magic which she had learned from the writings of English occultist Aleister Crowley”. (Wikipedia)
5: Michaela Wetherell and Pink-Collar Gallery “I have always believed that art is for everyone”. Michaela Wetherell is dedicated to exploring working-class narratives in the art world. Lee Allcock caught up with Michaela to find out how the Pink-Collar Gallery, and their brand new exhibition that will be supporting working-class artists. You can read the Lee article here via the pages of NE Volume magazine
“Pink-Collar Gallery is a new online space which is dedicated to the promotion of under-represented groups and using art to promote equality.Created by Sunderland based curator Michaela Wetherell whose particular passions are highlighting female (under)representation within the arts and the relevance of working-class identity”. The Pink Collar gallery website is currently very yellow – Pink-Collar Gallery
Previously
That really should do you for today, we’re busy wotking on Self, an carefully curated on-line group show of slef portraits from invited artists brough to you by us whilst wearing our Cultivate hats which indeed do look very similar to our Organ hats…
We’re out of here, we’ll stressfully repeat all this again in a day or two, maybe a week, maybe? I like it! Any questions?
THE ORGAN 
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