Mike Kelly

 Mike Kelly's images of knitted items.

The Mike Kelly's exhibition was situated in the modern art gallery on the basement floor. He is a American installation, performance artist and painter. His work is a bit like Marmite you like it or you hate it, but that is for you to judge, as I know what I think !! Also I had to edit his work are some of it was too obscene for my blog.

Going down......

Made from fabric and stitched.

Another.......

These are made from fabric that have been collaged into and they are huge statements.

Carpet with lumps under.... to  represent children's nightmares.

 Pictures pictures of knitted images. 

 And some more.

Drawings.

 They speak for themselves.

 This is paper that's been folded and then drawn into.

 This is a close-up image of the above photograph.

 More drawings of Mike Kelly's.

 Photographs shown on very large screens lit up that's the best way can explain it.

 More painted images of Mike Kelly's.

This is a snapshot of a video with sounds and you also see my feet !!!

 Must admit Mike Kelly's exhibition was a bit of an eye-opener I've seen other exhibitions which are strange but have to say I think this is one of the strangest exhibitions I've seen. Mike Kelly was only in his 50s when he died so what happened to him I don't know but I feel that he was quite disturbed in some sort of way because his work is so extreme but not in a nice way. So, if you like the strange and obscene this exhibitions is one for you.....

The Modern Art Gallery. Amsterdam.

Alberto Giacometti.

The modern art gallery in Amsterdam is a magnificent modern building and contained some of the most fantastic paintings, furniture, fabrics and jewellery. The Gallery was amazing, it contained so many well-known artists and their work. It's was fabulous to go and see their work in situ. It was a gallery you could have spent all day in and still go back for more !!

A feat of engineering by Richard Serral.
This stands outside of the Modern Art Gallery.

Another view of the sculpture by Richard Serral.

 Outside of the gallery.

Wall of posters inside the gallery.

Another view of the posters.

George Braque.

Karl Blossfeldt.

Piet Mondriaan.

Piet Mondriaan.

Marc Chagall.

Fernand Leger.

Van Gogh.

George Hendrik Breitner

Upstairs to see more.

Chair 1960's

Radiogram 1960's.

1950's typewriter.

Fabrics 1950's 

Tapestry 1954

Furnishing fabrics 1950's

1960's chair.

Hand made jewellery 1960's

Another view of the light and airy gallery.

The above images are just a snapshot of the gallery. There are just too many exhibits to put on my blog so I would recommend that if you are in Amsterdam make the modern art gallery one of your priorities to visit. The gallery is very large high ceilings and light and airy and all the exhibits are easy to see and you are allowed to take photographs which to me is a bonus.

Van Gogh Gallery.

I went to the Van Gogh Museum in the Hermitage in Amsterdam as the usual Van Gogh gallery was closed for refurbishment.
Unfortunately this was the only gallery where I was not allowed to photograph in much to my disappointment as the paintings are absolutely stunning. The museum was full of people and it was quite difficult to get to the pictures to have a close look. They talk about the famous sunflowers picture but for me the picture of the irises were gorgeous, the paint strokes and these striking colours made  the painting standout amongst all the others.
The images below I have taken from the Internet but the problem is his pictures do not copy very well. You need to see his work in person to get the sheer brilliance of the man.

A Self-portrait.

 This is a painting of his bedroom.

 The famous sunflowers.

 The field of Iris and poppies.

 This is a picture of the Irises. The picture doesn't do the painting any justice, it doesn't show the pure beauty of his work.

 As you can tell I absolutely loved this exhibition quite happily go and see it again. I hope that sometime in the future the readers of my blog with the able to go and experience the same joy of looking at Van Gogh's paintings.

Rembrandt's House. Amsterdam.

I went to the  Rembrandt's house, although Rembrandt was was bankrupt and all his goods were sold.   The Dutch had a list of all the furniture and items that were sold from the home to cover his debts. So when the house was purchased and made into a museum they knew the kind of furniture and items they would need to refurbish the house to the same style as his era.

Rembrandt's House.

Another photo of the house.

A very gloomy kitchen.

A piece of carved wood.

The print room.

The notice on the wall.

Etching plate.

One of the stoves in his studio. 

Mixing pigments for paint in the studio. 

The view from the studio window.

This is the the type of bed that Rembrandt would have slept in.

A self-portrait etching.

Another self- portrait etching.

I  found  the house delightful with very quirky spiral staircases. The rooms were large and spacious but his studio was the largest room of the house and the only one that had two fires  installed. I have only put a small selection of his work on my blog as there were too many for me to show.
I felt very privileged to be able to wander around the house Rembrandt lived in and look out the windows that he would have glanced out of from time to time looking at the same canal view outside.

Another view of the house and some paintings.

Sally Denton

Sally Denton's lecture was understanding trend and forecasting. Why trends are so important and she says the future has happened,  just it's not distributed very well !!
She also talked about the three stages of trend.
Marco 3 to 5 years plus is thinking differently.
Transitional is 1 to 2 years fashion/fabrics.
Micro trend six months and to be avoided as much as possible as this is the lines that end up in the cheap discount stores.
We looked at the start of trends. First trendsetter is designers. The early adopter is brands. The trend follower is high Street. The lagger is discount stores.TK Maxx has changed the face of discount shops offering quality designer clothes at prices one can afford. Top Shop became a brand in its own right.
As much as I found the lecture enlightening, I felt it was aimed at younger students who will become the designers the of the future, working in companies where they need to understand trends.
It is most certainly worth looking at Sally Denton's website The TrendBoutique to learn more about
her and her company.

Chara Lewis

Chara Lewis's lecture was interesting because she uses light and shadows to produce most of her work. In the Trespassing images she explains she usees other spaces to make her own space and to take the real and imaginary and mix them together. I found this quite fascinating because I do know, how important it is to be original.
 I also thought the idea of going into museum stores and producing artwork to go in the gallery and again using light and shadows to produce images that look gloomy in the Museum storage rooms.

 Image taken in Museum storage room.

 I have to say I loved The Messenger that was installed in Tatton Park to 2012. Unfortunately I never saw installation but still think the image is beautiful on-screen and in pictures.

The Messenger in Tatham Park 2012

 The next image that caught my eye was To Suspend the Breath that was exhibited at Yorkshire sculpture Park 2008. The image is a heart-shaped pair of lungs that inhale and exhale illuminating the bronchioles and alveoli. I've seen the picture of this installation but I've never seen it actually seen it working much to my disappointment.

 To Suspend the Breath 2008


Chara Lewis  is part of a group called Brass Art which also have a website which is well worse perusing.