Wednesday 30 November 2011

November....

FLOWERS

...but here at Cecil Veda we are excited because with November of course come the Peonies, and we have a direct link to the grower, so we will be supplying you these wonderful flowers at a highly competitive price throughout the season.  Feel free to order through our email or call us on 3887311, to save disappointment.

ART

Work wise this month we have taken a dichotomous approach to the gallery space with a predominantly two person show of work by Geoffrey Notman and Leslie Falls (http://www.lesliefalls.com/)
Notman has been working in what could be described as a hyper- realistic style for the past ten years. He has been painting very much about the ‘everyman’ with an acute scrutiny of human foibles, but at the same time an overriding empathy for his subject that takes it into a much more compelling and readable territory. These aren’t ‘box office blockbusters’, but more the hand of an auteur at an indie festival.

No Bloody Privacy

Notman is now on the move from the outrageously detailed work of the last few years. He has stepped back and let information pass through a filter- flat colour planes appear. Even the underpainting or ‘ground’ shows up from time to time, enabling the formal elements of his process to align more with the subject. It’s not a perfect world, we are all flawed, but within this paradigm lies a form of utopia accessible to all and sundry.


Chicago born artist Leslie Falls work explores the affective gratification experienced throughout creative activity- in her case, hard labour! In this series of works, Falls’ substrates are old woollen blankets. She then stitches and pins the surfaces in a monumental and fastidious endeavour in which she explores values of  task and accomplishment, productivity and pleasure and ultimately she establishes through a routine of ordinary activities the value of process over product.

Streicker's Letter

Each stitch or puncture represents a momentary productive expenditure of time- and there are thousands of them. The results are remarkable and touchingly personal at times. ‘Love, Mimi’ is a beautiful transcript or more accurately a facsimile of a letter [embroidered by hand] to the artist from her grandmother with exquisitely stitched on vintage beads and sequins. The letter works tread that fine line between public and private activities. In this case they present as an extreme act of generosity from the artist. After reading them, you come away with an uplifting feeling of warmth, wellbeing and a funny sense of gratitude…what more could you ask for from a piece of art.

Love Mimi